Mass Effect 2: Suicidal Odds
by Tatanka4Life
Summary: For years revenge has been the only goal Ty has chased. His ability to relieve his past like a Drell has made it a painful journey, but he is close to the end. To finish his road he has to follow Commander Shepard on a journey against Suicidal Odds that forces the former mercenary to come to grips with the man he was, the man he is currently and the one he wishes to be.
1. Prologue

Mass Effect 2

Suicidal Odds

Prologue

**A/N: This is a warning to those who can't take reading torture scenes; it is mostly to set up for this story and the sequel. It isn't overly violent in my opinion just a lot of profanity and being electrocuted but if that isn't your thing you can skip to the fifth to last paragraph and from there it is no longer torture, there will be a short summary at the end in another A/N to let those who skipped know exactly what happened.**

"Your origins don't matter, who you are as an individual does."

Ty

Exhaustion and fatigue had a few stages though Ty wasn't sure how many or what stage he was in, all he knew was that he wanted nothing more than to fall on the nice cold floor and sleep. His eyes began to shut as he thought about sleep and how great it would be if his body would allow him just a few minutes of rest since he couldn't even remember what year he was in anymore.

He just wanted to sleep at least for a few minutes, as his eyes began to glaze over and sleep became in reach he felt electricity jolt through his body, "AHHHH! AH! AH! Rarragh! Alliance PRICKS! Every last one of you has a stick up your ass!" Ty screamed out into the air. Ty tried to catch his breath and then the electricity surged through him again, he screamed out again as his hands and legs tried to fight against the restraints, "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUCCCKKKKKK! AHHH! Fuck you all you military shi-AHHHHHHH!"

Screaming was about the only thing that allowed him to express how he really felt to be jailed and tortured at the hands of the Alliance, 2186 that was the year he remembered and he was having his time wasted by the Alliance while the Reapers were on the horizon, literally. "You think this will break me, it won't assholes I'M UNBREAKABLE HAHAHA! Oh that last one was good but you missed the itch I have on one my pecks so would you mind." Electricity jolted through him again as he screamed but then it stopped "NO! THE OTHER ONE! THE OTHER ONE!"

The room was dark save for the light that was shining on Ty and it was cold due to the lack of a shirt. Ty couldn't see much except the Alliance soldier who was controlling the electricity, some guy behind a helmet who was getting rather irritated at Ty for not talking except to yell at them and to scream. He had done very well in talking he thought, he managed to piss off every single person that was trying to get out the information he had so by his standards he was doing great.

As the electricity finished attacking his nerves and body Ty's breath left him again and he panted hard, his will was far from broken but damn did he wish he would at least get to sleep at some point, it had been days it seemed since the last time he slept. Ty's head fell forward and he got a good look at the once open wound he had on his stomach that was now sealed since the Alliance had given him some medical care before the torturing. Ty chuckled softly to himself since all they did was patch him to torture him and then they were going to have to give him more medical care afterwards, they should have just taken his offer and they all would have been spared from this waste of time.

Ty's thoughts drifted back to his wound and how he got it, that Cerberus asshole with the sword was going to pay for the injury and then Ty was going to march to Omega and take it back for what that other Cerberus asshole did. It may have been a shit hole but it was Arias shit hole that he lived and worked on occasionally.

As Ty's panting died out he found his voice and forced it up, "You know what I want and you should also know you have about a day before the Reapers get here so you should just do us all a favor and let me see her." Ty said. He was surprised at how hoarse his voice had become, how long had even been screaming for, hours? Days? He wasn't sure anymore his body was just so zapped of energy.

"You've already seen her." A voice called out from behind what he assumed was a glass window since it was over an intercom. Ty chuckled, yeah he had seen her, he waltzed right into Vancouver through security and almost got to her door when security finally caught on and found the unconscious soldier he stole the uniform off of. "Master of infiltration or just lucky?" he heard her voice ask.

Ty wasn't so sure if he was going to ever be able to be either anymore at this rate, Ty continued looking down as he said "She is the only one I'll speak to and I am surprised by this all Anderson, torture? I didn't think it was your style I always thought you were nicer than this; she spoke really highly of you so I guess I had higher expectations.

Ty licked his lips and tried swallowing for the sake of his dry throat but it didn't help too much, Ty shook his head as he continued "I'm also surprised by the fact you think you can hide behind that intercom and think I don't know it's you. The way you speak is a clear give away, very commanding, I bet these lackeys really like you yelling at them but I gotta ask…when did you become so mean, hahahah-AHHHH!"

That last jab must have really agitated him judging on the fact it felt like there was more voltage in the shock, or maybe it was delirium catching up with him or maybe he was just fading to the spirit realm to meet all the friends that had died under his command nine years ago to raise a toast to his sarcasm and assholism finally getting him killed. "Get out of my way right now! I will not sit here and allow you to torture him anymore because of political bullshit, you are all better than this. The Reapers are almost here and he is willing to talk to me so get out of my way."

Ty knew that voice and it made him look up momentarily before the energy it took to look up became too much and his head fell down. There was the sound of hydraulic doors sliding open and then the sound of feet slightly jogging to him, each step kept his mind from fading to sleep, the hope of seeing her again to warn her of the impending attack kept him more or less awake.

"Get away from that button right now or it's you who will be electrocuted next." That voice brought a smile to Ty's face, she was here, finally. A blurry figure came into sight in front of Ty but he once again just wanted to pass out, Ty felt a hand under his chin that lifted his head up so he could see the piercing sapphire eyes that belonged to the voice, "Shepard." Ty said weakly. Shepard gave him a quick but friendly hug, the embrace gave him some warmth as he rested his head on her shoulder until she let go and put her hand under his chin to hold his head up.

"I'm so sorry Ty I tried to stop this all and convince them you wouldn't break bu-" Ty shook his head with what little energy and range of motion he had stopping her from speaking, "Don't worry about Shepard I know you did your best, besides I've had worse treatment…can't think of any right now since this is so fresh but I'll come up with one later. Straight to business I assume?" "The sooner you tell me the sooner you'll be in the medical center again." Shepard said in an assuring tone.

Ty gave a short nod due to her hand holding up his face, he missed the squad and working with Shepard. So many good times, some not so good but the good ones stood out more, he just wanted to sleep so badly despite needing to tell Shepard the information he had, Ty felt his eyes shutting again and voices becoming more distant, "…ay with me Ty …Anderson he nee…ical atten…come on Ty don…" Ty felt his mouth move as his hoarse voice came out, "Reapers…Batarians…Omega taken…Cerberus." Exhaustion finally caught up with Ty as he felt himself slip into a deep sleep and the memories of old filled his mind.

**A/N: Alright first off I'm new to this site and this is my first fan fiction so go easy on me as I learn how to work this all. I have been working on Suicidal Odds for a while now but just never wanted to post it because I didn't think it was that great but after a lot of convincing from friends and family who read it I decided to put this up. Reviews, comments, want to tell me how great it is, want to tell me what I'm doing wrong go right ahead, constructive criticism is fine and welcomed as long as it is helpful otherwise if it is just being ride I'll just ignore ignorant comments since I plan on posting the whole story no matter what and then the sequel so if you don't like it, don't read it. To those who didn't read the prologue all you missed out on was that Ty was being interrogated by the Alliance and Anderson through electrocution because he was withholding information on the Reapers and Cerberus because he wanted to tell Shepard herself since they had a history and other reasons you will find out as this story progresses. He screamed a lot of profanities and got under the skin of all the people until Shepard, who was being forced to stay silent due to be being grounded and stripped of rank or whatever the correct term is to describe her predicament in the third game, finally had enough and came barging in. The prologue doesn't hold a bunch of info like what they look like, Shepard's past information and such but that will be let known in due time. I needed this as a set up a chapter and will be getting the first real chapter out soon. I hope you enjoy the story, I know I have had a lot of fun writing it ****.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hunted

**A/N: Forgot to mention in the last chapter that the prologue is the only flash forward there is into the third game/sequel to this. Also another thing I forgot is that everything Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and EA or just Bioware not really sure who actually owns it all but I believe it is one or both of them, I am just a huge fan and love the series enough to write my own little adventure in their world. All I can stake any claim in is the personalities of Ty, his family, and his friends who are not actually part of Biowares world, I made them up. Anyway next chapter.**

"Shepard what exactly happened that day?" Ty asked out loud while looking through data servers. Ty was scanning quickly through since he wasn't supposed to even be on the facility he invaded and the cameras were only going to circle the clip he had for two more minutes. It had been months that he had been sneaking around in the shadows under his tactical cloak figuring out all he could on Shepard. He went through a lot of data logs on a project called Lazarus and what Shepard had been going through for treatments but it wasn't what he was searching for.

He needed to hurry up time was running out, "Come on where's the data I'm looking for?" Ty asked through his gritted teeth. A-ha, Ty thought finding some good info on Shepard's incident, time to download this shit, Ty continued starting his downloading. As Ty started downloading a screen popped up that read, enter correct passkey, he put in the cardkey he stole off one of the officers when he first got on the facility. The cardkey worked on everything in the facility, computers, doors, anything on the facility was tangible with the key Ty had stolen…except this time. "Alert we have a breach in sector five." A voice came over the intercom, the alarm was buzzing and Ty knew he was stone cold busted. Ty sighed aloud; this was what had become of his luck lately, "Fuck me, this key worked on everything else why couldn't things just be easier on me this once." Ty said.

Suddenly the hydraulic door opened but Ty was quicker as he hit his cloak, he crouched down and started lightly walking at a fast pace in-between desks. As he peeked over a desk he saw a woman and man with guns drawn looking around, the woman wore a white and black spandex and she had raven black hair, the man was black and wore mostly black skin tight armor from head to toe. Just keep moving don't stop, Ty thought as he moved from desk to another inching towards the door. The door was feet away, one foot after and another brought it closer and closer, as he reached it he stopped dead in his tracks when as a sudden shock in his back that soon jolted across his body immobilized him.

His thoughts were jumbled due to the amount of pain that was going through every fiber of his being. The pain brought him to his knees and disabled his cloak, Ty fought as hard as he could to stand up but despite his will trying to push him back up his body wouldn't respond to his commands. Heels clicked behind as he heard an Australian accent "Thermal vision is great when you're looking for someone you can't see, and these stun guns are good at stopping them in their tracks." The spandex wearing woman walked in front of Ty with her stun gun and said "Now we have you to deal with."

Ty looked up at her with a smirk despite himself and said "Only took you two months." The look on the woman's face was quite priceless, eyes nearly bulging out, mouth agape all the tell tale signs that he was going to pay. She looked up from him to the guy behind him and said coldly "Bring him to the interrogation room." Before Ty could register what she said something slammed into the back of his head and blackness followed.

The feeling of his feet dragging across the ground brought Ty back into consciousness; Ty shook his head trying to free himself of the cobwebs when he took notice of his predicament. The original guy he had seen with the spandex woman was on his left side with his arm in a vice grip while some bald guy was on his right side doing the same thing as they dragged him. The spandex woman was in front of them walking at a faster pace and had a pistol on her this time. Ty tried to get his body working but nothing was responding to his commands except his arms which began to move, "Let me go you bitch." Ty spat angrily.

He was met with no answer, not that he expected a "Oh sure your free to go." They dragged him into a nearby room and when they got inside they tossed him rather unceremoniously onto the floor, "Wilson wait outside." The Aussie said. The doors closed as Ty began to get feeling in his legs, he got onto his knees when the Aussie spoke up again "Do you really expect me to just let you go after I found you stealing data from us and learning you've been doing it for months now." Ty managed to get on shaky legs as a biotic throw hit his back and knocked him back down. As he managed to get back on a knee he felt biotics grab his body and lift him up, he was turned around to face the two as the black man stared at him intently, "I've dealt with murderers and psychopaths, your stare doesn't intimidate me." Ty spouted off.

The black man was holding him up and essentially was holding Ty's life in his hands but Ty had a problem with keeping his mouth shut, and if he was indeed about to meet death he was going to go out pissing off Cerberus. "What was it you were looking in our servers for?" The black man asked. Ty nodded as much as he could in the direction of the Aussie and responded "Her private pictures, I was trying to get a show but apparently she hides them well." Ty smirked at the angered look he received; she was special to him in some way or she was at one time, that much was obvious.

The man smashed Ty into the wall three times and then brought his hand downwards bringing Ty into the ground face and chest first. The cracking sound might have been a couple ribs breaking but Ty wasn't sure due to his mouth bleeding from him biting his tongue. His tongue was throbbing now but it was sure as hell a lot better than a broken nose.

The biotics lifted Ty back up into their view, "You've got a lot of nerve boy, what were you looking for in our servers?" The man asked. Ty spat blood to the ground as best he could due to the biotic grip that had suddenly gotten tighter around his body, Ty stared at them for a few seconds in silence until he said "You two are supposed to be smart figure it out, a certain woman's ship gets randomly attacked and you come in and try and save her life with your weird shit, connect the pieces together." "You're after Shepard." The woman seemed shocked but her icy mentality came back as she asked in a commanding tone "Why?" "There you go and that's my own business, unless you give me a little somethin somethin my lips are sealed." Ty said with a bloody smile but knew he wouldn't touch her with a hundred foot pole, she was Cerberus and that there made her unwanted by Ty.

The man was angered even more by the comment not that it was surprising but he started using his biotic power to squeeze the life out of Ty. The pressure on his body was becoming unbearable and it was starting to edge itself onto the shittiest ways to die list Ty had going. More blood started pouring into Ty's mouth and he was sure he was going to explode but then the woman put a hand on the mans shoulder and said "Jacob stop and let him go."

The pressure stopped and for that Ty was thankful but what he wasn't thankful for was that he was still afloat, "We can't just let him go Miranda he's seen our data, he could be working for the Alliance or worse." Jacob said. "You really think he's working for the Alliance, look at him the worst he could be working for is some slave trader." Miranda said. That actually stung a little, slave traders were about as scummy as it came and she just compared me to one, Ty thought, what a bitch that actually hurts a little. Jacob sighed and asked "Are you sure, what if your wrong?" "I'm never wrong; I think you should have learned that by now, now let him go." Miranda said.

Ty fell to the ground hard and started coughing up blood profusely; the guy was obviously very literal when she asked him to do something like dropping a prisoner. Jacob left the room and left Ty with Miranda, Ty finished couching up blood and was getting to his knee when Miranda walked in front of him and asked "Do you work for anyone or are you just snooping around." Ty wiped his mouth off on his right arm then looked at her and said "Do you seriously think that I work for someone, I mean look at me who the hell is going to work under me or let me work for them. Besides the whole entire Alliance gave up on her why would they care?" "Good, what exactly were you looking for on those servers?" The woman named Miranda asked.

Blood had a very distinctive taste to it and Ty was sure it wouldn't be leaving him for a while as he spat more onto the ground, Ty shook his head and said "The real reason for why you guys took Shepard in and if you had any data on her squad." She seemed to examine him for a few moments like she knew him though Ty was sure she did whether she knew it herself or not, happened with being a most wanted fugitive, everyone seemed to think they knew you. "What's your name?" Miranda finally asked. "Why the fuck do you care?" Ty asked in return with an agitated tone. "Our readings wouldn't tell me who you are and you seem familiar but mostly so I can contact you in the future for a job." Miranda said.

Guess those upgrades to keep my identity hidden were worth it, Ty thought but said "I'll never work for Cerberus willingly, but if you really want to know use the info that you have on me. Good luck with finding me though 'cause I'm a master of disappearing." Ty had his left hand hidden from view as he worked on getting his cloak functional without the Cerberus Operative knowing, as he finished his statement he hit his cloak and bolted out of the room to the shuttle bay and got on his space bike he had cloaked and got out of the facility. He hoped it would be his last time on a Cerberus ship but the spirits had their own plans and though Ty didn't believe he had a destiny or that some spirit was controlling his fate he figured that if the spirits were indeed toying with his fate they would have a good laugh at his expense if he did end up on another Cerberus ship, and Ty was pretty damn positive he would miss the humor of the joke.

A Week Later at another Cerberus Facility

"Shepard before you attend to the Freedoms Progress colony I'd like for you to find someone who may be valuable in helping you understand what happened there." The Illusive man said. Shepard leaned her weight onto her right leg as she crossed her arms, she didn't like the fact she had to work with Cerberus people for one mission but if the colonist were in trouble then they were her top priority, not a recruitment drive for Cerberus, "Isn't it a little more important to find out what happened to those colonists." Shepard said with a little edge to her voice. "Yes the colony is important but this man has connection to the colony and he might have abilities that let him see past events." The Illusive man said. He took a drag of his cigarette then continued "And that could be the turning point to finding out what happened to this colony."

Shepard couldn't help but smirk, it wasn't a happy smirk it was a smirk she held for people like the Illusive Man, it had always showed them that she thought they were idiots, "You really expect me to believe there's an alien that can see past events now, I may have just been woke up but last time I checked that's impossible. Besides aliens don't work for Cerberus." Shepard said.

The Illusive man smirked at Shepard's response like there was some big joke she didn't get in there, the smirk made her blood run cold, "Who said alien this man is very much human, no one knows how but he can do it and that's just the tip of the iceberg I hear." The Illusive man said. If this person actually could see past events maybe she'd find out what happened to the colonists, Cerberus or not they needed her help "Alright I'll look for him." Shepard said. "I'll have Miranda debrief you on your way to the Citadel some of my agents say he has a contact there and if he isn't there then you can go to Freedoms Progress, good luck Shepard." The Illusive man said.

* * *

Ty flew and hit a mass relay and went to the Citadel, he had been hiding off the grid from Cerberus for the whole week making sure they couldn't find him. It wasn't too hard since disappearing into thin air was a simple task for him; years of practice had a way of making him an expert. Tyler Rhoddy wasn't a big guy he was only 5'10 and weighed about 175 pounds but all of it was muscle. He was very well toned each muscle finely defined from his back and shoulders to his finely toned arms, chest, abs and leg muscles. He was slightly tanned which was his natural complexion though he hadn't spent enough time around any sun to have gained it and had never loss the complexion though he was very much Caucasian.

He had no facial hair but had long dark brown hair that went to the middle of his back but he had the crown of his hair ponytailed back when he was out and about so it wouldn't get in the way. He had full eyebrows and round eyes, his irises were purple and seemed to glow brighter when he had the hood of his tank top up. The color was because of a rare condition he had though he had no name for the condition except purple eye syndrome, obviously not what it was really called. He had high cheek bones and a normal sized nose, along with his big smile and dimples that his smile caused, he had a slim jaw and perfect teeth.

Aside from his natural features he had two piercings and a plentiful amount of tattoos but not to the extent of what he considered ridiculous though others often debated his point. Each tattoo had a meaning though not a lot of people knew what those meanings were. He had his ears pierced at the bottom with medium sized sapphire gems held by white gold studs. Blue was his favorite color and he found that the real sapphire would suit that. If you started from the top of his tattoos you'd be starting with his tattoo of a buffalo skull with two feathers hanging from its horns on his chest with the word Tatanka above it, the word Tatanka meant buffalo, bull or bison in several Native American tribes and was one of his nicknames growing up for being a bull in a china shop or for being stubborn like a bull.

From there he a long sleeve of Japanese tattoos down his right arm which all held some meaning to him, on his back he had a cross that covered his back with 8 names in it, the names were of his fallen friends that he had spent everyday of the last eight years wishing he had gone down with them in a fight of some sort instead of being robbed of them through a betrayal he should have seen coming.

His left arm had Polynesian designs down to his elbow than broke off to the top of his forearm; on the back of his forearm on the same side as his palm was a tattoo that read RBZ 4 Life, or Rhoddy Boyz for life to represent his close bond with his brother. Ty wore a black muscle tank top that had a hood along with black clam diggers and black construction boots. He didn't really fit in with all the people and aliens who all wore their nice outfits that were actually in fashion but despite how he stood out like a sore thumb he knew how to blend in and knew how to disappear.

His hood was not just an accessory to the outfit, when on the job he used it to hide his hair and the majority of his face and when in a place with no oxygen or non-breathable air he had a mask that would fold itself out from his hood and away inside his hood when he wasn't using it but when it was out it fully covered his eyes, mouth and nose. The bottom part of the mask that covered his mouth and nose looked like a retro ninja mask just made of a hard substance not cloth but it was still all black. When he was on his bike travelling or a place that he had to protect his eyes the top part of his mask would activate and was in the shape of black rimmed and crimson red lens punk shades.

His space bike looked like a Tron bike from the 21st century movie and it glowed dark blue, it wasn't a space ship and didn't look like it was capable for hitting mass relays but Ty had built it to be able to travel light years and hit mass relays without destruction to the bike or him by using his bikes shielding device to protect his body from the outside elements. He was very smart contrary to popular belief but when it came to fights he was deadly smart. He was a supreme sniper better than anyone he had ever met but those he met couldn't testify to that since they were dead, he could knock someone's head off in close range or long range with his sniper due to his ability to dual wield it with a pistol and still be able to aim down his sights.

The original sniper Ty had bought was a Viper but to call it that now was a disservice. He had customized it extensively from the scope to the paint, there were no stores that sold a copy and every store owner wanted licensing rights to create more of it. The paint was an iridescent black with blue and had an engraving on the side that was silver that read RBZ 4 Life, the scope could see just about anything and in severe distances it would show Ty where his bullet would land. The gun itself was very lightweight but could pack a hell of a punch when it shot or was used as a bat which Ty did sometimes to often for his own liking, he could also overcharge a bullet to have a bigger impact but at the cost of his heat sink having to vent out for several seconds.

He also had two tomahawks that were made of the hardest metal that he could find and had designed carvings across the blade but they were also light and perfectly balanced. The blades were carved like a large upper case T and curved at the points with it being sharp on every side making them very dangerous. He was well trained in close quarters combat with them and an expert at throwing them from any distance.

Using tomahawks was Ty's way of remembering his grandfather who was a master knife thrower and most famous, or infamous depending on your perspective, contract killer in the entire galaxy. His grandfather was killed by the Alliance when a false contract from some guy who was part of Cerberus sent his grandfather to kill the Turian general who was on his way to the Citadel.

It was a trap to kill his grandfather and the general but it didn't work since the Alliance somehow got word of it, the Alliance gunned down his grandfather and saved the general but that left Ty's dad on the run for being associated with his own dad. Ty and his brother are also to be hunted down until they are brought to justice, being most wanted doesn't bother either of them but they both have a burning hatred for both the Alliance and Cerberus.

Ty landed at his docking hanger on the Citadel and started to walk to the Dark Star bar to talk to his favorite bartender, he was a Turian with a sense of humor Ty enjoyed to listen to after a day of work and an old friend. Ty had a few floors to clear so as he went through the Citadel he let his thoughts travel remembering what the history books had said about what human life was like before they found Prothean technology, they were like cavemen compared to what all these other races had, he bumped into a Krogan that was talking about fish and apologized as he kept moving. Not a good thing to do me, they have a temper to match mine most of the time, Ty thought as he kept walking.

Ty got up all the stairs and finally to the bar after the long two months he enjoyed being able to sit down at the counter and relax. The bartender noticed him and as he walked to Ty he said "Ah if it isn't my favorite thief, what's it been two months since I saw you last?" The Turian asked. "Sounds about right, how's my favorite Turian bartender been doing?" Ty asked. It was their usual greeting ever since they met but long ago when they were working together their titles were different.

The Turian began cleaning out a cup as he motioned with his head to the jammed pack dance floor, "Business has been up beat since that whole thing with that Commander Shepard saving this place happened two years ago, how you been Ty you find what you were looking for?" The Turian asked. "No I got busted Darian stone cold busted." Ty said. Darian was an old friend of Ty's and he had similar facial markings to Garrus but he had a darker skin tone than Garrus but not as dark as Nihlus and the markings he had were black, Darian's mandibles helped with his surprised look as he asked "How'd that happen? I know you're one of the most careful guys out there, you never do something without checking it out then re-checking to make sure it's safe?"

That was a habit he had picked up after realizing there wasn't something as too much planning, Ty shook his head to himself as he said "I know, I stole a key to all their systems and it worked for everything, except the thing I needed. They caught me and interrogated me with biotic power but they didn't get much since I pulled a disappearing act." Not exactly true but he wasn't going to worry his old friend with his own problems, Darian laughed gave a low laugh as he put the glass down on the counter "It sounds like the time when a group of Krogans were going to beat your ass for being a smart ass." Darian said.

Ty laughed at the comment, yeah he never claimed to be able to keep his mouth shut, Ty was still chuckling as he said "You still remember that, it wasn't my fault they had their quads in a twist. I tried to be funny but they took it way to serious." "We had some good times back then, still do now but there seems to be less gunfire on my end." Darian said with a toothy grin. Ty shook his head and gave him the finger as he chuckled more, "So there was another pretty girl here asking about you." Darian said smile still not fading.

That raised Ty's eyebrow, Darian had become his contractor on the Citadel as of late with people coming to him to get to Ty, or at least those who knew who Darian had been and his relation to Ty. Ty leaned forward onto his forearms and asked "Really, who is this girl that you speak of?" Darian gave an unhelpful shrug and said sarcastically "A secret admirer. I don't know she didn't give me her name she said that she was a friend of yours and she wanted you to call her. She was very pretty for a human though I have never seen her around or with you and I've met most of the women you know. She had a certain fire in her eyes that I'd have noticed before if I had seen her, pretty woman."

Darian gave Ty a small sliver of paper and Ty looked at it thinking, who the hell still uses paper isn't everything holograms and projections. Ty looked at the number and didn't recognize it, "So any idea who it's from?" Darian asked.

Ty shook his head, that contact information was about as unknown as the Turians before the first contact war but if someone needed his help than he was going to help. "No not even remotely. Did she say anything else that could help me?" Ty asked. Darian shook his head and said "No nothing. I guess she figured you would notice it orrrr…hmm hold on." Darian looked around Ty than asked "You weren't followed were you?" Darian asked. "I shouldn't have been I've been off the grid for a week, why?" Ty asked. "There's some armored looking assholes looking around the booths with Cerberus insignias. They're moving over here, you better get going." Darian said.

Credit where credit was due Cerberus wasn't as incompetent as Ty had believed; they were able to track him to Darian that brought them from incompetent assholes to mildly incompetent pricks. "I guess they would know about our past, nothing is ever easy anymore is it? I'll leave when they get here; oh here are some credits ahead of time just in case I wreck anything." Ty said scanning his credits into the machine though it wasn't the real reason he scanned them in.

Ty put his hood up and got his cloak ready, the officers tapped him on the shoulder and asked "You sir were you the one who attacked our facility a week ago?" "Attacked? What are you talking about? I've been here at the Citadel this whole time talking to the guy who bartends here about stuff going on in the galaxy." Ty said without turning. "I already told you I'm a bartender I serve drinks, if you want news go ask someone else…I don't understand why humans always ask me that." Darian said right on cue. Ty had to stop himself from laughing but then he heard them play a recording of his voice on the Cerberus ship and compare it to what he had just said, oh shit this isn't going to be good, Ty thought. "This is the one get him onto our ship." The leader said.

Ty activated his cloak and disappeared as they went to grab him, he spun quickly and hyper extended one of the officer's knees with a kick and then landed a huge uppercut to the other making them fall to the floor. Ty uncloaked quickly and said "Sorry boys tell your boss to fuck off." Ty activated his cloak again and ran away from the bar to what he believed was a safe distance where he thought he could take his cloak off.

As he deactivated his cloak Ty began walking normally and entered the number into his omni-tool to give it a call. As Ty activated the call he stopped at an advertisement to blend in while he waited for someone to pick up. "Hello." A woman's voice came through.

She sounded younger or at least younger than him but he wasn't entirely surprised since most that came for help were either in their young twenties like him or were teenagers who got caught up with the wrong gang and needed help disappearing or making the gang disappear. Ty began walking again as he said "Hey the bartender at the Citadel gave me your number; he said I know you but I'm pretty sure this is our first conversation." The woman sighed a little and said "You're right we haven't met but you've helped someone I know and they told me a little about you." "Alright so what do you want from me?" Ty asked. "I wanted to meet you in person and maybe get to know you." The woman said.

That smelt like bullshit, all of Ty's bullshit meters were ringing off the hook but she seemed scared, not of getting caught in a lie but of something else. She did need help but Ty knew she wouldn't talk until they were face to face, despite knowing that he asked "Is that it?" "That's it." The woman answered. She had an unsteady tone, desperate even, she needed his help and she needed it bad it seemed, "Alright where do you wanna meet?" Ty asked. "Omega in the bottom part of the Afterlife club." The woman said. Great that is soooo not where I wanted to go, Ty thought, but yet still impressive for someone who, if I am judging correctly, doesn't belong there. "Omega, you're a dangerous girl." Ty said as a smirk found its way to his face due to his own thought. "I've heard you're a dangerous guy, I've heard you can travel fast so meet me there today alright?"

She had a lot of information on him and all he knew was she needed help, not a great start to a business relationship but definitely not his worst. Ty looked behind him and saw the Cerberus officers coming up behind him, man these guys don't quit, Ty thought. There was a crowd of people and he started to walk through all of the aliens and humans as quickly as possible but without bumping into any of them. "Yea I'll see you then." Ty said then hung up. "Hey you stop!" The leader yelled then fired a warning shot, everyone ducked except Ty who was now running for his life not understanding why they wanted him so bad.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Contract

**A/N: Greetings to all, as usual I do not own anything Mass Effect that belongs to Bioware and/or E/A, I'm just a nerdy fan. All I stake claim in is the personalities of Ty and his friends and family that are not apart of the actual Mass Effect universe. Any who I think this and the next chapter is the last of the setting up chapters where he isn't apart of the squad and once that happens things pick up. Thanks to the 18 viewers so far I didn't think I'd even get that much so thank you, also don't be afraid to comment, constructive criticism and praise is welcomed and appreciated. Now onto the next entry to Suicidal Odds, enjoy ****.**

Crowds of people, human and alien alike were as much of cover as they were in the way as Ty ran bumping into them and trying to dodge through with the Cerberus officers hot on his tale and C-Sec starting to mobilize. Ty's eyes scanned the areas looking for anywhere to give the officers a slip but found none as he saw red and blue lights on his side and a few Turians wearing C-Sec armor getting their guns ready. Maybe C-Sec would get them off his tail or maybe they would chase him he wasn't sure all he knew was to keep his legs moving.

As Ty turned a corner he almost ran into a crate that was in his immediate way making him have to vault over it using his left hand to push his momentum up to jump it, as he got air he swung his legs over the crate and used his right hand to push him forward back onto his feet into a full sprint without losing his speed. Free running was a skill he had decided to learn as a teenager to make problems like this less complicated. As Ty looked back after getting more than a few steps away from the crate he saw one Cerberus officer take the crate to the gut while the other dodged to the side and stayed on his tail.

As Ty looked back forward he slammed into another human which knocked Ty to the ground and made him roll to a stop at the Avina terminal near where Captain Bailey was. "Hey watch it." The woman said. Ty glanced up to respond but his words stopped before forming as he saw a woman who looked like Commander Shepard. Before Ty could comment he saw that the other Cerberus officer was only a few yards away, "God damn them." Ty muttered as he scrambled to his feet and jumped over the guard rail. "Hey wait a minute!" The woman yelled.

Ty landed on the ground and used his momentum to roll and continue up into a run, _there was no way it was Shepard no matter how similar they looked, it was just someone of close resemblance since Shepard wasn't due for another month or so,_ Ty thought as he ran, _and if it_ _was she probably wanted to arrest me, that's Alliance for you._

Ty got to the docking station and hopped on his space bike, as it powered up he saw a Cerberus officer with C-Sec on his tail come around the corner, Ty gave the Cerberus officer the finger and took off. His full mask came out from his hoodie and Ty started flying fast and hard to the mass relay before C-Sec would catch wind it was him, "Plot destination please Mr. Rhoddy." Ty's VI said. "Omega." Ty said. "Destination chosen prepare for a mass jump." Ty closed in on the relay and set his bikes navigation to "relay hopping" as he put it before he hit the relay.

Relay hopping was something he had experimented on when he started making his space bike, because of how small it was he was able to navigate it to land exactly where he would need to enter the next relay at which would send him to the next and next until he finally reached his destination within minutes. As he accelerated he prepared himself for the relay hop since it had a way of making him a bit light headed, he shot forward through the relay allowing him to jump all the way to Omega Nebula, as he came out of the jump his VI said "Jump successful." "Thanks." Ty said. "You're welcome." The VI responded. Ty flew to the forsaken rock known as Omega not entirely excited to be back since last he heard the mercenary groups were all causing a ruckus which meant Suns would be everywhere.

After guiding his bike into his docking area he shut his bike down and got off, his mask retracted itself and he started walking down the hall where he was met by one of Arias Batarian guards, "You got a lot of balls coming back here Ty, the last time you were here you and the Blue Suns shot this place up." The Batarian named Moklan said.

That made Ty furrow his brow, he had spent his time defending Omega not destroying it, which the Suns took pleasure in doing while they were hunting for him. "Actually it was the Blue Suns, every shot I fired hit them and I didn't kill civilians like them so take up that bullshit with Tarak or the other assholes." Ty said not holding back his disgust for them. Moklan smirked a little, a smirk Ty had become all to familiar with that meant things were either about to heat up or he was going to try and get under his skin, "He still wants you dead you know and it's a pretty hefty reward." Moklan said.

Yeah Ty had heard about that from all the bounty hunters who tried to cash him in, he was pretty sure it was higher now than it was after the twelfth bounty hunter had failed six months back but if Moklan wanted a fight Ty was going to give him one, "Listen if Aria wants to talk to me then I'll go see her if not leave me alone I'm not here for trouble and if you decide to cause some with me." Ty pulled out one of his tomahawks out quickly and continued "I'll put you down faster than you can say 'humans are a blight to Galactic purity' understand."

Moklan smiled, he was just getting under Ty's skin to see him get riled up, Ty didn't dislike Moklan; he just distrusted him after the incident years back when he left Ty and Grizz to fight off thirty mercenaries because he was going to "flank" them. By the time he did Ty and Grizz were executing the remaining mercenaries. "Aria wants to speak with you then you can do whatever you want, cause trouble and we'll put you down." Moklan said calmly.

Ty nodded and followed Moklan to the club; he had learned long ago not to keep Aria waiting if he didn't want to be dragged there. They passed the line of people and he heard a human start complaining about getting in because Aria apparently was "expecting" him. Ty rolled his eyes and kept walking with the Batarian, most people had tried that but there weren't many people who Aria was expecting and most she was expecting were either hit contracts or people like Ty.

They got through the doors and continued walking down the last hall until the last set of doors opened and the music sound waves started hitting Ty, _Afterlife, great_, Ty thought. Moklan stopped and looked at Ty as he pointed to the bar area "You may want to take the long way around; the Blue Suns are recruiting over there." Moklan said. That meant seeing Anto but Anto wouldn't kill him, the Blue Suns would try. "Thanks for the info." Ty said with a nod.

Ty walked the long way to the stairs up to Aria but as he got there he passed Anto who just glared at him, all four eyes boring into his two, Ty had earned it but he also didn't like Anto as much as Aria did so he didn't care to much, "Hey Anto no hard feelings right?" Ty asked with a smirk. Anto gritted his teeth as he said "Fuck you Ty go talk to Aria." "Hey it wasn't my fault, she came onto me…Besides last time I checked Batarian and human couples don't work." Ty joked as he walked up the stairs. Ty got in front of Aria who was sitting down reading a data pad and asked "So Aria how you been?"

"Ty it's been a long time." Aria stated as she finished with her data pad and handed it to one of her guards; she was now giving Ty her full attention as she asked "Do you plan on making Omega a warzone again?" It wasn't his fault that Ortega district got blown to hell, yeah the Suns were hunting him in particular but they blew it up with a damn gunship, he just shot it down and protected civilians. "Isn't it already? By what I hear some merc groups are tearing this place up?" Ty asked. Aria motioned him to sit down and he sat adjacent to her, "They're tearing it up because of Archangel, now what is your business this time on Omega?" Aria asked. "I got a call from someone to meet them here so here I am, I don't know what she wants or who she is but she apparently knows me." Ty said.

Arias smirk was a knowing smirk though Ty wasn't sure if it was because of their history or because she knew who he was talking about, "You always have had your way with attracting women; I did notice a new human had showed up she's downstairs. You may like her I heard she's cute." Aria said. "They gotta have a personality to not just looks you should know that, anything else you wanted to know Aria I don't plan on staying long or being back here for a while." Ty said. "Look after yourself Ty." Aria said. "I usually do." Ty said as he stood up. "Oh and remember you're always welcome here and if you ever looking for company…well lets just say I'm always available for you." Aria said with a hungry smile.

Ty stopped himself as a smile worked his way to his lips, "Is that your way of asking to meld with me again?" Ty asked with his smile as he looked at her. Aria gave him a look he knew to well, she wanted more than what she would say, she had a smirk as she said "Maybe, think about it when you have time the offer is always there." Ty smirked and said "I'll keep it in mind besides I'm sure you'll find some way to get me to owe you one." Aria nodded and said matter of factly "At least you know, just remember that I'm always watching you." "I hope you enjoy that, see ya Aria." Ty said.

Ty walked down from the stairs and then down to the doors below Aria and finally he walked down to the bottom part of the night club, the music had changed as he got down there and he walked past the bartender but that was normal. He looked at the booths and made sure to avoid the Blue Sun that was sitting there when he noticed a cute girl that really reminded him of his friend Haley in the corner, she looked to be younger than Haley though not by much since she seemed to be at least twenty one or twenty.

She had long black hair with a slim jaw bone, round green eyes, thin eyebrows, a normal nose and high cheek bones. She looked to be 5'3 with the heels on and probably 5'1 without and wore a dark purple spaghetti string tank top and a black skirt with black heels. She, like Haley, seemed to take good care of herself though her body wasn't as finely toned as Haley's had been but she still had some defined muscles and hourglass shaped body. She seemed to have natural breast that were a good size for her body type but that wasn't what attracted Ty to her; good boobs were a bonus to everything else.

She seemed nervous though sitting in the booth but as soon as she made eye contact with him she perked up a bit and waved him over. He made his way over and sat down in her booth and said "What can I do for you?" "She was right you stand out, I'm sorry where are my manors I'm Jessica you helped my friend out her name was Haley, do you remember her?" Jessica asked.

Ty thought for a second about Haley and remembered the good times, there was a lot of fighting against Blue Suns in that time period but Haley and him had formed a great friendship during that time, "Yea I remember her, she was in trouble with the Blue Suns and I gave her shelter and killed off the guys who were hunting her." Ty said. "Yep that's her she also mentioned that you two did more than just hang around." Jessica said with a knowing smile. Ty smirked, yeah they had done more than that in the year and a half they spent together but despite how good it was they parted ways which was what they both had wanted though they held strong feelings for each other still, "Yea that's true…alright Jessica what's this about?" Ty asked.

Jessica took a deep breath and let it out, obviously she wasn't used to what was going on, she was completely innocent to the ways of the life Ty had grown up in, Ty inwardly smiled happy that there were people who had the innocent childhood and teenage years he never had. Jessica looked back to him as she said "Okay me and Haley are more than friends and she told me if anything ever happened to her to go to the Citadel and give the bartender my number to give to you, the thing is I haven't heard from her in a week which isn't like her since we talked everyday and I'm worried about her and I was hoping you'd go check on her."

_Shit sounds like Tarak might have looked for her, god damn it!_ Ty looked around and saw the Sun sitting close by then looked back to Jessica and asked "Do you have a way to get home or did you taxi here on another ship?" "Taxied why?" Ty stood up and said "You need to come with me then this place isn't safe for you to be seen with me and we'll talk about this in a safer place, I don't want the Suns hunting you next."

Ty helped Jessica out of the booth and said "One thing before we go, I need you to trust me completely so if there's trouble you'll follow my lead no matter what, do I have your trust?" Jessica nodded and said "Haley trusted you with her life and so do I." "Alright let's go." Ty said. Ty walked with her back to his bike watching for anyone Suns or merc related until they got to his bike. A healthy paranoia was a good thing sometimes and had stopped more than a few incidents from happening.

As they reached his bike he opened his small storage compartment where he kept an extra set of black clam diggers and ammo and grabbed out his spare breather mask. He got onto his bike and handed her his spare breather mask as he said "Wear this; we're going to hit the relay and go to my place where it's safe." Jessica put the mask on and got on with him, "This bike is safe right?" Jessica asked with the mask distorting her voice a little.

Not the first time a passenger had asked him that but every time had brought a smile to his face because he always wanted to respond about how it had only shut down mid relay jump a few times but he needed her to trust him so he responded "Yea built it myself been riding it for a few years now and haven't died, trust me your safe." "I trust you." Jessica said. Ty's mask activated as he started his space bike up and lifted off the ground. Ty headed for the relay when his VI interface said "Plot destination please Mr. Rhoddy." "Home." Ty said. "Destination chosen prepare for a mass jump." The VI interface said.

Ty relay hopped his way back to his home system and to the space station that was his home, "Jump successful." The VI said. "Thank you." Ty said. "You're welcome." The VI responded. As Ty approached he sent the activation codes to the docking bay on the station to get the doors open. The docking doors opened and Ty flew in landed in the docking area which was basically a giant garage. As he landed he took notice that his dad and brothers vehicles weren't there, _hmmm they must be out finding Blue Suns_, Ty thought. That was basically their occupation now, Blue Sun hunters.

Ty got off and his mask retracted, Jessica took hers off and gave it back to Ty who put it back in the storage compartment on the back of his bike. "This is your home?" Jessica asked looking around at the big room which got turned into a garage by Ty and his family. Ty nodded as he motioned her to follow him, as they began walking he said "Yea me, my dad and brother live here, used to belong to some biotic extremists who…well Haley probably told you what happened." Ty said as he started walking to the door that led into the main room.

It was a big facility that had been converted into a home by Ty and his family, they broke down certain walls and built others else where so it would have a kitchen, living room and about fourteen bedrooms in case they found someone who needed a place to stay and rejuvenate but couldn't in a normal fashion because of mercs, gangs or the Alliance. It was a well decorated place and had all the living necessities and felt like a home, they thought of it as a home as well but sometimes they all dreamed they'd be able to live planet side some day…juvenile fantasy but one that crossed their thoughts once in a while.

Jessica caught up behind him and said "Actually no she didn't, she said you didn't like your secrets being spread around so she didn't say anything. She said you were a mysterious guy but also a real charmer, you hated the Blue Suns and were willing to do anything to hurt them but that's all she said." Ty rounded the corner and walked through the living room as he changed direction for his room, "Whoa big place, how'd you guys come by this?" Jessica asked. "Took it from some biotic extremists that threatened the wrong person, it's a nice place to relax but none of us really do." Ty said. Ty hit the green hologram on his door and it opened letting them both walk in "Make yourself at home, sit where you feel comfortable." Ty said.

Jessica sat down in a plush chair and Ty took his sniper, pistols and tomahawks off and put them on a shelf, he took his hood off and said "Alright so you and Haley are together and you haven't heard from her in a week and she told you if something would ever happen to her to find me right?" Jessica nodded and said "Yea she said that it probably wouldn't happen because you took out all the Blue Suns hunting her but she said someone might still come after her from them." Ty sat on his bed and crossed his legs and said "I hope she's alright the Blue Suns that were hunting her are all dead but Tarak might of heard I was helping her and sent people to get her." "What happened with you and the Blue Suns?" Jessica asked.

Ty smirked despite how bad things got, it was mostly so he didn't drown her with his own problems. _What didn't happen, killing innocents was a normal day for them_, Ty thought to himself but said "Bunch of assholes is what they are, I had worked with them for a while and it didn't turn out how they thought and now they are hunting me just like the Alliance." "Wait the Alliance is hunting you?" Jessica asked_. Oh wow she really doesn't know who I am and my legend, well at least some people don't know maybe there is hope for an innocent future...right that's never gonna happen. _"Yea I didn't do anything to them personally but my grandfather was an assassin and now I'm to be hunted and my children and their children and so on so forth...don't worry your safe and they'll never come looking for you. Where was Haley last I'll go look there first and see what I find." "She was on Freedoms progress visiting her mom…you think she'll be alright she wont be hurt or anything right?" Jessica asked. "If she is whoever did it is going to die a very gruesome death, she'll be fine though Haley can handle herself." Ty said.

Jessica nodded and Ty stretched out his back, speaking of going home he probably needed to get her back to her place where ever it was unless she decided to stay in one of the spare rooms, that could be safer, "So what do you wanna do, I can drop you off at your place or you can bunk here it's your choice." Jessica looked up and asked "Where would I sleep if I stayed here?" Ty shrugged and said "We got a lot of spare rooms here so you could pick one of those."

Ty saw a smile creep onto Jessica's face, what an intoxicating smile she had, full of mischief that could reel you in, Ty didn't allow himself to fall for it just yet not wanting to be the one to chase. "And if I didn't want to bunk in a spare room by myself?" Jessica asked. _Damn she is a feisty one_, Ty thought, _reminds me a lot of Haley in a way._ Ty smirked then said "We'd figure something out." Jessica bent over and unstrapped her heels and slid her feet out of them, Jessica stood up and walked over to Ty and sat next to him so their shoulders were slightly touching.

Ty couldn't help the smirk that continued to plaster over his face; she obviously was looking for a good time and believed to have found it in Ty. Ty looked at her with his smirk and said "So I take it you wanna share a bed tonight." "Depends on if I get top or bottom and if you trust me completely, if I get top and you do then yes if not then I'll just have to…persuade you to let me have top and trust me." Jessica said with a flirty smirk. There was one thing Ty couldn't wrap his head around and something he didn't want to do, wasn't she with Haley and if she was he didn't want to her to cheat on his friend with him of all people. "What about Haley?" Ty asked. "She told me if I had the chance to take it with as much force needed." Jessica said still smiling.

_Eh sounds like Haley that's for sure and if I'm wrong then I'm a complete fucking asshole who was thinking with the wrong head, damn it to hell if Haley said fine then fine it is otherwise she's going to jump on my shit for not taking the chance while I had it. I'm still curious to why she would date someone who looked similar to her…ah fuck it I'm giving myself a headache. _Ty turned himself completely towards her and she did the same but she wrapped her legs around his waist and sat on his lap, Ty put his hand up and his omni-tool popped up and he locked his door then it disappeared.

Jessica made the first move by going in for the kiss though still being a bit shy about it as she gave him a long kiss. They both let their tongues explore the others mouth and as they did Ty rubbed his hands up and down her arms letting his right hand slip behind her neck into her hair while the other ran his hand up her back slowly. They stopped for a second with Jessica at a loss for breath, "Is this you're way of making sure I go look for her?" Ty asked in a joking manor. Jessica smile as she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, she leaned her forehead on his and whispered "No but you just gave me even more motivation to show you what I can do."

Their next kiss had no shy hesitation, no slow beginnings. It burned with passion and hunger even before their lips touched; their tongues danced with each other only stopping to get each others tank tops off. After she got his off they continued their kiss as Ty picked her up and laid her down on the bed with him on top between her legs. Ty planted tender kisses down her neck and then down the rest of her torso eliciting slight moans and sighs when he reached certain tender spots on Jessica, she had a nice well toned body and she could work it to as Ty soon found out when she pushed him over onto his side and got on top. She wasn't kidding about the on top thing apparently.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Suns

**A/N: Me no own nothing Mass Effect, Bioware and/or E/A owns it, Me just nerd, they big business corporation nerds. One last chapter before joining Shepard fully so enjoy, comments, constructive criticism, praise are welcomed. Now onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Ty's mind wandered for the hour he slept through many of his past memories until finally he woke up, he opened his eyes and started to shake the grogginess he had from his mind trying to get a feel of how his body was and how he was positioned. It didn't take very long to feel the extra arms on his body and the legs intertwining with his left leg. The bare skin that was touching him reminded him of the pleasurable few hours he had shared with Jessica.

Despite just meeting each other they had a very passionate few hours together but most of all the times Ty had engaged in sexual activity it was passionate. The way she kissed and made love was all Ty needed to feel to understand she was a very passionate person. Ty looked at Jessica who was wrapped on his side, _damn that was a great few hours but I need to go and find Haley I've already wasted to much time relaxing my body for an hour_, Ty thought. He had been asleep only for an hour but had been with Jessica for three hours before that, he needed to get going.

Ty ran his fingers along Jessica's arm gently not to wake her but just to feel the contact, _Can't say I regret this yet but we'll see how it all plays out, either way Jessica is gonna make Haley a lucky woman_. Ty moved Jessica's arm off gently so he didn't stir her then he got out of bed. Ty grabbed his tank top and clam diggers off the ground and put them back on and then walked to his shelf and started putting all his gear on.

He grabbed his tomahawks and spun them in his hands then put them in their holders on his back so the handles were pointing up for him to grab easier he then put his dual heavy pistols in his side holsters then put his sniper horizontal on his back waist holster, Ty picked his shoes off the ground and sat on the edge of the bed and began putting them on.

As he got his last one on he felt movement on the bed and then felt a set of hands on both of his shoulders that then ran down his chest, "That was awesome just so you know." Jessica said. It was awesome but it wasn't just his doing it took both of them to make it awesome, "You were to, make yourself at home around here my dad and brother will probably be around also so don't be afraid to talk to them." Ty responded. Ty felt her lips place kisses on his shoulder then she rested her chin on it so he looked back, "Be safe Ty and please bring her back safely." Jessica said.

Oh did he plan on bringing Haley back safely, if anyone had hurt Haley they were going to suffer. Ty was going to bring her back no matter what he had to do to get her back, Ty turned his head back to her to say something but he forgot because Jessica planted a slow kiss onto his lips, they both smiled into the kiss before they parted Ty said "I promise I will, sleep a little longer for how much energy we expended you'll need it." Jessica smiled and said "True, see ya Ty." Jessica let go of him and Ty got off the bed and walked out his door.

Ty walked down into the docking area and saw his brother by his own space bike doing what looked like mechanic work. They looked similar but also were different but one thing they had that no one could take from them was their brotherhood. RBZ 4 Life was more than three letters a number and the word life, it meant Rhoddy Boyz for life, it meant that nothing, not women, not distance, not even time could break their bond that they shared. They could always rely on each other to be their no matter what shit storm got in their way and no matter what they'd stand side by side with one another, to the death if they had to.

"Z!" Ty yelled. His brother turned and saw Ty and he opened his arms as he said "Well looky looky who we got here, what you don't have any other place to bring your women." Ty smiled and gave his brother a hug as he got to him, "Nah she needs my help; remember Haley?" Ty asked. Z nodded and said "Yea I still have nightmares of hearing her moan as I walked by." Ty slapped his brother in the chest as he chuckled and said "Shut up asshole, well Haley and this girl Jessica are together and she hasn't heard from Haley in a while and Haley told her to contact me so now I'm going to Freedoms Progress to see if the Suns are behind it." "Wait those two are dating? And you just shagged her?" Z asked.

Ty shrugged on the outside but hearing his brother say it didn't help how he felt about it, he needed to focus on getting Haley then apologize to her if she cared, even if she didn't he felt the need to apologize. "Haley told her it was alright I guess so my conscious is clear…for the most part. Anyway I gotta go is Daddy still out killing?" "Yea he just called, told me to tell you if you left before he got back to stay safe and that he loves you." Z said. "Alrighty if I'm not back tonight tell him I love him and tell Jessica not to worry and that means I'm out finding Haley alright?" Ty asked. Z nodded and said "I got it, stay safe alright some colonies have been attacked out in the Terminus system so be on your guard, love you." Ty hugged him again and said "Love you too; kill more Suns when you go out." Z nodded and went back to his bike.

Ty got on his bike and his mask activated, he lifted off and started flying towards the relay, "Plot destination please Mr. Rhoddy." The VI said. "Freedoms Progress." Ty said. "Destination chosen prepare for mass jump." Ty hit the relay and jumped to Freedoms Progress, he decelerated as he came out and the VI said "Jump successful." "Gracias." Ty said. "De nada." The VI responded. _Gotta love multilingual VIs,_ Ty thought.

Ty flew down to the planet and set down on the landing pad, he got off and his mask retracted as he took a look around at the colony. There wasn't a soul in sight. "Well no welcoming committee, not a soul in sight and it's about as quiet as a haunted house when something is about to jump out at you. Come on Haley I know you left me a clue of what happened to you." Ty said as he walked down the stairs. Ty walked through a food court area and saw plates with food still on them, "Slavers leave a bigger mess than this, nothing is even stirred...this is weird." Ty said.

Ty walked through a few empty areas getting really weirded out by the emptiness when he found mechs destroyed on the ground, the place should have been full of colonists, he should have met someone at the landing pad and the fact that there was no one here but nothing stirred began to deflate his hope that Haley was indeed okay.

Ty knelt down next to the mech and checked it out, "The rounds that took this out are fresh for sure and this thing sure took a beating but who the hell did it, no one is even here." Ty said. _Only one way for me to find out,_ Ty thought as he closed his eyes and focused his mind on the mech. He felt the energy from it then he opened his eyes. His eyes turned completely purple and as he looked around he saw the past unfold around him, a squad of Quarians were blowing through the mechs each with an assault rifle or shotgun with what looked like a female leading them wearing a purple outfit and mask.

Ty stood up and looked around in his vision and saw the mechs getting destroyed by this squad, they were definitely either marines or special operations judging on the amount of fire power they had. Ty closed his eyes then opened them again disconnecting from the memory imprint around him and his vision became normal once again, "Well now I know a squad of Quarians was here kicking these mechs asses but why were they all the way out here on a human colony. This doesn't add up Quarians wouldn't just come with guns blazing for no reason and they obviously didn't take the colonists." Ty said. He looked around at the emptiness and said "Right no one here with me, explaining myself to the air."

Moving on from the mechs Ty found his way through more of the colony but still with no sight of any life at all, this brought his instincts that were telling him to get the hell out now to the forefront of his mind but he pushed on. Ty went through a door and as he looked around for people he saw the group of Quarians that he saw in the memory sitting at a table which made him stop and tilt his head to the side at how weird it was that there were living people on the colony besides him. When they saw him though they weren't as confused as him since they got up and aimed all their guns at him, not exactly the reaction Ty expected.

Instincts took over not allowing Ty to flinch as he pulled his pistols out and kept his guns trained on them, _stand off as long as no one shoots we'll all survive_, Ty thought. "Who are you?" The lead guy said. "Prazza I'm the one in charge I ask the questions." A Quarian woman said pushing the lead guys gun down.

The female Quarian turned and put her hand out trying to stop Ty from shooting but when she saw him her voice was full of shock as she asked "Ty is that you?" Ty noticed her voice immediately, _what the fuck_, "Tali? What are you doing here; you look a bit diff-" Ty was interrupted by Prazza "We aren't standing down not until we know he's not a threat." Prazza said.

Ty sighed inwardly, Ty hadn't seen Tali for a while and this guy was putting a wedge in-between them because he couldn't follow orders apparently, "I am a threat but not to you, or at least not as long as you don't pull your trigger." Ty said motioning to the Quarians gun with his head. Tali giggled a little as she said "You haven't changed at all, everyone stand down this man isn't a threat to us trust me."

The Quarians put their guns down and Ty spun his pistols in his hands then put them back in their holsters, Tali put her hands down and walked over to Ty and as she reached him she gave him a friendly hug which he reciprocated. He had missed Tali a lot, there weren't many people he could count on as friends anymore since most of his friends had been killed but the ones he had left were true friends like her.

After they let go of each other Tali asked "Ty did you just get here or have you been here the whole time?" Ty shook his head and said "Just got here, I'm here looking for someone but this place looks like a neat group of slavers came through. What are you doing here and what's with your cool new outfit?" "Oh! I finished my pilgrimage and got a new suit, it's tradition among my people. I'm glad you like it but as for why we are here there is a Quarian here on his pilgrimage and we are here to get him out but he panicked when he saw our ship and activated the mechs to attack us."

Ty nodded, the Quarian was obviously scared out of his mind by what ever had caused this so his response was reasonable if not a little extreme since it was a Quarian ship coming to help, "Any idea what happened here?" Ty asked. "Your guess is as good as mine but its something bad that's for sure. There isn't anything stirred but everyone is gone, it doesn't give me a good feeling at all." Tali said. Ty nodded in response as he started looking around; some of the stuff was moved like if there was a struggle so he asked "Did you guys touch that?" "No why?" Tali asked. "Just making sure when I look at what happened I won't see you guys moving it." Ty said.

Ty looked at it then closed his eyes and focused on the object feeling the energy from the memory with his mind, when he felt connected to it he opened his eyes again making them all purple allowing him to see the past unfold. Haley was sitting on the bench with a recorder in her hands, for Ty it was like watching a video with no sound because he wasn't looking to hear the voices he was looking to see what happened, if he wanted to hear it he would've focused on the memory more but for now he was just content seeing what happened. "She looks fine here but she's recording herself." Ty said. "What?" Tali asked.

Haley's head jolted up then she got out from the seat and started talking faster into the recorder, "Hold on something is going on." Ty said. Haley looked like she was worried but she also had on her tough face as she looked back at the area where Tali was standing. Ty followed the direction she was looking to where Tali and the others were standing but he saw Blue Suns aiming their guns at Haley, he looked back at Haley who threw the recorder at them and charged with her hand back. "Damn it girl that's not how I taught you to take them on." Ty said. "Ty what's with your eyes? They are completely purple." Tali said. Ty saw the Blue Suns beat Haley and then begin taking her away which infuriated Ty but he stayed calm seeing them leave the recorder on the floor, Ty closed his eyes disconnecting from the memory then opened them and saw it on the floor still, "Haha I knew she would leave something." Ty said.

Ty walked over and picked up the recorder, this held the answer to some of his questions but he wasn't sure what exactly those answers would bring him. No answers he gained anymore made sense but he knew he had to find her so he began to set out but as he did he felt Tali's hand grab his bicep gently as she stopped him "Hold on Ty before you do…well what ever you are doing why did your eyes turn purple completely?" Tali asked.

Ty put the recorder in his pocket, _how to explain this lovely rare condition, hmm this could be difficult._ Ty rolled around his thoughts trying to figure out exactly how to explain it when he asked "You know like how humans and aliens can have biotic powers?" Tali nodded and Ty continued "Well I developed some rare case of powers but it isn't a biotic ability, if I see something for example I saw a destroyed mech out there before I came in here if I close my eyes and take all my focus and put it into the mech my eyes will turn completely purple as you saw and I can see what happened to it. The mech got annihilated by all of you with assault rifles and shotguns, I can't hold it forever but I can hold it for enough time to see everything that happened to what I'm focusing on. Everything leaves an imprint of memory and through that I can see what happened."

Ty couldn't read what Tali was thinking due to the mask and she wasn't giving off any body language that gave him a definitive answer but he figured her thoughts were along the lines of that he was crazy, "That's an amazing talent Ty, how come you never shared that with me before?" Tali asked. Ty smiled and said "What was I supposed to say during the time we knew each other and when I was your prisoner "hey I can see past events." you'd just call me crazy anyway. I gotta go though and find who I'm looking for she's in grave danger." Tali chuckled and said "Still chasing after girls I see." Ty smirked and said "Only when they are in distress otherwise they come to me for help, its nice seeing you again Tali I hope we meet again sometime when neither of us are busy or being a prisoner." "Me to Ty, stay safe okay." Tali said. "I'll stay as safe as I can but you do the same." Ty said.

Tali nodded and as Ty walked out the way he came she said "If we get any more visitors I'll handle it Prazza, understood." As Ty was walking back he heard gun shots going off, _great more company_, Ty thought. Ty hit his cloak and hurried his pace up trying to get back to his space bike as quickly as possible. As he got closer he saw two familiar faces, not friendly faces but familiar, _Miranda and Jacob what an unpleasant surprise_, Ty thought, _I could kill them silen-._ Ty's train of thought was stopped by what he assumed at first was a ghost, _Shepard…but she wasn't supposed to be done for a while,_ Ty thought.

Ty saw that they were headed the way he just left and were taking out anything in their way, _guess it was who I ran into before on the Citadel, well Shepard will soon meet a ghost from her past when she sees Tali...I hope Cerberus hasn't done anything to make Shepard kill her otherwise I'll kill her in return, a life for a life._

Ty walked hastily to his space bike after he passed Shepard and took off his cloak, as he got to his bike he pulled out the recording that Haley left and started it, "Ty if your hearing this than that means Jessica found you and Tarak's Blue Suns found me and took me away, I don't know what he wants from me but they are here right now tearing this colony apart looking for me. Please hurry and find me I don't want them to kill me…shit there almost in here Ty please hurry and if anything happens to me look after Jessica she's my-" Their was a slam then it continued "Shit, hey assholes looking for someone."

There was another slam then the recorder went dead, Ty put the recorder in his pocket feeling a fire lit in him to get her back safely and kill Tarak once and for all but then he looked at his bike, _they no doubtly saw it and placed a tracker on it, lets see if we can find it,_ Ty thought. Ty closed his eyes feeling a new memory around it so he focused on it then reopened his eyes. Miranda, Jacob and Shepard were all around his bike checking it out, Ty walked around and saw Miranda sneakily stick something on the side of his bike so he closed his eyes and opened them and looked at the spot on his bike. There was a new piece on his bike that wasn't there before so he bent down and looked at it, _that's not a new accessory that's for sure,_ Ty thought, _better not break it since they are obviously looking for me but it's not staying on my bike._

Ty picked it off and put it in his pocket then got on his bike, they were searching for him for some reason and if they wanted to see him they were going to see him but it was going to be on his terms not theirs. Alliance and Cerberus members had been trying to find him and his family for years, now they found him and he was the only one they were going to find.

Ty started his bike up and his mask activated, he checked his dash for his fuel level and to see if there was any tampering but he was good so he lifted off and decided to go where he knew Tarak would be, the place where they first met and the place where he ordered the deaths of all his friends_, this is a ballsy move but it's the only way I can find Haley._ "Plot destination please Mr. Rhoddy." The VI said. Ty sighed and said "Omega." "Destination set prepare for mass jump." The VI said. _Tarak isn't going to take any more lives and if Shepard and Cerberus get in the way then I'll put them down too…they'll all pay one by one for the pain they caused,_ Ty thought.

**A/N: Oh forgot to mention up top but as for romance scenes go, I don't plan on getting really graphic into it, I'll probably stay along the lines of describing up to the point when anyone is about to engage in sex but then just time lapse it. Sex is easy to write but not everyone enjoys reading it and everyone has their own idea of how it should be so I will do my best to write it in a tactful manner and not go severely overboard. As for how the last scene was with him and Jessica with him engaging in what is basically adultery at this point in the tale, I do not condone it in any way shape or form but for those who are offended by it right now, sorry, in a future chapter we can all laugh at Tys expense of judging things before getting all the information. It isn't completely as it seems but I won't spoil more despite it not being a huge reveal, see you next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Recruitment

**A/N and Disclaimer: I do not own anything Mass Effect related, the universe and its characters are Bioware and/or E/As. The only thing I stake claim in is the personalities of Ty and his friends and family that are not actually apart of the Mass Effect Universe, I stake claim in that and playing Mass Effect through all three games multiple times…Yes I know nerd but hey I embraced my inner nerdism its really freeing…Okay anyway here is the next entry to Suicidal Odds, enjoy ****.**

Ty came out of his mass jump in Omegas cluster and decelerated from FTL speeds, despite the light headedness he had from Relay hopping he was pretty clear with his objective, find Haley and kill Tarak for everything he ever caused. This wasn't the first chapter to have shared the both of them in a fight to the death, but it was certainly going to be the last. The lives of all his friends were on Tarak's head and he was going to pay for it all, his associates would get theirs as well, one by one.

"Jump successful." The VI said bringing Ty out of his thoughts. "Thanks." Ty said. "You're welcome." The VI responded. Ty flew to his docking station again going as fast and safe as he could not wanting to lose more time. After he landed he got off his bike with his mask retracting as he did and he began walking towards the Afterlife club to talk to the one person who would know exactly where Tarak was and who owed Ty one any way.

Ty got into the club and walked the long way once again to Aria to dodge the Blue Suns recruiter for now, as he got to the stairs Anto stopped him by stepping in front of him earning a hard glare from Ty but not backing down in the slightest. "No one sees Aria unless she wants to see you." Anto said. Ty rolled his eyes, Anto was picking the wrong time to stand in his way, "Shut it Anto maybe you should try intimidating little children maybe they'll think your threatening, I need to talk to Aria right now and if you don't get out of my way I'll just go through you." Ty responded reaching his hand to his pistol. "Anto send him up." Aria said.

Anto motioned Ty towards the stairs and got out of his way but grumbled something about him being an asshole, Ty got up the stairs and Aria motioned him to sit down, "So much for not coming back soon." Aria said with a smile. He wasn't planning on coming back but necessity always got in the way of plans, especially his plans.

Ty sat down adjacent to her and said "I found a lead on what I was looking for and it brought me back here, listen Aria I know you don't care about the mercs here unless it affects you personally but I need your help and you know how unwilling I am about asking for help." Arias attention was now solely on Ty as she nodded and said "Alright Ty what's going on?" "Tarak the leader of the Blue Suns here and me go a little ways back if you remember correctly. He's either trying to get to me or is just pissed that some Blue Suns were killed because of a girl so he kidnapped the girl that caused him trouble and I've basically been contracted to find her, he's here on Omega but I need to know where exactly, can you help me?" Ty asked.

Aria smirked, not much different from the last smirk she gave him but this one was of pure enjoyment and satisfaction, "You're a hard man to read Ty. I thought I had you figured out but you change your game once again. I know where he is and I can give you his location but if I do we'll be even, got it." "Yea I got it." Ty said. Aria smiled again with pure satisfaction and said "Good to hear, Tarak is trying to kill Archangel and he even has started hiring freelancers to help him out. Him, the Bloodpack and Eclipse have also joined forces to kill Archangel."

Ty raised his eyebrows, _all three major power players on Omega working together…this Archangel guy is almost as good as me when it comes to pissing people off,_ Ty thought. Ty shook his head in shock as he said "Wow that's so unlike them all, I still remember fighting them all the time because Tarak hated them, did the stick get un-wedged out of his ass or something?" Aria chuckled a little at Ty, "Thanks Aria I hope I see ya again." Ty said. Ty went to stand up but was stopped by Aria grabbing his arm, the smile had disappeared. "Whoa whoa where in the hell do you think your going? You can't just attack them head on Ty you'll get yourself killed and who you're looking for killed."

Ty sighed, truth was he didn't plan on surviving he just wanted to get Haley out and if he died in the process he was fine with it. Nights of nightmares and regret poisoned his mind for eight years and the pain he that he had been left with was overwhelming on most days. His revenge was about the only thing keeping him going at this point but if he ended up dead because of it, he was ready for it…He had been for a long time. Ty looked at Aria and said "I don't got any better plan its not like I can join the freelancers by myself someone in the Suns will know me and turn me in, if not they'll just gun me down."

Aria shook her head in response, there was obviously something he didn't know, "They won't gun you down Tarak wants you to himself for what you did to him in Ortega. Near death experiences have a way of pissing people off when they don't die." Aria said. Ty smirked slightly, he had almost had him when his Suns finally made him divert his path and have to run.

Arias hand moved down to his hand and squeezed it, despite Aria being a badass she had a soft spot for Ty as he did her though it wasn't the same feeling he felt for Haley, Aria wasn't that soft. "Think before you just go in guns blazing I don't want to hear about someone finding your corpse out there. Go get a dance or get a drink up here. Think through what you are doing, you usually always find your way in." Aria said. Ty nodded as Aria retracted her hand "Thanks for the advice Aria." Ty said. "No problem, see ya around Ty." Aria said.

Ty got up and walked down the stairs to a booth at the bottom of Afterlife and sat down in it, _I gotta think of a way to get to Tarak that wont harm Haley, damn I miss it when things were easy and there wasn't a double edge to everything. If I could get him alone and beat the crap out of him until he told me what I needed to know then I could find her but there's no way that I would know if he was telling the truth unless I just rip the information from his mind…no no no that'll leave me unconscious. I could be taken prisoner and get to him that way but he might execute her before I break free, damn think me think._

An Hour Later on a Cerberus Facility

"Three things before you go Shepard, first I suggest you get the Salarian Scientist Mordin Solus on Omega, he may be able to find a way to counter act the Seekers and without that counter measure you won't be able to fight the Collectors." The Illusive Man said. "I haven't even started yet and you're giving me orders." Shepard stated. "I was giving you a suggestion; I know you'll make the smart decision." The Illusive man said.

Oh did he get under her skin, almost every word out of his mouth was like nails on a chalk board full of half truths or bullshit or just ordering her to do something like she worked for him. She was using Cerberus to defeat the Collectors, she was teaming with them to do it not working for them or becoming apart of them. "Okay what's the next thing?" Shepard asked. "The man you ran into on the Citadel if you haven't figured out is Tyler Rhoddy, grandson of the late Franklin Rhoddy and son of Tim Rhoddy." The Illusive man said.

_No shit I figured that out when he barged into me_, Shepard thought. She had gotten a glimpse of the tattoo on his left forearm which she had seen in the news a few times when they wanted to remind people to keep an eye out for them. Now she was supposed to recruit him but then that guy chased him down to the next floor completely ruining that idea. Then he was on Freedoms Progress somewhere but they didn't even see him and Miranda's tracer said he left, how was she supposed to recruit someone who moved around so quickly?

The Illusive Man took a drag of his cigarette then blew the smoke out, instinct told Shepard to wave the smoke out of her face then shove the cigarette down his throat for blowing smoke at her but instinct was overridden by the fact she was just a hologram to him as he was to her. "He has strong feelings against both the Alliance and Cerberus and I don't expect he'll be easy to convince but Miranda's tracer has traced him to Omega. A man of his skills would prove useful in the coming days." "I've heard of him though I'm not entirely sure having someone who hates my guts because of my origins watch my back is a good idea, not to mention he doesn't seem to stay in one place for very long." Shepard stated.

The Illusive man smirked at Shepard's statement, "That's an understatement, him and his family are on top of the Alliances and Citadels most wanted lists but their base of operations has yet to be found, none of my agents or the Shadow Brokers can find it and when they do appear its in places like the Citadel and Omega and sometimes Illium but they just walk around freely and leave. It wouldn't surprise me at all if most people out on the fringes of our colonies or even on other aliens worlds believe they are just a myth, most information held on them is just speculation there are only few instances where they can be tied to certain actions, they are about as close to living legends you can get." The Illusive man explained.

The Illusive man took a drink out of his glass filled with some type of alcohol, Shepard couldn't wrap her head around how most wanted criminals could walk about freely an unnoticed, their faces were plastered all across the extranet, most people should know their faces, or at least their tattoos but they got around freely. He'd definitely be useful if they could get him to join, "Living legend or not how trusting should I be?" Shepard asked. "He's dangerous Shepard make no mistake about that. He has the skill to find and kill anyone even people I thought were untouchable so anyone you care about is at risk. My sources say he has a bad temper as well which runs in the family but his anger changes him, so I'd say don't piss him off and watch your back." The Illusive man said. "Changes him?" Shepard asked. "I don't have any concrete data but rumors are that it's like he turns into someone else, may be rooted to the loss of his crew years ago." The Illusive man said.

Well that was news to Shepard, she didn't know he had a crew to begin with but if he lost his he was obviously unstable, she knew she would be if she lost hers. "He sounds really unpredictable, is he really worth the trouble?" Shepard asked. "Yes he is. I won't lie to you Shepard he is about as unpredictable as they come but that's what makes him a valuable asset along with his talent, you may need someone like him on your squad. But be warned Shepard he is more dangerous than they say so stay on your toes around him." The Illusive man said. She was going to be on her toes anyway but at lest she had a heads up on this guy, "I will, what's the last thing?" Shepard asked. "I found you a pilot, I hear he's one of the best someone you can trust." The Illusive man said as he shut down the comm.

Three Hours Later on Omega

Miranda and Mordin stopped at the stairs as Shepard walked up to Aria, Aria motioned for her to sit down adjacent to her so Shepard sat down on the couch again, recruiting Mordin had went well despite having to cure the plague but hey she was able to save that Batarian near the entrance, the two humans in their apartment and Mordin's assistant so over all it went great. Aria looked as she did before, mentally occupied and not looking for company from Shepard, she glanced over to her and asked "What do you need?"

Next on her to do list was getting the most wanted criminal, after speaking to the Illusive man she read over his dossier that she had been given, he had a crew of ten guys including himself but the Blue Suns had murdered eight of them somehow leaving Ty and his second in command alive. There were a few comments on things that it is thought he did and accounts from people who had personally met him and were saved by him in some way shape or form. All spoke of highly of him which contradicted everything Shepard had heard of before and after speaking to the Illusive man, a lot of the Alliance put out propaganda about his family to get more people to help hunt him which meant everything Shepard had ever heard was bad.

Shepard leaned forward as she asked "I'm looking for Tyler Rhoddy, do you know him?" Aria smiled for a second, there was a hint of what seemed like joy in Arias eyes, she definitely knew him. "I know a lot about him and he knows a lot about me, why?" Shepard raised an eyebrow at her response, Miranda's tracker had his location but it didn't specify where he was on Omega just somewhere there.

Shepard couldn't shake the feeling that Aria wasn't about to give up his location, "I'm looking to recruit him for my mission, I've heard he's valuable in a fight." Shepard said. Arias smile stayed, Shepard may have just met her but she had yet to see her so fond of someone, "You heard very well, he is an expert in close quarter hand to hand fighting along with an expert at using his signature tomahawks. Throwing them or fighting with them people usually end up dead, he also likes to dual wield pistols and use a sniper rifle which he is very good at doing." Aria said. "What else do you know about him, is he mentally stable? I heard he may have a bad temper?" Shepard asked.

Aria laughed this time, it was in a mocking manor not a cheery one though like she should have known better or something, "Bad temper? That's an understatement if I've ever heard one. He doesn't take to kindly to people who disrespect him or threaten his family, and you better pray he doesn't see you hurting an innocent, especially if they are Quarians."

Quarians? Innocents? Were they talking about the same guy? Aria leaned forward and said "I respect him to much to divulge those details though, his temper and the reasons behind it isn't my story to tell that is his; he's mentally sound and a good guy. Worked for me loyally for six months and now does it on and off when I have work that only he can do. He's loyal to anyone he promises his loyalty to, well unless it breaks his code." "Code?" Shepard asked. "He lives by a code that revolves around respect, honor, loyalty, family, and not hurting civilians, he doesn't break it for anyone and that includes me."

Now he has a code, Aria was pushing what Shepard could believe. Aria smiled again though and continued "He's always intrigued me; he's as likely to charm a woman as he is to kill someone without second thought in public." Now that sounded like him. "Any idea where he is?" Shepard asked. Aria stayed silent contemplating her answer until she said, "Yea he's down in the bar trying to figure some stuff out, be careful he's on a mission of his own and isn't in a good mood, if you want his help your going to need to help him." Aria said. _That isn't much of a change, story of my life really,_ Shepard thought. "Thanks for the information." Shepard said as she stood up. "I'm sure he knows your coming, nothing ever gets past him." Aria said.

* * *

Ty had been thinking for four hours while still sitting in the booth thinking of what to do when he started hearing a confrontation at the bar, "Who's next Turians, you gonna start poisoning them next because you don't like them." Ty looked up and then there was a gun shot, _the fuck is going on, _Ty thought. Before Ty could figure it out he saw two Blue Suns members walk by him towards the exit, _and there is my information hub,_ Ty thought as he got out of the booth. He started following them into the back ally when one of them spoke up, "So I heard from Tarak and he wants to move that bitch somewhere else." One of the Suns said. _That bitch? Oh you are going to pay for that,_ Ty thought. "Any idea why he's keeping her alive?" The other asked. "Yea you know that one guy who worked for the Suns and grew a conscious, she's a friend of his so Tarak figures use her to get to him but now since Archangel is creating a ruckus he wants her moved so he doesn't get attacked on two fronts." The first guy said.

_Grew a conscious, grew a fucking conscious! Oh that's it!_ Ty pulled out his tomahawks and said "Hey assholes the Blue Suns are a bunch of pussies." Ty took a step forward and as the second guy turned around Ty's tomahawk left his hand and hit him square between the eyes. Before the other could pull out his gun Ty threw his tomahawk at the guys foot making it impale on it, the man fell to the floor and whimpered in pain so Ty walked up to him and said "So lets find out what more you know about Tarak's plans."

Ty ripped his tomahawks out of both bodies and started dragging the guy by his foot into the market area, Ty dragged him all the way to a ledge that some people were leaning on and said "If you don't want to die you'll leave us alone." The people took notice of his gear and tattoos and nodded before walking away casually, Ty picked the guy up by his throat and examined him, the man was human and was whimpering in pain about his toes but had anger written in his eyes, Ty didn't care he could out anger anyone, probably not a good trait but it was true. Ty squeezed the mans throat a little cutting off some air flow and said "Shut it you bitch now you're gonna tell me what I want to know or I'm going to send you on a free fall to your death, understand."

The man didn't seem to hear him either that or he was ignoring him so Ty rolled his eyes and head butted the guy hard in the face, "Ow you asshole you broke my nose." The man said in pain as blood began pouring out. "That's just one of the hundreds of bones I can break, now listen up before I decide to break all your bones for shits and giggles. Where is Tarak hiding my friend?" Ty asked. "Up shit creek you fucking asshole." The man said.

They never took the easy way out, granted Ty figured he wouldn't but he had hoped that the guy would've been smart enough to realize that his reputation was not fairy tales. "Remember this is your own fault." Ty said. Ty dropped the man to his feet then grabbed his arm and twisted it so his elbow was facing him making the man bend over, "One last chance, where?!" Ty asked. "Up your ass and to the left, you aint getting shit from me." The man said. Ty kicked the mans knee hard breaking it and making him fall to his knees then he followed it up by breaking his arm, the man screamed in agony but was cut off by Ty kneeing him in the face.

As the man screamed more attention was brought to Ty and so were more Blue Suns, "Hey you get your hands where we can see them." Ty turned around slowly and saw five Suns aiming assault rifles at him, _not the worst odds, cloak and tomahawk time_, Ty thought. "Really do you know who I am, you pull that trigger and not only will my family hunt you down and kill you but your leader will to, I'm Tyler motherfucking Rhoddy assholes."

The two Batarians smirked obviously thinking about the rewards they thought they would get to cash in, the three humans looked at each other in a bit of shock then one gained his courage back and said "Alright get your hands up and we'll take you to our leader so he can kill you for what you're doing." The guy Ty was interrogating was screaming in agony still and hadn't moved so Ty just smirked and said "What him he aint nothing to Tarak, trust me I should know."

The mercs looked at each other and continued aiming at him, Ty saw Shepard with Miranda and a Salarian walking towards him so Ty started putting his hands up slowly and said "Hey no need for hostility let me just give you something real quick." Before anyone said anything Ty hit his cloak and disappeared, the mercs started looking around cursing each other for not shooting him but then Ty reappeared with his tomahawks in his hands behind them and started attacking.

Ty hit one of the Batarians in the side with his right tomahawk then spun and hit the other with his other tomahawk in the head, Ty pulled them out and kicked one of the humans in the gut then brought his tomahawk down into his skull and left it there, he turned around and punched a human who was about to attack him in the face then brought his tomahawk into his chest piercing his armor and killing him. Ty killed the wounded Batarian by stamping on the back of his neck then he saw the last merc running for his life so Ty took a step and aimed then released "Oh no you don't!" Ty yelled.

The tomahawk spun through the air and pierced the human in the back of the head making him fall dead right in front of Shepard, Ty pulled his tomahawk out of the other humans skull then walked back over to the guy he was interrogating, "Alright asshole you got one last chance before I kill you either answer my fucking question or get ready for a painful death." Ty said as he lifted up the man by his throat. "Alright alright all I know is that Tarak is moving her to a Blue Suns facility out of this system I don't know where or when but she's no longer here, just let me go man." The man said.

Ty let go of the merc and the man fell to the ground, he was already behind and now they were moving her that plummeted his luck from nil to none existent. Ty started walking away and as he did Shepard met him face to face with his tomahawk in her hand, "This belongs to you." Shepard said kind of sarcastically with a smirk. "Yea it does." Ty stated as he took it.

Anger seeped into the pores of Ty's soul moving his body in a way that was deadly for the living mercenary, Ty pulled out his other tomahawk and turned around and threw both at the wounded merc, the first hit his chest and the second impaled into his skull, "GODDAMMIT!" Ty yelled into the air, she was gone and he was now behind on finding her trail, it would get cold if he didn't find a way back on it quick.

Ty walked back to the merc and ripped out his tomahawks then put them away on his back holders. Ty looked at the mercenary again as blood came out of his skull, Ty's anger surged again thinking about Haley being tortured at the hands of the Suns so he kicked the dead merc in the face as hard as he could leaving a foot imprint. He shook his head in disbelief at the predicament, _how could I have allowed this to happen, I told her I would look out for her, how did I not hear about them going after her until now?_ Ty began walking back towards Shepard as he pulled out Miranda's tracker, he grabbed Miranda's hand forcefully and dropped the recorder in it then pushed her hand away as he said "Next time you place a tracker I won't be so kind to return it." "How'd you-" Miranda was cut off by Ty pushing past her and starting to walk away.

He didn't have time for whatever they wanted, Haley needed him now and nothing they'd say would change that. Ty got about three steps away when his arm was grabbed and he was spun around, _wrong fucking move,_ Ty thought. As he spun around he pulled his pistol out in a fluid motion and aimed it at Shepard's forehead who was the culprit of turning him around. Shepard's squad pulled out pistols of their own and Shepard was standing there now with an agitated look.

Getting a gun in ones face didn't ever lead to sunshine's and butterflies so the agitated look was understandable but Ty was in no mood for understanding, "Don't give me that look I am not in the mood. A good friend of mine has her life in danger and if I don't find her she's as good as dead, not to mention that she's about to be moved and I have no idea where so you'll have to excuse me for not being in the exact mood to talk." Ty glared through her and into her Miranda's eyes and then the Salarian's, he could take them if he needed to but he brought his glare back to Shepard as he asked "What the fuck do you want last I checked I didn't answer to Alliance or Cerberus and if you're here to collect me then get ready for death."

Shepard had on the default N7 armor dark grey and red and had a shotgun on her back along with a grenade launcher and two pistols one heavy and the other a machine pistol. She had long black hair that went down past her shoulders but stopped before the middle of her back, she had round eyes and thin eyebrows with dark vibrant blue eyes. She had high cheek bones and nicely shaped lips that were accented by scars on that had a slight orange glow to them. She was pretty but Ty wasn't in a flirtatious mood especially with a former Alliance now working with Cerberus woman. From what Ty had read she grew up a spacer but when she was on the planet called Akuze she lost all of her squad being a sole survivor, no one escaped from something like that unscathed, Ty knew from personal experience.

Shepard seemed to lighten up a bit as she crossed her arms a little and shifted her weight to her right leg, she looked him up and down, no doubtly comparing him to the vids she probably had seen from the Alliance, she finally said "Alright I'll lose the agitated look but how about you lower the gun." "Why should I?" Ty asked. Shepard smirked a little and said "Lower the gun and you'll find out, besides if you weren't interested in what I had to say you would've shot already."

True statement but Ty just stared at her for a few more seconds then lowered his gun slowly watching the Ice Queen and the Salarian do the same, he needed to get moving but obviously Shepard wasn't going to let him go without talking to him for whatever her reason was. "You've acquired a few minutes of my time so tell me what you want and I'll go." Ty said. "I just have a few questions first being why you nearly knocked me down at the Citadel and why you were on Freedoms Progress." "I'm sure Miranda can tell you why it happened at the Citadel." Ty said bitterly. "You know each other?" Shepard asked looking at Miranda. "He infiltrated my facility looking for information on you and your squad and we caught him. As for why he nearly knocked you over it's because the man chasing him was a Cerberus officer, two were trying to catch him and get him on the Normandy since he willing admitted to not working with us." Miranda said.

Ty smirked, he hoped those bastards had gotten arrested or shot down for chasing him, "Good memory and Freedoms Progress was the same reason I'm here which is to find my friend; she was on Freedoms Progress before the Blue Suns captured her." Ty said. "That colony was abducted by Collectors any chance of your friend being alive is gone." Miranda said coldly.

The need to put a bullet between her eyes became almost overpowering as Ty glared at her; Shepard took notice of his look and muttered under her breath "Smooth Miranda." Ty pointed at her and raised his voice as he said "Shut it you premodanna princess bitch you don't know what you're talking about or who my friend is. She is alive and she was abducted by the Blue Suns, besides if the Collectors did abduct them then it was after she was gone."

Miranda was shocked at what Ty called her and Shepard and Mordin had slight smirks as Shepard responded, "How are you sure of it?" "I found a recording she left me in one of the rooms where I met some Quarians, Tali'Zorah being one of them, I heard the struggle and she told me they were there for her and if that wasn't enough I saw it happen." Ty said.

Shepard seemed to perk up hearing Tali's name which told Ty that his friend was still alive but she gave him a weird look and asked "Saw it happen? I thought you weren't there…or are the stories true about you being able to see the past?" "Stories? Is that what they call it now? Well that's fucking Cerberus and Alliance for you never want to admit the truth always hide behind bullshit and lies using it as smoke and mirrors to the truth like when they killed my grandfather. I can see past events if I focus on it, it is a rare power and I'm one of two with it but I have it and I was able to legitimately see her taken away."

Images from the memory flashed into Ty's brain seeing Haley getting kicked and punched by the mercenaries, it chilled his blood making him want to kill every Blue Sun he saw. "Who's the other person who has it and how do you know Tali?" Shepard asked. "My brother has it and as for me and Tali we have known each other for seven years and the rest is none of your business, next question." Ty said. Shepard nodded slightly though Ty could see questions lurking in her eyes; this was getting drawn on to long, "So your friend was captured by the Blue Suns?" Shepard asked.

Well she finally made it back on subject, Ty felt the urge to clap slowly but he fought back the urge and said "Ding ding you got it their leader Tarak has her and is going to move her since Archangels giving him so much trouble and he wants to get under my skin, next." "How do you plan on getting to her or Tarak?" Shepard asked. "One of three ways, one I shoot every motherfucking Blue Suns member between me and him and hope he doesn't kill her or B I get captured by them and hope he doesn't kill her before I get loose or three be patient and find the vessel she's being transferred to, go in get her and blow it to motherfucking smithereens." Ty said. The Salarian grabbed his chin and said very quickly "First two very unlikely judging on the Blue Suns reactions at my clinic, last one very possible." "Thank you for the expert opinion, honestly though I gotta go and make my decision and judging on my irritation at Tarak right now I'm leaning towards option A, I'll see ya around, actually I probably won't." Ty said.

Before Ty could leave Shepard said "What if I helped you, we have to go get Archangel and we are signed as freelancers you could come with us and go after Tarak." Ty chuckled, _working together with Cerberus and Shepard, rrrriiiggghhhttt_, Ty thought but said "And blow your operation completely I don't think the princess would approve." Ty really liked that new nickname; Miranda looked less than pleased by it. "You could feign a negotiation and get him to tell you where she is then we get Archangel and kill Tarak." Shepard said.

_She really wants me on this squad_, Ty thought for a second and said "I've been around for twenty three years and been on the run for all twenty three of them from the Alliance. I've been backstabbed, I've lost more friends than I want to remember and have been almost killed more times than I can count. I've been around you could say." Shepard chuckled slightly at Ty's last comment but then he continued "I know when someone's trying to get me to join them for something, what is this really about Shepard I don't have the power to read minds." Shepard stood up straighter as she said "The Collectors are abducting human colonies and I'm putting together a squad to take the fight to them, they say it's a suicide mission and it's impossible but I plan on walking away from it. You're a skilled marksman, a skilled fighter in hand to hand combat along with being an expert tomahawk thrower and fighter and your life on the run has strengthened you for any fight, I need you on my squad." Shepard said.

Ty laughed a little to himself, he had never heard so much flattery about his skills definitely from someone in the Alliance, then again he never met anyone in the Alliance so she could have just been blowing smoke up his ass, Ty shook his head a little and said "I didn't need all that flattery about my skills but thanks anyway…I'm probably not as good as they say I am in my dossier." "I disagree." Mordin said. "Me to." Miranda said. _Hmm was that respect for my skills? Nah she's just trying to help recruit me, _"Okay I guess I am but I promised that I'd bring my friend back to another friend and I plan on doing that and as entertaining as your mission sounds full of danger and going around killing people I keep my promises and I'm not going to leave my friend to die. That might be Cerberus's gig but it isn't mine." Ty said. "I'll help you find her if you join my squad, we need you Ty." Shepard said.

_If I join this suicide squad I could save Haley and finish out the mission and cut loose before Cerberus or Shepard gets the Alliance on me…may do some good for once._ "Do I have to answer to the princess because I don't answer to Cerberus…ever." Ty said. "You're on my squad and you answer to me and no one else." Shepard said. Ty nodded, that was fine, Shepard was Alliance but at least she wasn't Cerberus, that was a little more acceptable. "Alright I'll join but only because I need help finding my friend, after I find my friend I'll stay with you until the job is finished and then I'm gone I promise that." Ty said. Shepard nodded and put her hand out for him to shake, Ty looked at it at first not wanting to but if he was going to be apart of a crew instead of leading it he had to be a team player, Ty shook her hand getting a firm shake from her. "Alright lets head to back to the Normandy so I can refill on ammo then we'll go get Archangel." Shepard said. Ty nodded and followed them as they walked "Oh and I'm bringing my bike with me onto your ship even though you have a shuttle." Ty said with a smile. "Great." Miranda said dryly.

**A/N: Next up on the list is an actual mission from the game, recruiting none other than everyone's favorite Turian, he likes long walks on the Palavens moon and paints Reaper blood on the walls and ground for a living, any takers? If I was fem Shep I'd bang him…hmmm that was out loud wasn't it, ah who am I kidding I actual did do that play through so in an essence I did bang him…that sounded much worse didn't it. Hmm anyway moving away from banging Turians a little explanation to Tys powers, well more of it will be revealed as the story goes on but I'd like to point out that it is what Javik and the protheans did but mixed with *spoilers redacted* but despite that when I originally wrote chapters 1 – probably around 30 or 40 it was about two years ago and I had yet to know anything about Javik or the protheans in general except they were wiped out and Vendetta was on Thessia before Cerberus stole it so when I finally got the dlc and Javik did the whole memory thing by touching Shepard I went all fan boy because I didn't know it existed and I was able to give a better explanation of it in my story aside from, it happened. Anyway I will see you next time, comments, constructive criticism, praise, all welcomed and appreciated so do not be afraid I do not bite. Just let me know how I'm doing, granted I know these beginning chapters are slow but it all picks up once aboard the Normandy. Until next time.**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Archangel

**A/N/Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Mass Effect universe, Bioware and/or E/A do. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co that are not apart of the actual universe. Now onto the next chapter of Suicidal Odds.**

Shepard was restocking on ammo as Ty leaned against the counter that went around the Galaxy map as he waited for her. He felt eyes on him from every direction but then again he was on a Cerberus ship which meant he was in enemy territory for the most part. One set of eyes had been boring into the back of his head since he got on, the red head next to the terminal had been trying to catch his gaze for a while but he had been able to ignore it up to this point. He couldn't take the feeling of someone boring into the back of his head so he turned and looked at the red head who quickly averted her gaze to the terminal in front of her.

Before she had looked down Ty caught a hint of fear in her eyes, he had earned that fearful reputation but it didn't make him feel any better to be able to scare some innocent woman with a turn of his head_, if I'm going to work with Shepard I have to be a team player,_ Ty reminded himself. "So who are you?" Ty asked.

The red head perked up bringing her attention to him again, she had a sliver of hope in her eyes but for why it was there Ty wasn't completely sure. "I'm Yeoman Kelly Chambers but you can call me Kelly." Kelly said. "Alright Kelly what do you do on this ship?" Ty asked. "I keep track of everyone on this ship and inform Shepard about them, I watch everyone's emotional health on the side to make sure that Shepard knows if they need to talk to her, I take it you are Tyler Rhoddy?" Kelly asked. Ty smirked slightly as he thought, _she's a psychologist and she's working for Cerberus, did the Illusive man ever think of taking a psych exam himself. Maybe he'd realize how fucked up he is. _"The one and only but call me Ty, you enjoy your job being a people person and working for Cerberus?" Ty asked. Kelly nodded and said "What can I say I'm a people person and as for Cerberus they aren't as bad as people say."

Ty chuckled, _aren't as bad as people say my ass, you obviously got the fluffy side of things since the Illusive man read you like a book._ "Tell that to my dead grandfather." Ty stated a bit colder than he wanted. The woman didn't deserve his anger, she was probably about the only innocent Cerberus member there was because of how oblivious she was but that wasn't her fault, the Illusive man was a master of smoke and mirrors. "If I may ask, what brings you on this mission if you hate Cerberus?" Kelly asked. "A friend of mine was kidnapped and Shepard offered to help me if I helped her, I'll stay around until this is over but my friend is the main reason I'm here." Ty said. "I see, so you go around rescuing friends for a living?" Kelly asked with a smile trying to lighten the mood.

_I wish I had been able to rescue my friends, _Ty thought but didn't voice it for the woman's sake. That and he didn't want her to pick at his brain. "I'm a big game hunter, big game being the Blue Suns at least. I've spent the last eight years hunting those who betrayed me by taking everything they had, business, friends, associates, any one who wasn't innocent and were close to those men and women have been taken care of." Ty said.

Kelly gave Ty a weird look, a well deserved look since Ty had said that all calmly without even blinking but just like all those who weren't used to the life Ty was born to, Kelly wouldn't understand it, understanding wasn't easy Ty had no delusions of that. "Do you enjoy killing people?" Kelly asked. Ty shrugged and said "Depends, I don't get a warm feeling from just killing someone, but when I have my revenge finally I think I will enjoy killing the people who caused me so much pain. Years of torment will be crammed into a few minutes for them. Before you ask I know this is not normal or good, I have no delusions of what I do, I know its bad but don't let it fool you just 'cause I kill people doesn't mean I'm not a nice guy, just don't backstab me or betray me and we'll be friends."

Kelly nodded slightly gauging everything he had just said no doubt so she could give Shepard a review of what she thinks of him but that was fine, there was some things that were better getting out of the way early. To Ty's surprise though Kelly's lips turned upwards slightly as she said "Nice to know there's a soft side under all of your violence." _Soft side? I think I can hear all my friend's spirits laughing in hysterics right now…soft side? _"I wouldn't call it my soft side but…I don't really know what I'd call it but soft side, I'm not so sure I have one of those anymore." Ty said as he rubbed the back of his hood to rub his head in confusion.

Kelly laughed lightly at Ty's confusion and comment but before she could say anything Shepard and Miranda came out of the elevator, _you just had to bring her along didn't you,_ Ty thought, _this better not lead to one of those trying to get people to bond moments._ "Oh so you're bringing the princess to see me in action?" Ty asked sarcastically. Miranda rolled her eyes; she really didn't like that nickname. "Really, Shepard you sure we should bring him?"

The attempt to get him to be sidelined on the mission was a very bad idea Ty thought, definitely since they were supposed to watch each others backs and he was feeling like letting her watch her own right now. "Hey I have to "negotiate" with Tarak so she is bringing me along, if you don't like it stay here." Ty said. "Alright you two that's enough bickering we have a job to do so lets do it and try not to kill each other." Shepard said with a smirk on her face. Ty nodded slightly let Miranda and Shepard walk ahead of him so he didn't have to walk next to the Ice Queen.

After getting through the airlock and back onto Omega Shepard, Ty and Miranda walked up to the Batarian who was leaning against the transport and Shepard said "We're on the mission." The Batarian than said "I hope you're ready, Archangel has been annihilating you free lancers." "Ready when you are." Shepard said. The Batarian stepped forward and said "Get in." _What a cheery fellow,_ Ty thought. Everyone got in and they flew to the location to find Archangel, as the shuttle landed they the doors opened allowing Ty to get out first, he turned back around to see Miranda's hand reaching out to the seat to pull herself out so he grabbed her hand and helped her out, "Thanks I didn't know you could be a gentlemen." Miranda said. "No problem I had the same misconception about you thinking you couldn't be an ice princess." Ty said shot back. "Girls." Shepard scolded. "She started it." Ty retorted.

Shepard smirked slightly as she got out but then another Batarian came into view and said "About time they send me someone who looks like they can fight, they tell you what we are up against?" _Hmm is that Salkie_, Ty thought. "Just tell me where to go." Shepard said. "Archangel is held up in the building at the end of the boulevard over there he's got a superior position and the only way to it is to go over a very exposed bridge, it's a killing ground, but he's getting tired, making mistakes, we'll have him soon enough." The Batarian said. "I'll get to him; just point me to that bridge." Shepard said. "I like your attitude but we have a plan in place, you'll be on a distraction team, head straight over the bridge and keep Archangel busy until the infiltration team can sneak behind him."

Ty didn't like that plan, he signed up for Shepard's suicide mission not to be cannon fodder for the Blue Suns again, before he could shut his own mouth he said "That's gonna be suicide dude what the hell." "Pretty much you look like you can handle it, hey do I know you?" The Batarian asked. Ty smirked, _definitely Salkie_, "No I'm not even from here I grew up as an Eskimo on Earth." Ty responded casually and it almost seemed truthful. Salkie nodded like he knew what an Eskimo was and said "Oh alright head up to the boulevard and go to the third barricade and talk to Sargent Kathka he'll tell you when to go in." "I better go find Sargent Kathka then." Shepard said. "Good idea, watch yourself on the boulevard Archangel has killed dozens out there already." Salkie said then walked away.

_This is gonna suck,_ Ty thought. "Getting in isn't going to be a problem but getting out won't be easy." Miranda said. "This sounds like a real blasty blast if you ask me." Ty joked "Lets find him first then we'll worry about getting back." Shepard said. Ty and Miranda followed Shepard towards where ever Kathka was with Ty doing his best to hide his face and tattoo from every Blue Sun he noticed. "I have to ask, why Eskimo?" Shepard asked. Ty laughed out loud gathering some attention to himself but he didn't care because it was funny, "Because we knew each other but he didn't recognize me so I used something I know he wouldn't know…that and it was funny." "You are so childish." Miranda said. "Thank you." Ty said while laughing.

Shepard, Miranda and Ty walked around sabotaging a giant mech and talking to the leaders of the other groups, thankfully no one noticed Ty at all and didn't notice Shepard taking information about the three merc groups teaming up to take down Aria or hacking into rooms where they weren't supposed be. Despite Ty's inner self telling him to gun down the Blue Suns he held back as they walked into the Blue Suns main operations room against Archangel. _Moment of truth, death to all or negotiation,_ Ty thought. "Get this free-lancer outta here; I don't have time for this shit." Tarak said without looking up.

Ty was surprised by the quick negative reaction but that was just Tarak in general when things weren't going his way, "What's your problem?" Shepard asked. "You, get…get this scum out of my face." Ty shook his head as he pulled out both of his pistols and stepped forward and said "Tarak you still have that stick wedged in your ass I see, did Archangel piss in one of your eyes or are you just that excited to see me again?" Everyone in the room froze except Shepard and Miranda who were both slowly getting ready for a fire fight, "Ty?" Tarak asked. "In the flesh asshole." Ty said with a smirk. "What are you waiting for get your guns on them!" Tarak yelled.

Before anyone got their guns out Ty activated a sabotage program that jumped to Jentha first and then scattered quickly through all of the Blue Suns hitting all of their weapons, Ty lifted his pistols up to aim at Jentha and Tarak and said "Your little toys are broken so I'd suggest you don't try it, Tarak you know I have a quicker trigger finger you all will be dead before any of you even get your hands on your guns but if you want to call my bluff go ahead but I'd be ready to embrace death." Tarak looked at his crew and ordered "No one do anything stupid or I'll skin you all alive." Everyone stayed still and Tarak said "Alright Ty you obviously aren't here to kill me or you would've done it already, what do you want and when did you start working for so little?"

Shepard looked at Ty, her look was full of shock but mixed with an impressed but agitated look, the agitation was at the Suns that Ty could tell, "You know this asshole Ty?" Shepard asked. Ty put his guns away and said "We worked together for a few years, since when do you hide like a bitch behind your mercs." Ty asked back at Tarak. Tarak looked really stressed out as he leaned forward on his terminal, "It's Archangel he's trying to kill me, almost did already." Tarak said_. I think I like this Archangel guy more already_, Ty thought. Ty stepped forward and said "Well aint that a shame, alright Tarak I'm not going to kill you as long as you answer my question." "What is it I have shit to do?" Tarak asked.

Tarak knew he was beat, Ty could see the look in his eyes that he was all out of moves right now and that was a look Ty wished he could have savored with him at the end of his barrel. He caused all his pain but he had to negotiate with him for Haley's sake, "You have a friend of mine prisoner, if you tell me where she is and let me take her alive I will solve your Archangel problem…if not I'll pull my guns out and kill you all where you stand." Ty said casually. Tarak smirked, now he had some sort of leverage, or at least Ty was pretty sure that's what he believed though he was far off. "Interesting proposition, alright I'll give you her location but only after you kill Archangel." Tarak said. Ty chuckled and said "Tarak the negotiator, always trying to get the deal in your favor." Ty spied a Blue Sun grabbing for his gun so he pulled out his pistol and shot the guy in the foot, the guy screamed as he fell to the floor, "I warned you asshole." Ty stated. Tarak became enraged as he yelled "I swear if any of you fucking move I will kill you where you stand! Don't even fucking breath!"

Ty and Tarak shook their heads at the merc holding his foot on the floor, the only thing in common Ty and Tarak had was a low tolerance for stupidity, "Anyway where were we, oh right Tarak the negotiator. Tarak you don't realize how this is going to work yet, you can give me her location now and I'll solve your problem or you don't and I will kill you all and find where she is in your servers, think Tarak I can solve this little issue for free just for the girl you kidnapped." Ty said.

Tarak leaned forward on the console and said "Dammit Ty why can't you ever just do as your told, fine she's at the facility we have on the planet Illium but you better take out Archangel otherwise I'll have her killed you understand." Ty nodded and said "As long as you know that if you double cross me again after I'm done with Archangel that I will kill you." Ty pointed at Tarak then moved his finger towards the group of Suns around the guy on the floor "Them, and every other Blue Sun that exists, you will not be able to out run me and you will never be able to hide so keep that in mind Tarak." Tarak nodded and said "You'll get her alive as long as you fulfill your end of the bargain, look Ty I gotta deal with this shit and who knows maybe you'll surprise me and solve my problem for me." Tarak said. "You know that I never break promises." Ty said, _I never promised I wouldn't backstab you asshole, and the very thought of solving your problem sends chills down my spine._

Shepard, Ty, and Miranda walked out, both looked at Ty slightly in awe of what had happened. "Nice negotiating you got him to tell you what you wanted." Miranda said. Ty nodded at the compliment thought he wasn't sure of how truthful Tarak was, "True he did tell me something but his word doesn't mean shit. I gotta look it up after we are done here since there's surly more than one facility on Illium which means I'll owe Aria one." "Is that bad?" Shepard asked. "Depends on who you are, for me it isn't anyone else you bet your ass it's bad." Ty said. "Why not for you?" Miranda asked.

That was about as privileged as information got and Ty wasn't going to spill that story any time soon, "Long story and we gotta get Archangel out, come on lets get going." Ty said. Shepard nodded and led them through the door back into the room that the apartment had eye sight on and bullets flying in both directions. Archangel had done a good job holding out but he had lost his crew to betrayal, something Ty and him shared, and wasn't going to last much longer if they didn't get to him soon. There was a guy taking cover behind a wall so Shepard walked up to him and said "I'm looking for Sargent Kathka." The guy nodded and said "You and me both, he's over there working on the gunship." The man pointed towards the other side of the field which meant a run through all the bullets and continued "Go talk to him if you want I'm in no hurry." The guy said.

Ty looked over and only saw bullets flying towards them, _great I can't even see where the bullets are coming from and we're on this guys side, what is it with me and getting into situations like this all the time._ "Why don't you go get to him?" Shepard asked. The man gave her an angered face and said "Because I'm not stupid, this assault is damned dangerous." Shepard nodded but then a shot blasted her shields though they didn't take them down, _did that asshole just shoot at us, _another shot rang out this time taking Shepard's shields down_, he did! We are here trying to save his ass and he just shot at us! _

Shepard pushed by the guy and they jogged over to the gunship with out any more shots hitting them which Ty was thankful for since he didn't have shields, shields are for pussies, take a round like a man was Ty's saying though he was sure it wasn't something smart to live by but he had done a great job at not getting shot…for the most part. They got to the other side and Shepard looked at the first group of guys and asked "Kathka?" The lead guy pointed behind him and moved out of Shepard's way. Ty and Miranda stayed behind and Shepard started talking to Kathka, Miranda had her hand on her waist while she was waiting for Shepard to finish, Ty was examining the group of people next to him looking at all the free-lancers, _well this'll be a blood bath for them, good thing I'm not this guys enemy despite him shooting at us._ "Check Bravo team go, go, go" Ty heard the Batarian yell.

The people started moving next to Ty, Ty moved out of their way and when they were past him Ty said "They will just make easy targets for this guy." "Better them then us, you ready for this?" Miranda asked. Ty stretched his back and said "Ready as I'll ever be." Rescuing a Turian vigilante from three angry merc groups wasn't something Ty did in his spare time but there was a first time for everything.

Ty and Miranda were then startled by the Batarian screaming, Ty looked and saw Shepard had taken a tool with electricity and stabbed it into the guy electrocuting Kathka to death. Shepard walked out casually and Ty saw the group jump down, "Looks like the legendary Archangel needs some help." Ty said. "Well lets not stand around let's go get him." Miranda said. They all jumped down and the group of people were all sniped by Archangel, Shepard cracked her knuckles and said "Come on lets give these guys a surprise of our own."

Ty pulled out both of his pistols and Miranda pulled her pistol out and followed Shepard who had out a heavy pistol and was leading their charge against everyone. Ty got behind cover and peeked over, he saw a three people just sitting waiting to be killed so he whispered "Shepard I got these guys." Shepard nodded and Ty cloaked, he snuck up behind one and shot his pistol the round piercing through the first guys head his cloak went off and he head shot the second guy and as he was about to kill the third Miranda shot the guy in the head, "Got that one." Miranda said. Ty chuckled and said "Kill stealer."

Miranda rolled her eyes slightly and Shepard yelled "Watch out!" Ty activated his cloaking device then moved out of Shepard's way as he looked at his last position he saw a group of guys all aiming guns at where he was standing but they were all dropped with quick head shots by Miranda and Shepard. Ty un-cloaked and said "Nice save you two." Shepard came up and said "Next time I'll lead since we still have to get to Archangel and ambushes like that aren't going to be very helpful." Shepard said.

True as it was Ty was sure he would have been fine, he might have got grazed but there wasn't much that medi-gel wouldn't fix. Ty and Miranda nodded and followed Shepard up to the stairs to the second floor of the apartment where there were a group of mercenaries trying to break through the door, the three opened fire on the group with Miranda and Shepard tossing a pull at one followed by Miranda warping making it explode out knocking down the remaining mercenaries. Ty killed one of the guys on the ground but the other got on his feet only to be knocked back into the door by a biotic charge from Shepard. "If you two are biotics why did you need me again?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "You're technologic skills and your aim." Miranda responded as if she was reciting something she had for dinner. "Not my charming good looks or winning personality?" Ty asked with a smirk. "Nope that's what I'm here for." Shepard responded.

Ty chuckled as Miranda and him reached Shepard's side and they got ready to breach the room, Shepard looked at the two of them who both gave nods and then she opened the door. Shepard went in first checking her corners with Ty on her left and Miranda on her right both looking around for any one besides the Turian crouching down with his sniper aiming at the area they just came up.

Ty looked the place over, it was probably a nice apartment before all of this had happened, a good base that no one would expect but betrayal always screwed up good bases. "Archangel?" Shepard asked. Ty looked back over to the Turian examining what he looked like, he was in blue armor holding a sniper rifle still looking for targets, he gave Shepard a finger telling her to hold on and then he shot. Ty's hearing picked up on the sound of the round impacted against the targets head so he assumed he killed his target or maybe there was a watermelon that he had missed and the Turian had taken the initiative to destroy it, highly unlikely but still very possible in its own way.

The Turian turned to them and got on his feet which made him taller, despite having a Turian second in command Ty had never gotten used to the height difference Turians had on him, granted Ty was only 5'10 but the fact Turians were all between six foot and seven foot made him feel especially short. Archangel walked towards the wall and took off his helmet then sat down on some crates with his rifle between his legs. Ty's thoughts were interrupted by his voice, "Shepard, I thought you were dead." Archangel said.

Huh? Ty thought. Shepard spread her arms out and returned with in a happy tone "Garrus it's great to see you, what are you doing here?" This left Ty utterly confused but the name sounded so damn familiar, Ty began checking his memory banks for answers. "Keeping my skills sharp, a little target practice but still it is good to see a friendly face; killing mercs is hard work especially on my own." That was a true statement but Ty had worked with his brother and dad most of the time he hunted. "Since when did you start calling yourself Archangel?" Shepard asked. "It's just the name the locals gave me for all my good deeds I don't mind it but please." Garrus cleared his throat, "Its just Garrus to you."

Ty was starting to connect the pieces when he remembered reading about Shepard's old team_, Garrus was on her squad so that explains why they know each other,_ Ty thought. Shepard rolled her shoulders a little and said "You got me good a few times back there." "Concussive rounds nothing you couldn't handle." Garrus responded. "Uh-huh." Shepard said in an unbelieving tone. "If I wanted to take more than your shields down I would have done it." Garrus looked to the side for a second and said "Besides you were taking your sweet time talking to everyone like you used to, I had to get you moving." "Oh so that wasn't Cerberus engineering that made her do that, you see I thought they had programmed her or something to talk to every mercenary here despite having a well known enemy of them with her, but that's all her huh?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "Yep that's Shepard." Garrus said with a grin. "Ha ha ha very funny." Shepard responded in a mock agitated tone.

Garrus smirked a little and nodded at Ty a little in respect, "Nice to meet a fellow pain in the ass for the mercenaries." Garrus said. Ty nodded back as Shepard stepped forward and asked "So how'd you manage to piss off all the major merc groups in the Terminus system?" "It wasn't easy, I really had to work at it, I am amazed that they teamed up to fight me they must really hate me." Garrus said. "Well we got here but getting out won't be as easy." Shepard said. "No it won't but that bridge has saved my life funneling all those witless idiots into my scope, but it works both ways, they'll slaughter us if we try to get out that way." Garrus said. _Yup definitely going to suck,_ Ty thought. "Just waiting doesn't seem like a good option either, any suggestions?" Shepard asked. "This place has held them off so far, but with the three of you I suggest we hold this position until we get a crack in their defenses and take our chances. Its not a perfect plan but it's a plan." Garrus said.

Now that didn't sound like it was going to suck, in fact Ty liked the sound of this plan since it sounded like he would get to do some sniping, "I didn't like sneaking anyway time to spill a little merc blood." Shepard said. "Good to see you haven't changed; let's go see what they are up to." Garrus said as he and Shepard walked forward. Ty decided to make himself comfortable so he sat down on the couch; Miranda on the other hand stood waiting for Shepard and Garrus to finish "Sounds like you'll be sniping from up here while me and Shepard take them on." Miranda said. "Yup I'll cover you two with Garrus, seeing how great he is at being a pain in the ass for these mercs and how good he is at sniping I figure it won't be that difficult." Ty said. Ty heard Garrus's rifle shoot and Shepard's voice "More than scouts, but one less now." Ty sat forward and put his pistols away and then grabbed his rifle off his waist and started checking it over.

He maintained his rifle well so checking it over wasn't really necessary, it was mostly just so he could do something while he waited for Shepard and Garrus to finish talking to one another. He heard footsteps behind him so he turned around to see Shepard and Garrus walking over. _Time to get back to work,_ Ty thought as he stood up, "Ty you're here with Garrus, Miranda with me." Shepard said. "Alright you two stay safe." Ty said. Shepard nodded and said "You to Ty." Ty nodded and walked to the side of Garrus and said "So this will be really interesting, can't wait to see that bastard Tarak die." "So you're Omegas little ghost story and legend. I've heard some crazy stories about you fighting thresher maws and you assassinating ten members of the Suns inside their main base and rescuing hostages without raising an alarm…I did expect someone taller." Garrus said with a toothy grin.

Ty chuckled, the guy had a sense of humor he gave him that, "Yea that all happened though I wasn't alone but you're a legend to Omega now as well so I did expect you to look a little more threatening." Garrus chuckled a little at first but stopped himself and said, "I've learned that being a legend of Omega is a very prestigious title that comes with bullets, nightmares and dead friends." Ty nodded slightly in agreement and said "Seems we both learned that the hard way."

Garrus nodded, Garrus had been fighting these guys for a while so Ty wasn't surprised by the fact he knew his story, hell he wouldn't be surprised if Garrus knew the whole story but if he didn't ask or know Ty wasn't going to tell. Garrus then pointed to Ty's rifle and said "Nice rifle, custom made completely…the look is nice but can you handle it?" "Is that a challenge?" Ty asked. "No I'm just saying that some of us who use snipers can make it dance and I don't think your legend may be fully true." Ty aimed down his sights and killed two of the mechs with one shot than shot three more all within milliseconds of one another decimating all five. "Hmm well I guess that answers my question, alright cover Shepard and the other human I'll focus on the ones shooting at you and me." Garrus said.

_I like this guy already, good sense of humor, might be a challenge when it comes to sniping and someone I might be able to have witty banter with when I'm bored_, Ty thought as he nodded and walked over a little to the edge of the window closer to Shepard and Miranda's position below him. He aimed down his sights again, he saw Shepard and Miranda in cover under fire by some mechs, Ty got the head shot ready and shot, _direct hit_, Ty thought as he watched the mechs head get destroyed. Ty aimed at the next and shot, _direct hit again I rock_, Ty thought laughing to himself since they were just mechs. "Nice job Ty keep it up." Ty heard Shepard's voice in his comm. Ty smiled and continued picking off targets for Shepard and Miranda. Ty saw a mech sneaking up behind them; Ty shot it in the head and said into his comm, "Just saved your ass." "Thanks Ty." Shepard said.

Soon the Eclipse members started coming straight at them, the combined sniping of Garrus and Ty mixed with Miranda and Shepard's biotics and shooting annihilated them all but as Ty picked off another person there was a loud boom that caught his attention, before he could look up Garrus said "Ty get over here we got a giant mech!" Ty chuckled, right the giant mech that they had sabotaged that was going to prove useful "Don't worry about it Garrus we sabotaged it, it'll help us out a little." Ty said. "Oh good idea, shoot some of those Eclipse and give it cover." Garrus said. Ty nodded and aimed down his sights again and started picking them off one by one as the mech unloaded its mini-gun arm and its missiles into them.

The mech lasted a minute or two until some of the Eclipse used their tech attacks to destroy it but the four that were out there didn't last much longer as Ty took aim. He mentally lined up the three Eclipse members with headshots and then took a deep breath; time began to slow down as he shot his first shot, the round pierced through the first's tech armor dropping him where he stood. Ty aimed on the next and pulled the trigger as it pierced through the woman's heart killing her as well; Ty moved to the next and took out the third Eclipse member with a head shot.

The final member a Salarian but as Ty was about to pull the trigger he heard Garrus's sniper shoot, Ty saw the bullet land between his eyes knocking him to the floor, Jaroth had fallen and as Ty expected life continued on happier without that irritating asshole. "Goodbye Jaroth." Garrus said. "Damn I was about to kill him." Ty stated as he looked over to Garrus. "Sorry but I've been hunting him for months, finish off the rest of these Eclipse." Ty nodded and looked back out his window and finished the remaining targets off.

Clean up didn't take much longer and soon Shepard and Miranda were back upstairs while Ty was looking out the window for anymore stragglers, he only faintly heard Garrus and Shepard talking, he was telling her that she did a good job as far as Ty heard but his mind was mostly on what was going on in the minds of all the mercenaries. Mostly Tarak, had he ordered Haley killed yet, did he know Ty was the one out here doing all this? Ty was about to go to his other post when the whole room started to shake, "So that sounded really bad am I the only one who thinks that." Ty said than thought, _whatever the remaining groups plans are it is about to get intense._ Garrus continued to talk to Shepard about where to go next when he heard Shepard's voice aimed at him, "Ty you're with me, Miranda stay here with Garrus, keep him alive." Ty walked back over and Miranda said "Alright Shepard I will." Ty went to Shepard's side, "Thanks Shepard you better get going." Garrus said.

Shepard nodded and motioned Ty to follow her; Ty put his rifle on the back of his waist and pulled out his pistols again knowing that the time for long range was over for now. As they got to the door that led to the basement Ty said "So I just joined up and your bringing down to a basement full of enemies, I hope the traveling locations get better because the brochure didn't mention any of this." "Hey you get free reign to kill all these mercenaries for fun, isn't that what you signed up for aside from me helping you?" Shepard asked. "No I signed up because you all had a lack of fun personalities and I thought my charming demeanor would brighten it up a bit. Garrus is only the second person you have that is fun and I'm the first." Ty said jokingly. "I know how to have fun." Shepard defended. "Bullshit the Alliance has no idea how to have fun." Ty said. "Well she did steal the original Normandy; I thought that was fun if not a little extreme for her." Garrus came over the comm. "Thanks Garrus." Shepard responded. "Traitor." Ty muttered.

Ty and Shepard went in the basement killing all in their way and shutting all the shutters keeping the Bloodpack at bay. While they were in cover getting the last shutter Ty heard Garrus in his headset "They are coming in through the door." _Well that means Garm since I haven't seen his ugly ass yet, shit that is going to suck,_ Ty thought. "Ty we gotta get back and help them." Shepard said to Ty. "Let's do it." Ty said. The shutter closed and Ty and Shepard hurried back to Garrus and Miranda, they got in the room as the people broke through and Garm was dead set on going after Garrus. Shepard killed one of his Vorcha and then Ty cloaked and snuck up behind another and slit its throat with his tomahawk. As the Vorcha realized he was there he shot another in the head with his pistol and aimed at two more and rapidly shot both of them before discharging his thermal clip and cloaking again to head back to Shepard. Ty and Shepard hustled up to the top floor as Garm made his way in that direction but he didn't beat them up there.

Ty and Shepard fell back to the room where t Garrus and Miranda were as more Vorcha came with Garm, "Shepard this guy isn't going to go down easily any ideas?" Ty asked. "Yea keep shooting until he drops." Shepard said. "Is that what they teach you in the Alliance, Miranda create a warp field on this guy." Ty said. "Warp deployed." Miranda said. The warp hit Garm but it just knocked off his footing and took his barrier down slightly and he soon was back to charging them. Ty got out of cover and shot at him a few times only to get pinned down by shotgun fire. Ty hid behind cover as Garm shot at him but suddenly it stopped so he peeked over the couch he was hiding behind and saw Garm's gun charging up but now he was aiming at Miranda who was too busy fighting another Vorcha to notice_, if any one is going to get shot up its me, nobody fucks with any crew I'm apart of._ "Miranda get down!" Ty yelled as he got out of cover.

Miranda shot the Vorcha in the head and turned towards Ty as Garm's gun fired, Ty felt his feet impact on the ground faster and faster as the carnage blast flew at her, in the split second window Ty had he pushed Miranda down out of the way and as he went to take cover himself it hit him. Pain flamed through Ty's right arm as he was sent flying into the wall from the blast; he hit the wall with a loud crack and then fell to the floor with a loud thud. The only thing his mind could comprehend at the moment was the exorbitant amount of pain that was erupting across his right arm until it faded into numbness and his right arm felt suddenly limp.

The only thing Ty could control was his breaths as he tried to get any functionality out of his arm but nothing he did worked, before the numbness hit it felt like all of his nerves were being burned out and for some reason he figured his assessment was probably right judging on the numbness. Shepard and Garrus killed Garm while Ty was on the ground trying to access his damage, he had felt a lot of physical pain in the years as a mercenary and afterwards but the feeling he felt was like what one of his dead friends had described as Thresher Maw acid burning his skin. Mind piercing to the point all you wanted to do was chop your own arm off because of how much pain there was, luckily though it was numb and all he had to do was learn how to work with one arm.

Garrus, Shepard and Miranda came to Ty's aid after the battle with the Bloodpack was over but even then Ty couldn't move his right arm since it took the brunt of it, they sat him up from his laying down position so his back was against the wall and Ty took a look at his arm, his skin was ripped to shreds to the point where he was pretty sure he could see the tissue ripping at different points, if it wasn't for the fact he had seen worse he was sure he would have probably passed out from the sight of it. "Ty are you alright?" Shepard asked.

No he wasn't but despite probably being stuck with just one arm for a few months if it was repairable or his whole life if it wasn't Ty felt invigorated, he could feel something burning inside of him that he hadn't felt in years. He had a purpose now that wasn't just revenge and now he was going to use that to get the hell off of Omega and continue to feel what he was feeling. He felt alive again. "Just dandy, my right arm is useless now but I can still use my left just give me a second to get up." Ty grunted in pain. "You saved my life Ty, why?" Miranda asked. Ty smirked, he understood her surprise, he was almost surprised himself but he was apart of this crew now and that meant something to him. "Because I wanted to lose my arm, Miranda I may hate Cerberus, I hate everything about them really but you, Shepard and whoever else we recruit are my partners, whether or not you are Cerberus or Alliance I don't give a shit anymore we're supposed to be partners that's something I take to heart."

Ty forced himself to his feet and forced his way to the couch as Miranda sat in the chair near him keeping her eyes glued on, Ty didn't know what was left but he had hoped it wasn't going to be to difficult because the state he was in was going to make it hard to fight. "Ty here's some medi-gel." Shepard said. Shepard applied the medi-gel to his arm which had made Ty feel a little better but he still couldn't move his arm, "Are we going yet?" Ty asked. "Are you sure you are okay Ty?" Shepard asked sincerely. "I'm fine, are we going?" Ty asked again.

Shepard stared at him a little longer but Ty's steely gaze didn't waver so she nodded and said "Yea but we're going to be facing Blue Su-" There was a crack of glass that cut off Shepard, Ty hadn't heard the gunship approach but now he was staring right at it, "Shit I thought it wasn't operational, EVERYONE MOVE!" Ty said finding his strength to jump over the couch. The numbness in his arm stopped the pain from landing on the ground from feeling really painful but despite the numbness he did feel the jarring of his shoulder. Ty immediately sat himself up in cover and started blind firing at the ship left handed, "Ty don't waste your ammo we have to kill the Blue Suns." Shepard said.

Ty brought his attention to the Blue Suns who were trying to flank him, Ty shot with his left hand at them taking down shields and even killing a few but just as he was about to take cover again the ship opened fired on his position making him slam himself into the ground to avoid getting shot by the mini-gun. Ty pushed himself up slightly from being face down as the mini-gun stopped, "I know you're there Ty, you've betrayed me for the last time!"

_Betrayed you…I betrayed you!_ Ty's thoughts began running in all directions to find a way to kill him, Ty's anger surged as he yelled "You betrayed me you fucking asshole! You fucking kidnapped my friend, you killed eight of my friends and tried killing me on several occasions and you think I was just going to let you walk away! I did this to find my friend and kill you and your Blue Suns you motherfucking prick." "I'll have her killed after I'm done with you, this will teach you not to fuck with the Blue Suns." Tarak yelled. The mini-gun opened fired on Ty's position again making him duck back to the ground behind the couch which was getting ripped to shreds. There were explosions and then the mini-gun fire stopped tearing apart the couch signaling the disappearance of the gunship.

The gunship had to go but every time it came around it pinned Ty down not allowing him to destroy it, Ty tried thinking of ideas to take it down as he continued shooting the Blue Suns knocking shields down mostly. "Any chance for that sabotage Ty?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled slightly and said "It was experimental technology, my dad said if I used it once it probably wouldn't work again for at least a day if ever again." "And you chose to use it back there?" Shepard asked. "Saved your lives did it not." Ty said.

Before Shepard responded Jentha popped into his view and knocked his pistol out of his hand, before he could react Jentha began punching him in the stomach, after four punches to his gut Ty regained his senses and started fighting back. He pushed her punch away from him using its momentum to get her off balance and lifted his right knee into her gut. It was time for a change in momentum so Ty started punching her with his left hand hitting her in the face several times. Jentha scrambled on the ground after Ty hit her hard enough in the face to send her sprawling but as she got up Ty went to punch her again but this time Jentha caught his hand then lifted her elbow into his jaw making him lose his footing.

Out of all the bad moves Ty had ever done, this one was near the top because of the chain of events that followed. Jentha followed him and kicked him in the gut which felt like someone had stuck a machete through his gut because of the bruising from the crack against the floor after Garm's carnage blast. Mind splitting pain flooded Ty's mind as he fell to his knees, he was losing a fist fight to someone he should have wiped the floor with and that didn't make him feel much better as Jentha walked over to him. Ty went to punch her from his knees only for her to deflect it and knee him in the face. As Ty began to fall back his vision got blurry but Jentha grabbed the hilt of his tomahawk and pulled him back towards her.

As he moved forward she pulled his tomahawk off his back and said "Say goodbye Ty." Ty looked up as she swung down, _well this is it_, Ty thought. A blur of motion caught Ty's eye before Shepard came out of a biotic charge and tackled Jentha, "No you don't!" Shepard yelled. As she tackled Jentha to the ground Ty's tomahawk missed the direct hit but instead sliced Ty down his left cheek making him fall to the ground holding his face. "Motherfucker!" Ty yelled as he grabbed his face.

Blood flowed onto Ty's left hand as he held his face and watched Shepard wrestling with Jentha trying to keep the tomahawk away from her and kill her at the same time. Shepard grabbed Jentha's right hand that held the tomahawk and punched her in the face while twisting the tomahawk towards Jentha until it was facing her. Shepard's body glowed with biotic energy as she forced the tomahawk down into Jentha's face forcefully wedging it between her eyes. Shepard pulled it back out and got herself up and headed in Ty's direction.

Ty let go of his face leaving a bloody hand print on his face as he tried to push himself up and get out of the open back into cover but his strength had dwindled and the screeching pain all across his body was winning out. Shepard knelt down and started helping Ty up off the ground, "Come on Ty your gonna be alright." Shepard said. He doubted it, at the rate his luck was downward spiraling he knew shit was about to hit the fan and there would be no way to step to the side of the fan when it did, it just was how his luck was looking. Shepard got him on his feet with his left arm wrapped around the back of her neck and started moving quickly to cover but before Ty could give a witty remark about her helping him they both heard a sentence that would haunt them both for a very long time. "SHEPARD, TY GET DOWN HE FIRED A MISSLE!" Miranda yelled.

Time seemed to slow down for Ty as he saw the missile flying straight for him and Shepard, fuck, fuck, fuck, Ty thought. Ty looked around Shepard at his bloody hand and felt his pulse quicken making his thoughts run faster than normal. Ty pushed Shepard away as hard as he could with his left hand down to the ground behind a low wall of cover and pulled his other pistol out, everything seemed slower and Ty's gaze set on the missile as it was flying at him. He aimed his sights at the missile getting it lined up perfectly.

Shepard had barely enough time to look at Ty as she hit the ground behind the wall, she saw him at the last second point his pistol at the missile and fire off five rounds. "Ty no!" Shepard screamed as the rounds left the gun. As Ty stared at the missile he saw it explode out in all directions ten feet away from him but it was followed by the shockwave of the explosion that sent him flying backwards.

The weightlessness was ended abruptly as he hit a wall behind him and felt a sharp point pierce through the upper part of his back on his right side, the pain that shot through his body rendered him unconscious. His body fell limp but stayed upright being impaled on a five inch long spike that had a two inch diameter that was sticking out of the wall he landed against; as his body fell unconscious he heard another explosion and Tarak yelling. This was his end, not the end he expected but the end he was given and despite the invigorating feeling he had before, the feeling of being alive once again, this death felt right. _This is finally it huh guys, see you soon,_ Ty thought.

* * *

The mission was disastrous, Ty was impaled on a spike and hadn't moved since he was impaled and Garrus got blown to hell but Shepard knew that if they were both alive that she needed to get them both out of there fast. "Miranda lets get Ty off of that spike and see if he's still alive." Shepard said as she motioned Miranda to follow. Miranda nodded as she put her pistol away and walked with Shepard over to Ty's limp body, if there was one word that could describe how Ty looked it would be the word death. From his face to his blood soaked back and ripped up arm he looked like if he was alive that he'd need another Lazarus project to bring him back, Shepard checked him for a pulse.

There was nothing for a second, _god damn it he's gone, I told myself I would never lose another squad member after Virmire but I failed him._ Shepard lowered her head slightly feeling a pang of guilt for losing yet another squad member, he might have been a sarcastic asshole but he was on her squad and that meant she had to look out for him. _He should have just got down in cover instead of shooting the missile, _Shepard thought.

As she was about to pull away she felt a sudden thump, than another, and another getting stronger and stronger with each thump, Shepard's head flung back up to look at him, "Holy shit he's still alive! Miranda we have to get him off of that, brace him when we get him off." Shepard ordered._ Come on you son of murderer hold_ _on._ Miranda went to his other side and Shepard said "On three, one, two, three."

* * *

A jolt of pain surged through Ty's unconscious body awakening him as he felt himself being gently pulled off the spike, his body felt heavy but there was a sudden numbing to it all though it didn't stop the severe pain Ty was feeling. Everything was blurry no doubt because of blood loss but he heard Shepard's voice, "Ty we are getting you out of here just stay alive." Just stay alive, like it was a choice that was to be made. Maybe it was, maybe he chose that as his moment, maybe all the pain and suffering he had felt finally just won out and he chose this moment as his moment to die.

If this was his moment he was at least going to do whatever he could to help before he was finished. Ty gained enough sense to see that Miranda had his weight as she escorted him with Shepard to Garrus, no way was he being helped off Omega he would limp out himself or die trying. Ty looked in himself for his dwindling strength and started to get his legs working, "I'm…walking out of here." Ty grunted as he put weight on his legs and started limping without help.

The amount of crimson blood that covered Ty's body made him realize how short of time he really had, he couldn't last long without real medical attention, maybe it was for the best if he didn't make it he wasn't sure anymore if that sudden feeling of invigoration would be worth feeling again if it was going to be taken away from him in the future yet again. The hurting highway was a one way street full of pot holes and he had enough of falling in them.

Miranda was at Ty's side again trying to help him but he kept limping while stopping her from helping, "Ty you've taken to much damage let us get you out of here." Miranda said. "I'm fine...come on lets get out of here." Ty said. Shepard stopped going towards Garrus and stepped in front of Ty and said in what he could have sworn was a caring tone but loss of blood could easily be the blame "Ty you're lucky to be alive right now let us help get you out of here so you can survive." Her tone and the look she had given him teased Ty's mind for a second reminding him of his old lover but the thought didn't last long since the pain he felt wasn't like anything he had felt recently, "I'm fine girls trust me." Ty lied. Shepard stared at him for a few more seconds reading his face, it was his best poker face he could put on with so much damage but she took it and nodded thinking he was telling the truth as she said "Garrus is dying I may need help getting him to the Normandy." Shepard said.

Ty walked with them and felt all the pain in his body but ignored it feeling purpose in saving Garrus from death verses himself. Ty's right arm had been burned badly and most of the middle of his tank top was burnt as well but luckily there were no holes from Garm's carnage. He was covered in his own blood but he relied on his remaining strength and adrenaline to help, it was all dwindling fast though with black blots popping up in his vision every few seconds. If he did make it, it would be a miracle at this point but Ty pushed on limping slowly with Shepard and Miranda catching him when he'd trip, they'd tell him to let them help but he'd keep going.

Shepard knelt down and used her medi-gel on Garrus trying to keep him alive when Garrus's eyes flung open, he began breathing fast though that was understandable for the situation he was in. "Garrus! Hold on we're getting you out of here." Shepard said in an extremely worried voice. "Shepard if we don't get him help now he's gonna die." Ty said but than his left leg gave out and he fell down to his left knee. Ty coughed and could feel the blood filling in his mouth, his right lung started to feel like someone was pouring concrete into it but he wasn't going to go down…not yet.

Miranda went to Ty's side and helped him up and said "You're not in good condition either, let me help Ty." "I'm fine…just a sharp pain lets get him outta here, I'll be fine." Ty grunted as he pushed himself back up. Stubbornness like a bull was an understatement when it came to Ty and he was proving that to himself at the moment as he helped Shepard get Garrus up. As Ty took his weight on his shoulder he began to remember how much he hated caring Turians and Krogan, they were both so heavy and he had done it way to many times when his crew got drunk years ago.

They walked down the stairs with Ty focusing on each step to make sure all three of them didn't take a tumble, each step became a mile and each breath felt excruciatingly painful but Ty did his best to ignore the pain. His breaths were getting sharper and Shepard had even begun to take notice to the weirdness of his breathing by looking around Garrus at him. Ignoring the look Ty noticed that a white shuttle with a Cerberus insignia was parked on the bridge, _must have called evac while I was unconscious, _Ty thought. They finally reached the shuttle and got Garrus up and into it and laid him down on a seat.

Ty felt his body giving out, it was almost his time it seemed, black circles filled his field of vision as he tripped backwards into the other seat. He felt the need to put "Coughs up blood" on his resume suddenly since he began to cough up blood once again. The feeling in his lung was killing him, literally, Ty could read signs right and he knew that in this moment he was choosing to put his tomahawks up and finally just give into death; he had earned a little peace he felt. "I'm sorry girls I aint making it, make sure you stop those bastards from destroying the universe, give 'em hell for me." Miranda hurried into the cockpit as Shepard rushed to Ty's side and began to apply medi-gel to his wounds, "No you're gonna make it Ty stay with me, Miranda we gotta get them out of here." Shepard said.

The shuttle started going with Miranda in the pilot seat as Shepard sat at Ty's side trying to keep him from falling over but he was fading and he was fading fast. A sense of irony hit Ty and he began laughing until he began coughing up blood again, "Who'd figure I'd die with the Alliances best commander and a Cerberus operative after everything I've gone through." Ty coughed up blood and laughed again "Fucking ironic, even in death I see the funny side."

He had hated the Alliance and Cerberus with all his energy for so long and then he ended up fighting and getting himself killed for them, now that was something he knew his friends were laughing about because he was trying to laugh but the coughing fit came back. "You're not going to die and there isn't any thing funny about this." Shepard said.

Maybe not to her but he sure did think it was but Ty also understood where she was coming from, she had lost her squad on Akuze and then lost that Ashley girl on Virmire according to what he read. Now she was losing him, or at least that's how Ty figured she saw it, Ty rested his hand on hers as he said "It's alright Shepard I've been ready for this for a long time, I've got friends waiting for me. Do me a favor and don't blame yourself or mourn for me." Ty said than started coughing up blood. Ty's hearing started to fade as Shepard said "I'm no…ving up…stay with me." A sudden shock hit Ty and with every breath he became excruciatingly aware of how painful his death would be, Ty tried to get out what he felt in-between painful breaths "Lung…collapsed…put me…out of…Misery." "Miranda!" Shepard yelled. "I heard HOLD ON!" Miranda yelled back as the shuttle lurched forward even faster.

Shepard went in front of Ty as he was desperately grabbing for his pistol, he needed to just end it, there wasn't any nice way to go but there were really shitty ways to go, and this was on the top of his list right now. Ty got the pistol in his hand but then Shepard grabbed it from him before he could just put himself out of his misery. Ty wasn't having any of that so he grabbed her hands forcefully and pushed the gun barrel against his heart and said "Shepard…do it…now." Shepard seemed awestruck at the proposition, "Ty no I can-" Ty's voice came out very hoarse and blood dripped from his mouth as he said "Do it…end…suffering."

The pain was excruciating, this wasn't anyway for someone to go Ty had always put his enemies out of their misery long before this point of pain but Shepard wouldn't grant him his wish for an easy death, wasn't he an enemy to her or did she believe he deserved a harsh death. Maybe he did deserve it but he would rather go out being shot in the heart than this.

He couldn't survive on one lung filled with blood for much longer and each breath sent more pain than humanely possible to stand, Ty started bobbing back and forth trying to keep his grip on the pistol and not to succumb to this death, "Please." Ty said as his grip loosened and Shepard pulled the pistol away, "Come on Ty stay wi …epherd we can't lose hi…Ty don't do this…." Miranda and Shepard's voices were distant but Ty heard them as he fell down to his side seeing Garrus's body. He coughed up blood and as he was about to black out he said "Look…for…my friend…please…ask Aria…sa- save Garrus an- and forget me…Good luck Shepard thank y…" Ty didn't finish he blacked out and fell into the abyss.

**A/N: And thus ends the tragic life of Ty it seems he missed a paragon or renegade interrupt that lead him to where he was in the prologue…Or did he? For those reading this my schedule will probably get screwy but I will try to keep up the Monday through Friday thing I had going despite the delay of this chapter, any way as you were, I will see you next time.**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Reawakening

**Disclaimer/A/N: As usual I don't own anything Mass Effect, Bioware/E/A does I just stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe, now on to the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Shepard stared at Ty's body as the shuttle flew not wanting to believe what had just transpired actually happened, Miranda landed the shuttle inside the Normandy's docking hanger and looked back at them in hope but when she laid eyes on the scene her eyes dropped as she said "Shit." Shepard couldn't respond she looked down at the pistol in her hand and couldn't shake the desperate look in Ty's face as he begged her to end his suffering…and she didn't end it. "Shepard we have to get them up to the med-bay, Garrus needs medical attention right now and if Ty is…salvageable we need to go now." _Salvageable_, the word didn't strike Shepard well but she was salvageable wasn't she and now here she was leading a mission.

Maybe it was possible to bring him back and if it was Shepard had to act now, she put the pistol back into his holster and stood up straight, "Get EDI to get Mordin and Jacob down here and have Doctor Chakwas get ready." Shepard ordered to Miranda. Miranda nodded quickly and opened up the shuttle before hopping out to talk to EDI, _we can save him and Miranda might be able to use some cybernetics if we need them._

It took the elevator some time to reach them but when it finally did Jacob and Mordin came out just in time to help Shepard support Garrus's weight and help Miranda with Ty's. They got both battered and broken recruits into the elevator and Shepard pressed the Crew Quarters button, Shepard looked over to Miranda, Ty and Jacob to look at the wounded if not dead warrior. "What the hell happened to him?" Jacob asked as she saw Shepard look over. "Took a carnage blast to his right side then got blasted by a missile into a spike on a wall of the apartment we were in." Shepard responded. "Death could prove problematic, family would seek revenge against Cerberus or us, hinder mission. Better alive than dead, use skills to help him best I can." Mordin said.

Mordin was right, if Ty's code that Aria spoke of revolved around family then there wasn't a doubt in Shepard's mind that his family felt the same and that meant if he did die, they were going to be on the top of their chopping block list and that wouldn't be good. "Yeah I don't fashion being put on the Rhoddy hit list, no one who has ever been put on it has survived." Jacob said. "I don't know if they have an actual list of targets or not but you can be damned sure if he dies we are all next." Shepard stated. The elevator doors opened letting them to proceed quickly to the Med-bay.

Garrus was heavy but he was a damned good friend that Shepard wasn't going to let die and if that meant she would have to carry him for miles she would. Shepard looked up to Garrus as they continued moving only to look away quickly, he looked like hell and there was nothing a grunt like her could do except sit back and hope that everything would be okay. _Come on Garrus just hold on, you've got to hold on_, Shepard thought as they walked through the med-bay doors.

Chakwas was ready for them and looked to have a few assistants with her, "Put Garrus on the bed over there." Chakwas pointed to the bed closest to Shepard and Mordin allowing them to get the weight off of their shoulders quicker, Shepard looked over to Jacob and Miranda who were putting Ty on a bed across from Garrus, if Garrus was hell than Ty was a whole another level of hell, probably the deepest level. His tank top was completely soaked in blood and there was a hole in his back the same size as the spike he had been impaled on his face was bleeding from the tomahawk slicing his face and those were just the superficial wounds.

Doctor Chakwas came over quickly and started scanning both Garrus and Ty. "Miranda, Mordin I'm going to need your help." Chakwas looked over to Shepard who had removed herself from the table area so she was closer to the door and out of the way, "Shepard before I even commit supplies to this you do realize who that young man is right?" A heartless killer, a former mercenary, most wanted criminal with no morals, was any of that even true? They got off on the wrong foot sure but the Ty that she had seen on the mission and what he did for her and Miranda didn't come close to what she had been told. Shepard nodded and said "Yea the only reason why me and Miranda aren't where they are." "You don't owe him anything Commander if that's your reasoning in this." Chakwas said colder than she had ever said anything.

Shepard didn't doubt Chakwas having some history with at least one of his family members but it was just possible she was going off the same things Shepard was. Everything they knew about him was he had left people to die, killed civilians if they got in his way and had murdered so many innocents the ground that surrounded him was red. That's what they knew…but this guy wasn't him Shepard knew that much, this guy saved her and Miranda and did it all in the name of being apart of the crew.

He chose to do what he did for people he probably didn't even like, the man of propaganda she knew wouldn't have done that. "It's not why I'm doing this, I don't even know if he can comeback and if he does if he'll still have any uses but…just try and save him he thought his lung was collapsed and I'm not doubting the possibility which means he needs help right now…Get him stable enough so the machines have him safe and then work on Garrus so he's alright, just get him stable." _It's what he wanted_, Shepard thought. "I just hope he's grateful." Chakwas said as she started working on Ty with Miranda and Mordin as the assistants began doing what they could for Garrus.

Shepard and Jacob left the Med-bay giving the doctors room to work and as they approached the elevator Jacob looked to Shepard and asked "So you think that he will make it?" "Garrus or Ty?" Shepard asked. "I guess either." Jacob said. Shepard lowered her head slightly as she said "I-…I don't know they both took a hell of a beating before going down." Shepard said. "So he really saved you and Miranda?" Jacob asked.

Shepard's gut twisted as she remembered seeing him run quicker than anyone she had ever seen over to Miranda to push her down out of the way and then seeing his arm get burned all to hell by the blast as it launched him into the wall, and then she remembered looking up at him as he aimed with such precision at the missile. Blood dripping off of his face as he fired off rounds at it and then the explosion that sent him flying out of her sight. "Yea…he did. Surprising as hell after our initial meeting but he still got blasted to shit…for us." Shepard said. The elevator opened and they both walked in, Jacob hit CIC and Shepard pressed her quarters, the elevator ride was quiet and slow but when the doors opened at CIC Jacob said "You still think the stories are true about him." Shepard didn't answer right away not sure if she believed what her first answer was going to be, it seemed her silence answered his question because Jacob chuckled a little and said "Yea me neither, see ya around Shepard."

Shepard let the doors close as she stared at the ground, when they closed fully she let herself slide down to the floor. Her heart ached seeing Garrus in the state he was in and even seeing Ty the way he was, she promised herself after losing Ashley that she'd never allow this to happen again and yet here she was either about to lose one of her best friends and a guy who had risked his life for her. She ran over the whole mission in her head from start to finish trying to figure out if she could've done it differently and spared Garrus from the missile he took or from Ty getting blasted all to hell.

There was no easy answer and despite hindsight being in 20/20 nothing stood out that told her what she could've done better. There was no way to get his pleading eyes out of her head, _do it end suffering,_ his words echoed through her mind but she just let him suffer possibly one of the most horrific deaths possible. The doors opened bringing Shepard out of her thoughts; she pushed herself off the floor and walked out and into her oversized quarters where she was met by a soothing tune that was playing from the music player.

Shepard walked past her desk as she started taking off her armor piece by piece letting it fall where ever it fell each letting off a thud as they hit the ground. It was hard to call the mission a success, not only did her friend who had her back while fighting Saren get severely wounded but a man who she at first thought was a ill tempered asshole put himself in front of two death sentences and looked like he got hit by a Reaper beam.

He risked his own life to save hers and he barely knew her, probably didn't like her and pointed a gun at her head but he saved her and nearly got killed in the process and then looked to her to put him out of his pain but she didn't, she let him suffer. The strict Alliance in her that still slightly believed what the propaganda said told her that it was what he deserved but the person in her told her that no one, not even someone of his young legend should go through that. Was he really what they said he was though, the Tyler Rhoddy she knew about wouldn't do that just out of the sake of being 'partners' he would've let them both get blown to hell, or would've shot her instead of pointing the gun at her.

He even tried thanking her, was it a sincere thank you or a last pledge of being an asshole by making her feel bad, what did he have to thank her for anyway. Shepard took off her chest plate which was her last piece of armor on and let it fall to the ground with a thud, she stood in her casual clothing, a black pair of jeans that she could do anything in and her blue wife beater, as she thought of ways to help Ty. Maybe Miranda could use something like she used to bring her back or maybe they could fix his lung and arm without anything if he wasn't already dead. She didn't know what was possible and what Cerberus would do to help but she'd see how far she could push Cerberus to get what she wanted, someone like Ty didn't do or say things without damn good reasons and she wanted to question him which would require him to be saved.

Shepard let herself fall onto her back on the bed, the bed was nice right now, a nice comfort…but it didn't help her loneliness she had. The room was a great reminder of how alone she felt without her friends to back her up. She missed her original squad and everyone from the original Normandy team and this ridiculously over sized cabin didn't help. She needed another being to share it with, even if it wasn't a human, maybe a hamster or fish for the huge tank she had, or maybe she'd find Kaiden and get him to join her like old times if he was still interested. Shepard covered her eyes with her forearm and let out a slight irritated groan to herself, that was a whole line of thought she didn't want to think about. Would he even be the same, everyone had changed in two years except her; she was still in the past.

When she closed her eyes she didn't feel like she was thirty one on a new ship with new crew members, she felt like she was twenty nine still about to wake up on the original Normandy next to Kaiden after a long day of hunting hold outs. But then like everything else she would open her eyes and it was two years past that and none of her friends were around anymore, well exception of Garrus now. Shepard worked her way up to the pillows she had and rested on her right side, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep…but the eyes and words of an almost dead Alliance criminal followed her into sleep.

* * *

It didn't take long for Garrus to get up and going, he was bandaged up but he was still Garrus and that made Shepard happy. She missed him but she was happy he wasn't the rash hot head anymore but he still had his anger but it had turned to action while she was gone, in the words of her pilot _"he worked that stick out of his butt but was now running around beating the crap out of people with it."_ It was great having him back though, Garrus was a great friend and the fact that he was standing by her once again watching her back while they walked into hell was comforting.

Despite the great news with Garrus Ty had little progress, the machines kept his body alive but the damage he had sustained was what kept him from bouncing back at all. His right side had taken most of the damage from both the carnage blast and the missile and spike. From what the doctors told her she figured out that his right lung was screwed beyond use and so was his right arm, all his ribs except the bottom two on his right side were broken and his loss of blood wasn't garnering any faith.

Maybe he wasn't going to bounce back but Shepard held faith for him, he was still alive when anyone else with his wounds would have died so Shepard ordered Miranda and Chakwas to bring him back at all costs. As easy as it was to order it, it took some convincing with both Miranda and the Illusive Man with Miranda not sure if he was going to get him to functionality and the Illusive Man trying to get his hands on the body to use for research purposes.

Shepard nearly ripped his head off through the message he sent her for offering a hefty amount of credits to use Ty's body for research purposes, it was similar to the feeling she had with that Mr. Bosker guy who was holding Samesh Bhatia's wife for the same damn thing_. Save more lives in death than life my ass_, Shepard thought_, if he doesn't pull through I'm giving his body back to his family no matter the consequence._

The nerve of the Illusive Man to say he was looking out for humanity by doing crap like that, it set a fire under Shepard making her hate that she was working with him. Shepard questioned Miranda on how she could stand up for a man like him but it was the same old speech of, _"Looking out for the best interests of humanity"_ and _"Some hard choices have to be made."_ Yeah hard choices had to be made but how much humanity could you give up for those choices.

Despite having to convince them both to do it Miranda eventually took what she had done to Garrus and Shepard and applied it to Ty with what she could, she used cybernetics to get his lung working again and used cybernetics from his arm up to his neck to get it working again as well with it all under his skin but with the consequence of having a few scars and losing his tattoos. The carnage blast destroyed his skin and the skin grafting got it to look slightly normal but the scars were still visible.

A week and a half after Ty got taken out and put on the operating table Shepard met with Chakwas Jacob and Miranda in the med bay to get an update on Ty's condition. Shepard had been exploring and probing planets for the week and a half getting a lot of minerals and doing a mission designated as Firewalker which gave her control of the M-44 Hammerhead. Compared to the M-35 Mako she had more fun with the Hammerhead than the Mako, though the armor could use some work.

On the other side of things Ty felt like he was in an ongoing nightmare, he thought his pain would end in death but it continued constant poking and prodding at his injuries like it was some form of torture for everything he had done. He then heard people talking, "He's going to be alright Shepard, he's been through hell and will have some scars but it'll be best." Jacob said. "Thanks Jacob, how long till he's up and moving?" Shepard asked. "Not long but he may have mental scaring because of the trauma he experienced." Jacob said. "Trauma is the nice way of putting it I'd say he has experienced worse than trauma." Miranda said. "Miss Lawson has a point and with the cybernetics it may be hard for him…" The heart beat monitor started beating faster and as Chakwas walked to the machine she said "What's with that machine going off?" Chakwas asked walking to the machine.

Ty's eyes opened and he saw blurry figures surrounding him, his chest was throbbing and he couldn't remember what had happened and why he was wherever he was. Taraks voice suddenly was in Ty's head, _"I'll have her killed after I'm done with you this will teach you not to fuck with the Blue Suns."_ Ty remembered the gunship and fighting the Suns by himself, then Jentha flashed into his vision _"Say goodbye Ty."_ She swung down at him but then everything went black. _Shit I got captured by Suns the fuck heads,_ Ty thought.

Shepard saw Ty's open and it was like déjà vu for her remembering what she had gone through "Shit not this again, Chakwas he's reacting to outside stimuli give him the sedative." Miranda ordered. Before Chakwas could Ty's right foot went flying from its stationary position into Dr. Chakwas's stomach sending her flying back, oh shit, Shepard thought. "Jacob, Shepard pin him down." Miranda said as she grabbed a needle.

Jacob and Shepard moved quickly to pin him down but as they did Ty sat up quickly and grabbed Jacob by his shirt and punched him hard in the face and then sent him flying backwards with a huge kick. Ty pulled off the wires on him and stumbled onto his feet shoulder barging into Miranda knocking her onto the floor, _wow he just took out everyone except me and he's drugged up, nice,_ Shepard thought. "Fucking Suns always trying to do stupid shit." Ty said as he stumbled trying to get his footing until he got to the desk that Dr. Chakwas used.

_Suns? He doesn't remember what happened_, Shepard thought. Shepard walked cautiously towards him as she said "Ty your safe calm down we're trying to help you." Ty had all his weight leaning forward on the table but Shepard knew he could easily get the jump on her. "Fucking drugged me and you're telling me I'm safe." Ty said.

* * *

Ty knew the voice talking to him but he couldn't remember who it was or who it belonged to but he was drugged so he didn't believe he was safe. He could barely feel his limbs and his right arm was searing with pain like someone was using a flamethrower to just burn his arm over and over again. He couldn't remember, he went to Omega to meet Jessica, left, went to Freedoms Progress and saw Tali, left and went back to Omega, confronted Tarak somehow and ended up knocked out during a fight. He started getting angry, he could see his own past events and any other past event but couldn't remember where or how he ended up wherever he was. His vision was still blurry but he could hear the voices talking behind him but he didn't care he was trying to remember, he was shirtless but had something around his right arm that felt like fabric.

He had his clam diggers on but he was barefoot, his guns were missing and he was in a room of hostiles that would try to attack him any second now, "I can't remember." Ty stated finally. "What do you remember?" The familiar voice asked. "Fighting the Suns, Tarak in a gunship, Jentha knocking me out or something like that." "Ty do you remember who you fought along side with?" The familiar voice asked.

Ty tried to remember he forced all his focus to the fight trying to see his past or just remember, blurry figures popped in Ty's head, one was a Turian he knew for sure based on the blurry shape of its head, the blur looked like someone poured grease into his memory banks but he saw markings that looked familiar and he could remember his friend Darian but it wasn't him. Garkus, Tarrus, Garrus. "A Turian I think named Garrus." Ty said. "Anyone else?" The voice asked. Ty thought hard, he saw two figures both feminine but that's all he could remember, "Two women but I can't remember their names or what they looked like."

* * *

"Why can't he remember us Miranda?" Shepard asked worry in her tone. This was bad, no this was worse than that if he couldn't remember they'd soon be in for a fight against a very drugged Ty who obviously could fight very well while drugged. "All the drugs pumped into him are making it hard for him to remember, trust me his memories are still there. We need to get him back on the table he isn't ready to be walking around let alone fighting." Miranda said.

Jacob and Chakwas were off the floor but staying back at Shepard's order, she had the needle in her hand as she questioned Ty trying to get him to remember but Miranda was right they needed him back under the anesthetic so he could heal properly. Shepard took cautious steps forward but when she got next to him she was surprised that he didn't strike her, she knew that there was going to be backlash for what she going to do but there was no other way.

She got the needle close to his arm and then inserted it quickly and plunged half of the medication in it into him, half was apparently enough to topple a Krogan from what she was told but apparently that wasn't enough since Ty spun around and put his hand around her throat and lifted her off her feet. His eyes were completely purple and his face showed how pissed he was with his eyebrows arched down and his jaw clenched tight as he stared a hole through her, the needle was still sticking out of his left arm as she swung her legs, "Shepard!" Chakwas yelped.

Shepard waved her hand back at them and her voice was strained as she said "Stay back I'll be fine." Shepard could easily have kicked him below the belt to get him to let go but she instead reached out to him with her voice "Ty it's me Shepard, I'm trying to help you." "Help me by stabbing me with a needle, sounds like bullshit." Ty said. "Ty you got hit by a carnage blast and you were impaled on a spike during the fight, you woke up and helped me get Garrus back then you passed out in the cab, you need to remember." Shepard said.

She just needed his grip to loosen a little then she would be able to inject the rest of the medication that would knock him out…probably. "Shepard?" Ty asked himself trying to remember. His grip loosened and Shepard jammed the remaining medication into his arm, before he could react his grip loosened more and let Shepard fall to the floor as he stumbled backwards onto the table and then to the floor.

Shepard coughed a little as Chakwas helped her up, "You okay dear?" Chakwas asked. "He's stronger than he looks." Shepard said with a smile and a cough. "I think all of us can testify to that." Chakwas said with a smile. Miranda and Jacob got Ty back onto the bed and all hooked up back to the machines which took about a minute while Chakwas checked everyone including herself for injuries, after Chakwas and Miranda finished checking everyone and hooking Ty up Miranda said "He's going to need more treatment now, he shouldn't have woken up so early." "Alright continue work on him." Shepard said. "Tough son of a bitch." Jacob said. Shepard smirked and said "Come on Jacob we should get out of their hair, get EDI to get us if you two need help." "We will Shepard." Chakwas said.

The day after Ty woke up early Shepard had gone out to recruit Jack with Jacob and Garrus, Ty was stabilized and was assumed to wake up soon but no exact day was known. Shepard checked in periodically hoping that he would wake up while she was there so they could talk, she worried a lot about him now but he was apart of her crew so it was only natural for her to feel worried. Even with his condition getting better each day there was no exact day known for him to awake, it all depended on his body and how it recovered and adapted to the cybernetics that Miranda had used.

In a way it made Shepard feel a little better knowing she wasn't the only one walking around with cybernetics in her but in no way did she think he'd be happy to know Miranda had cut open his body and worked inside of it. He'd probably assume there was a tracking device or brain chip in him, he would have been right if Shepard hadn't warned Miranda and the Illusive Man against it, who knew "Do you really want the Rhoddy family hunting you down?"would have gotten both to forget about it. Shepard had wished for him to wake up when she was around but he never awoke on her watch.

* * *

Beep, beep, beep, beep, Ty heard the sound of the EKG machine beeping at a slow steady pace, Ty opened his eyes and looked around as he was trying to figure out if he was dead and the spirit realm had a pager that was going off or if he had really been saved. He couldn't really correlate that much but he remembered the fight with Shepard, Garrus and Miranda and getting impaled and dying. He also remembered waking up and not having any clue of what was going on, he'd have to apologize to Shepard and whoever else he hurt…if he was indeed alive.

Ty heard humming in the distance and saw a gray haired older woman walking about and figured he had been saved, that or the spirits thought that having a older greeter would get them more fans. Ty tried sitting up but pain went all over his body which told him that he was alive and the spirits had a funny sense of humor with this last adventure.

Ty grunted slightly in pain which got the doctors attention, "Oh no, no, no you can't get up yet you are still recovering Ty." Ty looked at her strangely confused that she knew his name but he didn't know her, "Do I know you?" Ty asked. "No I'm Dr. Chakwas and I've been assigned to watch over your recovery with Miss Lawson." Chakwas said. "Who?" Ty asked again. "I'm sorry Miranda is Miss Lawson, you've been out for a week and a half." Chakwas said.

Ty's jaw nearly dropped off as he heard the time and he said "A week and a half! Holy shit, has Shepard recruited anyone new or tried going to find my friend." "Yes and no she recruited a woman named Jack and she has not gone to look for your friend." Chakwas said. Chakwas began to walk away as she continued "I'll go inform Shepard that you are awake, but don't try to move your injuries are severe."

There was no way he was going to sit on a bed any longer, he lost a week and a half of time because of his injuries, he wasn't about to lose more. Ty shook his head and said "I gotta get up doc trust me I'll be fine." "You are as stubborn as a mule, try and move slowly you've had a lot of changes to your body." Chakwas said. _Changes? Grrreeeaattt,_ Ty thought. "I don't even want to know right now what is different, where's Shepard?" Ty asked. "In the Comm room talking with Miranda and Jacob, the Comm is up a floor and can be accessed by going through the Tech lab or Armory. Here is your tank top and your weapons are on the desk. I was able to patch up the hole that was in the back of your shirt along with the hole in your back." Chakwas said with a cheeky smirk as she brought Ty his shirt.

Ty smirked slightly and took it but stopped as he asked "Were you one of the people I hit?" Ty asked. "You kicked me but you needn't worry yourself about it, you were on enough drugs to topple a Krogan so you need not apologize." Chakwas said. "Sorry anyway I didn't mean to hurt you I thought I was captured by Suns." Chakwas nodded said "Its fine."

Ty put his burnt tank top on and put the hood up, the fabric felt rougher but not to the point of uncomfortableness. Chakwas went to her desk and sat down as Ty got off the bed and started getting all his weapons on. He put his tomahawks on last and started walking to the elevator and as he did he saw some surprised looks from the Cerberus crew as he walked into the elevator and kind of smiled because of it, "Tyler Rhoddy has died many times" was a saying among the people of Omega though Ty was sure these people were unaware of the saying and how true it was. The elevator brought him up to CIC slowly reminding him of the Citadel elevators he avoided it all costs, walking or transportation cabs were so much quicker than those damn things.

Ty walked out as the doors opened and started walking to the Comm room passing Kelly who was shocked to see Ty walking and alive, Ty cut through the Tech Lab and nodded at Mordin who nodded with a smirk and kept working, he walked through the next set of doors to the Comm room doors. Ty pressed the green hologram which opened the doors allowing him to walk in to where Shepard, Jacob and Miranda were all talking. "Alright so girls and guy what's the deal, what have I missed, and who did I hit so I can apologize." Ty said.

Shepard turned and smiled at Ty, Miranda gave a faint smile and Jacob laughed and said "Gets up and going and acts like he didn't get injured, you're one tough son of a bitch." Shepard had on a dark blue wife beater that enhanced her eye color making her vibrant sapphire eyes look like two actual flawless sapphires; she also wore black jeans with a regular pair of black shoes.

To Ty's surprise she had two tattoos and piercings, she had angel wings on her back that arched up to her shoulders and went down almost all the way to her waist but stop inches short. They were very real looking, they were white with black lines in them to make them look real and give them depth where they needed them. Her other tattoo was a tribal tattoo that started at her right shoulder and spread across the top of her bicep until it stopped at the middle of her bicep, it wasn't an irregular tribal band but it did stand out more than most.

She had her ears pierced with studs and Ty could tell that she had her belly button pierced and it had dangles on it though it was covered by her shirt, she more than likely took it out while in combat or at least Ty hoped she would because if somehow it got ripped out…Ty stopped his thoughts not wanting to think about the pain it would cause. "Did Chakwas authorize you to get up and moving?" Miranda asked as her icy professional mentality came back.

Ty chuckled and said "Hell no she wanted me to stay in bed I told her that I was getting up, I feel fine except for a minor pain in my arm and chest, so who did I hit?" "Miranda and Jacob, I was lucky enough for you to have my throat in a vice grip." Shepard said. _Wow nice me you tried snapping the neck of Commander Shepard, fucking drugged up moron, _Ty thought. "I apologize, as you saw I wasn't myself I thought I was captured by Suns and had no memory of the fight but I'm here and I remember everything." Ty said.

Shepard smirked and said "Well you're lucky to be alive; your right side took the brunt of all the damage with the carnage basically disintegrating your skin on your arm. The skin graft got it back to mostly normal but your chest had scars across it. You broke almost every rib you have on your right side and had severe trauma on your organs and head which isn't really a surprise with everything that happened. You have a very feint scar down the left side of your face now from the tomahawk but everything has been repaired…with your lung collapsed and all of your nerves in your arm burned out leaving it paralyzed we had to use cybernetics to get it all working again."

Ty wasn't surprised by that, the pain he had felt before losing all feeling in his arm told him that much and as for his lung he knew that once he felt the blood pouring into it. "You'll pack a meaner punch because of the cybernetics in your arm though that's for sure or at least I know I do now so I assume it will for you as well." Shepard said.

Ty looked to Miranda who gave a slight nod of approval to what Shepard said, Ty nodded and said "Well that's not all bad then though I figured most of that by the bandages up my whole arm and chest. Do I still have my tattoos?" "We got your skin back but you don't have your tattoos there was nothing I could do for it. If you want to get rid of the scars I believe Doctor Chakwas is working on something for the med-bay." Miranda said.

Ty shrugged and said "Just a sleeve tattoo anyway not that big of a deal and as for the scars I'll see if I like them, did Garrus make it?" "Yeah he made it, his face and armor are scarred but nothing he can't handle, he'll want to see you now that you're up and moving to thank you." Shepard said. "Alright I'll go see him." Ty began to leave but stopped himself as he remembered Taraks promise to have Haley killed, "Did you guys get Tarak?" Ty asked. "Yea you won't have to worry about him. If I may ask what happened between you two?" Shepard asked.

Ty sighed at the question, that was a long story that he really didn't want to talk about but since Shepard did save his life and offered to help him find Haley so she was entitled to know what she was sticking her neck out for, "How about this I'll tell you everything tomorrow, I'm surprisingly tired and that's a long story." Ty said. Shepard nodded and said "Alright go see Garrus at the battery and then get some rest…you know where the battery is right?" Ty nodded then shook his head as he said "Yeaaaaa no, no I don't." "Alright, Miranda show Ty where to go and if he needs help walking give him some help." Shepard ordered. "Okay Shepard will do, come on Ty lets go." Miranda said. "Before I go, where should I bunk and keep my things? I'd prefer a room with either a glass window looking out at the stars or a room that has a see through roof so I can stargaze while I lay down." Ty said.

A blue hologram popped up in front of Ty startling him a little then it said "The room next to the Life Support has both a window looking out and a window looking up if you'd like it." "This ship has an AI? Damn maybe I can get part of her installed on my bike since I got a VI on mine." That earned Ty a suspicious look from Shepard and suspicion mixed with glares from the other two behind the hologram, "What?" Ty asked. "You are not unshackling a damn AI." Miranda said.

AI's had a very bad reputation because of the Geth but Ty was one that believed peace could be achieved with them because the Geth only defended themselves from the Quarians back during the Mourning War, so if the stepping stone towards peace was befriending this new AI he was going to do as he pleased. He wasn't naïve though, he knew that AI's could learn faster than he could react so he wasn't just going to unshackle her and hope, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to befriend her. "Says you." Ty muttered then looked back at EDI and continued "What should I call you?" Ty asked. "The crew calls me EDI." EDI said. Ty nodded and said "EDI it is then and thank you for the helpful information, come on princess you have to get back to work after you're done giving me a tour."

Miranda came over after rolling her eyes and Ty followed her through the ship back to the elevator and down, as they were going down Miranda asked "So how you feeling now that you're up and moving?" "Well I survived an explosion and lived to tell the tale so I say pretty damn well but otherwise I'm kinda sore, sorry for hitting you." Ty said. "Its fine didn't do much to me you hit Jacob and Chakwas the hardest, well and Shepard had some minor bruising on her neck. We have a new recruit now so you know." Miranda said. The doors opened and Ty said "Yea Chakwas mentioned someone named Jack." Ty said. "She's down below in engineering, I'm right over here, Jacob is in the armory, and Mordin is in the Tech lab if you ever need to talk to one of us." Miranda said. "Must have a big plan with all these people, so what's this Jack woman's deal?" Ty asked. "Jack hates Cerberus and she's a woman's scorn on steroids, we rescued her from the prison ship called Purgatory and Shepard gave her full access to Cerberus data so she's staying for the mission." Miranda said. "Good thing I have history against you guys then." Ty said with a smirk. "Are you going to hold that over Cerberus forever?" Miranda asked. "Yes I am princess." Ty said.

They walked past a few sleeping pods as they approached the battery than Miranda said "Well here we are and there's Garrus down there, I'll leave you to him." "Alright see ya Miranda." Ty said. "Bye Ty." Miranda said then left. Ty walked down the rest of the hall and opened up the door to see Garrus where he was working, Ty got behind him and knocked on the wall "Hey Garrus you got time?" Ty asked. Garrus turned around and said "Well I'll be damned you survived, you look like hell."

Ty smiled at the comment as he saw the scarring Shepard talked about on Garrus, a quarter of the right side of his face was bandaged up with similar material as Ty's arm was but his looked a bit more permanent than Ty's. "You look like hell to; it's not all bad though if you think about it this way, ladies love scars." Ty said. Garrus chuckled slightly and said "Yea I bet, so you were near death and you decided to help me out I didn't know the legend of Omega was so caring."

Ty nodded with a smirk at the sarcasm and sat on a crate, "Yea I guess I did but not to the extent everyone seems to think." Ty said. "How I hear it is you pushed through pain and helped my battered corpse to the ship and made sure they would save me before you is that right?" Garrus asked. Ty nodded and said "That's how it happened; Shepard doesn't give herself any credit for helping you since she helped me carry your tall heavy ass also. Seriously why do Turians have to weigh so much but always get their asses kicked so humans have to carry them?" "Makes up for all the times we pull your asses out of the fire now." Garrus said. "And the Battle of the Citadel who saved who's ass? I was pretty sure it was the human fleet." Ty stated. "Maybe but it was a Turian, human and Quarian who defeated Saren to take down the shields on the Reaper so Turians get credit for saving your fleet from getting decimated." Garrus retorted. "But you were lead by a human so it was mostly the humans." Ty said.

Garrus shrugged to himself and said "Maybe but who knows it may have been because I was there that we defeated him." Garrus said. There was going to be no end to this conversation Ty figured if he kept this up so he said "Anyway back to me having to carry your heavy ass, I'm sure your role on this squad and in life is way more important than mine, you're a tactical genius and skilled infiltrator and I'm a criminal and thief who knows his way around sniper rifles, tomahawks and technology which don't take much effort like yours does so it only made sense for a human like me to pull your ass out of the fire even though I was severely injured." Ty said. "You're also someone who will save anyone's life before your own I hear." Garrus said.

Ty looked at him with a questioning look and asked "You hear? What do you mean?" Garrus walked over to the wall in front of Ty and leaned against it, "On Omega you don't really keep your info private or at least everyone knows about you so I've heard some stories plus I read your dossier to see if it had any information to fill in some blanks and in your dossier it says you risked your life to save someone or a partner you cared about and succeeded every time no matter the cost to yourself." Garrus said.

His dossier wasn't completely right; he wasn't able to save his crew. If only he had thought through all the angles they would all still be alive. "Not completely true but I guess they wouldn't mention the bad stuff, I'm still surprised my dossier says that though." Ty said. "Surprised that it mentions you risking your life or that they have that much information on you?" Garrus asked as his mandibles moved into a smile. Ty chuckled and said "A little bit of both…I guess you can say I value others lives over mine." Ty said. "It seems that way, everyone on the squad knows that now since they were all wondering about why you risked your life for Miranda and Shepard and then did what you did for me." Garrus said. "I die for two weeks and everyone looks me up, I should put a rating scale on my dossier. "What do you think of the most wanted criminal, respectable? Asshole? Needs to die? Romantic? Dreamy?" Ty joked.

Garrus chuckled and said "Maybe you should set up a dating profile, either way though you risked your life to save my life and now I owe you for it." Ty shook his head, he hated people thinking they were in debt for him saving their lives, it wasn't how it worked in his mind so he said "No you don't owe me anything its what partners do so don't try some cowboy shit like me to pay me back." "You really don't like people being in debt to you do you?" Garrus asked. "No not really, a simple thank you to me means more." Ty said. "Thank you then, thanks to you I survived." Garrus said. "I'd do it again no matter what situation I was in." Ty said.

**A/N: Few quick side notes, first off I'd like to say thank you to those thus far who have read this and gave me the 274 views I've had so far plus a thank you to the 4 followers and 2 favs. It may not be much to others but to me it is huge because I never expected many people to look into this or to follow this. I'm super glad you enjoy this and I hope I can keep you entertain as we adventure through this story; I've had a great time writing this so I will try not to disappoint. So a huge thank you to all of you out there reading this, you've made this nerd a happy nerd. We've got a long road ahead (I'm at like chapter 80 something and counting still) so if your in for the long term than I hope you find this as enjoyable as I have. Now second to my first I found out that the page break things I put in so you know when it is switching perspective weren't going in exception of when it say "specified time lapse at specified location", so I went in and fixed that, if this bothers you let me know and I will change it back if you do not want it to change because it makes sense the way it is let me know I just thought it might be weird that one moment your reading through Shepard's perspective than the next you are reading through Ty's without a line separating them when it as a time lapse or POV change if it was better before let me know. Anyway that is all my side notes if you have any questions whether it is about Ty's power, which will get elaborated on in the future, or anything that you feel I barely touched on and need more information on to understand let me know and I'll figure out if it is explained in the future or if I just forgot to elaborate on. Okay this A/N went on a little longer than intended; I will see you next time.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Recovery

**Disclaimer/A/N: Not really sure how many times I need to do this but we'll see how long it lasts, I do not own anything from the Mass Effect Universe, that belongs to Bioware and/or E/A. I'm just a huge fan who decided to write a story within their universe, only thing I stake claim in is the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the original Mass Effect Universe. Quick note, the room that Ty stays in is the port lounge because I did not know of Kasumi at the time I wrote this but you will notice it is a lot different and there is a window above his bed that shows the outdoors. I'm sorry if you don't like that I changed the room but as I said I did not know at the time and Kasumi still has a room on the same floor but I put it against that curving wall on the port side and her room is still exactly the same, just different wall. On to the next entry of Suicidal odds.**

Ty left Garrus and walked back down to the elevator but took a right at life support to what was now his room, he walked into the room and saw a giant window looking out into space and then a window at an angle near the wall with the window also looking out into the abyss that he'd be able to look out from his bed comfortably, _This is a nice room, time to make myself at home,_ Ty thought. Ty saw a table on his left side so he walked over to it and took all his guns off setting all of them in a neat fashion on the table, he put his two predator pistols together with their holsters then he took his sniper off and put it down next with its holder. Ty grabbed his tomahawks out but as he did he remembered that his other pistol that he kept under his pillow was still in the storage compartment of his bike so he made a mental note to go grab it before he called it a night.

After getting all his present gear organized Ty looked over his room again, there were two plush chairs in the room one that was looking out the window at an angle and the other was next to him at the table, the bed was on the right side of the room when you walked in. It was a queen sized bed with a black comforter and white sheets and it had a nightstand on the left side when you were standing at the foot of it that was completely empty. On the right wall if you were standing at the edge of the bed was another door that led to a private bathroom.

Overall it was a nice room and looked comfortable but Ty figured there were bugs and cameras watching him so he began scoping the room. _I need to contact Z and make sure Jessica is alright,_ Ty thought. Ty stopped in the center of his room as he dialed his brothers number and waited for him to pick up as he restarted his search for bugs and recorders, ring…ring…rin- "Ty where the fuck have you been we haven't heard from you in a week and a half." Z answered.

_In the spirit realm hanging out with my friends_, Ty's initial thought made him laugh inwardly, _I guess now is probably a bad time for bad jokes judging on Z's worried but agitated tone._ "I've been dead and on an operating table, what did you want me to do contact you telepathically." Ty retorted back with a smile to himself. There was a slight pause than his brothers voice came back "No shit what happened?" Z asked. "Took a shotgun carnage blast for someone then took the shockwave of a missile from Taraks gunship for Commander Shepard, you know usual shit." Ty joked.

The search for bugs and cameras had been successful with Ty destroying six bugs and four cameras, satisfied that he had found all of them Ty decided to lie down on the bed and look at the stars. It was a damn beautiful sight seeing so many stars in all their spectacular beauty out there, it was a sight to cherish but Ty wished he'd be able to see a sunset eventually. He hadn't seen one in years and he missed the colors it brought and the warm feeling it gave him. "Wow you really know how to risk your life; did you at least take out that asshole Tarak?" Z said.

That glory went to Shepard, Ty wished he could've had that asshole all to himself so he could make him suffer as much as he had, it was all because of him and the other three pieces of shit that his friends were all dead but Tarak was dead so in the end it wasn't terrible Ty didn't kill him, just unfortunate that he didn't get to torture the malicious four eyed bastard. "I didn't but Shepard did, he's as dead as dead can be how I hear it…How is everything at home?" Ty asked. "Normal, we took out one of the Blue Suns bases that they had and kidnapped their leader Jason, who I know you remember. Exception of dying and being resurrected how is hunting for Haley going?" Z asked.

Ty sighed, Tarak may have been dead but Haley was still missing and that weighed Ty down mentally and emotionally. Every second she was missing was more time for her to be tortured, raped or killed. If he found her in any shape besides spectacular a lot of Blue Suns were going to pay. "Tarak said he had her on their Illium base but his word doesn't mean shit so I'm gonna have to get Aria to look into it for me which we both know means that I owe her one." Ty said. "I thought it was going to make you two even?" Z asked. "No she made us even by giving me Taraks location so now it'll make me owe her." Ty said. "Ah looks like you'll be melding with her again amongst other activities…not that you don't enjoy that." Z joked.

Ty smirked and shook his head, his brother was right about both things but it still struck Ty as a weird deal. He understood the reasoning behind it but it was still a weird deal. "Ha ha very funny, your just jealous about her going for me instead of you." Ty said. "Maybe but you'll never know." Z said. "Alright before I go how has Jessica been, I'm sure she's worried or has left already." Ty said. "Actually she's still here surprisingly, I think she might like it at our place but she also has been missing you and asking questions about our past." Z said.

That wasn't a surprise really Ty had figured that she was going to do that, he hadn't meant to leave her there or drag her and Haley into his fight but he would have been dumb not to think that when he left her there and told her to get comfortable that she wouldn't ask questions. She didn't really know a lot about him or his family. "Figured as much, you tell her anything?" Ty asked. "Hell no, the girl is innocent I am not going to corrupt her with having knowledge of us, as soon as you save Haley she needs to go back to her innocent life and enjoy it before the Reapers get here." Z said. "I know that was the plan, are you at our place?" Ty asked. "Nah I'm out causing trouble, actually you called as I was interrogating Jason from the Blue Suns about you but-" A gun shot went off and Z continued "Now I know you're okay, call her and tell her you're alright and I'll tell daddy you're alive." Z said. "Will do, tell daddy I love him, love you." Ty said. "Love you bye." Z said then hung up.

Ty opened up his omni-tool and dialed for Jessica next as he laid there, he wasn't sure what reaction to expect when she answered but he hoped she wasn't to pissed about him leaving and not contacting her in a week and a half but he wouldn't' blame her in the least bit. Ring…rin- "Ty your alive! Where are you? Have you found Haley yet? How come you haven't called?" Jessica answered. Ty chuckled at hearing the barrage of questions, it was very similar to an Asari he knew but hers were always in one breath without stopping. "Slow down Jess I've been dead for a week and half cut me some slack. I might have Haley's location so I will find her soon and I'm with Commander Shepard on the new Normandy she's helping me find Haley." Ty said.

There was a sigh of relief from Jessica which made Ty feel slightly better about her predicament "Oh that's all good news than…well except you dying. How did you die and how are you talking to me? Actually I don't want to know it'll just make me worry more. When do you think you'll be back?" Jessica asked. "I'll see you again when I have Haley I have to stay on the search for her so nothing bad happens, how have you been?" Ty asked. "Good I guess I've made myself at home here and met your dad and brother who are both really nice. You are all very secretive about what happened with you guys and the Blue Suns." Jessica said.

Ty chuckled slightly at Jessica's statement; he understood why they didn't talk about it. The history wasn't a bright shining rainbow that they all liked to think about, plus it was mostly Ty's story to tell and they respected him wanting to keep it private. "Yea we tend to be that way, listen when I see you again I'll explain what happened alright…I didn't mean to drag you and Haley into all this and I owe you an explanation for everything that is going on." Ty said. "It isn't your fault Ty and I'm okay being here so don't worry about me okay." Jessica said. "I'll do my best but still I'm sorry for everything." Ty apologized. "It's okay Ty don't worry. I'll let you continue your hunt for Haley so we can see each other again, bye Ty… and take care of yourself for me." Jessica said. "I will, bye Jess." Ty said.

The call ended and Ty sat up on the bed, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do since there wasn't much he could do now that he was on board. _I could go do some maintenance on my bike but I'm really not in the mood to do that now,_ Ty looked to the floor and decided that he was going to meditate for a few hours. Ty got off of his bed and walked over to the spot on the floor that he figured was the center and had a good view out the window.

Ty sat himself down and crossed his legs hoping to at least relax himself and clear his mind but as he stared out he decided he'd go into his memory banks and look at everything the Blue Suns had done to him to keep his fire of revenge burning. Ty opened up his memory banks and sifted through them seeing some good memories in flashes that made him smile until he reached the part of his mind that held the bad memories, he opened them all up and than opened his eyes. His vision changed to the location of the memory the stars turned into the people one of them being him and the five others being Blue Suns with a prisoner at their feet on their knees. As he stared at the mirror image of himself and Tarak, Jason and the others he began the memory and the sounds filled his ears while the smells filled his nostrils and the emotions he had became his own once again.

One Hour Later

The memory had unfolded with Ty feeling all the emotions again and remembering the pain it brought him, it wasn't a healthy thing to do but he needed to keep his reason for living for the last eight years still burning and that was his quick way to set it ablaze. After he achieved that he forced his mind to wander through his memories once again looking for one that was happier but because his mind was in such an emotional state from the first memory he wasn't able to control which he was going to look at and it brought him to another memory that made him feel physical pain.

The first jolt of pain he felt was his arm in searing pain with his skin feeling like it was being ripped apart, he saw himself being carried by Shepard as the pain made his arm feel like it was being tore apart, "TY, SHEPARD GET DOWN HE FIRED A MISSILE!" Ty heard Miranda yell. Ty watched himself as he pushed Shepard out of the way and in slow motion he watched the missile get hit by his rounds and explode ten feet away from him.

As his back got pierced by the spike the sound of the hydraulic doors opening brought him out of his memory; Ty shook his head as the memory faded and grabbed at his back where the spike had pierced. "Hey are you alright?" A female voice asked. The pain was mind splitting to the point that Ty didn't notice the voice; he looked up and saw Shepard standing in front of him, "Hey Shepard what's up?" Ty grunted in question trying to ignore the pain. Shepard was looking down at him with a look of worry, "Is your back giving you trouble?" Shepard asked her tone matching her look.

The pain began to ease as the effect of the memory faded, that was just another effect of his ability, feeling exactly what had happened from feelings, to sounds, to physical pain if it was there. "Just the memory, I take it you are here to talk?" Ty asked trying to change the subject. Shepard looked at him with a worried look for a little while longer but then she asked "Do you have time to talk?" "Does it look like I'm doing anything? Yea I can talk what's on your mind." Ty said resting his hands back on his thighs. "How are you recovering?" Shepard asked.

Ty felt his ribs and blocked the pain of his back out of his mind, he had felt fine but now everything was feeling sore and said "Eh I'm alright my ribs really hurt right now but I'll be fine…sorry about choking you, Miranda told me I left minor bruising." Shepard waved him off and said "Don't worry about it I've had worse and I'm just glad you recovered." "I'm glad to but still sorry for doing what I did." Ty said sincerely. "Its fine Ty don't worry about it." Shepard said. "Thank you for be forgiving didn't think the N7 were bred to be that way I thought it was results at any cost thinking." Ty said.

He couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth as much as he wanted to; his feeling about the Alliance still had a strong hold on him. Despite the ignorant comment he made Shepard smirked slightly and asked "Do I really seem like the results at any cost kind of person to you?" "No not really but that last part was supposed to be an inner thought. I'm in for this mission and that means I'll work with you but know that I have problems with the Alliance and Cerberus, and since you represent the Alliance I couldn't shut my mouth when I wanted to so I apologize now for my mouth. Anything else you want to talk about?" Ty asked.

Shepard crossed her arms and leaned most of her weight on her left leg, she was a very attractive woman even from the angle Ty was looking at, her facial features were great and her sapphire eyes drew him in every time their eyes met but she was Alliance and that meant despite her being attractive there was no way he was going to do anything with her aside from working with her. This was a business relationship, she was helping him and he was helping her that was it. "So what's with your vendetta against Cerberus?" Shepard asked.

Ty chuckled lightly, he hadn't expected her to dive right into that part of his history but it beat the more recent history so he said "Straight to the point I see, you ever hear of a man named Franklin Rhoddy when you were in the Alliance?" "Yea who hasn't, master knife thrower and contract killer. The Alliance had been after him since he was twenty, he killed every person he was sent to kill and left his signature mark of a knife in-between the eyes with a slit throat. I was fifteen traveling with my parents from Alliance ship to Alliance ship when they caught him." Shepard said.

She had been fifteen but Ty had been only eight when his father told him that their grandfather had died, that was a painful memory that Ty still wished had never happened. "Yea well I was eight when he was murdered; my grandfather was one of the nicest people in the Galaxy. He may have been a killer but that didn't mean he wasn't a good man, he was kind hearted person willing to help anyone who needed his help no matter how big or small the need was, not to mention a warm heart for the ladies. Well what was the official story from the Alliance they gave you?" Ty asked.

Shepard chuckled and said "Why do I have the feeling your going to contradict this." "Because I am go ahead tell me not like your working for them right now." Ty had been dying to hear what they had told their own soldiers, it was going to be a load of bullshit but it would probably prove to be funny bullshit. "Alright here you go, Franklin Rhoddy was a cold blooded killer who was going after a General of the Turian army at the time, Septimus Oraka. The Alliance got a hint from an unknown source that he was going to kill the General at a certain time on that day so we sent a transmission to them but it didn't get through because he had already disabled communications so an Alliance ship that was in the area rushed to the ship. We went to save the General and when we got there Franklin had already blown through all opposition and was about to kill the General, we offered him a chance to surrender but he went to throw his knife at the General so we gunned him down and saved the General."

Ty couldn't stop the laugh that came on, that was positively the worst bullshit he had heard, up there with Hanar Jugglers though they had turned out to be real he still counted it for the time period he didn't know the truth. Ty stood up as his laughter died down slowly getting an estranged look from Shepard than he walked to his bed and sat down, Shepard readjusted to where Ty was and Ty got his laughter controlled as he asked "You believed that shit?" "It's what everyone was told." Shepard said. "Well let me give you the reality of what happened and fill in your anonymous person. My grandfather was not a cold blooded killer, yes he killed a lot of people but if you look into his victims you will see they were not innocent, they were masters at hiding there guilt. Its funny the Alliance says that since they hired him to kill a plentiful amount of people but that's a different tale.

Shepard looked at him with an unbelieving look as Ty leaned back onto his elbows, "So one day my grandfather was contacted by Cerberus for a contract against the General, my grandfather knew who they were and he wasn't an easy man to convince in general so when they did convince him this guy was bad news it meant A they were telling the truth or B they were so good at lying and the evidence was partially true. They told him he was planning on going to the Consorts chambers and asking her for something, more than a pleasurable encounter or maybe to marry him I guess I never asked that much and didn't care for that particular detail, so they told him that he planned to kill her if she denied he'd rape her than kill her.

Ty leaned back forward and continued "They gave my grandfather personal logs with the correct time stamps and all that technical crap. My grandfather looked into it still not completely believing them because it was the Consort and Cerberus doesn't care about aliens. I figure my grandfather thought maybe the Illusive Man or who ever hired him used the Consort as their dirty little fantasy of hooking up with an alien. Anyway off topic, so it was partially true he wanted something but what we learned after is that he wasn't going to kill her and he'd just drink his life away and spread rumors when he retired but still want more from her, because that totally makes sense to spread rumors about the woman you love."

Shepard chuckled and said "That's kind of funny because I stopped him from doing that when I met him." Ty shook his head slightly with a smirk and said "People are fucking weird. Well anyway my grandfather said goodbye to us and boarded the ship, he killed all his guards and got to the General where the General didn't surrender, my grandfather fought valiantly against him but was shot in the side by the General when he went for the kill. The General made him tell him why he was attacking, my grandfather was an honorable man so when he knew he was beat there was no point to him in making his pain any worse by lying. So he told him everything from the logs to all the snooping around he did, the General told him he'd never kill the consort after all she'd done for him but if she wouldn't he'd probably end up really crushed by it because he loved her or something, still not sure about that part but that's what I figure from my own snooping. Well my grandfather believed him over Cerberus and accepted he was going to be arrested so he vid messaged us." Ty popped his omni-tool up and said "The vid itself got damaged but the recording stayed intact."

Ty clicked several buttons on the tool and than his grandfathers raspy voice came through "Hey Tim Cerberus set me up, the Generals innocent and I'm gonna be under arrest for trying to kill him since he shot me and caught me. Tell your sons I love them an-" Doors opened in the background, "Hey hey don't shoot I give up." There were heavy steps then the Generals voice "He surrenders and is un-armed you can put your guns down." Ty nodded to his tool as Admiral Hackett's voice came in, the look on Shepard's face was priceless as her eyes widened and jaw dropped "You heard him boys lower your weapons." Machine gunfire went off and the sound of a body hitting the ground was apparent followed by the sounds of someone being thrown to the ground.

Ty's omni tool disappeared and he said "As you see Cerberus planted someone in that squad to, they gave the tip to the Alliance to get their guy to the ship to not only kill my grandfather for whatever reason they decided and kill the General to probably weaken the Turian army." Ty felt his body heat up as anger filled him, his tone grew more agitated as he said "Despite that though the Alliance covered Cerberus's ass instead of telling the fucking truth. They covered it all up making it sound like they were a bunch of fucking heroes when one of them killed a man who surrender, the General was lucky he wasn't killed to but I don't blame him for anything, my grandfather tried to kill him he deserves to be angry."

Ty calmed himself down even though he had every right to be angry in his opinion, he shook his head as he looked at Shepard and said "To further cover it up me and my family are to be forever hunted." Ty forced a laugh the continued "I was eight fucking years old and I was pronounced a criminal for something I never did, my childhood was stolen from me because of back room politics and bullshit."

Shepard looked at him with sympathy mixed with surprise or more of "holy shit I can't believe that is real" look, "You wanted to know the bad blood there you go, do I know if Miranda even knows of it, no not one hundred percent but I wouldn't doubt it." Ty stopped and looked down at his RBZ 4 Life tattoo, it was a comfort to still have that on him but no one could steal that from him. Ty looked back up to Shepard and said "I understand where your loyalties lie and that is not a problem with me because you have done nothing to me but the Alliance stole my grandfather, mine and my brothers childhood and my fathers innocence from us so don't think for a second that by me working with you that I forgive them for what they did."

Shepard nodded in understanding and said "I understand…Wow I didn't expect all that Ty, I- I can't believe that he surrendered and was willing to pay for his actions…no one ever mentioned anything like that." "Yea the saying "history is written by the winners" was spot on." Ty said. Shepard nodded again but she stayed silent, Ty looked at her eyes trying to get a read on what she was doing or thinking but only came up with that she was thinking. Ty looked over to his window again just to stare out at the stars until Shepard finally said "I know you have a big issue with Cerberus but I need everyone's cooperation when we work. I know you saved her but I don't need you not doing something to help us because you hate Cerberus understand?" Ty nodded and said "Understood Commander anything else you need?"

Shepard nodded and asked "You've built your own space bike and have seen a lot being on the run your whole life, have you come across anything that could help us against the Collectors?" Ty shrugged slightly and said "Honestly I don't know a damn thing about the Collectors never heard of them until Miranda mentioned them when you and me first met, but I did learn how to get more propulsion into FTL speed and maneuverability on my bike and if I read the Cerberus files correctly the last Normandy didn't do so well out maneuvering that beam. I might be able to get it to work on this ship even though it's a lot bigger then both my bike and the old Normandy but don't be surprised if I get zapped a few times while doing it, when you get the stuff tell me and I'll install it, anything else?" Ty asked.

Shepard shook her head and said "No, get some rest you have to meet with Miranda and Chakwas to make sure everything is functioning correctly, if everything works out correctly you'll be going on a recruitment mission with me and Jack." Ty nodded and said "Sounds good…they didn't plant any brain chip in me did they?" Shepard chuckled for some reason though Ty was being serious, "No she didn't I made sure of it, see ya Ty." Shepard said. "See ya Shepard." Ty said. Ty moved himself further onto his bed as Shepard left and laid his head down on his pillow, he looked at the passing stars and relaxed himself as he fell into deep slumber.

The Next Day

Sleep didn't have a long hold on Ty as he woke up on his bed about six hours after talking to Shepard but that meant it was about 6:30 am in Earth time. Ty got off his bed with his energy back at its peak and he walked into the bathroom he had in his room, he walked up to the mirror and started taking the bandages off hoping his arm wasn't to scarred from the blast. When Ty got all the bandages off he saw multiple scars that went across his lung and then another that went from the middle of his ribs down and curved to his right side and onto his back. Ty started feeling down his side counting how much of his right side was cybernetic, _one lung, seven, eight, nine, ten, ele- ouch! I guess I have my eleventh and twelfth ribs_, Ty thought after hitting a sensitive spot on his ribs. _Well hell they weren't kidding my whole right side is basically cybernetic, well at least my scars are not protruding and just stay level with my skin, I like them,_ Ty thought.

Ty undressed and jumped in his shower and washed himself down and washed his hair, Ty dried off and got dressed in his burnt tank top, clam diggers and boots and walked into the middle of his room when EDI popped up at the terminal near the door, "Jesus EDI you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days." Ty said in a shocked tone. "Well that would require you to have a human heart not a cybernetic one." EDI said. Ty glared at the hologram and said in a defensive manner "Hey I have a human heart it's just my right side that's cybernetic." "That was a joke, I was told to tell you to go and see Miranda and Chakwas about a check up on you." EDI said. "Alright I'll go now, can you get like a ringer on you so when you're about to come I have a little warning." Ty asked. "I am not a phone Ty I am an A.I., I could play rings for you when I appear if you would like." EDI said. "No thank you it'll just freak me out more, tell the princess I'm on my way." Ty said. Ty put his hood up as he got to the door and thought, _Well this should be a great bonding experience._

**A/N: Short note I promise, I know you can recruit Zaeed and Kasumi at the beginning of the game but I did not know about them until later so in this story they aren't recruited until after Horizon, no worries to fans of them though they will still be active in the story once they are recruited. Next chapter is the last recovery chapter after that it is time to recruit Shepards baby Krogan, I'm excited for the fun between him and Ty and the fun between Ty and Jack. I will leave you with that little info and once again a huge thank you to all the viewers and all the followers and favorites, thank you for taking the time to read this you make this nerd smile. I will see you next time.**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Reliving the Past

**Disclaimer/A/N: I don't own anything from the Mass Effect universe that belongs to Bioware and/or EA. I only stake claim to the personalities of Ty and co that aren't actually part of the Mass Effect Universe. I'm apologize for the day late chapter or two day late depending on when you read this and I also apologize for it being one of my shorter chapters. Either way onto the next entry to Suicidal Odds and a little more backstory on the tragedy that befell Ty.**

The med-bay wasn't far from Ty's room so it didn't take him long to reach the room where he found Miranda leaning against the front of the bed he woke up on the other day and Chakwas was sitting at her desk, "Okay lets get this done and over with so I can get back to plotting my revenge and let you ladies get back to work." Ty said. Miranda pushed herself off the bed and said "Alright take your shirt off and sit over here so I can check your arm and lung." Ty couldn't stop his mouth as the sarcasm came spewing out, "Well aren't we skipping a few steps Miranda I mean we've only known each other for a few days. I understand you've worked on my body but I didn't know you had such strong feelings for me." Ty said with a smirk. Miranda shook her head at his response then began moving to the side of the sick bed, "You wish, now hurry up I have to get some actual work done besides for checking up on you." Miranda said.

Ty continued to smirk as he took his tank top off, he stuck it in his pocket then sat on the bed, Miranda began by doing tests on his arm and lung that Ty didn't understand but wasn't going to argue since he wasn't a doctor. This was out of his field of expertise so if this is what needed to be done he was just going to go along with it, Miranda felt up his arm making sure all the cybernetic ligaments and muscles were all there, she moved her hand to Ty's peck and started putting pressure on it checking for anything that shouldn't be there. "Can you feel this?" Miranda asked. "Why because if I do you'll feel awkward princess?" Ty joked.

He really needed to get a cap on his mouth but that was going to be very hard for him, he had been known as a smart mouthed mercenary long ago but it didn't go away as the years passed. He was only twenty three so maybe it was just his youthfulness that made his mouth unable to be shut, or at least he'd use it as an excuse to throw people off. "No because if you don't then we'll have a bigger issue." Miranda said flatly. She apparently didn't have a taste for Ty's sarcasm but Ty chuckled nonetheless and said "Yea I can feel your hands pushing against me, its very feint compared to how it used to feel but I can still feel it." Miranda nodded slightly and started going down his ribs, "Tell me when you feel your real ribs they should still be in pain." Miranda said.

Ty waited as Miranda went down his ribs for the slight pain and as she did he said "Miranda I gotta ask you something, why did Cerberus kill my grandfather I thought you guys were pro-human and all for helping the human race no matter what." "He was a loose end and he attacked Cerberus before, we considered him a threat and we killed him." Miranda said without missing a beat.

That had been programmed into her by the Illusive Man there was no doubt about that. "And now you're recruiting his grandson and you don't consider me a threat?" Ty asked. "You'll prove yourself either as an asset or a liability by the end of this and then the Illusive Man will decide whether to kill you or keep you on the Normandy." Miranda said coldly. Miranda hit the sensitive spot on Ty's ribs making him wince in pain and grab her hand, "That's my rib." Ty said.

He wasn't entirely surprised by Miranda's response, he had figured that his contract could be terminated in more ways than one at the end of this if he wasn't careful and didn't get out quickly. Miranda nodded to Ty as he let go of her hand, Miranda began more tests as she said "To be quite honest I don't think the Illusive Man was right letting Cerberus kill your grandfather, he took out corrupt officials and made sure humanity was strong but maybe he saw something back then that I don't." Miranda said as she started up more tests. Ty chuckled and said "Don't tell me your so naïve that you believe everything the Illusive Man says." Miranda glared at him so he shrugged slightly and continued "Besides you don't need to kiss my ass Miranda, I know my grandfather was a good man. He did more for humanity and aliens than the Citadel Council and the Alliance combined by protecting the innocents and killing those who wanted to cease power for ill reasons."

Miranda shook her head slightly as she said "I'm not kissing your ass I'm being honest. We may not like each other but I respect what your grandfather did for humanity and his skills, he was on the run from the age of twenty to the end of his days without ever getting caught." "And I've been on the run since I was thirteen, technically eight because that was when I was marked as a target but I've only really been fighting since I was thirteen." Ty said. "And you have gained yourself quite a reputation." Miranda responded. "One that I wouldn't have had if it weren't for Cerberus stealing my grandfathers life and my own in the process so I guess I have to give your boss some credit for ruining my childhood and granting me this illustrious reputation." Ty said coldly.

Miranda paused for a moment and stared at the ground for a moment, Doctor Chakwas looked back at them with a shocked look, Miranda looked to be trying to form words to say, "No response I'm shocked, maybe there is a heart under all that ice and bullshit the Illusive Man feeds you." Ty said. As Miranda tried to respond Ty continued "So if your in an honesty mood than tell me what you think of me, do you think I'm a liability or an asset. I've made it clear that I won't do jobs for the people who murdered my grandfather but I mean for this mission?"

It took a few more seconds for Miranda to get out of her speechlessness and continue where she had left off on her tests, she went to Ty's back and her usual steely tone was back as she said "I don't know yet, you saved my life and I won't forget that but I believe in everything Cerberus stands for so you are as much as an asset to this team as you are a liability to Cerberus." _That was a good way of not actually giving me a straight answer,_ Ty thought. "So you believe the Illusive Man is right in his actions against my family and assisting in ruining a child's innocence?" Ty asked. "I- no I don't but that was the All-" "Oh do not start pointing fingers as a defense, listen it is as much as Cerberus's fault as it is the Alliance's so don't try shifting blame when you are both equally at fault for fucking with mine and my brothers life."

Miranda stood once again speechless at Ty's response so Ty decided to tone down his attitude towards her, "I think deep down you want to trust me and believe I will do anything in my power to protect you or whoever I'm teamed with but the indoctrination that the Illusive Man has on you won't let you believe that no matter what I do." Ty said. "Maybe but we have a long way to go and one act of kindness doesn't change who you are to Cerberus." Miranda said. "That's the Illusive Man talking through you Miranda…unless your head is that far up the Cerberus ideals ass. You judge me on a skewed un-truthful version of history about me and my kin; I hope no one ever judges you on your kin because whoever does wouldn't know who you truly were." Ty stated as he looked back at her.

Miranda looked at him but than looked down at her omni-tool which had a screen up with data going across it, "You're clear everything is how it should be." Miranda said. _I think she just dismissed me,_ Ty thought but nodded and said "That's a weight off my shoulders or well I guess shoulder now since the other side isn't completely me anymore. I'm going to go relax until I'm needed and Miranda I know you're all "Cerberus is right" and "Cerberus is everything" but try and think about what I said, maybe someday you'll realize the truth." "And what truth is that?" Miranda asked her stone attitude reforming. Ty smirked and said "And ruin the fun for you to figure it out, Miranda my dossier must leave it out completely 'cause it's not my style, see ya around Miranda, Chakwas keep looking out for everyone." Chakwas nodded and Ty threw his tank top on as he walked out and back to his room.

Ty got into his room after the short walk and allowed his doors to shut behind him as he stared out the glass window. He hadn't intended to be so hostile towards her but her ridiculous faith in Cerberus had been under his skin since they first met. How someone as smart as her could follow the Illusive Man so blindly and naively was beyond him. The Illusive Man had to hide a lot of information from her there was no way she was that naïve and knew all the bad things Cerberus did, or at least he hoped she couldn't be that naïve or actually agree with all of that.

With a shake of his head Ty moved his thoughts away from Cerberus and Miranda and decided to sit down on his bed_. I should get Aria to start looking for Haley, the sooner she does the sooner I'll have Haley back and she can go back to her life._ Ty dialed Arias private number and waited for her to pick up, ring...rin- "Well well well it seems the legend lives on." Aria answered. "Well actually it had ended but it was resurrected thankfully but that's more of an extra detail to the tale. I need your help Aria." Ty said. "I'm impressed Ty, not only are you still alive but you need my help as well." Aria said with clear pleasure about the situation in her tone. "And that impresses you. I thought my skills were what impressed you." Ty said. "Some of your skills are more impressive than your fighting skills, so what can I do for such a special occasion?" Aria asked.

Ty wasn't sure if she realized he was about to owe her one or not but he went with that she didn't so he said "I need you to look into something for me and I know if you do I'll owe you one but this is important and if our deal is still the same than I'll pay you back as I always do." Ty said. "Hmmm sounds like a good time in the end, what do you need me to look up?" Aria asked. "Tarak said that he was holding my friend Haley at a Blue Suns base on Illium, I know there are a couple bases there so I need you to find which and look into if they are still holding her there and if they aren't where they moved her to. Can you do that for me Aria I'd really appreciate it?" Ty asked. "Well I have been waiting for the opportune moment to get you to owe me one so I guess this will do; it's been a while since you last owed me, you still up for our arrangement?" Aria asked.

Ty's hydraulic doors opened and Shepard came in, she saw Ty talking and started to leave but Ty shook his head and waved her in, "Yea I'm all for it as long as I'm not taken and as of now I am not." Ty said. "Okay I'll get the information soon, stay safe Ty I wouldn't want you spoiled before I get you again." Aria said. Ty smirked and said "I bet, I'll see you when you get the information and stay safe I'd hate for something to happen before I pay you back." "Don't worry about me I'll be just fine when we see each other, talk to you soon Ty." Aria said. "See ya Aria." Ty said.

Shepard smirked as Ty ended his call only hearing his side of the conversation, "So what can I help you with Shepard?" Ty asked. "Was that a business call or a friendly call?" Shepard asked as she crossed her arms and leaned a little. Ty smirked, she really didn't need to know about his arrangement with Aria right now so he said "Business she's going to make sure Taraks information is solid for me, you talk to Miranda?" That changed the subject easily as Shepard nodded and said "Yea she told me you were good to go and wouldn't stop making wisecracks as she made sure you were alright."

It seemed Miranda didn't divulge all of their conversation to Shepard, that or Shepard thought he'd try to lie about it which he wouldn't so he raised his hands and said "Guilty as charged besides how many times do I get the chance to make jokes about a woman feeling my body and not have feelings for the person… if I'm honest than I do it a lot but it's still fun every time though." "So you weren't hitting on her?" Shepard asked. Ty shook his head with a slightly disgusted look as he said "No way are you kidding, I read that she was genetically built to be better and good looking and all that but that doesn't mean I like her. Besides Cerberus is her life which is a complete turn off for me." "So she's not even attractive to you?" Shepard asked.

Ty shook his head, why this woman thought it would be a fun conversation to talk about what he found attractive was beyond him but he said "No, she has looks I'll give her that much but her attitude and who she works for are turn offs." "Every guy I've met would be all over her, she has everything most people could want, a good body and good looks." Shepard said in a slightly admiring way. Ty chuckled and said "It sounds like you should date her than the way you talk about her." That got Shepard out of her slightly dreamy state and got him a glare as he continued "I'm not like other guys if you haven't noticed. Its not just looks its personality and looks and when I say looks I don't mean boobs and ass I mean facial features, someone's eyes and their smile are important things, if you aren't good looking or fun and free then you aint getting with me."

Shepard smirked and Ty said "I'm just sayin besides I'm not looking for a relationship I tried it once and I ended up heart broken because of it, the pain isn't worth it if you ask me." "You'd never get in a relationship ever again?" Shepard asked. "Probably not." Ty answered without blinking. "You could find someone special who reawakens your desires." _Ha like that'll ever happen,_ Ty thought. "I know myself well enough to know it'll take a miracle to find someone who reawakens those types of desires. Relationships are overrated and always leave one or both of the people emotionally scarred and it happened once to me already and I don't plan on getting scarred twice." "Is that why you do friends with benefits?" Shepard asked.

Ty looked away, that was leading to a conversation he did not want to have "Yea it is, look I'd rather not talk about this I try leaving it in the past for a reason even though it doesn't really work, is there anything else you want to talk about besides what I find attractive and relationships?" "Yea one last thing, what happened between you and Tarak unless that revolves around the last question?" Shepard said.

Ty shook his head, it had been apart of it but that was six years ago the original betrayal was eight years ago. "It's not the same, its right before that but not there." Shepard sat in a plush chair across from Ty and Ty crossed his legs and figured out where he was going to start in his story, he hadn't talked about it to anyone ever except for Haley who had been the only person who had grown close enough to him to learn about it. "I joined the Blue Suns when I was thirteen and was loyal until I was fifteen but I had been working on Omega before that for six months which is how I met Aria. As I told you yesterday I was on the run from the Alliance so I figured I'd hone my killing skills in a merc band so I picked the Blue Suns because at the time they weren't completely terrible though they were still bad compared to when they first started out. I honed the skills I had but Tarak made one mistake and that was mishearing my rules of employment."

Shepard raised an eyebrow and asked "Should I be aware of these rules or am I already?" "I never break promises and that's the truth and I promised to help the Blue Suns gain power but not strong enough to take over Omega because me and Aria had a deal since she saw my potential, but I also promised that if they broke my moral code I'd rain hell on them. Tarak forgot that part." Ty said.

Shepard nodded taking in the details so far as Ty stopped in the story but than he continued "Me and some of the guys got close as friends and we all had our own ship to travel and cause trouble in. We operated as an elite group for the Suns for a while until Tarak broke my code. He sent me and my guys on a pick up and delivery mission and we had done them before and we all knew they were boring as hell but it was never people we transported so when I checked the cargo and saw women and children my morals took control."

Ty paused again holding back years of emotion, he could see the women and children just sitting there on the ground tied up and beaten. He wasn't a slaver, he wasn't going to allow slavers to get their hands on these people and he sure as hell wasn't going to work for the Blue Suns anymore. "All my guys saw it and all "grew a conscious" as Tarak put it but they were with me on what was right and wrong. We did bad things but we never hurt innocents or participated in the slave ring shit. We dropped the people off at the closest human colony that we knew would keep them safe but we…I underestimated Tarak and as me and my friend Darian, a bartender at the Citadel, met my brother and dad on the colony…"

Ty leaned forward and brought his face to his hands, he could still smell the fire, hear the explosion, and hear the screams of his crew in his comm all thanks to his "great" ability. "Ty you don't-" Ty shook his head as he began again "The ship it- it got hit by a barrage of missiles cutting straight through its barriers and armor and poking holes into the ship killing all of my friends except Darian. I tried to get a comm to them to get them out of there but they couldn't hear me but I heard them as each one of them died. I should've been with them; maybe I could've saved them or at least gone down with them." Ty said as he gripped his head trying to stop himself from crying.

Guilt poured into Ty's heart and soul as he fought off the feeling to just cry, he wouldn't allow himself to cry. Tears wouldn't bring them back, tears wouldn't get him anywhere and he wasn't going to cry in front of Shepard. "Tarak had a spy following us and he knew we let them go so he killed all of my friends on that ship and than tried killing me, my family and Darian. I was fifteen at that time and I failed the people that trusted me the second I walked off that ship and didn't think that Tarak would have someone watching me. I should've known right when I saw those people, right fucking then I should have known but I was too fucking stupid and Tarak knew that."

He failed them, they followed him and by following him he killed them. Ty shook the thought from his mind and continued "We got off the colony and Darian made his decision on the ride out that he was going to go straight and get a job at the Citadel, smart on his part but I couldn't allow myself to just let Tarak live after he took the lives of my friends. He owed me a debt of eight lives and I was going to cash that in but I wasn't just going to take his life, I decided to take his Suns apart by taking down the very foundations of it. From low level mercenaries all the way to the top I hunted them down one by one and they were starting to crumble from within with every destroyed business and killed mercenary. I was getting closer and closer to killing Tarak and I was able to meet the girl I thought I had a future with…But life isn't a fairy tail and things never end in happily ever after. That's why I hunt the Blue Suns and that's why Tarak kidnapped my friend because for every pain he had caused me I took something from him."

It hurt him thinking of everything that the Blue Suns stole from him but Shepard looked even more shocked by his story as Ty started counting on his fingers and thinking of the years to fill in for Shepard "My guys died in 2177 and from then until 2183 I hunted the Suns with only my rage and my family to guide me until about 2182 which was when I started thieving trying to do something to get my mind off it for a little while because I had met a kleptomaniac who convinced me to join her because "I needed to cheer up" in her words. So during that time from 2177 and on Darian became the successful bartender he is now and my legend as the most famous thief and criminal in the universe continued to grow thanks to the people of Omega. After you got taken out in the months following you taking down Sovereign and Saren I learned that…" Ty stopped himself short, he couldn't divulge the details of what happened, that was for a certain Asari to tell her. "Well let's say I did my part to stop something bad from happening but only found out that Cerberus had gotten your body in the end so I went hunting for Cerberus to figure out why they were helping you. I met Haley that year and helped her out until we parted ways a year and a half after we met and finally this year before I met you I tore Omega a new one with Tarak for a week until I escaped and then boarded the facility that you were on, a little while later I met you and joined your mission."

Shepard looked at Ty compassionately and said "I'm sorry I didn't know it was so personal." That wasn't how bad it got, that was just the first blow, the second blow had made it more personal then it was already, "Its more personal actually but I don't want to get into that, we're out here trying to save the present and future not look at the past, I get enough of that on my own." "Is there anything else I can do to help you Ty?" Shepard asked. Ty shook his head and said "You've done a lot already Shepard, Aria will find out what I need she wants it almost as much as I do but for a different reason." "Which is?" Shepard asked with a smile. "Nunya." Ty responded. "What?" Shepard asked. "Nunya business. You'll find out eventually though, anything else Shepard?" Ty asked. "Get some rest you're coming with me tomorrow to recruit a Krogan warlord." Shepard said as she got up. "Great a Krogan I can't wait for the head-butting to begin." Ty said sarcastically. Ty had done some stupid things in the past but a head-butting contest with a Krogan was one of his worst ideas ever and he hoped he wouldn't have to do one ever again. "See ya Ty." Shepard said. "See ya Shepard." Ty said as he laid down on his bed.

**A/N: Not much to say except I hope I can get back on schedule but if I don't you can expect chapters over the weekend. See you next time.**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Advancing to the Warlord

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect, Bioware/E/A do, I only stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who aren't part of the Mass Effect Universe. Onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

"JEDORE YOU BITCH!" Ty screamed. Ty pulled out his guns and started chasing after Jedore and Tarak who had already walked away. He had a bloodlust raging in him as pushed his way through crowds of people until he found the betrayers in the Omega market area, "TARAK I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR FUCKING EYES OUT FOR THAT!" Ty screamed. The two decided to run with Ty hot on their tails chasing them and shooting at them as he chased. They had stolen his life from him and now all that was left of him was an empty shell devoid of all emotions except for the dire need of revenge. Ty chased them across many streets of Omega until Tarak pulled Jedore with him around a corner. Ty turned the corner with intent to kill them where ever they could hide but what he saw made him hit his skids.

There was an overwhelming amount of Blue Suns aiming at him, a death squad just waiting to grant him an unfulfilling death. He might have been able to take some down and get to Tarak and Jedore in the back but there was no way he'd survive and if he didn't actually get to kill him then all the deaths that they caused would go unavenged. Ty turned and began running back through Omega to his bike making him the hunted once again as the Blue Suns followed him relentlessly as they tried shooting at him. The docking station was quite a distance from his location but at the pace he was running and with the Blue Suns fire cracking at him like a whip he cleared the distance quicker than he believed was possible, Ty turned the corner that led to his docking zone with hope of getting away without getting shot but as the hope ran through his mind it was immediately deflated as he caught two rounds, one in his left shoulder and one through his right side.

Normally he would have turned around and shot who did it but he got through the last set of doors and shut them behind him before hitting the locking mechanism with a sabotage program that would keep it locked for a few hours. Ty applied some medi-gel to his wounds before getting on his bike with pain consuming his heart that followed him for the next six years.

* * *

Ty flung up in his bed with a burning pain in his shoulder and his side as he pulled out his pistol from under his pillow. His breathing was hard and fast as he scanned his room for hostiles, realizing it was just a past memory and it wasn't happening he put the gun to his head and pushed it into his temple a couple of times and said "Get out of my head." The nightmares were never ending, they always were his past failures and they never allowed for him to wake until after he had gone through the failure again. Maybe it was the spirits idea of punishment; make him relieve the same failures over and over again for all of eternity until one day he'd just pull the trigger to end it all. His hydraulic doors opened and Shepard came walking in as he was banging the gun against his head and telling the memories to get out of his head.

The look she gave him was of worry and shock, not that he blamed her. Seeing someone with a gun to their head was never something easy to walk into though Ty had no personal experience with that other than himself. Shepard went to step towards him probably to grab the pistol from him but Ty just stuck it back under his pillow before nodding at her in greeting "Hey Shep." Ty greeted. "Hey, are you alright Ty?" Shepard asked.

Ty chuckled to himself, he hadn't been alright in eight years save for a few moments when things were okay but it always wound up back the way it was. "Mentally or physically?" Ty asked. "How are you physically?" Shepard asked. Maybe she was just worried about his capabilities on the battlefield at this point, that's all that really mattered wasn't it being able to hold his own in the crew to make sure they got through this battle. Ty shrugged and said "Except the burning in my shoulder and side I'm fine but those are mental." "Having nightmares about your past?" Shepard asked.

She asked it as someone who dealt with the same problems though Ty had no doubts that she had her own set of nightmares, Ty sighed and said "Yea." Shepard walked in further until she reached the edge of his bed and sat down; she looked at Ty with curiosity and care as she asked "Do you want to talk about it?" Ty wasn't sure if he should continue opening up to the woman but she seemed to genuinely care, something that was odd to Ty since most everyone he knew aside from those he chose to call friends were out for themselves. She was the one who ordered the others to bring him back, she had to be the one to do it there was no way that the Illusive Man or Miranda would have done it out of the goodness in their hearts without changing him in a hundred different ways.

Ty owed her for giving him a second chance and not just killing him when he had asked her back on that shuttle "As you now know I can see past memories of my own and the memories of everything around me at whim, well as helpful as that is for things like looking for someone or looking for clues reliving my own past memories has become a curse. When I revisit past memories it brings me into the memory which means if it's something I was a part of and I got hurt I feel the pain again or I feel the emotions and pains of others who were there. When I sleep my mind can revisit those memories despite me not wanting to for instance like when I got shot in my arm and side which is why I have burning pains right now." Ty said.

Shepard looked intrigued by what Ty was explaining about his ability, Ty also saw a bit of pity in her eyes but Ty ignored that as she asked "Let me see if I'm still following, so you can relive any moment in your life or anyone else's?" Ty nodded and said "I can see any time, any place and exactly what happened and the emotions I felt or someone else felt all over again as long as I have a physical connection or I can see what I'm trying to figure out the past on, everything leaves an imprint of memory and when I'm looking for it I can feel the energy it gives off…well actually let me back up because I wasn't completely truthful, I can't remember everything my memory starts like from age four and up but I'm kinda thankful because I wouldn't want to relive my birth that would be really disgusting and painful I bet."

Shepard nodded slightly and said "True you're lucky there, any idea how you got the power?" "No idea my dad doesn't have it and the egg didn't either." Ty said. "Egg?" Shepard asked with a raised eyebrow. "My mother, she wasn't a mother at all but all she did good for the world was give birth to two great kids like me and my brother." Ty said. "Did she abandon you all?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded, their mother decided after giving birth to Ty that raising her children wasn't in her best interest and left them with their father. "Do you hate your mother?" Shepard asked. "She made her choice." Ty answered without blinking. "That isn't really an answer." Shepard said. "Can't hate someone you never knew, what about you and your parents?" Ty asked changing the subject.

It was fairly obvious Shepard had caught on to his changing of topic towards her parents since her face at first was of question then grew into a smirk, Ty wasn't trying to be subtle about it but he did feel the way he said. She made her choice not to stick around and he couldn't hate her since he didn't know her. She was wrong in her actions in Ty's opinion but everyone has to follow their own paths and if she felt her path was elsewhere then who was he to judge her for it.

The nickname of egg was just to refer to her as something other than mother since she hadn't been, it wasn't out of spite it was just the name he had given her since he never knew her real name and their father had never shared it. "Well I guess that's fair enough I've asked you a lot of questions and since you're apart of my squad that makes you eligible to ask me some questions." Shepard said. "What you don't like reporters asking you questions?" Ty asked with a knowing smile. Shepard scoffed and said "I hate reporters save for Emily Wong she wasn't so bad but that Al-Jilani bitch…I wish I had punched her in the face but answering her questions honestly then stonewalling her with a confidential information line was good enough. I'm just glad I haven't seen her since I woke up."

Ty had seen the interview a few months after it had happened but he was in agreement with Shepard, he too wished she'd have punched her in the face. Shepard readjusted herself as she crossed her left leg under her right, "I grew up a spacer, parents were in the Alliance going from posting to posting, I love my mom and dad though I'm not sure how much they'd approve of what I'm doing now." Shepard said. "Hey your saving the galaxy cut yourself some slack, you do anything interesting in the Alliance exception of N7 and Saren?" Ty asked. "There were some interesting things but nothing that I'd say topped those." Shepard said. "Any regrets about joining the Alliance and following your parent's footsteps?" Ty asked.

Shepard shook her head and said "No I loved every second of it…well not every second, one of the biggest regrets I have is when I lost my whole squad on Akuze to a thresher maw attack…I was the only survivor or at least I thought until I met another who was worse off than me…he ended up killing himself." Shepard's tone changed completely but Ty knew the story of Akuze, anyone who knew anything about Shepard knew that she had lost her whole squad on Akuze to thresher maws but Ty hadn't heard about the other survivor who ended up killing himself, not until now that was. Ty felt bad for making Shepard go through it again so he said "Sorry Shep didn't mean to make you relive that, I should be the only one cursed to relive bad memories." Shepard shook her head and said "No one should be cursed with that, you ready for the mission?" "Yea let me just get ready, I'll meet you up in CIC." Ty said.

Shepard nodded and left leaving Ty to get off his bed and get ready. After taking a quick shower and drying off he put his burned muscle tank top on and put the hood up and then he put his black clam diggers on and his black construction boots. Ty left his room and headed to the elevator to meet up with Shepard and the Jack woman who she had said she was bringing along to go down to whatever god forsaken planet the Krogan was on. Ty hit the button on the elevator and waited for the doors to open and let him get in.

As he waited for the doors to open he had began to wish that instead of what he had done for the last ten years he spent the time to invent something to make the elevators go faster. The doors finally opened and Ty saw a woman full of tattoos wearing nothing but some type of straps to cover only the nipples of her breasts and a pair of orange pants that looked like they were from a prison.

If she had been at a prison then Ty couldn't fathom why she would wear such little clothing since he figured it would paint a target on her back and front but then again she wore an attitude that spelt don't fuck with me so maybe that warded off people. "You Jack?" Ty asked. "Why the fuck do you care?" Jack asked. _Definitely Jack,_ Ty thought. "I'm Ty and I care because if you weren't my next question would be are you going up to CIC." Ty said walking in. "Listen I hate Cerberus I don't really give a fuck who you are and if you're looking for a friend or a girlfriend I'm not interested." Jack said as the elevator began to go up.

Ty chuckled_, well she's going to be fun to get to know, can't wait to see how she is on the battlefield,_ Ty thought. "I guess you were one of the select few who didn't read about me, I'm a most wanted criminal who has a very passionate hate for Cerberus since they killed my grandfather. I got taken out a week and a half ago while recruiting the Turian and as for friendship I'm not looking for friends or girlfriends, I tried the whole girlfriend gig didn't work out but its good to know you aren't going to be all over me." Ty said. "No wonder you look like hell, just remember I don't want you getting close to me." Jack said. "Cool with me just don't hit on me or try and get me to be your boyfriend I hate having someone trying to be my girlfriend and having to shoot people down that think I look like hell when they look like they've been through a lot worse then me." Ty said.

The doors opened and Ty walked out with a smirk before Jack could say anything, "Hey asshole you can't just say that and walk away." Jack said catching up to Ty. "There you go already acting like we are dating, I'm sorry Jack I can't be in a relationship with you so please don't hit on me." Ty said in a serious tone but he was really just having fun with her. "Wha- but I wasn't trying to…you know what fuck you." Jack said. "No thanks Jack I'm sorry." Ty said with a shake of his head. "God dammit stop acting like I'm trying to hook up with you asshole." Jack said her tone getting more irritable. "I'm not you're the one wanting to fuck me and trying to start an argument like we are in a relationship and I told you I can't." Ty said with a smile as he walked up the stairs toward the cockpit where he saw Shepard fully geared up talking with the pilot.

Jack finally caught up to Ty and punched him in his right arm really hard which he felt as if it were a sharp sting but for Jack it back fired, the cybernetics had seemed to make his right arms muscles much harder than they had been since Jack immediately began trying to shake the pain in her hand away as she said, "Ow damn it to fucking hell what is your arm made of fucking metal?" Jack asked. "Nope just rock hard muscle mixed with mostly cybernetics since you know I took a carnage blast from a shotgun and had a missile explode ten feet away from me; maybe you should've paid attention to the goings of the crew and cared what happened to me so you wouldn't have just hurt yourself Jack." Ty said with a smirk. "You're a fucking asshole." Jack said.

They got in the cock pit and Ty saw the pilot and EDI bickering back and forth, "You're just upset because every image of me you have looks like a dream sequence." The pilot said. "Joker." Shepard chided. "Fine, ah looks like your new recruits are here Shepard." Joker said as he looked around Shepard. Shepard turned around to see Ty and Jack standing almost side by side, Shepard nodded to them to which Ty and Jack nodded back, "Hey Shep, EDI nice to see you, and Joker I guess." Ty greeted not familiar with the pilot. "It is nice to see you as well Ty." EDI said. "So he kisses the AIs ass." Joker said towards Shepard.

Well it seemed the pilot wasn't exactly a big fan of the A.I. but it also seemed like Ty had been the only one to really take a likening to her, exception of Shepard. "Not my thing but I hear your mother has a habit of getting on her knees to do more than kiss ass." Ty retorted. "Hey leave my mother out of this I may have brittle bones but I'll kick your ass." Joker said. _Oh right Joker Shepard's pilot with brittle bones disease, smart ass as well I read so lets see if he can go toe to toe with me,_ "What you gonna break your arm at me or are you going to crack your bones until I airlock myself out, unless you plan on battling sarcasm which I can assure you I'll kick your ass in." Ty said.

Jack was staring in awe at Ty and so was Joker who obviously had never been battled in sarcasm before, or if he had then he had usually always won. "Shepard I think Tyler Rhoddy will make a great addition to your mission." EDI said. Ty smiled and bowed his head to EDI as he said "Thank you." "I like this guy." Jack said with a smirk to Shepard. Ty couldn't stop himself, "There you go again Jack damn how many times do I have to tell you." Ty joked. Jack went to punch him again in his right arm but Ty smirked at her as he said "That worked out really well for you last time." Jack held her fist up a little longer judging the pros and cons of punching him before lowering her hand, "Damn it you fucking asshole why do you gotta be such a smartass." Jack said as a smirk found its way to her lips. Ty pointed at Joker and said "And leave Joker to handle it I don't think so." "I see you are great a making friends Ty, come on you two we got a Krogan warlord to recruit." Shepard said.

Ty nodded and said "Lets go than, EDI take care of the ship, Joker you can pick up your jaw now." Shepard walked out first with a smirk on her face due to Ty's comment with Ty and Jack following behind until they got to the elevator, "What planet are we going down to?" Ty asked as the elevator brought them down. "Korlus, EDI picked up scans of activity down there and it seems the Blue Suns are with him, whether or not he is there with them willingly I don't know."

_Korlus…that means,_ "Jedore." Ty muttered under his breath. "What was that?" Jack asked. Ty shook his head and said "Nothing I'm certain of yet." Both women looked at Ty with confusion but Jack shrugged her shoulders as Shepard still stared at him. If she was here then he would be able to take her out and only have one last member to hunt. She'd have answers to the questions he sought since she brought the four together to betray him. Tarak the negotiator, Jedore the rat and gun hand, and Jason the deceiver would all be dead by the end of the day and then he'd only have one step left or more the last person who had a hand in the deaths of all his friends.

The doors opened bringing Ty out of his thoughts back to the real world; Shepard had had her eyes on him the whole time and knew something was up by her suspicions look. They all got out and got into the shuttle which for Ty was a little difficult since the last time he had been in the shuttle he had died or at least came close to it and the thoughts of it all toyed with his already distracted mind. They all got seated and the shuttle took of and began flying down to the planet where a battle seemed to be raging. "Seems the Warlord might be trapped down there." Jack said. This was the planet and Ty knew Jedore was here, "She's here." Ty said looking out his window. "Who is?" Shepard asked.

Ty hadn't realized he had said it out loud since he had intended for the thought to stay a thought not for everyone to hear, "A bitch in the Blue Suns named Jedore, me and her have some unfinished business." Ty said leaving it vague. "How do you know she is down here?" Jack asked. "Ran with the Suns for a few years and I paid attention to everything about them and everything that was going on around me until they killed my squad, I had heard she had been stationed here and had planned to kill her just never got around to it…this was going to be our next target after we took out the facility my brother and dad just took out, you said this guys a Krogan warlord right Shepard?" Ty asked.

Shepard nodded and Ty shook his head, _knowing her she is probably trying to do something outrageously stupid_, "Jedore always thought she was better and smarter than the others, she wanted an unstoppable group of mercs and she is probably going about it some really bad way." "So you're from a family of killers and you're smart." Jack said. "Jack do I have to tell you- ow!" Ty was interrupted by Jack kicking him in the shin, "Shut it dick." Jack stated. "Guess I don't." Ty said with a smile. Shepard leaned forward with a stupid grin on her face as she said "Geez aren't you two just perfect for each other." "Ha he couldn't last with me." Jack said smirk. Ty chuckled and said "Funny I was going to say the exact thing just switch the he to she." "Alright enough flirting you two we got a job to do." Shepard said as the shuttle began to slow. "I'm not flirting with him." Jack said defensively. "This is looking to turn out into a great…acquaintanceship." Ty joked as the shuttle landed.

Ty got out first and hopped down and ran to the low wall that was outside of the shuttle for cover as the others followed. You could hear gunfire in the distance but none of it was at the three so whatever was going on was definitely either a coup or some sort of sick target practice. As Shepard began talking to Jack and Ty about the situation Ty heard the annoyance of a woman's voice on a loud speaker giving orders, her voice brought back a string of bad memories from the day they first met to the day she killed everyone he called friend.

Every fiber in Ty's being yearned to kill her and he was going to do it as painfully as possible to make up for Taraks easy death, "Great we gotta listen to this bitch bark orders to her people and I thought I hated Jedore's voice in person." Ty said. Shepard and Jack looked at Ty with a smirk "You gonna use your pistols, sniper or tomahawks?" Jack asked. "Probably all of them by the time this is over but for now pistols if you must know." Ty said pulling his pistols out. "I just hope you can handle your guns as good as you can talk shit." Jack said sarcastically. "Really you two." Shepard said with a smile.

They started walking towards the gunfire going around checking corners until they ran into a group of five Blue Suns, everyone took cover and started shooting at each other and Ty couldn't believe the lack of strategy the men had but then again he was thankful they weren't very smart, "Be right back." Ty said to Shepard and Jack. Ty hit his cloak and put his pistols away as he snuck up on the Blue Suns who were all to focused on Shepard and Jacks covering fire to notice Ty's feet prints in the ground moving towards them, he pulled out his tomahawks as he got in range then the killing started.

Ty axed two guys in the back of their skulls killing them instantly and before his cloak went off he left his left tomahawk in one of the guy's skull and took his right one out and threw it into the Turian on his left impaling it right in his neck killing him slowly. Ty's cloak went off then he punched the guy on his right rapidly in the chest not giving him time to react then finished it by slamming his right fist into his face which was covered by a helmet but his hand broke the mask into the mans face. Ty pulled his right pistol out with his left hand and killed the last guy as he stared in awe at his right hand and how much force he generated with it.

He hadn't considered how hard he could hit before but he never remembered hitting so hard with so little effort, it seemed he needed to learn his own strength again. Shepard and Jack joined Ty and Jack said "Damn and I thought I could crush someone's face in." "I barely hit him I can't imagine what a full force hit would've done." Ty said putting his pistol away and grabbing his tomahawks. "You've got to learn your strength you have in your arm because it's more than it was and you need to be careful so you don't hurt yourself or someone we want alive." Shepard said. Ty nodded, if he happened to go off on someone and they needed the person they would probably be dead before anyone could stop him. "True that, come on those were just five guys we got a long way to go knowing Jedore."

Shepard motioned them to follow and started walking towards the main facility, as they did they ran into a wounded Blue Sun whining to himself, "Shit…shit it hurts I'm gonna bleed out...shit…shit shit." Ty focused his mind on the guy then opened his eyes and saw the guy get shot in the lower side, Ty blinked and said "He's milking it, I've been shot and I know a bad wound that'll make you bleed out and his isn't that bad." "He doesn't need to know that." Shepard said with a smirk.

Ty smirked and stood back as Shepard started working her negotiation magic on the guy, "What was that you did with your eyes?" Jack asked. "I can see past memories if I focus my mind on what I want to see, it's a rare gift that only me and my brother have but as I've told Shep it's as much of a gift as a curse." Ty said. "Are you sure I got a nice dose of medi-gel ready to be used." Shepard said. "Shit what do you want?" The wounded guy said. Ty chuckled and Jack asked "So you can just read someone's mind or past without them knowing?" Jack asked. Ty shook his head and said "No, well yes I can do it without the other person feeling anything but its not necessarily reading minds, lets say I wanted to see where you got the tattoo on your head I could focus on it and see you at a tattoo parlor or where ever getting it but I couldn't see why you wanted to get it."

Jack shrugged and said "Whatever you say as long as you don't mess with my mind." "If you hurry you can find a nice shaded spot to bleed out at." Shepard said. "Ah shit…ah shit." The man said as he limped away. "That was real cute Shep." Ty said with a smirk. "I thought so to, come on lets go." Shepard said. They all walked until they turned a corner and there were two guys on a balcony and three on the ground. Ty pulled out his sniper as he ran into a low cover, one of the guys had a rocket launcher Ty soon found out as the cover he was behind shook and he's ears popped, Ty got out of cover and held his breath as he aimed at the one with a rocket launcher, _bye bye,_ Ty thought. He pulled the trigger and he saw the blood from the guys head splatter against the wall behind him, Ty quickly aimed at the next guy and shot seeing the pink mist hit the wall again.

Ty went back in cover and waited for some of the fire to cease that surrounded him, Shepard and Jack started shooting at the three guys killing two of them as the other went into cover. Ty got out and tried getting a shot on the guy but the guy was apparently smart enough to hide his whole body from him, "Damn I can't get a shot, can you two?" Ty asked. "Let me fix that." Jack said. Ty saw Jack stand up then he saw her arm start having blue go around it, So she's a biotic that's interesting, Ty thought. "I'LL THROW YOU LIKE A TOY!" Jack yelled as she tossed a pull field at the guy which hit him and suspended him in air.

With the guy popped up Ty decided it was a good time to take him out but as he got out of cover to shoot him Shepard pulled out her shotgun and before Ty could react she sped forward and biotic charged the guy detonating the biotic field sending him flying then finishing him with a shotgun blast. "You know biotics are so cheating to us grunts without the ability to move shit with our minds." Ty said. There was more gunfire coming from around the next corner, "We'll talk about it later." Shepard said. "Good idea." Ty said as he and Jack ran to catch up with Shepard.

After blowing through the next groups of Blue Suns they came across a Krogan fighting them, "Is that Okeer?" Ty asked taking cover. "No but he seems to be helping us so don't kill him." Shepard said. Ty pulled his sniper out again and said "Hey Jack or Shepard could one of you be so kind to use your pull on those assholes up there so I can get a clear shot." "Watch the landing." Jack said as she launched another pull field and hit it on the four guys. Ty got out of cover and held his breath as he saw the four targets, the first was upside down, the second was sideways and the other two were straight up, he got the first in his scope and time slowed down for him, _here we go_, Ty thought. He pulled the trigger and moved to the second target and shot again, as he got to the third and forth their heads became lined up and he shot and he saw the blood splatter against the wall for his last kill.

The remaining Suns were killed by Shepard and Jack or the Krogan since Ty checked the wall for three splatter zones, he saw all three and thought, _four kills two seconds maybe two and a half, good kills Daddy would be proud. _Ty put his sniper away as they walked up to the Krogan who started talking to Shepard, "I guess you can shoot a gun well." Jack said sarcastically. "And it looks like you can use your biotics well enough." Ty responded with a smirk.

Ty sat back and listened to Shepard and the Krogans conversation learning that he was full grown but only weeks out of the tank which Ty thought was incredible but also told him that Jedore was getting her way by the sound of it. _She'll get hers soon enough_, Ty thought. "Is it even possible for him to be full grown?" Shepard asked looking back at Ty and Jack. "How the fuck should I know." Jack responded. "Well hypothetically it is think about it he's a tank bred not born through mating and if Jedore has this Okeer guy working for her she could use his knowledge of being a Krogan to do it, Jedore likes to think that she gets what she wants no matter what so she's pretty fucked in the head." Ty said. "I don't know anything about that all I know was I wasn't good enough and I must stay here and fight." The Krogan said.

Ty shook his head whether it be Okeer or Jedore implanting that into the Krogans head he wasn't sure but either way it irked him, _patience don't lose your cool just yet, I will kill her there is no doubt about it just stay focused until then,_ Ty thought. "What's up with you?" Jack asked noticing his sudden change of attitude. "I was loyal to the Blue Suns for two almost three full years, I started when I was thirteen and when I was apart of them Jedore and me never saw eye to eye because she always thought she was better than the rest, she ended up ratting me and my guys out to Tarak and blowing up my ship with eight of my friends on it when we decided not to take part in giving innocent women and children to a bunch of slavers…I can't wait to kill her." "Wow that's rough." Jack said. "I'm going to make her pay make no mistake about that." Ty said.

Jack nodded and the Krogan moved a giant piece of metal out of the way for Shepard, "God damn what I'd do to have Krogan strength in this agile body." Ty said. That got a chuckle out of Shepard and Jack as the Krogan told Shepard he was going to stay and fight. The squad continued their hunt through the facility with Shepard scanning some tech along the way. They soon began running into Krogans who weren't so friendly and more Blue Suns.

Ty ended up taking a walkway through the center of the room they were in by himself while Shepard and Jack took longer way around but as he reached the center of the bridge he saw one of the tank bred Krogans charging right at him with a shotgun in hand. "Seriously!?" Ty asked out loud at his luck as he rolled out of the way of the Krogan. Ty shot his pistols at the Krogans back punching through his armor trying to kill him without instigating a blood rage. Before Ty could punch through the remainder of the Krogans armor the Krogan charged him yet again but this time his head landed square against Ty's sending him flying backwards to the ground. "One day, one day is all I ask to not have to get charged or head-butted by a Krogan." Ty grumbled as he got himself back onto his feet. Ty put his pistols away and pulled out his tomahawks, "Is that to much to ask?" Ty asked to the Krogan.

The Krogans response was less than spectacular with him letting out a roar and charging Ty once again but this time Ty let out a roar of his own as he charged the Krogan, as they both reached each other Ty dodged to the side of the head-butt and shoulder charge and implanted his tomahawks into the side of the Krogans neck, as the Krogan tried to move away from the strike Ty let go of his tomahawks leaving them in his neck and then pulled out his sniper.

The Krogan reached for his neck to get the tomahawks out of his throat but Ty's sniper unfolded and the barrel reached the Krogans mask, the Krogan looked at Ty as Ty shrugged and said "Sorry." Ty fired off the shot which killed the Krogan, as he looked up he saw Jack and Shepard being pinned down by gun fire from two Blue Suns, Ty aimed down his sights as he yelled "Hey assholes!" The Blue Suns looked over as Ty fired off three rounds into their shields which knocked down their shields with the first rounds and then penetrated their skulls with two rounds each.

Ty put his sniper back and pulled his tomahawks out of the dead Krogan, "You know I really hate fighting Krogans." Ty said. "Don't puss out on us now we still got a long way to go." Jack said. "Oh don't you worry about me I'll be just fine, I'm more worried about you two girls over exerting yourselves." "How'd I get dragged into that?" Shepard asked. "Because you're our leader which gives me all the authority to give you shit or drag you into me giving someone else shit, that's the rules my guys came up with at least." Ty said. "That doesn't seem fair but I can't say I disagree or haven't been subjected to it, come on lets get going."

Shepard led them through the rest of the room and they continued to run into more Suns along the way with Ty getting to snipe again when they were across a gap on a balcony, they were shooting rocket launchers at them that followed the three. Ty sniped the few that he could before having to dive down onto the ground from his kneeling position as missiles impacted against the cover he had been behind. Jack and Shepard made quick work of the ones he had missed. Jedore was still yelling commands over intercom and she was not happy at all with what her Blue Suns were doing getting taken out so easily by three people but Ty also didn't care how she felt because he was going to shove that microphone down her throat so the whole planet could hear her suffocate.

After getting through the group of Suns on the balcony they moved further into the facility until they were nearly a door away to reach the warlord, he knew that Jedore would have something big planned for them that she had planned as a back up in case something like this happened and whatever it was Ty planned on mowing through it to get to her. As the group neared the last set of doors Ty found himself fighting hand to hand with a Turian Blue Suns member while Shepard and Jack fought off the others.

The Turian was definitely trained well in hand to hand since he was giving Ty some trouble with finishing him. The Turian blocked Ty's punch and followed it up with a head-butt making Ty's head jerk back. The Turian had Ty's hand so Ty didn't go stumbling back but Ty decided to return the favor by head-butting the Turian. Ty's head cracked the face mask a little and made himself a little dazed but the Turian wasn't extremely fazed by it since he kicked Ty in the gut hard.

Ty lost his footing and landed on his butt, when he got on his knees he saw that the Turian was right in front of him with the butt of his gun facing Ty, Ty put his right arm up and blocked each hit feeling only the slightest pain from the strikes until the Turian looked at the gun like there was something wrong with it, "Is that all you got?" Ty asked. The Turian went to strike Ty again but this time Ty punched the Turian in the stomach with his right hand making the Turian stumble back, the hit didn't dent the armor but it had sent enough force to knock him back a few steps. Ty got to his feet and blocked a right hook from the Turian countering with an uppercut and then pushing the momentum of a left hook that the Turian through to the side leaving him open for a knee to the gut and then a punch to the face, or rather the helmet he was wearing.

The Turian had given Ty a rather good show in fighting but it was time for him to be put down like the rest of the Suns that were getting gunned down behind him, Ty straight punched the Turian in the face with his left hand and then followed it with a hard right haymaker, the Turian tried to throw another punch only for Ty to easily block it and punch the Turian straight in the glass of his mask. Ty's right hand went into the face mask and Ty could feel the Turians blood dripping onto his hand as the body began to fall limp, Ty pulled his hand out and the Turians body collapsed but Ty pulled out his pistol and shot him in the head twice to be sure he was indeed dead. "And that's why you shouldn't wear those masks you never know who can knock them into your head and kill you." Ty said.

**A/N: Next up is Un-Finished Business, see you there.**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Un-finished Business

**Disclaimer/A/N: First off I don't own anything Mass Effect all of that belongs to Bioware/E/A, I just stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co that are not apart of the Mass Effect Universe. Secondly I apologize for this chapter being so late, I ended up binge gaming Mass Effect 3 over Labor Day weekend and forgot to post new chapters up so sorry for the delay. Thirdly for those who are squeamish to violence and descriptions of very bad things please be warned that this chapter includes not only violence and blood and such but it also lets you hear some of Ty's haunting memories which aren't that bad but if for some reason they bother you then at least I gave you a heads up I guess. Any way onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds. **

After Ty regrouped with Shepard and Jack and they took out the remaining Suns the squad headed through what Ty assumed would be the last set of doors before they got to the Warlord, they had gone through tons of Suns now and if Jedore had any left than they would be her top lieutenants or at least that's how Ty figured it. As they got into the next room there was an Asari hiding behind a desk and there was also a dead Krogan on an operating table.

They had fought tons of the tank bred Krogans at this point but seeing the one on the operating table was still sad in its own way to Ty_, how many can you kill in the pursuit of a goal until you finally realize that everything leading to that goal is trailed with blood and death, how can someone just ignore all of the death, all the countless lives lost because of what they did and justify it_, Ty thought as he stared at the dead Krogan.

He lived with the blood of his friends on his hands and there was no way to justify that, no way to just rationalize it or say they died for a higher cause. Dead was dead no matter how you sugar coated it and there was no justification for death no matter if it was during war or in the pursuit of some goal. "Don't shoot don't shoot." The Asari woman said standing up. Ty glared over at her as he pulled out a pistol and tomahawk and aimed the pistol at her, if she had anything to do with this then she deserved death but Ty looked over to Shepard to see what she wanted done. He wasn't the squad leader anymore and he never just made a decision without consulting the others so this was Shepard's choice and whatever her decision was he would follow it.

Shepard motioned Ty to put his weapons away which he did reluctantly at first but in the end followed her order, Shepard and the Asari who Ty found out was named Rana Thanoptis apparently knew each other from Virmire but Ty didn't care to listen to most of the conversation. Ty was suspicious of the woman especially since it didn't seem like she had made a turn for the better at all since Virmire but she gained his attention when she said "Jedore wants Okeer to create her an unstoppable army of Krogans but Okeer mostly ignores her he's trying to find a way to cure the genophage." Rana said. "Well shit." Ty said.

Now Ty wasn't against curing the genophage but at the present moment in time that was a bad idea, the Krogan Clans were not united and most, if not all, wanted revenge on all the Council races for their sterilization. The Reapers were coming soon and if the Krogans started another rebellion before or during the Reapers arrival then they were all screwed. "Curing the genophage while the Krogan want to kill us all, great idea." Jack said looking at Ty with a smirk. "Kinda what I be thinking, I have nothing against the Krogans but I'd rather not have to fight a war against them." Ty said. "We could take them." Jack said. Ty smirked and said "Maybe but I'll pass on that war." "I'm going to get a head start on running knowing you since you'll probably blow this place up." Rana said walking by them all.

Rana walked by Ty quickly leaving the room before anyone could say anything, Ty shook his head and looked at Shepard as he said "No offense Shepard but I would've killed her I'm not one to give second chances, people don't change." "That's going to bite you in the ass Shepard." Jack stated. "Thank you both for your positive input it's really motivating." Shepard said with a smirk. "No problem Shep." Ty said with a smile.

They walked through the doors and up some stairs to see a giant Krogan working on a computer and a giant Krogan inside a tank, "Holy shit that guy is huge." Ty said as he looked at the Krogan in the tank. The Krogan in the tank was huge, bigger than most Krogans Ty had seen and he had one in his crew that was huge and he was a full grown adult with a huge head plate but this guy was only weeks old most likely and he was a little larger than Ty's dead friend. The Krogan didn't even have a full grown head plate yet but Ty saw sure that when it finally grew in that it would make him look more menacing than he already did. "Beautiful isn't it." Okeer said.

Ty couldn't help but stare in awe at the tank Krogan as Shepard began talking to Okeer; this was going to be a very interesting piece of cargo if Okeer brought him with them. Getting the tank onto the Normandy would be interesting because of how huge and heavy the damn thing would be and if they happened to accidently open it on the way back to the Normandy they would either have one extremely pissed off Warlord and a passive Krogan or they would have one pissed off Warlord and one very pissed off Krogan who had been locked up in a tank for an unknown amount of time who would definitely have some pent up aggression. Ty didn't know whether to feel safe or worried about bringing Okeer with them.

Ty walked away from the tank and over to the window to see what was down there but when he got a good glimpse of it he stifled his growl of agitation due to there being a bunch of tanks with Krogan in them in the room, it looked like there were between five and ten tanks on the left and right side of the room from where he was standing_. My luck they'll open up and we'll have to fight them all,_ Ty thought but immediately wanted to slam his head against the glass, _crap I totally just jinxed us._ Ty walked back behind Shepard and Jack and waited as Okeer and Shepard talking about him coming along with them when red lights started flashing in the room, _Damn it I so jinxed us,_ "That can't be good." Ty said. "Thank you captain obvious." Jack said with a smirk.

Okeer walked to the computer and said "Jedore's turned off the power, stupid bitch she's going to destroy my legacy. Shepard you want information on the Collectors go stop Jedore and save my work." Ty could have sworn he heard Shepard mutter something along the lines of "Of course." But she began walking to the stairs that led down to the bottom floor only stopping to grab something off the terminal near the door about Krogan Vitality or something of that sort.

Jack and Ty were close behind as they got down the stairs and stopped at the door with Shepard checking her guns quickly, Ty knew his were good and he still had some spare ammo so he said "You girls can shoot Jedore all you want but I want the kill." Shepard stopped checking her guns as she looked back at Ty with a serious look, "Ty revenge isn't going to change what happened and make it all go away."

She had a valid point but revenge was what had kept him from getting himself killed in battle on purpose, it had been his goal over the last eight years and a goal he intended to finish. "I understand that you don't like it Shepard but this has been my goal for the last eight years, to make those who took my friends from me pay and the debt Jedore owes me I plan on collecting." Ty said as he pulled out his pistols then he continued "This is your show Shepard but me and Jedore have un-finished business that I plan on finishing now, you can either help me or you can stand aside, either way this is getting done today by my hands." Shepard stared long and hard at Ty but Ty didn't waver under the stare, Shepard finally nodded "All right Ty."

Shepard opened the doors and as they walked out rounds began impacting against the near wall. "Ty take cover by that tank and provide sniper fire, Jack with me." Shepard ordered. Ty ran and took cover at the first tank where Shepard had told him to go and switched to his sniper rifle. Ty peeked around the corner and saw that there were Blue Suns, a giant YMIR mech, Krogans coming out of their containers despite Ty's wishes of them not to come out and the person behind it all from this madness to everything she had stirred up eight years ago, Ty fired a round down range taking down the shields of the person who ratted him out and killed all his friends. "Jedore I'm coming for you!" Ty yelled from his tank.

A few of the Blue Suns who were around Jedore suddenly got up and began moving to cover closer to Ty, the first who got up though didn't get very far with Ty hitting him with a head shot blowing the side of his head apart and making him fall to the ground with a thud. The next one Ty had gotten his sights on was in the midst of crouching down into cover as he ran but Ty shot his knee out making him stop and fall flat on his chest. The man attempted to get up until Ty put a stop to him with another round to the head. The last guy Ty had seen running actually made it behind cover but unfortunately for him Ty saw exactly where he had hid behind cover so when he came popping up Ty fired four rounds, two into his chest and the other two into his head.

Ty got back into cover and ejected his thermal clip despite having five rounds left in his clip; bullets ricocheted off of the tank he was hiding behind and then a shockwave from an explosion made Ty stumble a bit forward. _Fucking pricks_, Ty thought. The explosion had to be from a missile launcher because the YMIR mechs missiles would've had a stronger impact against his tank so Ty was about to start searching for the culprit behind the missile launcher when he looked over to Jack and Shepard to see them getting pinned down by the crossfire between the Suns and the YMIR missiles and mini-gun.

Jack sent a shockwave down field knocking some of the Blue Suns over or into the air while Shepard picked off a few with her Predator pistol. Shepard glowed blue as she sent a pull field towards the Blue Suns most likely hitting whoever she was trying to hit. Ty began to turn back to his sniping when he saw a gun being aimed directly in his face, _Mother, _"Fucker!" Ty yelled as he smashed the shotgun away from his face with his sniper. The Krogan who had got behind him fired a round into the tank after Ty swatted the gun but recovered by grabbing Ty by his shirt and tossing him a few feet forward making him slam onto the ground hard.

As if the spirits hadn't had enough laughs with the original Krogan who had charged him today Ty once again found himself rolling across the ground trying not to get charged by the Krogan which really wasn't working out at all. "Fuck my luck man!" Ty groaned as he came out of the role and aimed his sniper rifle at the Krogan. Ty fired off three rounds as the Krogan charged at him again only hitting one of the shots which impacted against the Krogans gun hand making him drop the shotgun. That was score one for team Ty but the score board was still stacked against him.

As the Krogan neared Ty he rolled out of the way again for what felt like the tenth time today but as he came out of the role he pulled one of his tomahawks out and threw it at the Krogan piercing through the thick armor and into his back, the Krogan stopped with its arms spread out but instead of dying it turned around and let out a battle cry, _Uh-oh,_ Ty thought as he put his sniper away. The Krogan tried charging Ty again, Ty grabbed for his other tomahawk and said "Damn it just die already." Ty pulled out his other tomahawk quickly and threw it at him hitting the Krogan in the throat area but even though Ty had thought it would kill him it just pissed the Krogan off more.

Before Ty could curse his luck and pull out his pistol to shoot the Krogan he found himself in the strong grip of the Krogans three fingered hands and then suddenly he was picked him up above his head. The Krogan re-gripped so he had Ty's right arm and his right leg as he let out a roar of victory, Shepard happened to look over as Ty began trying to punch the Krogan in the head and reach one of his tomahawks "Hey I'm not a toy you can't just man handle me or Krogan handle me!" Ty yelled at the Krogan. "Hold on Ty!" Shepard called from her cover. "Fuck holding on I'm trying to get him to let me go!" Ty yelled back as he landed a punch in the Krogans left eye.

Ty learned two things in that moment, the first was that punching a Krogan in the eye pissed them off badly; the second was that the spirits had a sick sense of humor. Ty felt the Krogan shift its weight slightly and aim him towards Shepard and Jack before letting him go with a very big throw. "SHITTTTTTT!" Ty yelled as he flailed through the air. Ty's weightless ness ended with a loud thud as he crashed into an empty tank hard enough to knock it over, Ty rolled off the tank back onto the ground where he once again landed hard but this time on his chest, "OOOWWW!" Ty groaned loudly.

_Today was a shitty day to come out, oh yeah lets join a suicide mission and then go down to a Blue Sun base to get revenge it'll be a blast, _Ty thought. "Ty are you alright!" Shepard yelled over the gunfire. _No I just got tossed halfway across this room into a tank by a Krogan and hit it hard enough that I knocked it over,_ Ty thought. "Just dandy Shep." Ty said as he got himself to his hands and knees.

The ground began thumping slightly as if it had its own heart beat and the thumps were coming towards him, not knowing if it was the Krogan or the mech Ty hit his cloak and rolled away from where he was just laying. He looked up and saw the Krogan looking around for him so he stood up slowly and got as close as he could to the Krogan, when the Krogan began sniffing the air Ty wound his head back and slammed it into the Krogans face, the Krogans head flung back from the force of the hit and as he did Ty pulled the tomahawk out of his throat area and started slamming it into the Krogans face repeatedly.

After the first few strikes the Krogan fell to the ground but Ty followed it down to the ground still slamming the blade of his tomahawk into its face until blood had splattered all over Ty's arms, face and tank top. He finally stopped after a few more strikes and pulled his other tomahawk out of the Krogan and looked for the giant mech that was causing trouble, "Come on Ty I thought you had more in you than this or have you finally just decided to quit so I can reunite you with all your friends!" Jedore yelled from the other side. She followed the comment with her laugh, the same laugh she had when she had murdered all of his friends, the laugh made Ty's eye twitch and made his mind go down a small memory lane as he looked for her.

She was no where to be seen but Ty found the mech pretty quickly since it was aiming to shoot a missile at Shepard and Jack again so Ty aimed and tossed his tomahawk striking it in the arm and cutting the wiring to it making the arm fall limp and aim at the ground. Ty took his other tomahawk and tossed it as hard as he could piercing it in the mechs face. The mech fell limp onto its knees and then it blew up sending Ty's tomahawks flying across the room into two tanks impaling them into the glass on both.

Ty got into cover next to Shepard and Jack and asked "You two alright?" Apparently seeing Ty blood soaked was shocking by the look on both of Jacks and Shepard's faces, "Yea we're good, what the hell happened to you?" Shepard asked. "Krogan that tossed me had a lot of blood but I wouldn't look over at him it's pretty gruesome." Ty said. Gunfire hit the tank Ty was behind and Shepard said "Well it seems all we have left are Jedore and the remaining Blue Suns." Ty nodded and pulled out his sniper and aimed around the corner, there were three regular Blue Suns with assault rifles and two with rocket launchers, "I'll handle the rocket launchers you two get the other three." Ty said as he put his sniper away.

Shepard gave him a questioning look and asked "What are you going to do?" Ty smirked and said "Get my tomahawks back, kill them and find Jedore." "Don't get shot or blown up." Jack said with a smirk. "Yea yea your hilarious, I'll be fine." Ty said. Shepard and Jack got out of cover and started shooting at the Blue Suns with their pistols as Ty hit his cloak and ran to each tank with his tomahawk on it, he grabbed both and put them away then snuck on top of a tank above the two rocket launcher guys and said "Hey bitches."

His cloak went off and he jumped down tackling one of the rocket launcher girls, the other turned to face Ty but Ty pulled his pistol out and shot her in the leg making her fall to the ground face flat, Ty shot her in the head then broke the girls neck that was under him and grabbed her rocket launcher. As he got up he aimed it at the remaining Blue Suns, "Time to die fuckers." Ty said. Ty shot two missiles out and they blew the Suns sky high but before Ty could admire his work the rocket launcher was kicked out of his hands and then it was followed by a fist hitting him hard in the face. He fell onto the barrier leading to the middle of the room and looked up, "Hello Ty you miss me." Jedore said. "Jedore you fucking bitch." Ty growled.

Jedore smirked before punching Ty in the gut as hard as she could manage and then punching him in the face again, "After I'm done with you three I'm going to get my un-beatable army of Krogan and show the Universe that my Blue Suns are the biggest threat." Jedore said. "Over my dead body will you leave this room alive." Ty growled again. He could feel all of his anger and all of his hate thriving in his veins as his need to kill her became intoxicating, this was the moment where she would pay for everything she did and Ty would taste the revenge he had a dying thirst for.

Jedore punched Ty again but before she could do it again or Ty could get back in the fight a gun shot went off, Jedore looked up and saw Shepard and Jack aiming at her, "Ty we have a clear shot on her let us kill her and end this once and for all." Shepard said. He began to speak up but he heard EDI in his comm "Shepard the power is back on but there are poisonous gases filling up the room Okeer is in, if you hurry you might be able to save him." EDI said. "Go get Okeer he is your reason here so don't waste your bullets on this bitch." Ty said. Jedore laughed again, it sent icy chills up his spine and Ty hated being cold, "They'll be dead soon as I'm done with you you're only sparing them a couple seconds Ty." Jedore said.

Ty ignored her as he looked at Shepard and said "Go get Okeer Shepard I'll be fine, trust me." Shepard looked from Ty to Jedore quickly then nodded at Ty before turning away "Jack lets go before Okeer is dead." Shepard said starting to jog away. _Thank you Shepard,_ Ty thought. Ty looked back at Jedore as he began getting his footing ready for his strike "Now where were we, oh yea un-finished business." Ty pushed himself off the barrier and slammed a left punch into her stomach following it with a right uppercut that slammed into Jedore's jaw and knocked her to the ground.

Jedore scrambled back to her feet but Ty could see in her eyes she was still dazed by the punch "Looks like someone got an upgrade since we last fought." Jedore said and then spat blood to the ground. "Happens when Garm blows your arm almost off and Tarak shoots a missile at you, now come on lets see what you got." Ty said as they started walking in a circle waiting for a good moment to strike.

Jedore as usual was the first to move forward and throw a left jab which Ty blocked to the side but she followed it with a right kick which she landed. The kick landed horizontally into his gut but Ty didn't allow himself to stumble as he grabbed her leg which was about to leave him and slammed his right elbow into the side of her knee where the armor was thinner. Jedore grunted in pain as she twisted herself so her knee was facing up, Ty telegraphed the move since he had trained her to do it so as she attempted to kick him in the head with her left foot he pushed her foot away from him.

She was agile enough to twist herself so she landed on her left foot only to turn around and throw a fake right punch making Ty block it away and leave himself open for the left that landed into his sternum making him bend over slightly letting her knee slam into his chest next knocking him back up. She had been training for this it seemed but as she threw another punch Ty caught it, he was satisfied with her ability to hit him a few times but now bored of her attacks, it was time to get his revenge "I see you've been practicing I'd say I'm impressed since you were never one to practice what you learned but I'm not since I've been holding back to see how good you truly are, I'm not impressed." "I think you were more impressed by me killing all your friends." Jedore said with a sick smile.

A burning pain filled through Ty's body as he felt his heart be torn from him once again, _"Everyone to the escape pods!" Ty heard Carson's, his Turian pilot, flanged voice as if he was right next to him. Female screams followed it as more explosions were heard, "Come on Whitney hold on!" Brad yelled. "Don't die on my account go!" Whitney yelled back._ Ty shook his head as he tried to clear the thoughts from his mind only to be reminded when he saw Jedore's smile turn into a grin, "That's just precious you stil-" Ty punched her hard in the face knocking her onto the ground, "You are going to pay for what you did." Ty growled.

Jedore got on her knees and Ty saw a familiar shine around Jedore's neck, it was Haley's necklace the one he gotten her after he killed all the Suns, it was a sleek rope that was sterling silver with a sterling silver pendent in the shape of a tear drop with an eagle in the center facing to the right with a turquoise gem in the top left and a red gem in the bottom right. "That necklace doesn't belong to you, where is she?" Ty asked angrily. Jedore laughed slightly and said "Who cares? I sure as hell don't, Tarak just gave it to me as a souvenir from our past venture. I think he thought it would be funny to give away all your pretty little bitches things."

Anger surged through Ty's body as he punched her in the face hard and then as she recovered he kicked her in the face making her fall backwards, "Both him and Jason are dead if you haven't heard yet and you'll join those pieces of shit soon enough for what you all did." Jedore's face was bloody but she laughed as she pushed herself to her knees once again, "Oh so that was you helping Archangel and probably your brother who put Jason's body on display at one of our bases on Omega, I should've guessed I was next on the list."

Jedore spat blood onto the ground near Ty's feet but she looked back up to him and said "You know what's funny Ty I can see in your eyes that you are losing all control just like you did on Omega. You're becoming what you hate, the very thing you swore to her that you would not become but here you are betraying them al-" Jedore was cut off by Ty kicking her in the face then picking her up and slamming her against a tank, she pushed the wrong button and she was going to suffer for it. Ty began punching her hard with his left hand repeatedly. "I…AM NOT…BETRAYING THEM!" Ty yelled as he punched her.

He was losing control of his anger as he was wailing blow after blow to her but he suddenly stopped and said angrily "You fucking ratted us out and killed all of my fucking friends and all these years later after Omega all I have is one question and that is the only reason you are still alive." "The un-finished business, what is your question than you fucking prick?" Jedore asked. Her face was barely recognizable under all the blood, even her blonde hair was turning red. "Why did you do it?! There were innocent women and children on that ship being sold into slavery just like you almost were! The Blue Suns weren't slavers, my squad was not slavers but you killed them all anyway while I was on the planet with the civilians, why did you kill them?!" Ty asked. Jedore laughed and said "They? Face it Ty you didn't give a damn about your little squad, you lied to them and would have disregarded them completely if you had the choice."

If it was possible to feel your blood boiling than Ty was pretty sure that was exactly what he was feeling as he punched her almost as hard as he could in the face with his right arm, "FUCK YOU! They were my friends and you fucking killed them all." Ty yelled and punched her again before continuing "You stole everything I held dear from me! You stole my very essence of life and have made everyday I have lived on a living fucking hell to the point I have just wanted to end my own pathetic existence! WHY!"

Jedore coughed up blood then said "To get at you for what you did to me. You took a year of my life for what, absolutely fucking nothing Ty. I was your best student and I adored you." Ty's jaw nearly dropped off as he said in astonishment "That's why you killed them all because I didn't fuck you." "You trained me for a year straight and after it was over you just moved on like I meant nothing to you, I adored you so much and you just acted like I was a nothing so when Tarak told me his plan I thought what better way to get payback then kill all your frien-" Jedore was cut off by Ty punching her again, "YOU KILLED THEM BECAUSE I DIDN'T FUCK YOU!" Ty started punching her as hard as he could with his right hand and he continued screaming as loud as he could letting out every bit of anger seep into each blow as he hit her "YOU STUPID FUCKING SELF CENTERED BITCH, GO..TO...FUCKING...HELL...YOU...FUCKING...CUNT!"

Punch after punch continued to cave in Jedore's face completely as she slumped to the ground but Ty followed her down with uppercuts, she was dead but Ty's emotions had exploded. He grabbed her by her throat and picked her up only to grab her face as he began slamming it against the pod repeatedly until he finally grabbed her by the collar of her armor and threw her across the ground away from him. Each punch he had connected with had splattered more blood across him until his hand was literally covered in blood and his face from his chin to his forehead had many splatters of blood that ran down his face covering it.

Head to toe there wasn't a part of his body that didn't have some blood on it but he didn't care he just learned his friends were all killed because he didn't screw Jedore. Ty stared at his blood covered hands as his body started to shake uncontrollably, he couldn't contain his emotion any longer, "You killed them all because I didn't fuck you." Ty said under his breath in anger and disbelief. "_Come on Tara ru-AHHH!" Valera, an Asari screamed in pain. "Val-" Tara's voice was cut off by an explosion. _

Ty couldn't get the voices out of his head and it made his breathing become faster and sharper, the pain was overwhelming but he heard a dying breath from Jedore's body but swore he heard her voice in it "Betrayer." It was but a whisper that Ty heard though he wasn't sure if it was real or not. Ty spun around to the body and pulled his pistol out in a fluid motion taking aim on her body hoping she was still alive as he started shooting her body until his pistol ran out of ammo and stopped firing.

As he put his pistol away Ty saw Shepard and Jack standing a small distance away from him though he wasn't sure how long they had been there for, where Okeer was or if they were waiting for him to finish and walk over or they were afraid he'd snap on them. He knew he wouldn't ever hurt them but he understood their caution but Ty didn't go back to them just yet. He walked over to Jedore's body and knelt down to it and put his hand around Haley's necklace, it was covered in Jedore's blood but the shiny parts it had at the moment brought a slight light to him in his dark cloud right now.

There was still hope she was still alive, still hope he wouldn't fuck up and he'd be able to save her. He unhooked the necklace and said to himself "This didn't belong to you bitch." Ty looked at the pendent and rubbed his thumb across the pendent smearing the blood off of the eagle on it, "I'm coming Haley just hold on." Ty whispered to the pendent. Ty felt a hand on his shoulder then he heard Shepard's calm comforting voice, "Come on Ty we gotta get out of here." Ty nodded as he looked back at Jedore's body, it was bloody and broken and definitely would go down as not one of his finest moments.

Someone he once trained and considered an ally had betrayed him after he stopped what had almost happened to her as a child from happening to many other children and women, _"Ty if you're hearing this everyone has died and I'm trying to keep this ship flying a little longer to give you information. I got a read on the vessel, it was Jedore and I picked up comm chatter between her and Tarak. It was an honor fighting along side you and all of our friends, goodby-" Carson's voice was cut off as the ship crashed into the ground and more missiles exploded into it. _"Yea, I've had enough of this place." Ty said.

Back on the Normandy

Ty got out of the shuttle and asked "What are we going to do about the test tube Krogan we brought along?" Shepard stepped out behind him with a slightly concerned look on her face, Ty hadn't spoke on the ride back because he was trying to get his head back on straight after all the voices of his dead friends had made their way to the forefront of his mind. He didn't feel like himself, every breath that he inhaled smelt like his burning ship and every step he took felt like he was walking closer and closer to his ship even though he knew that it happened eight years ago. "Don't know yet but he's the perfect Krogan so I might keep him for the squad." Shepard said.

That got a chuckle out of Ty as Jack came walking out of the shuttle next, if Shepard could convince the Krogan than sure he would join but that depended on if the Krogan didn't decide to attempt killing everyone on the ship. "That's if he'll work with us, we should probably tell Miranda and Jacob they'll be ecstatic to hear about this." Ty said. Shepard smirked slightly as they all began walking towards the elevator, "You want to come see their reactions or you gonna go shower?" Shepard asked.

A shower was most needed right now for Ty, maybe it would help him get his head straight but if it didn't at least he could get all the blood off of himself. "Shower and then I don't know…I got a lot on my mind now." Ty said. "Understandable, Jack you think you'll be able to share the engineering floor with the Krogan?" Shepard asked. Jack smirked and said "He doesn't bother me I wont kill him." "Comforting to know we're gonna have a Krogan who's no doubtly a loose canon and the biotic god where are engines are." Ty said sarcastically.

All three got in the elevator and went up one floor where Jack got off at then the elevator went up another floor to where Ty's room was, the doors opened and as Ty walked out Shepard grabbed his arm stopping him and said "Everything that happened back there between you and Jedore, you can't blame yourself for it you know that right." Ty shook his head at her, "Shepard there's a lot you don't know about that happened when I was in the Blue Suns and after, I understand that you're just trying to help but what happened back there and in the past I've always blamed myself for, all Jedore did was confirm it for me."

It was Shepard's turn to shake her head at Ty though Ty wasn't going to have any of it, she knew enough to understand why he went off but she didn't know the whole story, "Ty yo-" Ty interrupted Shepard "Shep I trained her when she first came into the Suns, a whole year we were together where I trained her and taught her almost everything I knew. She never practiced anything I taught but she never needed to because she was a quick learner and a great student even though we were the same age. I learned during that time that she had almost been sold into slavery as a kid but the Blue Suns at the time had attacked the ship for credits but when they saw the slaves they let them go. She of all people should have understood what I did but she was the one who ratted us out and destroyed my ship with all my friends on it. She killed my-" Ty stopped himself from getting angry and took a deep breath then continued "Shepard she did it all because I didn't fuck her in that one year if that isn't my fault then I don't know what is, you gotta go talk to Miranda and Jacob and I gotta shower, I'll see you later."

Ty hit the button for her to go up then walked out before the doors shut and began walking towards his room as the doors closed, as he got to his door he heard a voice behind him, "What the hell happened to you?" Miranda asked. Ty looked down at his arms and shirt as he said "People got blood on me, Shepard's going up to talk to you so you should head up to CIC." "Okay…are you gonna be alright?" Miranda asked. Ty opened his doors and said "I'll survive it's what I'm best at."

Ty walked into his room and closed the doors behind him as he let out a deep breath. He pulled Haley's necklace out of his pocket and cleaned it off the best he could at the moment with one of the only clean areas on his shirt and then put it on his nightstand to re-clean later. He walked over to his table next and took off all of his guns and his tomahawks before walking into his bathroom. After he stripped out of his blood soaked clothes he got into to the shower and started washing off all of the Krogans and Jedore's blood which turned his shower floor red. As he finished washing his hair he watched as the blood went down the drain, he got the answer to his question but he was now faced with another, was it worth hearing the truth.

**A/N: And so more of Ty's past is revealed through this fight, will he get his head back in the game or will he finally succumb to all the pain. Well I guess the answer is quite obvious do to the prologue but still, I know this time period of the story is a bit darker due to Ty's very traumatizing past but it will become a slightly brighter story through everything that happens and there will be no crappy ending where he dies or offs himself because that is to sad of a story for me to tell. I'm a sucker for happy endings and this story will have a happy ending. Anyway we are only at chapter ten of a very long journey through two games so no need to worry about the endings yet, I will see you next time.**


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Experimenting

**A/N: Usual disclaimer, I don't own the Mass Effect Universe, Bioware/E/A does, I stake claim in Ty and cos personalities that aren't apart of the Mass Effect Universe. On to the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Shepard stood in the CIC at the galaxy map as she thought about where to go next, probing planets had taken up a lot of her time but she needed the resources to upgrade the Normandy's armor and med-bay. Getting her new planet scanner had been her first objective since it cut her probing time from all day to most of the day. Shepard scanned through all the systems she could go check out, there wasn't really much for her to do now since she had cleared out all the systems they had and finished collecting the people for the mission. There was always that project Firewalker dossier she had gotten about Geth incursions, the Volcano Station, or the Survey Sites maybe that would provide her something to do while she waited for the Illusive Man to get back to her on what to do next.

Shepard sighed slightly as she set her destination for the fuel depot and then to the planet Lattesh in the Chomos system of the Phoenix Massing cluster. She didn't mind going to do the mission it was just the fact that she hadn't heard from the Illusive Man on taking the fight to the Collectors yet or getting more recruits that was getting to her, she hated to admit it but she was relying on the Illusive Man to get them some solid data to work with. As Shepard walked down the steps Kelly looked over to her with a concerning look as she asked "Commander may I speak with you?" Shepard nodded and said "Of course Kelly I always have time for my crew, what has taken your lovely smile away?"

Kelly blushed slightly as she looked to the side, Shepard knew her Yeoman had feelings for her but she couldn't resist making her blush now and then for all the flirting that Kelly did with her. It was just apart of her personality to flirt now and then but her heart still belonged to Kaiden, she missed him so much but she never allowed it to get her down. She had a new crew that she was getting to know and become friends with despite how much she wished she was still with her old crew. "I'm concerned about Ty, he hasn't left his room since you all came back from Korlus yesterday and you didn't mention in your report about what happened to him. You have seemed a little off since then as well and I know that waking Grunt up was physically trying but you were more excited than scared by it." Kelly stated.

Shepard was more than bothered by what happened on Korlus but it wasn't the blood covering Ty or what he had done to Jedore that had bothered her, she was used to seeing those type of things and compared to Akuze those images didn't bother her in the slightest. What had bothered her was seeing Jedore mentally and emotionally beat Ty, she had all the cards stacked in her favor because of what she had did and she used them to make sure that Ty felt even more like a failure then he already did. Shepard could see the look in his eyes when they talked about him losing his friends; she knew the look because she had seen it on her own face when she lost her squad on Akuze and then Ashley on Virmire.

Shepard wasn't sure about what to do to help him though, no amount of helpful words would ever be enough, no one could tell anyone when they had mourned enough that was something that only you as the mourner could decide. This was only the third time that Shepard had ever felt helpless when it came to her crew, the first being Akuze and the second being Ashley. She had always been able to help her crew through all of their tough times but this made her feel helpless, and she hated feeling helpless. "Kelly…there are some things no amount of words can solve." Shepard replied. "What happened Shepard?" Kelly asked worry in her tone.

Kelly never ceased to amaze Shepard with how caring she could be no matter who it was they were talking about, "The Blue Suns leader down there, Jedore, had history with Ty. She ratted him out and killed eight of his friends all because he didn't have sex with her in the year that he trained her, or at least that's why she said she did it and Ty…lost it." Shepard said. "Did he kill her?" Kelly asked. "That's one way of putting it, I'll spare you the details but it was pretty gruesome. I don't think I've ever seen someone lose it so badly on someone but after it was over he just stayed quiet the rest of the trip back. Before he went to his room I tried to make him understand it wasn't his fault that she killed them all but I was less than successful…I wish there was something I could do to help him, I hate it when I can't help my crew."

There was a person behind all the Alliance propaganda and he wasn't heartless, he had a heart that had been ripped from his chest and never put back and now he was just a lost wandering soul trying to find meaning in living again. Shepard shook her head trying to shake the thought from her mind; he wasn't going to remain lost if she had any say. No man was ever left behind and she intended to bring him back from whatever depths he was in, no matter what. Shepard looked back to Kelly who had a slight smirk on her face as she said "You have the look of a woman who is about to spearhead her way through any obstacle in her way." Shepard smirked and said "So I have been told...I don't know what I'm going to do yet but I'm going to figure it out. Take care Kelly." "You to Shepard." Kelly said as she turned around. _No one gets left behind._

* * *

It had been a day since Ty killed Jedore and he hadn't stopped thinking about it or been able to stop the memories of his crew dying from flooding in. Killing her wasn't the issue he had; she needed to die for everything she had done and all the pain she caused but what he was not happy at all about was her reason behind killing everyone. The very thought of what she said made Ty clench his hands into fists and want to punch the wall, all because he wouldn't get in a bed with her she killed them. Hell he would've been more acceptant to "they betrayed the Blue Suns" instead of because HE didn't sleep with HER, he had never even thought about her in that way.

As Ty laid on his back and stared at the stars he thought about Korlus more, a lot of the same things that had been making his blood boil flooded back into his mind from Jedore's laugh to her last dying breath or what Ty thought was her last dying breath. "Betrayer" the voice had whispered, had he betrayed his friends by going on this revenge mission and almost losing complete control of everything that made him who he was? Had he abandoned his code for revenge and anger to become the only things he believed in anymore? No he hadn't betrayed his code or his friends but he could feel his anger taking hold in him again.

His anger brought out a bad side of him, so bad that he began referring to it as his demon because it was like something was possessing him and changing him. He knew that it was just himself losing his temper but his temper did change him and it always felt like an evil spirit entered his body when he did, like a thousand cold knives plunging into his skin. Ty sat up in his bed and brought his hands to his face_, I need to get control of my demon now before I go back down that road again,_ Ty thought. He had lost all control a few years after his friends died and didn't come out of it until 2182 after being around his favorite Japanese kleptomaniac; _I need to do something like work on my bike to keep my mind away from it._

Ty got out of bed and walked up to EDIs platform and said "EDI can you hear me." EDI popped up and said "Yes Mr. Rhoddy I can hear you." "Any idea if we have a mission today?" Ty asked. "Shepard has set a course for the planet Lattesh in the Chomos system of the Phoenix Massing Cluster, why do you ask?" _Why the hell are we going out there,_ Ty thought. Though he was curious he pushed his curiosity away as he asked "EDI can I tell you something and have you tell anybody?" "Yes Mr. Rhoddy I can." EDI said. "Alright can you tell Shepard, Jack, Miranda, Garrus and Jacob if they are looking for me I'll be down in the cargo hold working on my bike." Ty said. "I will inform them Mr. Rhoddy and if you need anything while you are working all you need to do is ask." EDI said. Ty nodded and said "Thanks EDI I'll see you down there than."

After brushing his hair back and pony tailing the crown of his hair he put his hood up and walked out of his room to the elevator to which he got in and went down to the cargo hold to keep his mind off of Jedore and everything that happened. He leaned his back against the wall and rested his head against the wall,_ focus on the good not the bad, I'll save Haley and make everything right, I will not fuck up again,_ Ty thought. After contemplating connecting his omni-tool to the circuits of the elevator to try and speed it up the doors opened letting Ty walk out and towards his parked space bike which was near the right desk near the elevator.

Ty got to his bike and took his tank top off and put it in his pocket since he had just cleaned it and his shorts the other day of all the blood that was on it and didn't want to get anything on them for a while. As he stared at his bike he contemplated what he could do, he didn't know what he could even do with his bike anymore aside from regular maintenance because of all the things he had already maxed out on it. He also didn't want to get zapped for trying to do more to something he couldn't do more to so that was another point towards regular maintenance but he knew himself well enough that he'd find something to add onto his bike.

As he knelt down next to it he looked up at the console and said "Hey EDI can you hear me." EDI popped up behind on it and said "Yes Mr. Rhoddy what can I help you with?" "Two things, first off just call me Ty, when you call me Mr. Rhoddy it makes me feel older and two is there a radio down here or something I can use for music?" Ty asked. "You can access music on this console which allows you to play music from an assortment of recent and past artists." EDI said.

Ty raised and eyebrow slightly as he got up and walked over to the console, after looking over the buttons he found the one he was looking for and said "Thanks EDI you're the best." "Thank you Ty." EDI said. Ty sifted through the recent artists but found nothing that he wanted to listen to at the moment so he began going through music from the twenty first century until he found a rock group he had grown to like since he searched the music, they had more than a few albums he liked so he selected all of them and hit play before returning to his bike to start working.

Four Hours Later

Ty had been experimenting on his bike trying to tweak its speed and jump speed to a ridiculous level but it hadn't been working out and he had gotten zapped by the circuits a couple times until he finally just stopped touching the circuits because he figured that was his bikes way of telling him no. He was having fun though working on his bike and listening to an older band from the last century and he had it on loud enough that he figured the whole ship could probably hear it. The music was good even to this day he didn't care if it had come out before they found the Prothean technology. Ty was kneeling down next to his bike putting things back together as he was hummed along with the singer when his loud music turned to silence, Ty chuckled slightly and said "Well I guess it was only a matter of time till someone got sick of it and came down here to turn it down." "What are you doing?" Jack asked looking curiously at him.

Ty grabbed a screw driver and started putting the screws that held some of the new equipment he had just installed that would be bad to let others know about back into his bike, "Well at this exact moment I'm putting my bike back together after basically tearing it apart but otherwise I had been trying to re-tweak the speed of this thing and try to get the jump speed faster even though its already fast." Ty said. "Your work has been successful thus far Ty, you have been slightly electrocuted a few times but the installation you had me monitoring has been successful." EDI answered. Jack laughed slightly and said "Well well the sarcastic dick got himself electrocuted." Jack said. Ty chuckled and said "Yeah yeah laugh it up all you want but when you've created your own space faring vehicle from scratch and make it faster than and more maneuverable than most vessels than you'll understand why I get electrocuted. So aside from turning down my music how come you came down here 'cause it obviously wasn't to chat about mechanic shit."

Ty finished screwing the stuff in and walked to the other side of his bike and started putting some of the stuff together, Jack sat down on a crate and finally got a good glimpse of Ty's scarred body to which she replied "Damn and I thought your tank top was fucked up." "Thanks for the compliment Jack." Ty said with a smirk. "No problem, so how you been dealing with everything that happened back on Korlus?" Jack asked. "Don't really want to talk about it but since you asked I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened." Ty asked. "She was a bitch and you killed her, it doesn't bring them back but at least you avenged them." Jack said. "I'm not done yet, there is still one person alive who had a hand in it." Ty said as he stood up and went to the front of his bike.

Jack raised an eyebrow as she asked "Who?" "A Batarian who was the one who gave her location away, his name is Scrum and is a leader of a section of the Blue Suns. I'll take a wild guess and say he's the one who owns the base on Illium; Tarak wouldn't have trusted Haley to anyone else." "So you have been hunting these bastards down for what they did to your friends?" Jack asked. Ty nodded and said "Yep but not just them, I've taken down their businesses, their friends, and anyone who supported them. I saved the ones who cost me everything for last so when I struck them down they would have nothing left." "Damn your one vicious bastard." Jack said with a laugh. "Trust me what happened down on Korlus was barely a taste of how vicious I can be, I lost my temper down there, when I lose control of everything is when bad shit happens."

Ty stood up and wiped his hands off on his shorts but as he did he wanted to slap himself since he hadn't wanted to get anything on his shorts. _Crap now I gotta wash these again, ah fuck it who cares,_ Ty thought. Ty looked over to Jack who had a look of intrigue and mischief on her face as she asked "What kind of bad shit?"_ Ah crap sometimes I just need to shut my damn mouth_, Ty thought. He didn't want to talk about the bad things he was capable of doing because the memories of himself under the intoxication of blood lust was not a happy time for him to remember. Ty shook his head as he said "I don't want to talk about it Jack the last thing I need is to lose control I hope you can just take that and understand it."

Jack didn't look satisfied with his answer but she nodded regardless and said "Okay. One last thing before I go I'm trying to find a location but I need some help." Jack said. "Need me to read files for you?" Ty asked with a raised eyebrow. He hoped he didn't have to read files, especially Cerberus files "No I want you to look at my past and see if you can pin point it for me." Jack said. _Oh no. No, no, no, no, no I am not doing that again_, Ty thought. "I told you Jack that's not how it works." Ty said with a shrug of his shoulders. "No you said you needed specifics to do it and I can give you specifics." Jack said.

Ty sighed, _damn me for putting myself in a corner,_ Ty attempted one last time to get out of it "Jack I don't know if I can do it or how I'd do it its not as simple as finding out who shot someone besides I thought you didn't want me in your head." Ty said. Jack smirked and stood up than walked over to Ty and said "True I don't want you to get in my head but this is the only exception I'll make so maybe you can experiment with your power and try and see exactly what I'm looking for." She was either going to try use sex as a bargaining tool or physically beat the crap out of him until he did, not liking either option due to the complications in their friendship it would cause Ty shook his head and said "Fine I'll try but I'm not paying for therapy if something goes wrong." Ty sat on a crate cross legged and said "Stand in front of me and look into my eyes even if I close them."

Jack walked in front of Ty and her brown eyes stared at him as Ty's purple eyes looked directly into hers, the eyes of a person held were the direct access to their memories but he could also access the memories through touch but he chose her eyes and let his mind reach out and to hers as he focused on protecting his mind from hers and her mind from his. A persons mind was their temple and if he forced himself in or didn't put up any defenses he could break the person, not something he wanted to do to anyone especially Jack who more than likely still would be able to kill him afterwards.

He began feeling the energy from her memories so he closed his eyes and let his mind enter the energy as he accessed her memories, as he opened his eyes the room changed into a desolate room with a window looking out to another room where children were though for Jack all she saw was his eyes turn completely purple, "Did it work?" Jack asked. Ty saw a young child beating against the glass window who he immediately knew was Jack based on her eyes, younger Jack just continued to beat her hands against the glass and scream at all the other kids, Ty couldn't stand seeing it but he was there now and Jack needed his help so he was stuck with it, "I don't know what I'm looking for but I see a younger you and I beginning to hate that I did this. This may feel weird but no matter what happens Jack do not take your arm away from me alright." Ty said.

Before Jack could respond Ty grabbed her arm and his vision became her vision, as Jack entered the memory with him she began looking around seeing Ty now standing next to her instead of sitting and he still had his hand holding her arm, "Jack is this where they kept you?" Ty asked. Jack looked around in awe as she said "This was my room." Ty shook her arm slightly to bring her attention back to him as he said "Jack don't try walking around if you do I can't find what you are looking for." "How is this possible?" Jack asked. "My mind can access anyone's memories and when I visit them I get to stand sideline to it all like we are. If we are looking for the name of this place than give me a second I have to focus." "What are you going to do?" Jack asked. "Access the memory of this place through your memory, the rooms might go by really fast so don't freak out and let go." Ty said. "Are you sure you've never done this before?" Jack asked skeptically.

He had done it more than a fair amount of times but the cost in the end had always been painful, each person he had done this with that died caused him serious pain and those who let go before he was ready left him with a lovely side effect, "I've done it before I just don't like doing it which is why I'm telling you not to let go of me." Ty said. "What happens that you don't like?" Jack asked. "You'll see now hold on I gotta focus." Ty said.

Ty focused all his mental ability on the lingering memory imprint that the place had from Jacks memory, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack until he found something though he wasn't sure what it was. As he honed in on it the rooms started going by really fast until they were standing at a terminal with a man recording himself, most of the information he was talking about Ty didn't understand but then he said "The Teltin Facility so far has come up with interesting results but we will need more test subjects so if we can get more children sent to Pragia that would help to continue our tests for biotic advancement." "Motherfuckers." Jack responded with anger as she tried to go after the guy.

Ty kept a firm grip on her arm as he shifted the memory away and to his own of being on his ship by himself in his quarters as he read over reports. He needed to get out of the memory before his old friend Tara came up to his room but he also had to talk to Jack while she wasn't completely pissed off because of how important the next step was, "What the fuck?" Jack asked in confusion. "I didn't want you to let go because of what happens so I brought you to one of my memories." Ty answered. Before he could speak Jack looked around him to see the younger him, age fourteen to be exact, he still had his long hair, his outdated fashion sense and all his tattoos except for his back tattoo, "Is that you?" Jack asked.

Ty looked back over at himself taking in the young and innocent version of himself, he missed those days but he couldn't dwell on it, "Yeah nine years ago, listen we aren't here to watch this memory so before we leave this memory I have something's I need you to do for me. First off I'll need you to sit me up against this crate and then I'll need you to get EDI to get Chakwas to check my vitals to make sure I'm still alive and if I am then just leave me, I'll wake up. The last thing I need you to do is be clear to tell them I knew what I was doing and it wasn't your fault and that I usually stay knocked out for thirty minutes and then I'm fine with no side affects alright." Ty said. Jack looked at him with confusion as she asked "Wait you mean you go unconscious after you do this?" Jack asked. "Only when I join minds with someone, I haven't got control of it yet so I go unconscious. You ready to do what I said?" Ty asked. "Yea, are you sure this is safe?" Jack asked. "Hey Ty what are you doing?" Tara asked as she walked in. Ty smirked slightly seeing the lithe Asari again but looked at Jack and said "Nope but no other way, see ya later Jack."

Ty let go of Jack and as he did he started getting black circles in his vision and sounds were more distant, Ty tried fighting it as long as he could being able to get off the crate and sit himself down against the crate as Jack was talking to EDI. The blackness soon was in almost all his vision when suddenly he saw Jack kneel down next to him "The doc is on her way, don't die Ty or I'll kick your ass understand." Jack said. Ty gave a final chuckle and said "Is that care in your voice Jack I told you I can't have a re…lation…ship." Ty blacked out into the abyss.

Forty Minutes Later

"Hold on he's coming to, Mr. Rhoddy can you hear me?" Chakwas asked_. Man I hate this feeling, _Ty thought as he began blinking quickly as he came to in the cargo hold, "Doc just call me Ty it makes me feel older hearing myself be called Mr. Rhoddy." Ty said. Ty got his eye sight back and he saw Chakwas kneeling next to him and Jack, Miranda, and Shepard standing behind her, "How are you feeling?" Chakwas asked. "I'm good Chakwas just a little light headed, Jack you feel fine right no side affects for you?" Ty asked. Jack shook her head and said "Nope I'm good." Ty nodded and said "Good than everything is fine." Ty pushed himself against the box and onto his feet then Miranda said "Maybe we should have Chakwas run some tests on you to find out the source of your power so something like this doesn't happen again."

Ty chuckled slightly, after seeing the shit he had through Jack's memories the last thing he wanted was to have a test, especially if Cerberus was involved. "I know why it happened it's 'cause my mind isn't strong enough to join with another and not pass out afterwards from mental exhaustion." "Joining minds? Like the Asari melding?" Shepard asked in surprise. Ty shrugged slightly and said "Yeah kind of but I'm not an Asari, my skin complexion is way to tan and I know for a fact I'm not female. You really didn't believe anything about my abilities did you? I know it sounds crazy for a human so I guess I understand why you would doubt it, anyway I let her see what I saw I've done this a plentiful amount of times and each time I can fight the blacking out longer, not much longer but it still counts." "Alright it sounds like you have it figured out than, everyone else back to your stations." Shepard said.

Everyone nodded and Miranda and Chakwas turned to leave but Shepard stopped Ty as he began to walk and grab for his tank top at the same time "If you need anything let me know I don't like seeing my crew suffer." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "Alright, I'll get through it but if I need anything I'll let you know." Ty said. Shepard nodded and jogged to catch up with Chakwas and Miranda as Ty put his tank top back on and the hood up. After he shut off his music completely he headed over to the elevator where only Jack stood apparently waiting for him, Ty got to the doors and said "You didn't want to ride with the princess I take it." Jack smirked and said "Fuck no I'd kill the cheerleader."

Ty smirked but than stopped as the sight of a young Jack banging her hands against a glass window flashed through his mind, a grim reminder that he wasn't the only one who got screwed out of a regular childhood. "You sure you're alright Jack?" Ty asked. Jack shrugged and said "I'm fine besides I know what I'm looking for now so I'll have my destination soon enough…Thanks for doing all that to help me." "You're welcome but I'm sure I didn't have a choice, you were going to use force to persuade me to help you I bet." Ty said. "Eh maybe." Jack said with a smirk. Ty smiled and said "That or you would try to use your lovely feminine charm on me also known as flashing your tits and ass to get what you want." Jack laughed and said "Maybe." "It wouldn't have worked." Ty said joining in with her laugh. "Why?" Jack asked. "I'm not your regular guy if you haven't noticed, doesn't matter how much you flash me your tits and ass I don't fall for that game." Ty said. Jack smirked and said "You'd be surprised how many guys fall for it." "No I wouldn't be I've seen my fair share to know." Ty said as the doors to the elevator opened.

Ty and Jack got in and Ty hit the buttons for their floors, and waited as the elevator brought them up one floor. The doors opened and Jack said "I'll see you around Ty and…well you know thanks." Ty chuckled and said "You're welcome and Jack I know you don't want a friend and you were just using me to help you but if you ever need someone to talk just get EDI to get me." "Don't get all mushy with me now because I needed your help." Jack said. "I'll still be a sarcastic dick Jack I'm just saying if you need a shoulder to punch or someone to use your biotics to throw or a guy to scream at who can take it all I'll be up a floor." Ty said with a smirk. Jack smirked slightly and said "Whatever you say Ty, I'll see ya around." Jack said. "See ya Jack." Ty said then shut the doors

**A/N: And yet another chapter done, go team! Anywho next chapter up is New Horizons and I'll leave you with that. A big thank you to all you readers out there and the 7 followers and 4 favs I think the numbers were, you guys/girls rock. Not much else to say so I will see you next time.**


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

New Horizons

**Disclaimer/A/N: I don't own the Mass Effect Universe, Bioware/E/A does, I only stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who aren't apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe. Onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

"_Hey Ty you got a minute?" Darian asked as he walked into Ty's quarters. Ty sat up on his bed as he saw Darian walk in, "Hey Darian, what's going on?" Ty asked. His lieutenant had a data-pad in his hand and looked troubled by something and the fact that he just walked into his room without calling up made Ty wonder what was eating at him. Ty had an open door policy with his crew so he wasn't opposed to them just walking in but Darian had a habit of calling Ty right before coming up despite Ty always telling him to just walk in. Darian shifted his weight from his right foot to his left foot and continued to go back and forth for a few seconds until Ty began to feel uncomfortable as well, "Darian what the fuck is going on?" Ty asked sternly. "We just got a mission from the Suns." Darian started but then stopped. "Okay?" Ty asked trying to get Darian to spit it out. "They want us to…ahem take out a thresher maw nest." Darian said and cleared his throat a few more times._

_The words didn't register in Ty's brain at first, "Wait what?" Ty asked. __**I must have heard him wrong**__, Ty thought. "Tarak wants us to take out a…thresher nest." Darian repeated. __**What?**__ "Are you fucking joking?" Ty asked in a serious tone. Darian shook his head and handed Ty the data-pad, "I wish I was." Darian said. Ty looked over the data-pad quickly seeing that there was a bunch of resources that the Suns wanted located in the territory of the thresher nest and they wanted Ty and his friends to clear it out so they could get the resources. A few moments of silence passed between the two until Darian asked "Are we going to pass this along to someone else?" Ty hated himself for what he was about to say but if Tarak was asking him to do it then he didn't think any one else could, "No set a course for the planet, Tarak doesn't ask me for anything unless he thinks no one else can do it and we are technically apart of his merc band still." Ty said. "Despite all of us getting rid of the tattoos except you?" Darian asked._

_Ty rubbed the back of his neck where his tattoo was, they all voluntarily got rid of their tattoos and replaced them with what had become their own special symbol, Ty looked at Darian's neck and saw the tomahawk and sniper in an X form with the barrel of the sniper pointing up and the blade of the tomahawk in the shape of Ty's with it facing out. "We pledged our loyalty to you not them." Darian said noticing where Ty's eyes were looking. "I know…round the crew up to the CIC we'll talk about it there. If majority votes no then we won't do it." "We don't owe the Blue Suns anymore than you have already given Ty, if this is our mission then I say let it be our last mission for them so we can all go about our business without Tarak looking over our shoulder." Darian said. Ty handed him the data-pad and said "It's not that simple." "You don't owe them anything." Darian repeated. "It's not about owing them anything Darian, if we just leave they'll come after us and I will not see all of you hurt or killed by them." Ty said. "All I'm saying is just give it some thought, we have made our own way for the last year only doing Blue Suns shit once every few months, we don't need them." Darian said._

_As much as Ty agreed with him he stayed quiet and got off of his bed, "We'll all talk about it downstairs, Gallick has been a Sun for years an-" "He burned off the tattoo and got the new one because you treated him better than the Suns ever would." Darian interrupted. "I'll talk it over with the crew and think about it myself okay?" Ty asked. Darian nodded and Ty motioned him to follow him, "Come on lets go tell the crew about our lovely vacation to hell." Ty said. "I'm sure it will go fine." Darian said. "Famous last words Darian, famous last words." Ty said as they exited his room and got in the elevator._

* * *

As the memory faded Ty sat up in bed and looked around,_ god damn I should have listened to them, _Ty thought as he rubbed the back of his neck where the Blue Suns tattoo still was. Part of him wanted to burn it off, another part told him to cut it out just to inflict a severe amount of pain to himself for not listening to his friends while they were alive. The only reason it was still on him was because despite the pain it had brought him in the end it was still a chapter of his life that had some good in it, even before his crew burned theirs off they had created a lot of great memories and that tattoo was a reminder of those good memories despite what the symbol stood for.

It had been two days since he had joined his mind with Jack and since then he had relied on meditation to lock away the memories that had surfaced and to keep the thoughts of Jedore out of his mind. It had worked but it required him to separate himself from the rest of the squad for the two days once again not leaving his room. Shepard had attempted to visit a few times and they talked shortly about "the goings of the outside world" as she put it letting him know what the crew was up to and trying to get him to come out. He didn't enjoy telling her no but he had to stay focused on getting his demon under control since if he lost control bad things would happen.

He didn't full out ignore her though he listened to her and talked about the missions themselves but Shepard could tell he wasn't completely focused on her so she would always respectfully dismiss herself. She had been going out with the other squad members to do little side missions to pass the time while they waited for the Illusive Man to get back to them on what to do next and she ended up getting a "new toy" as Ty put it and to torture Garrus and Miranda with not only her driving but the blistering cold where they had to use the M-44 Hammerhead to collect some stuff for something she called Project Firewalker while the cold was chilling her engines. Her toy that she had gotten was some experimental gun called an Arc Projector that Shepard had been all giddy about since she had taken out four mechs with one shot while investigating a shuttle crash.

The other fun she had aside from going down to the freezing cold planet of Lattesh with the Hammerhead, though Ty was thankful he had been voluntarily out of it because he hated the cold, was bringing them out to the Hawking Eta cluster into the Verr system to the planet Corang to do more for the Project Firewalker mission this time bringing Grunt, who Ty hadn't met yet, and Jacob down with her to recover more data for the project. The funny part for Ty was the fact because of all the jumping around the Hammerhead did Grunt ended up tagging the back of the Hammerhead with puke. Needless to say Project Firewalker was on hold while the cleaning crew cleaned up the Hammerheads interior.

That had Ty laughing for a good minute without stopping, it took a lot to get a Krogan to puke but Shepard had succeeding and making the poor guy lose his lunch with her driving. That gave Ty more incentive to avoid getting in any vehicle that she was driving. Ty got out of bed with a slight smirk due to thinking about Shepard's terrible driving making a Krogan puke, maybe today would turn out to be a good day without something bad happening. Ty had hope for that as he made his way into his personal bathroom to shower and get cleaned up before he got back into the world of the living.

After Ty had got out of the shower and finished his routine of brushing his hair and getting clothed in his burnt tank top, clam diggers and shoes he walked up to his window and looked out into space. A smile crept its way to his face as he admired the beauty of all the stars out there; there was something about the stars and the black abyss that was so beautiful. As Ty stood there he saw a blue hologram in the reflection of the mirror followed by EDIs synthesized voice, "Ty, Shepard has requested your presence in the Comm room and wants you to be armed." EDI said.

Well he did want to get back into the world of the living and what better way to do that than go on a mission, hopefully one that didn't involve Shepard's driving. "Tell her that I can't be summoned like some pet and I'll be there as soon as the elevator gets there." Ty said as he turned around. "Is that a joke?" EDI asked. Ty smirked to himself and said "Yea kinda, spend enough time talking to me and you'll learn a thing or two about human jokes and soon you'll be able to get Joker good." "Acknowledged." EDI responded. EDI disappeared and Ty walked over to his table and grabbed all his guns and his tomahawks putting them all in their holders before walking out of his room and into the elevator which took him up to CIC.

The elevator ride up didn't feel that slow but Ty's mind was preoccupied with getting ready to go on whatever mission Shepard was about to bring him on, after the doors opened Ty left the elevator and walked towards the Tech-lab door, as he was about there Kelly saw him walking by and said "Back from your solitude I see." Ty stopped and turned his head back and said "I had things I needed to put away in my mind so I could stay focused on the mission." "I was worried that you may never come out again." Kelly said with a smile but then continued "So are you better now?" That was a hard question because despite getting the memories locked away he knew that whenever he encountered Scrum he was more than likely going to explode, "Eh more or less I just put all the memories in a locked box in the back of my mind, metaphorically speaking. I won't say that I won't explode again but the only way it'll happen is if it's something extremely personal." Ty answered. "Well if you ever want to talk let me know, I don't know if it will help but it is always worth a try." Kelly said. "I'll consider it." Ty said as he walked through the door.

Ty walked through the tech-lab where Mordin was experimenting on a bug which made Ty scrunch up his face in disgust; he hated bugs almost as much as he hated the Blue Suns. Ty made his way into the Comm room where Shepard was standing in an orange hologram talking to someone, Ty looked around and saw Garrus checking his rifle over so he walked over to him and asked "Hey Garrus what's going on? Who she talking to?" Garrus looked up from his rifle and gave him a nod in greeting before he said "You finally made it back to the world of the living I see, and to think that was the cause of the peaceful silence."

Ty chuckled slightly and gave Garrus the finger since he couldn't think of a good comeback to which Garrus's mandibles helped give him a toothy grin before he motioned to Shepard with his head as he said "She's talking to the Illusive Man it sounds like the Collectors are about to attack another human colony."

Oh shit was one of Ty's first thoughts; this wasn't going to be some fun mission that involved Shepard's crappy driving making someone lose their lunch. This was about as serious as things got, the only thing that would be more serious than this was taking the fight to the Collectors home base and Ty wasn't even sure if they would find that. Ty nodded though; regardless of where the fight brought them he was going to be there. The Reapers and Collectors had to be stopped.

Ty put his back against the wall and leaned on it next to Garrus as he half heartedly listened to Shepard and the Illusive Man talking. Ty was slightly shocked that Shepard would bring him along for the mission since he hadn't exactly been out and about since Korlus but maybe she thought it would help, maybe it would Ty wasn't sure. "Well it's about time we get to bring the fight to the bastards; I guess that explains why she wanted me armed. Any other details you can give from this one sided conversation?" "Not really but I did hear Kaiden Alenko's name mentioned which may prove to be interesting." Garrus said.

Ty raised his eyebrow, _Alenko was apart of her original squad but why would that make this interesting, _Ty thought. "Whys that?" Ty asked. "Kaiden was on the original squad that took down Saren, on Virmire Shepard had to choose between him and another Alliance Solider named Ashley Williams and she chose him. It was hard for all of us losing Ashley because all of us had grown to trust and like each other but it hit Shepard the hardest since it was her choice. After that though Shepard and Kaiden grew close and became an item and were together up until she was spaced."

So the famous Commander Shepard actually did have a love life, Ty didn't know she had been with anyone due to the lack of publicity they had between the two. That made sense for why things would get interesting but before Ty could speak Garrus continued "She told me they haven't spoke since but I have a feeling there are still feelings there from both and if he's there and the Collectors are attacking it they may be going for him to get to her." Ty nodded understandingly and said "I see what you mean by interesting what about you did you like the guy." "I trusted him when we were on the original squad but it's been two years since then, we've all changed." Garrus said. "Think he'll join up?" Ty asked. "For Shepard's sake I hope he does." Garrus said. "But you doubt it?" Ty asked.

Before Garrus could answer the orange hologram disappeared and Shepard turned around and asked "Ty was Mordin working in there?" "Yea on some little creepy bug thing." Ty answered. "I hope he found something out." Shepard said as she walked past them out the door. Ty looked at Garrus and asked "We're fighting bugs?" "The bug is a seeker they stun colonies with a stasis field and the Collectors come and grab them without a fight." Garrus said. Ty shook a little, _why didn't I read up on the Collectors before joining,_ Ty thought. "I hate bugs." Ty said.

Garrus chuckled and walked out with Ty following behind him into the tech-lab where Mordin had an orange hologram of armor up, "Now I know mostly everyone wear's armor and has shields but I don't so how is this going to work?" Ty asked. "You have an omni-tool but not shields?" Shepard asked in a joking manor. "Shields are for pussies take a round like a man is what I've always said, seriously though how's this gonna work?" Ty asked. "Through your omni-tool we can make your cybernetic half invisible to the seekers." Mordin said. "And my human parts?" Ty asked. Mordin inhaled for a second then said "Injection."

It took a couple seconds for the word injection to register in Ty's head and when it finally did he dropped his head and said "Dammit." "You hate shots, bugs, and Blue Suns, do you like antique shops?" Garrus asked dryly. "Ha ha ha you're hilarious Garrus real mature." Ty said. "So you take rounds like a man but when shots get brought up yo-" Ty cut Shepard off and said "Don't even finish that." Shepard and Garrus were grinning at Ty's expense as Mordin walked away then came back with a shot that had a five inch needle on it and said "Left forearm please." Ty put his arm out and let Mordin give him the shot. It wasn't worse than any pain he had ever felt but he hated shots and he barely got them, the feeling of a sharp object penetrating his body just never sat well with him probably because of the feeling of knives stabbing his body when he lost control. After it was over Ty looked down at the hole in his arm that had medi-gel on it to seal the hole quicker, "I hope it gets through all my body right away otherwise you'll be carrying me in a stasis field." Ty said.

Mordin gave a light smile and said "May be good experiment." Shepard and Garrus suppressed laughs at Ty's look of are you screwing with me, "No." Ty said sternly. "You would not be able to argue." Mordin replied. "Yeah but I would be able to kick your ass after I got out of it." Ty said. Mordin brought his hand to his chin as he began talking to himself "Hmm, STG hand to hand skills are still good but he is known for being an expert in hand to hand…problematic." Ty smirked as Shepard said "Come on you two lets go save Horizon."

Ty and Garrus nodded then they all went down to the shuttle and got into it, they all sat in a comfortable silence as they waited for the Normandy to get above Horizon and for Joker to give them the all clear to fly down. After several minutes and a Mass Relay jump Ty was brought from his mental solitude by Jokers voice "Shepard we're in orbit above Horizon, good luck down there." Joker said. "Thanks Joker, we'll be back as soon as we're done kicking the Collectors asses." Shepard replied as the shuttle began to power up.

It didn't take much longer for the shuttle to power up and fly down to Horizon, "Well at least this thing fly's better than you would Shepard." Ty joked. "I'm not that bad!" Shepard replied defensively. "Grunts puke covering the Hammerhead says otherwise." Ty responded. "That wasn't my fault…completely…Garrus am I that bad?" Shepard asked. "I'm just going to stay out of this conversation." Garrus said. Shepard huffed a little in response but then the Kodiak landed and the doors opened letting everyone get out. As Ty looked up he saw the giant Collector ship for the first time, "Holy shit that's a one big ass ship man." Ty said.

Ty pulled out his Predator pistols and Garrus brought out his Vindicator assault rifle while Shepard equipped her Predator pistol and patched Mordin in, "These upgrades are going to make us invisible to the swarms right Mordin." "Certainty impossible but they should stop small groups from noticing you." "Should?" Garrus asked. "This field test will give me some results; look forward to seeing if you survive." Mordin said. "Seriously how did I end up the guinea pig for a Salarian's experiment?" Ty asked. "Well Shepard likes to do everything at least once. Take on a rogue spectre with an army of Geth at his finger tips to find out later that there is a bunch of giant sentient beings wanting to kill us all, sure why not, release the Rachni queen so they can try to repopulate, let's give them a chance." Garrus quipped. "Shhhhhhh we all swore secrecy." Shepard responded in a joking manor. "Oh right forgot, umm did I say Rachni I meant Vorcha." Garrus said.

Ty chuckled at the two as they got up the hill, he knew about the Rachni so he wasn't surprised by it. Garrus and Shepard made an interesting pair always bouncing jokes off one another, it reminded him of himself and Darian way back when they used to see each other everyday. Before Ty could reminisce on his own memories he saw, with his untrained eyes, a group of bugs came flying down, you have got to be kidding me. "Those are Collectors? Giant bugs are what we're trying to stop?" Ty asked as he took cover behind a pillar. Garrus took cover behind a low wall and Shepard took cover behind a pillar next to Ty, "Are you grossed out or offended?" Shepard asked as she shot a Collector in the head twice killing it. "Both." Ty said as he got out of cover and shot a Collector Assassin rapidly taking down its barrier than killing it. Garrus popped out of cover as Ty went back in and killed two Collectors with rapid shots then blew one off its feet with a concussive shot.

Ty got back out and shot two collectors killing them with multiple shots then Shepard hit the last two with a pull field and blasted them with two head shots. Ty kept his pistols out and looked around for more Collectors or anything else that might pop up as they left their cover and continued forward, "Bugs what the fuck, I was thinking of something more you know evil looking not something gross and disgusting that I squash with my foot." Ty said as they walked. "If you can squash a Collector with your foot Ty I'd be impressed since they are taking colonies of humans." Garrus said. "Which is why we are going to stop them. Come on lets find the rest of these things before they abduct the entire colony." Shepard said.

They walked a bit further but as they got near the prefab more Collectors popped up and this time they had new friends, they looked like grey and blue zombies to Ty but he didn't have time to ask what they were since they began to run at him. Thinking quickly Ty holstered his pistols and grabbed his tomahawks by their hilts and as the first got near him he pulled them out and slammed them into its face. More of what he began referring to in his mind as zombie things ran at him while Shepard and Garrus took out the Collectors, the first to reach Ty got a big kick in the chest knocking it onto the ground, as his foot came down a second came close to him and he shifted his weight as he swung his left tomahawk at it chopping its head clean off.

Ty threw his right tomahawk at a zombie that was running up about ten feet away nailing it square in the head then he pulled out his pistol and aimed at the zombie he had knocked down with two gunshots to the head. A Collector popped out of cover and as Ty aimed at it a blue orb hit it and it suddenly was a float, Ty began to retake aim but suddenly a strong force went flying by him and then suddenly collided with the Collector revealing Shepard coming out of a biotic charge and then pumping a round from her Katana shotgun into it. "Biotics are so cheaters!" Ty yelled to Shepard. "You are just jealous!" Shepard yelled back.

They had cleared the battlefield and Ty had retrieved his tomahawk that he threw while Shepard looked around finding credits and useful upgrades for her and the squad, Ty walked towards the exit where he found an already dead zombie thing. He kicked it over and knelt down next to it so he could examine it, he hadn't seen anything like this before and he had been on the Citadel during the attack but he had only saw Geth while he was fighting.

Shepard and Garrus joined him soon enough with Shepard joining him, "What the hell are these things?" Ty asked. "They're called Husks, the Geth would impale colonists on spikes and they'd turn into these things but these are different then the ones I fought before." Shepard answered. "They still die the same." Garrus said dryly. "I guess this proves that the Collectors are just agents of the Reapers since we haven't seen any spikes around." Ty said as he stood up. "Let's go save these colonists." Shepard said. "Right behind you Shepard." Garrus said.

They walked to the next area of the colony and Ty saw a bunch of pods lying around that looked kind of like cocoons but they were all empty or seemed empty. "Those are just creepy. I don't even want to imagine being stuck in one of those things at the mercy of these bugs." Ty said. As they got further up the hill more Collectors popped up and the squad all took cover where they could. "Garrus sniper fire, Ty with me." Shepard ordered. "Why don't I get to snipe?" Ty asked as he followed Shepard. "Some people can make it dance Ty." Garrus responded. "Hey Vakarian lets see you put your credits where your mouth is before I shoot them all." Ty retorted. "With pleasure." Garrus said.

Shepard and Ty took cover at a barrier connected to the prefab and Shepard looked to Ty as she said "I'll hit them with a pull then I want you to begin lighting them up." "Geez you Alliance types really know how to come up with complicated plans." Ty said sarcastically. Shepard smirked as she stood up and launched a pull field at the Collectors, Ty stood up with her and they both began lighting up the Collectors, Ty scored a head shot on the first Collector he saw floating helplessly, Garrus shot one of the floating Collectors and then Shepard began shooting at the grounded Collectors. With each volley of fire they took down more Collectors in the way and kept pushing forward until they ran into a colonist…or at least a frozen colonist. Ty walked around the colonist examining the poor guy who was stuck, "Trapped in a stasis field at the mercy of these bugs, that's a hard thing to go through and not easy to walk away sane from. This could have been Haley if not for the Blue Suns so I guess I have to thank them for being a bunch of assholes. This needs to end." Ty said. "We will stop them." Shepard said confidently. They moved forward and ran into more frozen colonists and found some extra credits, upgrades and even a collector weapon that Shepard decided she was going to use.

There was a bunker ahead with some Collectors trying to get through when Shepard, Garrus, and Ty got through some buildings but the Collectors soon stopped trying to hack a door and started shooting at Ty, Shepard and Garrus. Ty thought it was going to be a walk in the park like the last group was until one of them started transforming, it began glowing with fire until it let off a blast and then it had glowing eyes and started sending a weird looking force ball at all three of them. "I am the Harbinger of your perfection." The Collector said. "Well they just got an upgrade." Ty said as he hid in cover as the force ball went flying over his head. "Thank you for that insight we couldn't tell." Shepard joked. "Hey I'm just saying." Ty said. "And I thought Geth primes were a pain in the ass this brings a whole new level to the ugly pain in the ass scale." Garrus said as he took cover after unloading a clip into the controlled Collector.

Ty shot three of the regular Collectors killing all three then put his right pistol away and grabbed his tomahawk and yelled "Catch this bitch." He launched it across the field into the head of the controlled Collector. It started to rise then it said "We will continue the experiments." It disappeared and Ty's tomahawk fell to the ground. Ty got out of cover and shot the remaining Collector in the shoulder and then Shepard shot it in the head killing it and making it fall to the ground with a thud. Ty looked at the spot where the controlled Collector was and said "Okay that was weird." "I'd hate to see what you consider normal." Garrus said dryly.

Shepard put her gun away and walked with Garrus towards the door the Collectors were trying to get into as Ty walked over to grab his tomahawk off the ground. He made sure it was still in good condition since the Collector had disintegrated but nothing was wrong with it so he put it away and caught up to Shepard and Garrus who were hacking through the bunker door. Shepard was pressing buttons on her omni-tool trying to hack the door so Ty decided that since he had a program that would hack it in seconds he would use it, "Need help?" Ty asked. Before Shepard could answer Ty popped up his omni-tool and aimed it at the door then pressed the button for his hacking program which made the door fly open. "Show off." Shepard said. Ty shrugged and said "Maybe but remember I may have been in a merc band but I also was a thief to and a damn good one, come on lets go."

They walked down the ramp and Ty sensed someone in the room, his senses had never lied before but apparently Shepard sensed it to "We've got company." Shepard said. All three pulled out their guns and aimed them at the other end of the room; Ty waited for whatever to come out and had his finger ready on the trigger. There was a little bit of movement then Ty saw a human head pop out with a hat on so he relaxed a little and put his pistols away, "You- your humans. How did you escape the swarms?" _Probably not a good time to throw any comments in,_ Ty thought.

Ty stood and listened to the conversation and wanted to slap the guy for being disrespectful, people like this guy made Ty question why he was protecting innocent people when a lot of them were a bunch of ungrateful assholes but he kept his mouth shut and waited as Shepard asked questions about the colonies defense system. They were GARDIAN turrets the Alliance gave them but the targeting wasn't working, Ty knew it would take his hacking tech a while to fix that but he also knew an A.I. that could hack anything. "We can get it working just point us in that direction." Ty said. The guy unlocked the door and Shepard said "You should stay here and lock yourself in." "That's exactly what I was thinking." The man said. _Fucking pansy_, Ty thought.

Shepard grabbed some extra medi-gel and upgrades then all three walked out the other side, after the door closed behind him Ty said "What a fucking opinionated asshole this is why I live in a space station with just my family. If it wasn't for the fact I don't kill innocents I would shove the spiked end of my tomahawk down his fucking throat." "Good thing he didn't know you were in the Alliance Shepard." Garrus said. "Yea I'm sure he'd have loved me." Shepard said as they walked up the hill.

They rounded the corner where there was an upper floor of prefabs and a lower floor of prefabs but what got Ty's attention was the Collectors flying in and the big version of the Husk launching a shockwave at him and the others, Shepard and Garrus hadn't noticed the big guys launch the shockwave and Ty did what he thought was smart, "Move!" Ty yelled as he pushed Garrus and Shepard forward. The shockwave knocked Ty's footing off and he fell and rolled across the ground and had a severe amount of pain in his chest. "Assuming direct control." Harbinger said. He was beginning to think his idea wasn't that smart since he didn't have shields as he looked up and saw the Collector have a yellow glow explode off of it then it turned into the same thing they had versed before. The pain in Ty's chest was nearly as bad as when he had gotten impaled to the point that he was grabbing the right side of his chest with his right hand. Fuck me, I gotta keep moving and get to cover, Ty thought. He forced himself to stand up as he drew his pistol in his left hand and began shooting and running to the same cover as Shepard.

Ty got to the low wall and collapsed into it slamming his back against it which hurt but was worth the pain so he could get behind cover, "These assholes just keep getting upgrades don't they." Ty said as he held the cybernetic side of his chest. "Yea it seems that way." Shepard said as she looked down to him. She saw the pain etched in his face under his hood as he grabbed at his chest, "Are you okay?" Shepard asked concern clear in her tone. "Yea just want to kill these bastards more. New problems mean new strategies right? I got a solution you two wanna give me some cover from the big guy while I take out the glowy asshole and his buddies?" Ty asked. "How do you plan on doing that without getting shot?" Garrus asked. "You'll see, ready?" Ty asked. "After you." Garrus said. Ty hit his cloak and pulled out his tomahawk with his right hand to compliment his pistol as he ran up to the first Collector, Ty hit it square in the head with his tomahawk killing it instantly then he spun around its left side as he tore his tomahawk out of its head and shot two shots into the head of the next Collector Assassin before his cloak came off.

As the cloak came off he threw his tomahawk into the Collector standing between him and the controlled Collector, Ty passed his pistol to his other hand as he ran at the last controlled Collector and pulled his other tomahawk out. "I am the Harbinger of your ascendance." Harbinger said. "And you talk to much shit." Ty replied back. "Says the merc with a mouth." Garrus retorted over the comm.

The Collector sent a bigger force ball then the other one was throwing before but it was slower and it gave Ty enough time to get to the low wall and use it as a spring board to jump the force ball. As he pushed off the wall Ty front flipped in the air which helped him propel himself directly in front of the Collector. Ty landed and sliced his tomahawk across the Collectors chest then he brought back across and spun so his back was facing it and crossed his arms with his pistol under his arm then he shot three times nailing it in the chest and killing it. "You have failed." Harbinger said as he died.

Ty looked to see the progress Shepard and Garrus had and saw that they had taken down the Scion and were taking out the remaining Collectors that weren't in Ty's war path as he finished off the controlled Collector. Ty found his tomahawk and caught up to Shepard and Garrus who were moving through the buildings checking for colonists which Ty had noticed a lack of, when he met Shepard and Garrus at the main door he decided to see if they noticed it as well, "I haven't seen any frozen colonist for a while now what about you two?" Ty asked. "No we haven't either; the Collectors must have the rest of the colonist on their ship." Shepard said. "Then let's go get them and destroy the Collectors ship." Ty said.

Shepard opened the door and Ty saw the new field of battle, the GARDIAN control panel was in the center with a bunch of tires and flatbeds scattered across the whole field and a small balcony on the left side but along with husks waiting for them. "Garrus use that balcony to snipe, Ty go with him but stop at that truck and make sure no one gets to him." Shepard ordered. "Will do." Ty said. Ty followed Garrus taking out two husks along the way until he got to the truck and took cover like Shepard asked. Garrus got to his small perch and started sniping as Shepard and Ty covered and killed husks from their positions. They seemed unrelenting until Shepard came out of a biotic charge and blasted the last three Husks with her Katana. Ty had taken out fifteen with Garrus "stealing" at least eight of his kills when the initial dust settled and they regrouped.

As Ty began looking at the GARDIAN system he noticed how screwed up it all was while Shepard patched EDI into the system and said, "EDI take control of these turrets." "Shepard it will take time for me to get them active." EDI said. Ty looked back at Shepard and said "It might go faster if I help her Shep, I might be able to fix a lot of the basic stuff quickly since they left it a mess." Shepard nodded and said "Alright do your best, anything else you can tell us EDI?" Shepard asked. "Ready your weapons reinforcements have arrived." EDI said.

Ty popped his omni-tool up and started hacking the control panel with EDI as Shepard and Garrus covered him, the colonist that had been working on it had left the circuits at the panel completely screwed up making it extremely difficult on Ty's side which EDI decided to comment on, "Your hacking skills are impressive for a human but circuits easily slow you down." EDI said. "Well blame whoever used this last they screwed it all up." Ty said as he blasted through more circuits speeding up EDIs time. "Sounds like an excuse." Joker piped in. "Oh don't you jump in on this Joker or I'll reverse the Normandy's controls so up is down and left is right." Ty said. "Bickering with Mr. Moreau is not helping you speed this up Ty." EDI said.

She was right unfortunately so Ty focused back on hacking through getting EDI to eighty percent when two Scions showed up, Ty didn't know until another shockwave hit him sending excruciating pain through his cybernetics along with regular pain in his human side, Ty attempted to grunt in pain but couldn't get any sound to pop out as his hearing disappeared and his eyes turned purple, his vision suddenly flooded with the memory of the Omega incident when they shot his friend. Ty didn't pay attention to the memory as he fought to get his regular vision back, everything faded to black but then he saw the Collector ship from the ground near the console. "…y…Ty…Ty are you alright, we thought you died you just completely disappeared off my scanners." Joker said. Ty sat up and grabbed at his head due to the rocking headache that was coming on, "Yea I think I'm good." Ty said.

How he ended up on the ground was a mystery to him though he assumed he probably had blacked out and fell over since it was about the only logical thing he could actually think of at the moment. He got himself up and checked his omni-tool which read, 100% hack complete. "Mr. Rhoddy I need you to give me control of the guns." EDI said. Ty hit buttons on his omni-tool and gave the guns to EDI who started shooting the Collector ship. "TY MOVE!" Shepard yelled. Ty looked behind him and saw a new creature that was floating and look liked a machine, _Fuck me,_ "Really." Ty said in a shocked tone.

Ty pulled his pistols out and started running for cover, he got to a low wall but the thing kept following him like it was hell bent on just trying to kill him like he had wronged the Collectors in someway other than fighting them in this battle. Ty stood up to start shooting but his hearing disappeared again and his eyes turned completely purple, _"Guys get off the fucking ship now!" Ty yelled into his comm. More missiles impacted into the ship as he heard the screams of his crew he fell to his hands and knees, Carson's voice came over his comm as the ship began to battle against gravity as he told Ty what he found, his voice was cut off by the sound of the ship crashing. Ty felt hot tears burning down his cheeks; they were all dead except for Darian who was still trying to reach someone over his comm. _

The memory faded and Ty's eyesight and hearing came back and once again he was on his back with his pistols still in his hands as hot tears ran down his face. Ty wiped them away as best he could not wanting to remember the pain of that day, he didn't want to hear their screams anymore while he stood helpless with his comm not transmitting to them only receiving their voices. He should have listened to Darian and made the Thresher nest their last fight but he didn't and now they were all dead. The Collector ship began lifting off as Ty sat up, another failure to save innocent people added to the constantly growing list. He was lucky he wasn't dead with the blackouts or maybe he'd have been lucky to have perished with his friends and not have the memories. Another tear found its way out of Ty's eye making him wipe it away again, he forced the feeling of pain and guilt down as Jokers voice came through his comm "Ty what the hell is going on down there you just dropped off my scanners again like you died." Joker said. "Ty its Miranda, what's happening down there?" Miranda asked. Ty put his hand up to block the incoming debris from hitting his face as the Collector ship began to lift off, Ty didn't know what was going on but he had an assumption, "Miranda I think something went wrong with the cybernetic implants." "Shit." Miranda said.

**A/N: Dun dun dun. Cliffhanger type things don't you hate those? I just left you there without finishing up all of Horizon and leaving you with Ty having new issues and Miranda actually worried about it. Well there is always next chapter…Or is there? Anyway I have a few things to talk about first off being that I noticed while editing this chapter that I put the wrong system for Project Firewalker in the last chapter because Shepard had already gained the M-44 Hammerhead while Ty was unconscious after Omega so I went back and edited that out and put in the actual one she would have been able to do, which is like three but as you read in this chapter she knocks out two of them leaving the final one before she gets the actual final one where you get that orb of expansion. So for those who read it before I fixed it don't worry about it you get the correct system in this chapter. **

**Secondly I'd like to respond to MasterK11ers review in here because I don't know if everyone will see my answer if I just click reply to review but either way here you go. Firstly MasterK11er I'd like to thank you, truly it means a lot to me that you are getting enjoyment out of my story. I have had a blast writing it and the characters of the Mass Effect Universe have become like my second family, a virtual family that I can actually sort of interact with through the games and through this story. I know, I'm a huge nerd but I enjoy it. So thank you MasterK11er for the review and enjoying my story and thank you to all eight of the followers I have and all the other silent readers that read this and gave me my 1,056 views that I never thought I'd get. As for the second half of your review and to all of those reading who have concern about me not continuing this or finishing it, have no fear my friends this adventure is far from over and I won't stop no matter what, well unless like something really bad happens that makes me incapable of typing then I guess I would have to get a voice software thing but no matter what I promise I will finish this story and its sequel. Thank you all, if you have any questions about anything regarding the goings of this story please feel free to ask, I will answer the best I can and if you just want to pop in and say hey that's fine as well. I will see you next time.**


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Tearing Open Old Wounds

**A/N/Disclaimer: I don't own the Mass Effect Universe, Bioware/E/A does, I only stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not from the actual Mass Effect Universe. I apologize now to all the Kaiden fans for this beginning scene, I personally like Kaiden but I had to make him and Ty buck heads or whatever the saying is. **

As the Collector ship lifted off completely Ty began to get up himself off the ground, they saved part of the colony but the rest had been taken away on that ship to have god knows what done to them. As Ty got on both feet he began to feel the pain in his body from whatever had been going wrong. Ever since he got hit by the Scions shockwave he had felt extreme pain in the right side of his chest and he had begun blacking out in the middle of battle. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him but his cybernetics felt like they were on fire, as he began walking to Shepard and Garrus with his right hand clenching his chest he activated his comm to respond to Miranda who had given him a statement that he really didn't want to hear from the person who had repaired him, "I take it by you saying shit there was a possibility." Ty said.

Ty could hear the shuffling of data-pads and Miranda's heels clicking on the ground in his comm as he waited for her to respond, she finally let out a sigh and said "Your condition before the incident made putting cybernetics in dangerous, mix that with them probably not being fully augmented to your nervous system and you probably have the reason for why you are dropping off the charts." "What the hell is my "condition"?" Ty asked. Miranda let a forced chuckled out as she said "Besides being annoyingly sarcastic and useful at the same time, your ability to access memories in other people and the world around you is your condition. When I put the cybernetics in I had to map it to your nervous system and that was very difficult, I'm not even sure if I mapped it all correctly I'm still trying to work out a diagram of it because of how complex it is." Miranda said. "How complex are we talking?" Ty asked. "Imagine trying to map the relay networks without knowing anything about them." Miranda stated. "…Wow…I think you're trying to hit on me." Ty said. "In your dreams. I won't know for sure until you get back but I think you're because your nervous system is so complex your brain isn't used to having the cybernetics apart of it so any hit you take would be ten times worse than usual and that would render you unconscious." Miranda said.

It sounded like she was onto something as Ty got closer to Shepard and Garrus who were talking to that engineer but if his cybernetics were causing these problems he couldn't help but wonder about Shepard and her cybernetics, "What about Shepard and her cybernetics is it the same with her?" "I had two years to work on her to make sure that didn't happen, with you I had very limited supplies and your body hasn't had a long time to readjust to the cybernetics." Miranda said in a disappointed voice at herself.

Ty thought about making a joke about how she also had limited motivation because of who he was but the disappointment in her tone stopped him, "But Jack punched me in the arm pretty hard and when you did the tests it barely fazed me, I still could feel both but the sense of touch is slightly toned down compared to it used to be." Ty said. "That is a side effect of it not being augmented to you completely; if I can fix this problem then I think your sense of touch will come back to normal, unless you don't want it to." "I don't mind it if I can get rid of this headache and black out problem since I can ignore most pain on that side now." Ty answered. "You may want to look into the cybernetic skin weaves Shepard is finding they may improve that ability, what did you get hit by?" Miranda asked. "A shockwave by some weird new guys that you'll need EDI or someone to give me a name of so I can stop calling them weird guys." "I have classified them as Scions." EDI answered in his comm.

She was quick on that but she did process information faster than Ty or any organic being could so Ty couldn't be fully surprised, "Okay so the Collectors have this new guy called a Scion that used something similar to a biotic shockwave and it hit me, mind you I don't have shields so it hit me directly with nothing to cushion it or move the pain anywhere else so it hurt like hell, probably worse than that." Ty explained. "Shepard I know that name, some type of big alliance hero right." The engineer said. _Oh I am so not standing for this fuckers disrespect again_ "Gotta go Miranda I'll meet you back on board." Ty said. "Wait Ty-" Ty disconnected the comm.

Ty got next to Shepard and said "Sorry about that." Shepard looked at him and said in a tone Ty knew wasn't good "We'll talk back on the ship." _That doesn't sound like a good talk, well can't blame her I did blackout twice and probably almost got killed though they already thought I was,_ Ty thought. Ty nodded at her and was about to say it was fine when another guy came out and started listing off some of Shepard's accolades, Ty didn't need a description of Kaiden Alenko to know that this guy was him. His armor and the short black hair and five o'clock shadow gave him the Alliance soldier look, he almost looked partially glad to see Shepard.

As Ty listened to the engineer Delan dismiss himself black dots began to swarm Ty's vision again and his head began to explode with pain again, "Ty your stats are dropping rapidly ag…y can you hear me?" Joker asked. Ty reached his hand up to his head, unbeknownst to him his eyes started going completely purple then back to normal rapidly but for him he would momentarily see a glimpse of a random past memory of his and then it would fade then another would come into his vision before disappearing.

It was becoming nauseating and Ty began to feel dizzy but Garrus apparently noticed and gave Ty a good slap to the back of the head, the dizziness and nausea left as his vision returned to normal, Ty shook his head slightly and looked at Garrus as he said, "Thanks I needed that." Garrus's mandibles helped give him a smirk as he said "Anytime." "Maybe or maybe its you, maybe you just feel in debt to Cerberus that it's clouding your judgment I mean what if they're behind this all." Kaiden said. Ty hated Cerberus but he wasn't blinded by his emotions, the Collectors were real and they were taking colonist and, unfortunately, Cerberus was the only ones doing anything about it. "Whoa whoa whoa hold on don't tell me you actually believe the bullshit coming out of your mouth, we all just saw the Collectors take this colony, I hate Cerberus but they aren't actually behind this." Ty said.

Kaiden looked at him with a disgusted look; he looked so disgusted that Ty actually began to think he might have something on his face. "Um Garrus do I have something on my face?" Ty asked seriously as he looked at Garrus. "Yeah you do there's this mark…oh wait sorry it's just your face, never mind your clean." Garrus said with a toothy grin. Ty couldn't help the smirk that came to his face, "You win this round Vakarian." Ty said. Kaiden shook his head as he looked at Shepard and said "How can you have that man in your squad Shepard, he's a merciless bastard who doesn't care about anyone but himself, he's almost as bad as Saren was. What did Cerberus do to you?" Kaiden asked.

Ty's patience for disrespect was at an all time low at the moment and hearing this man not only berate Shepard for actually doing something to stop the Collectors and Reapers but also compare him to Saren, the man who was going to bring about their imminent destruction if it hadn't been for Shepard and her squad, his mouth began going as he began taking steps forward "You want to see how fucking merciless I can be asshole come on let me show you." Garrus grabbed Ty by his arm but Ty pulled it away, as he took another step though he was stopped cold by Shepard's hard stare, "Take a walk Ty." Shepard said in an agitated tone. Ty shook his head and turned around as he said "Fine whatever don't want to waste my energy on someone asshole who doesn't know a god damn thing about me. All of the Alliance is just as bad as Cerberus; they both steal fucking childhoods and hide behind back room political bull-" Ty was more than ten steps away when he heard Shepard's raised voice "Enough Ty!" Shepard's tone was beyond agitation to the point of really pissed off.

Ty just continued walking until he found himself by a flatbed truck which he decided to make his seat, _who the hell does that asshole think he is,_ Ty thought. _What fucking ever fuck him and fuck the Alliance at least I don't have my head shoved so far up the political wheels ass that I ignore what's right in front of my face. _Ty opened his omni-tool and checked for anything new from Aria or his family. There was nothing, no new news, no new messages and it made Ty start feeling even worse about Haley's situation, _How many days have they had her…god damn it Haley I'm so fucking sorry,_ Ty thought_, if it wasn't for my ignorance you wouldn't be kidnapped right now, if I had just listened to my crew eight years ago none of this would have happened, if I had just killed them all first instead of taking down their organization this would have been over years ago. _

Ty looked back at Shepard and Garrus and saw Kaiden walking away, _fucking prick they were in love two years ago and then she comes back and he just accuses her and leaves her there like she meant nothing to him_, Ty thought, _two years thinking someone is dead is hard but she's alive now and that's what matters. I'd give anything to have…_Ty stopped the thoughts of her from forming, _Hopefully he realizes what he's walking away from before its to late because he'll regret it the rest of his life if he doesn't_.

Shepard had called the shuttle apparently since it came flying down and landed right next to Ty, the doors opened and Ty hopped in and sat down holding his right side since it was still in pain. Garrus got in next and sat in front of Ty giving Ty a small nod, Ty looked out the door to see Shepard get in. She got in slower than usual with a slouched posture compared to her usual straight back, she looked completely drained emotionally and like she had a huge weight pressed down on her shoulders though Ty understood why she was like that.

She sat down right next to the door away from everyone, her slouched posture turned into her bending forward as she brought her face to her hands to cover only taking them away to look outside once in a while. Ty looked at Garrus and nodded in Shepard's direction but Garrus shook his head and gave Ty a look that read keep your mouth shut. Ty nodded and tried to relax his right side as they flew back to the Normandy hoping Miranda had come up with some way to make the blacking out stop since Ty knew that when they were fighting he was lucky the things didn't realize he wasn't actually dead and take advantage of it and if it happened during something where him passing out would get everyone killed and him then it needed to be fixed now.

The shuttle got picked up by the Normandy and after they landed and got out they all went in the elevator in silence, Ty and Garrus got off at the crew quarters but Shepard stayed in as Ty walked to the med-bay with Garrus. Ty had always been fine with silence but the deafening silence of the elevator ride and shuttle ride had actual made him feel slightly uncomfortable, which was not an easy feat since he had a tendency not to feel awkward or uncomfortable even in the most awkward and uncomfortable situations. As they got closer to the Med-Bay he saw Miranda through the window waiting for him in there working on a machine, nice to see her hard at work already, wonder how she's dealing with me hanging up on her, Ty thought as Garrus and him both walked in. Garrus stopped at the door and made Ty stop as well and made him turn to look at him, "Get the treatments you need and just give Shepard some space right now. Kaiden really didn't like her working with you." Ty nodded and said "So she might be pissed at me for my comments, I figured. I don't know what his deal was but you'd think he would have been ecstatic to see her. Anyway I gotta deal with this now." Garrus nodded and said "When your done getting fixed up come see me so we can talk."

Ty nodded and slapped Garrus in the shoulder before turning around and walking towards the bed Miranda was working near. Ty sat down on the bed and before he could make a comment Miranda said "Before you ask no I haven't figured anything out but me and Doctor Chakwas are working on it." "Anything that I can do to help?" Mordin asked as he walked in. "Well three heads are better than two I guess but don't even think about trying to put me in a stasis field or something." Ty said. Mordin smiled slightly as he pulled up his omni-tool and scanned Ty, a miniature version of Ty's nervous system popped up but it changed between four colors starting with red then going to blue, then yellow then green, "Hmm…this could be problematic." Mordin said. "What?" Ty asked. "I told you your nervous system wasn't like anything I've ever seen before." Miranda said. "Must run tests on this later, for now though know that your nervous system seems to be combined with three other sets of nervous systems giving you four. This is more than just a rare condition, looks like experiment."

That confused Ty but before he could ask a red dot popped up at his right chest and then another on his head, red dots usually signified something bad so Ty began to worry as he asked "Why is there a red dot on my head?" "The dots signify the areas of damage." Mordin answered. "So I have brain damage?" Ty asked suddenly even more worried. "Nothing that wasn't there already." Mordin answered slyly. "You're an asshole." Ty responded. "What if you…" Chakwas stood up and went to the console on his bed and pulled up another diagram of his insides_, Maybe she's having a break through,_ Ty thought. "What if you what Chakwas?" Ty asked.

Chakwas ignored him and started hammering away on the console leaving Ty clueless and Miranda and Mordin starting to understand what she was talking about, with what little she said. Chakwas attached a few mechanisms to his right arm and peck and then attached them into a machine "Don't move around to much." Chakwas said. "Ah genius that's the perfect treatment." Mordin said. "Okay what the hell are you three talking about, I don't like that look in your eyes Mordin." Ty said as he noticed the slight mischief behind Mordin's eyes. "Its better off you don't know what we are doing." Miranda said. That didn't sound good for his health, "What's that supposed to mean?" Ty asked. "That means its better off if you don't know, trust us Chakwas has the right idea." Miranda said.

Chakwas and Miranda began preparing a bunch of stuff as Ty was left to sit still while they prepared whatever it was; as he sat there he felt a sudden small jolt. He wasn't sure if it was just his mind playing tricks on him at first but then another stronger jolt surged through him which was followed by three more. The dots began to disappear until they were gone but even after the dots were gone they jolted him five more times, Ty couldn't stand the jolts anymore so he ripped the mechanisms off of his chest and said "Okay what the hell is going on are you defibbing me or something?" "Very inaccurate." Mordin said.

_No shit it was inaccurate but I don't know the medical terminology for this type of stuff, _Ty thought, "Then what I'm tired of being zapped without knowing why." Ty said. Chakwas tapped away at the console and said "We sped up the augmentation of your cybernetics by fusing them further into your nervous system with artificial electricity." Ty really wasn't sure what that meant, he slightly understood what fusing them to his nervous system meant but he still wasn't sure fully of what the process was or what it fully did, "You what?" Ty asked. "We fixed the problem." Miranda responded. _That was simple enough_, "Are we sure this time?" Ty asked. "Yes." Miranda said confidently. "Then why didn't we do this before?" Ty asked. "We didn't think your cybernetics needed to be fused so far you're your nervous system because we were looking for functionality not another Project Lazarus." Miranda answered. Ty raised an eyebrow in response to which Miranda sighed in slight annoyance to his lack of knowledge and said "There wasn't an issue we knew of yet." "Touché Miranda touché." Ty said.

Mordin left and Ty got off the bed and said "I'm going to put my guns back then talk to Garrus is that alright?" Chakwas nodded and Miranda said "Yea, by the way Jack wanted to talk to you when you had time." Ty gave her a shocked look and asked "She told you?" "Did you seriously just ask that, no she told EDI and EDI told me to tell you?" Miranda said. "Alright I'll talk to her when I'm done with Garrus, see you two later oh and thanks for the shock treatments." Ty said as he walked out.

Ty walked back to his room and put his guns and tomahawks on his table then walked back out and made his way to the Main Battery. Ty hit the green hologram which opened the door revealing Garrus on his terminal working away at something. "Hey Garrus what you doing?" Ty asked. "I just finished some calibrations on these guns." Garrus answered as he turned around. "Sounds like a lot of fun…you wanted to talk right?" Ty asked. Garrus nodded and said "Yea I did, how did the treatments go?" Ty saw a little bench on his right so he made his way over to it as he said "They zapped me a few times and said I was fixed for good so I guess it went well, they called it "fusing the cybernetics further into my nervous system" though it just felt like they were shocking me for shits and giggles."

Garrus chuckled slightly as Ty leaned forward, he had wondered while he was being shocked about Shepard, he felt bad that Kaiden had chewed her out and that he couldn't keep a lid on his mouth but he mostly felt bad for how everything went down between her and Kaiden. "You seen Shepard since we got back?" Ty asked. Garrus shook his head and said "No she'll probably be to herself for a while, Kaiden really laid into her about this mission and housing a fugitive criminal." Ty chuckled and said "But he was fine with a Krogan mercenary right."

Garrus's look changed to being surprised and asked "You know Wrex?" "We met once but it wasn't a long meeting…plus my time on the Cerberus facility hunting for data on the old squad gave me a good read at night." Ty said. "Why were you reading about the old squad?" Garrus asked. "The Shadow Broker and the Illusive man are evil guys but they got one thing right, information is power. I figured if I could find some of the old squad I could give them information on Shepard's survival and get them ready but the proof on Shepard's survival was booby trapped and they caught me which is when I met Miranda and Jacob." Ty said. "How'd you plan on finding us?" Garrus asked.

Ty kind of smirked, he hadn't really thought about that. He was so focused on getting the information that he didn't even think about how to distribute it, not that it mattered now she was up and about and he was on her squad. "Didn't get that far ahead in my planning but I know how to find people and places that no one knows about. Tali would've been the first I went after since we have history and then after her would've been you, I could've found you easily because you disappeared off the map and Archangel popped up on Omega fighting against corruption and other shit that went on. From you I would've thought about Wrex but he was on Tuchanka and he wasn't going anywhere soon so I probably wouldn't have wasted my time. Kaiden and Anderson I would've messaged anonymously the info and Liara would've been easy since she was on Illium at the time."

Garrus seemed surprised by Ty's knowledge of everything so Ty said "What I know how to find info comes in handy being a thief and having to hunt down people." Garrus nodded in a good point gesture and asked "How do you know Tali?" "We met seven years ago through a friend of mine that happened to look after Tali like a sister would." Ty said. Ty remembered Tali pulling a gun on him a few years back which made him chuckle slightly, "What?" Garrus asked. "A few years back I had snuck on board a ship that I didn't know was a Quarian ship because I was hiding from some Suns and I happened to fall asleep in the Cargo Hold. A curious Quarian found me and since I had my breather mask on and my hood up and all my tattoos covered up by a sweater needless to say I was perceived as a threat." Ty said. "Tali found you?" Garrus asked. "Ha more like smashed my face with a pistol…" Ty said.

Thirty Minutes Later

Garrus and Ty were both laughing as Ty tried finishing the story, Garrus thought it was pretty hilarious that Tali had conducted his interrogation and smacked him around with a pistol since Ty couldn't shut his mouth and didn't notice it as Tali because he hadn't seen her in a few years before it and didn't recognize her voice at first. "I keep it as a personal note now, "Tali has a shotgun don't piss her off" I tell you though Tali does not like people infiltrating her ship." Garrus laughed more and said "I'm sure you just relaxing on a Quarian vessel had nothing to do with her anger." Ty chuckled, Tali had all the reason to be angry for more than just him relaxing on her ship, he had cut off all contact with her because of what happened to their friend and that wasn't what friends do, you don't just cut off contact with a friend who cares about you. "If we get her to join us or if we run into her and have time to talk I'm sure she'd revisit that moment and tell it differently. I'm having fun talking but I gotta go talk to Jack before she comes up here and rips me in half, next time I'll listen and you can talk." "Alright Ty see you around." Garrus said.

Ty got up and walked to the elevator seeing Miranda talking to Jacob as they sat across from each other in the Mess Hall, both nodded at him as he walked by and he nodded back not wanting to interrupt their conversation about dealing with the remaining Firewalker missions. Ty chuckled slightly as he got into the elevator remembering why they had stopped and why he wasn't going to step foot in that vehicle until someone cleaned it, Krogan puke was not an attractive smell. The elevator brought Ty down to Engineering and let him get out so he could go down to Jacks hidey hole, Ty walked into the room that led down to Jacks domain and headed down the stairs.

She obviously didn't want a lot of company choosing to stay all the way down here but he couldn't blame her, after the small glimpse of her childhood he wouldn't question her not wanting to talk to anyone. As he got to the bottom he knocked on the wall closest to him and said "Knock knock Jack you down here?" He got further into the room and saw Jack sitting on a cot surrounded by data-pads so he walked over and said "I heard you wanted to talk." Jack turned her head with a smile and said "Bout time you fucker I thought I was going to have to come up there and drag you down here."

Ty chuckled, that he might have paid to see if it didn't involve getting hurt, just the thought of Jack dragging someone by their foot was a funny image. "Garrus wanted to talk to me and I ended up telling a story, so what's up Jack what you doin that you need me." "You in the mood to share something about yourself?" Jack asked. Ty shrugged, it wasn't the weirdest way he got to know someone sharing something about himself with her might actually result in them becoming friends. "Sure but it depends on the something." "What made you such a vengeful guy, I mean I know the Suns killed all your friends but is that all that sent you over the edge or was there more?" Jack asked. "That's what you want to know, not anything about why I use tomahawks or how I can see past memories?" Ty asked with a smirk. "That's boring shit and something I probably won't understand fully since I don't think you even understand it. You know why I hate Cerberus and why I'm this way, I'm curious to see if there is anything more to your vengefulness." Jack answered.

She was right that there was one more thing that happened but that would be a really hard conversation to have. "They weren't just my friends, they were like another family to me and they died because I didn't take their advice and leave the Blue Suns while I still could, I had to take the last contract because I thought it was going to be an easy pick up and delivery mission. After they died I felt like my heart had been torn from me and crushed. After that I tried to pick up the pieces when the Suns destroyed the last bits of it." Ty said but stopped himself short of finishing. "What did they do?" Jack asked.

Ty shook his head, he didn't even know where to begin, hell he hadn't talked about this to anyone the only person who knew aside from his family, Darian, a few old friends who he had lost contact with this past year and Aria and Grizz was Haley and he didn't even explain it to her he had just let her into his mind so she could see the memory. "It's hard for me to explain…Haley is the only person who knows about it that wasn't around during that time and even then I couldn't talk about it I had to show her it." Jack looked at him with a contemplative look on her face until she stood up and said "Then show me."

_This is bad, I shouldn't have even began talking about this but I did and now I have to make sure this doesn't go any farther, _Ty took a step back and said "Jack why do you want to know it's not like you care I mean you said it yourself when we met that you didn't care." "Is curiosity hard to believe?" Jack asked. "From you, yea." Ty said with a smirk forming. Jack punched his left arm and said "You're a dick." "And you're an all powerful bitch." Ty said.

Jack took a step closer to him and said "Come on what's the worse that'll happen." "Those are the famous last words of many people and I'm one of them, a lot of bad shit can happen and it can always get worse." Ty said as he walked towards the back of the room. Those memories had a strong effect on Ty, seeing those four assholes with the hostage on the ground was his second tragedy but in no way was second in position of how bad it hurt, it was tied with losing his friends and on some days it was worse. "I've seen a lot of shit Ty and I know how bad shit scars you." Jack said turning Ty around. "This is my own personal hell that I made the mistake of imparting on Haley; I don't want to make that mistake again." Ty said. "Oh stop being such a pussy and show me." Jack said. It didn't take much effort to focus on the memory and as soon as he did his eyes turned purple and gently grabbed Jacks arms.

The memory consumed their vision but instead of how he had seen Jack's memory his flashed like still images showing everything he saw when his crew was killed and then the Omega incident but they would later form into the actual memories for Jack, Ty didn't want to stand on the sidelines watching his friends die right now. He had watched it to many times over the years. The last of his memories passed over to Jack and Ty let go of her breaking the connection and returning his eyes to normal as he stumbled to the ground from exhaustion. As he was blacking out Jack came into view and said "Shit Ty what the fuck was all that." "I told you…my own hell." Ty mumbled. "Fuck Ty you're a dic...shit your…out again." Jack said.

Forty Minutes Later

While blacked out Ty had seen and heard nothing which was a first in a long time but as he came back he heard distant voices, "The fucker will be back up and going soon Shepard no need to worry about it." Jack said. "Explain to me again what happened so I understand this correctly Jack." Shepard said. "I wanted to talk to him about something in his past and he said the only way I'd understand is if he showed me but he was being a pussy about it and walked away to where he is now so I turned him around and told him to show me and he did and a minute later he let go and fell to the ground then passed out like the ass said he does, its not that big of a deal." Jack said. "He passed out twice today while we were fighting and almost got killed the last thing he needed to do is join minds or whatever he wants to call it." Shepard said.

Ty blinked quickly and shook his head as his vision came back and he started getting his bearings, he sat up slightly saw Shepard with her back turned to him talking to Jack, _Fuck me she's going to be pissed,_ Ty thought. Ty pushed himself up and walked a little towards Shepard and Jack and asked "How long I been out?" Shepard turned around and Jack looked around her and said "Told you the fucker would be up soon, you've been out forty minutes or something close to it. You feelin alright dick?" Ty smirked and said "Yea bitch I'm fine light headed is all, you get the answer you were looking for?" Jack smirked and said "It's all a bit jumbled thanks to how you showed me but I'm still piecing everything together, it becomes clearer each time I think about it and I can feel the emotions that you had."

Shepard just stared at Ty which began to feel like she was boring a hole into his face until she finally said "What the hell happened today you just toppled over like they killed you." Ty rubbed the back of his head and said "You'd have to ask Chakwas and Miranda for the reason I don't know something to do with my cybernetics and my brain not being used to them." Shepard raised her eyebrows and Ty read it as her asking him if he was serious so he said "Like I said ask Chakwas or Miranda all I know is that I got hit by those weird big things twice first time it just hurt like hell the second time it made me collapse and see my past then the last time I collapsed I just blacked out and saw my past again. Chakwas said I'll be fine now since they zapped the problem out of me." "Zapped?" Shepard asked. Ty shrugged and said "Well they called it "fusing my cybernetics further into my nervous system" but I prefer zapped since that's what it felt like."

Shepard seemed like she was pissed still so Ty decided that he was going to "take a walk" after he dismissed himself "I've had fun passing out and joining minds but if I'm done being needed I'll head out." "What did you let Jack see?" Shepard asked. Ty sensed the loaded question, what it could be he wasn't sure but he was going to dodge the question the best he could, "Shep honestly that's between me and Jack now, I don't like my past being spread around not that I think you or Jack would go talking behind my back, you'll know if I ever show you or tell you." Ty answered Shepard seemed a bit agitated at his response but Jack said "Well that was nicer than what I was going to say I would've said-" That wasn't going to make it any better so Ty interrupted Jack "I think we know what you would say Jack, anywho can I go." "Yea go ahead." Shepard said.

Ty walked up the stairs to the elevator and hit the button and waited for it to come down as he did he started hearing thumps coming towards him from his right, _please don't be a pissed off Krogan please don't be a pissed off Krogan,_ Ty thought not making eye contact with the mysterious thumping noise. The thumps stopped and a shadow came over him, _oh please don't be a pissed off Krogan,_ Ty looked up at Grunt and saw his massive form which looked a lot bigger now that he was out of the tank, "Damn you're bigger than I remember." Ty said. "Do I know you human?" Grunt asked. "Depends on how much gossip you hear and if you could see while in the tank, I'm Tyler Rhoddy Alliance fugitive, master thief and vengeful asshole if you ask Jack." Ty said taking his hood off.

Grunt looked Ty up and down then asked "You like to fight human?" Ty smirked, that was a simple answer but he hoped he wasn't going to have to fight this Krogan. They never appreciated the quad kick. "I'm bred to fight and kill it's in my blood, not as much as yours but that's all I know is fighting and surviving." "What's the biggest thing you've killed?" Grunt asked. Ty had to think on that one, he had run into a lot in his short time, it hit him like a train, the second to last contract he did for the Suns, "A thresher maw." Ty said. "Haha you killed a thresher maw, you're funny human." Grunt said. "I'm serious, didn't say I was on my own it was six of us, me and five of my guys. We were contracted to take down this maw because its nest was in mineral rich area, almost lost all of them that day but luckily one of them was a Krogan as big as you and had a huge shotgun that blew its face apart as it tried to eat him." "What happened to your Krannt?" Grunt asked.

The Krogan that was part of his squad used the same word when he talked about their group so Ty knew it meant something close to being a squad but he bet the word was deeper than that to Krogans, "All died except two of us, the other that survived was a Turian and my lieutenant he kept everyone in line but after the Blue Suns blew up my ship that had the other eight on it he went straight and bartends at the Citadel now. They counted on me and I failed them and now another friend is in danger so you can say when it comes time to extract my vengeance I'll be in a blood rage." "Hmm I think I'm starting to like you human, what do you like to be called?" Grunt asked. "Ty, you?" Ty asked. Grunt slammed his fists together and said "Grunt, I look forward to seeing the carnage you bring to the battlefield." "I'm sure it'll be miniscule to the amount you bring." Ty said. The grin that Grunt gave him scared him a little as he gave a deep menacing laugh, "Heh heh heh."

**A/N/Response to Review: I love that laugh Grunt does, I especially love Grunts scream in the Citadel DLC when they show him falling out of the hospital. "You're my hero Grunt" in the words of Shepard. Now as for my response to your question masterk11er, "would we see ty unleash his inner demon anytime soon" my answer is…mayyyybe. It will happen I can confirm that, as for how long until nuclear meltdown…I'd put up a countdown for fun but I don't think I can plus you'll know it when you see the chapter name so when you see it remember to duck in cover because the blast may knock over a lot of stuff. I may not post tomorrow or Sunday because I need to work on the future chapters still and those are about the only days I have free time for that so don't expect a new chapter but one may still pop up if I choose. I will see you next time.**


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Ty's and Aria's History

**A/N/Disclaimer: As usual I still don't own any part of the Mass Effect Universe since that belongs to Bioware/E/A. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co. I couldn't think of anything clever to name this chapter so what you read is what its going to be about, just a little more information on the deal between Ty and Aria and little bit about their history. Anyway onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Grunt turned and began walking back to the Port Cargo, _I hope I never piss him off, that laugh is enough to make me worried he'd tear my spine out of my ass and enjoy it_. Ty looked back to the elevator and saw that during his conversation with Grunt it had left and gone back up so Ty clicked the button again and waited for it to come down from the CIC. The door to engineering opened and Shepard walked out and seemed surprised to see Ty standing there still, "Elevator broken?" Shepard asked. "No Grunt came out and wanted to talk so I talked and the elevator left as we talked, enjoy your conversation with Jack?" Ty asked. "She's an interesting woman." Shepard said. _Interesting is one way to put it,_ Ty thought as he chuckled and said "Uh-huh." "What?" Shepard asked with genuine curiosity. Ty shook his head and said "Nothing I was just agreeing." The elevator doors opened and they both walked in, "You going to your room or CIC?" Ty asked. "You going back to your room?" Shepard asked. "Yea need to rest and who knows maybe I'll get some information from Aria soon about Haley." Ty said. "You think Aria would be holding out on you, I'm going to my room by the way."

Ty chuckled as he hit the buttons, Aria wouldn't hold out on him on something like this, it's not that she feared him that she wouldn't do it, it was that she actually enjoyed him being around and liked having him work with her, not something she could say about a lot of her guards not to mention that she enjoyed the deal she had conjured up between them. "Nah Aria and I have never held out on each other, we trust and respect each other despite her thinking I should throw away my code sometimes though she knows I'll never do it. She knows what I've been through and I know some things about her that I will never utter to another soul, besides if she didn't come through then I wouldn't have to pay her back and she enjoys the deal she created that I abide by most of the time." Ty said. Shepard kind of smirked and asked "Why is that?"

The doors opened at the crew quarters, he needed to tell her eventually but now wasn't the time due to Horizon, "Ask me tomorrow and I'll tell you." Ty said as he began to walk out. After getting on the outside of the elevator he stopped and looked back at Shepard and said "Oh and I'm sorry about today." Shepard shook her head and said "You couldn't control your blacking out, it wasn't your fault." "True but I wasn't talking about blacking out I was talking about me and Kaiden and whatever happened between you two. See ya tomorrow Shep." Ty said. Ty leaned inside and hit the button then got out of the elevator doors path as they closed and began to bring Shepard up. He walked to his room and got inside of it letting the doors close behind him, he began walking to his bed as he checked his omni-tool for messages; he found none so he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes letting sleep take him.

The Next Day

There was a blaring alarm that suddenly filled Ty's room which woke Ty from his sleep violently, he sat up with his pistol aiming at all corners of the room looking for enemies until he saw EDI in his room and distinguished that the noise was coming from her, "EDI what's with the alarm are we under attack?" Ty asked. "No you asked for me to make a noise before entering your room so I would not give you a "heart attack"." EDI answered though Ty swore he could hear humor in her synthetic voice. _Me and my big mouth,_ Ty thought. "Well shit I guess I did but you don't need to that's more likely to give me a heart attack then you just coming in my room, any new news?" Ty asked. "Operative Lawson would like to see you in her office as soon as you are ready." EDI said. Ty nodded and thought, _Probably to make sure everything worked out._ Ty moved himself to the edge of his bed and said "Tell her I'll be there in about eight minutes, do I need to be armed?" "She did not mention anything about needing your weapons." EDI said. Ty nodded and said "Alright I'll go see her shortly EDI."

EDI disappeared and Ty stuck his pistol back under his pillow before getting out of bed and going to his bathroom to shower and get ready. It didn't take long to wash his hair and then get out and dried off completely. He got his clam diggers on and tank top hoodie on before brushing through his hair and putting the crown of his hair in a ponytail to keep it out of his face. As he walked out of his bathroom and towards the exit of his room he put his hood up out of habit and began his walk to Miranda's room. As he walked he saw some of the non-ground team crew members eating at Mess Hall table, he could hear them talking to one another about Rupert actually making decent edible meals but Ty had yet to eat any of his food or any food in general for about a week going now.

He pushed his body to its limits to get in the shape he was in but because some missions he took upon himself, like hiding on the Cerberus facility where Shepard was held, took him a long time he had trained himself not to let hunger bother him. Thus began his terrible habit of not eating everyday, something he had yet to get back in the habit of, he still had a week left before starvation would set in so he would eat soon but now he couldn't worry about eating, he needed to stay focused on Haley. He walked to Miranda's door and hit the green hologram opening the door and revealing Miranda sitting at her computer typing away, "Hey Miranda EDI said you needed me for something." Ty said. "Yes I need to ask you some questions." Miranda said.

Ty walked in and let the door close behind him and said "Alright ask away." Miranda stopped typing and turned in her seat then got up and walked to the back of her room to the couch and sat down, Ty followed and sat across from her, she picked up five data pads and slid them across the table to him and asked "Do you know any of these people?" Ty picked up the first and saw a name that he could recognize anywhere, "What do you want with him because if this is a hit contract I wont let you kill him?" Ty asked. "I guess you know him and we're not killing any of them we're recruiting and we need more information on him to see if he's reliable." Miranda said.

Ty read the mini description and shook his head and said "Zaeed fucking Massani that crazy asshole is still alive." "You know him well?" Miranda asked. Thankfully they had met on good terms and not with Zaeed contracted to kill him though Ty hoped Zaeed wouldn't be stupid enough to attack anyone he knew, that would definitely put a sour note in their friendship. "Better then most but I haven't spoken to him for about six years, he was the co-founder of the Suns with some guy named Vido something but they disagreed about something, probably how the Suns were being run and Vido turned his people against him and shot him in the face. Zaeed is a reliable guy as long as the pay check is big but he has a bad temper."

_Rage is one hell of an anesthetic,_ Ty thought recalling when Zaeed told him about his survival after getting shot in the face. "But then again I have a bad temper, he cost a lot but he'll be on board for a suicide mission but I assure you he plans on surviving it to get paid, ol Zaeed is gonna freak when he sees me here on this ship." Ty said. Ty could practically hear Zaeed's voice questioning him now, _what in the bloody hell are you doing working with Cerberus and a former Alliance Commander, did someone knock that tiny brain out of your goddamned head or are you just here to kill them all._

Ty passed the data pad back and read the next one quickly, he laughed slightly, _who knew Cerberus would find her, _"There's no way you found her, she must have found you because no one finds Kasumi Goto. She's more illusive than me and probably better looking if you ever saw her without her hood up, Kasumi is the best thief in the universe not the most famous because she knows what the hell she is doing and because I happen to take the most famous part as a side note to my already "prestigious" standing in the galactic community. I did get beat by her once and I paid her back for it by beating her to her loot, she's better then her reputation says she'd be reliable if you could convince her."

Ty passed it back and read the next one, _Asari Justicar, definitely don't know her though I am surprised Cerberus is even considering her since she'd probably just kill us all except for Shepard from what little I know about them._ "And I should know a Justicar why? If I met her she would chase my ass to the end of the galaxy to kill me just based on the reputation I've been given by propaganda." Ty passed it back and read the next one and kind of noticed the name, _Thane Krios, why does that name sound so god damn familiar but yet like I've never heard it before._ "Not sure on this one, the name looks slightly familiar but I'm not sure, I knew a few Drell's but I'm not sure if I know this one."

The last one was someone he knew well but Shepard knew better then he did "Why ask me about Tali Shepard knows her better than me but she also is better than this gives her credit for." "Just trying to get a reference on them." Miranda said. "She's reliable but if you need more ask Shepard me and Tali go back years but I never fought along side her." Ty said. Miranda nodded and said "Alright I will, so do you think Zaeed, Kasumi and Tali would help?" "Zaeed if the paycheck is big enough, Kasumi maybe and Tali definitely if she isn't busy because of her history with Shepard and the other two from what I read about Justicar's they are drawn to impossible odds so probably and the Drell I'm not sure." "I didn't know you could read." Miranda said in a joking manor.

Ty chuckled and stood up then said "There's a lot you and Cerberus don't know about me apparently otherwise you'd have known more about my "condition", do we have any missions today?" "Yes Shepard, Jacob and I are going to try and find Jacobs father since we just received a distress call from the ship he served on." Miranda said. "Alright I'm going to relax then, see you later princess." Ty said. Miranda rolled her eyes at the nickname and said "Alright."

Ty walked out and walked back to his room to relax so when he finally got back into it he walked in front of the glass window and sat down crossed legged on the floor, he relaxed all of his spirit and let everything go quiet around him as he let his mind relax and not allow the memories of his past bother him. Time always felt like it went faster while he meditated because it always seemed when like only seconds had gone by though it had been much longer. Ty heard his doors opened and he figured it was Shepard telling him they were leaving but he only had half of it right.

He looked back and saw Shepard dressed in her dark blue wife beater black jeans and regular shoes, she looked good for someone who had just gotten woken up from death only a few weeks ago but there were still feint glowing scars on her face. "Hey Shepard." Ty said. "Got a couple minutes to spare?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded and motioned her to come in and sit down next to him, she walked in and sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around her legs and asked "So why do you keep so much about yourself secret?"

Ty let the corner of his mouth arc up into a smirk, _they got persistent right when they described her in the news feeds,_ Ty thought. "Makes me interesting, honestly though it was a lesson I learned a long time ago. You should never open up and tell everything about yourself because it just makes it easier for people to hurt you. You're the most inquisitive and persistent I'll give you that much most people take one glance and make up their minds about me or hear one thing about me and form their opinion. Well I'm sure you did to after our original meeting with me pointing a gun in your face." "Yea I thought you were exactly as they said you were…I'm glad I was wrong." Shepard said.

Ty nodded slightly, he wasn't sure how to take that except as compliment which was weird. "Don't judge someone based on their origins or in my case don't judge me because I shoved a gun in your face, but back to your question I don't tell the full story about myself 'cause no one ever wants the full story because no one cares." Ty said. "That's a bad outlook on people." Shepard said. Ty shrugged and said "Maybe but it's also a truthful statement, no one cares in this universe ninety percent of the universe are users and abusers." "And the other ten percent?" Shepard asked. "Are people like me, my family, Darian, all my dead friends, Haley, Jessica, Tali, Garrus and you to name a few." Ty said.

Shepard looked over at Ty and said "Seems you don't have a lot of faith in people alien or human." Ty stared out into space, he didn't have faith in himself was more like it, giving up information to people gave them a shorter knife to cut you with and he had made to many mistakes in the past that led to that knife plunging deep into his heart. He couldn't put faith in anyone besides his family anyway, most everyone wanted him dead though they had no idea why or who he was as a person. "Why should I look at what they did to my grandfather after all he did for the Alliance and aliens alike they just trashed him, look at what they did to you as soon as you were killed, they dumped you like a bad habit all except Anderson, no one on the alien part of the council no one in the Alliance including your old flame believe in you when you're the only fucking person in this universe that those motherfuckers should be listening to." Ty said.

Shepard looked at him with slight shock no doubtly because he had just said that everyone in the galaxy should listen to her, he believed it fully because of what had happened and what he saw on Horizon. Shepard was right and she needed more people on her side, "Sorry Shepard but people are nothing but a let down, the second their asses are on the line they'll do anything to save their own ass except for that ten percent that would do anything for someone else. No one believes that we can do this not even the Illusive man he's just hoping we can pull this off but we are still just puppets to him just like the Collectors are puppets for the Reapers."

Shepard kind of lowered her head and Ty saw it, _shit me and my big mouth,_ Ty thought. "Sorry Shepard I don't mean to bring my negative feelings into this, they don't matter anyway and I don't like that outlook. You don't need me telling you this you got enough to deal with trying to prepare us for the Collectors." "What would you do if you were me?" Shepard asked.

_Personally I'd shoot the Council and the leaders of the Alliance in the knees than step on the wound and get them to give you support,_ Ty thought. "Shit on Horizon was some of the worst shit I have seen but I also couldn't stand to be at the hands of bugs. Seeing how easy the Collectors took the colony and how resilient those bug bastards are really have the crew shaky but we'll all be by your side to the end but I also know for a fact I'm not the only one with personal matters to tie up before we stick our boots up the Collectors ass. Back when I ran my crew I'd always talk to them before a serious mission, get their heads straight, solve personal matters if it looked like we weren't coming back and make sure that none had a clouded mind so I'd talk to everyone in the crew and find out what their personal matters are because if they have a clouded mind when it comes time there will be death." Ty said.

Shepard nodded than asked "You've mentioned your grandfather a few times since I've met you, were you close with him before he died?" Ty nodded as he looked at her and said "Yea it was just him, my dad, my brother and me until he was killed and family is the most important thing to us so we were all close." "You seem to have a bad grudge with the Alliance because of it but do your brother and dad?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled and said "Who ever said Rhoddy's don't hold grudges was a liar, we all have a hatred for Cerberus and the Alliance but we aren't stupid we aren't just going to attack the two biggest human organizations and expect to win." "Would you ever change what happened?" Shepard asked. "I can't but if I could yea I'd make sure he didn't do the contract but since I can't bring him back maybe the Alliance will admit they were wrong and stop the manhunt for my family, highly unlikely I know but a guy can dream right."

Shepard smirked for a second than stopped and said "I'm sorry for snapping at you on Horizon." Ty just chuckled and said "You have nothing to be sorry about; Alliance guys all think I'm evil and my family are all evil mix that with my blackouts and not knowing anything about Haley and you got me pissed off and not wanting to listen to someone bad mouth my family. Disrespecting my family or friends really grinds me the wrong way. I'm sorry for jumping in because he just used me against you to be a dick if I had kept my mouth shut he may not have been as bad." "I'm pretty sure it would've been bad no matter what but I can't blame him, two years I was dead then I just pop back up in his life and I'm using Cerberus to fight the Collectors, people we had seen do terrible things while fighting Saren. I didn't want to tear open old wounds since I knew he would've moved on but I guess there's nothing I could say to make it back to the way it used to be." "Don't blame yourself for it he'll come around and if he doesn't then he isn't worth the hassle of getting upset about." Ty said. "Maybe I should move on." Shepard said.

Ty shrugged, he wasn't one to see about relationship advice definitely about the guy he had seen walk away from his past lover and disrespect him and his family. "Give it time to think about, if you two were as tight as it looked to me then you may hear from him again and if you don't hear from him or you just want to move on then you could go with Garrus you two would work out." "Maybe but there's more then Garrus to pick from." Shepard said. "Mordin and Jacob aren't exactly cream of the crop guys but if you like them then go ahead unless you're into girls then you'll have to find one that isn't against that kinda thing on this ship." Ty said. "You're forgetting someone in that list." Shepard said.

_Who the hell am I forgetting, oh wait that's right,_ Ty thought about it and said "Yea I did, Grunt but he probably isn't interested in relationships he just likes killing things from what I can tell." "Not who I was talking about." Shepard said with a slight laugh. _Who the hell is she talking about then,_ "Well then there's Rupert who I've heard isn't exactly a great chef, Donnelly who I have heard has an Irish accent but apparently is a pig according to one of your crew members, his partner in crime Daniels if your into that, Joker if you like the sound of cracking bones and if he didn't love the ship more then people, Chambers who I'm sure would be more than happy to make sure her Commander is happy." Shepard chuckled slightly as Ty continued "EDI if she wasn't an AI, Zaeed, Kasumi, Tali, Thane, or Samara when you get them, Jack if you want to lose her respect and Chakwas pick your poison if you choose that path." Ty said.

Shepard gave a light laugh and said "Still forgetting someone." _Who the fuc-, oh shit she's talking about me._ "Who me? Come on you wouldn't want to be with a guy like me, I got half of my body almost completely blown off so now I have cybernetics, I'm sarcastic as hell, I can slip into past memories like a Drell and I'm technically an enemy of your people." Ty said. "You're not the only one with Cybernetic parts…And you're not my enemy." Shepard said. "True on both accounts I guess but I don't do that anymore. Tried it once and don't want to try it again." "You may change your mind someday." Shepard said. Ty shook his head_, subject changing time,_ "You're the most persistent person I think I've ever met Shepard, anyway anything else you wanna talk about." "What's your deal with Aria?" Shepard asked.

Ty smirked to himself and Shepard smiled and asked "We close enough for me to ask that?" "Yea its just kinda funny when I think about it, I was thirteen when I started running in the Suns but six months before I had just showed up on Omega for the first time and for starters I understood why my grandfather liked it so much. He'd always go on and on about the chaos and the women that he'd run into and how life on Omega was a true test that only some could survive so I thought alright that's where I'll start. Well you can imagine Rhoddy popped up on Arias sensors and she noticed the name since my dad was a hitman for her for some time until he moved on so she had Grizz come find me, I was being flirted with by an Asari dancer and I was flirting back when Grizz came up and told me Aria wanted to see me."

Shepard nodded and Ty smirked and said "Man I can't forget that meeting I was dragged by Grizz 'cause I didn't know that he meant right away and I was having fun. So after I was kicked in the back of the leg in front of her by Anto then she introduced herself and told me the rules of Omega and how she knew of me and asked my business on Omega. I told her I was looking for work to hone my killing skills because of the manhunt, she smiled and gave me an opportunity to prove myself she needed me to find and kill someone that was trying to take down one of her guys so I asked who the person was because even though I was going to kill for money I had a code and I didn't break it for anyone. That was one thing she liked about me from the start."

Ty kind of chuckled and Shepard just looked at him and said "Hard to imagine Aria liking that, she seems to need people who don't have rules or codes." "Well that's true and some days she hates the fact that I have it but as I said yesterday we have a respect for one another so she knows not to push it. My code makes me efficient though which is one reason she likes it, another reason I think is that I, in a way, have changed that about her. Sometimes she actually isn't such a bad bitch and spares people just to kick them off the station with a death warning and I think because of being around me she has changed slightly because back when we first met she never would have done it. I don't try changing her though I think I just rubbed off on her slightly because of…well we'll get to that in a minute." Ty said.

Ty stretched his back slightly as Shepard nodded absorbing all of what he had said thus far, "Anyway she told me who the guy was and gave me a summary of the guy I agreed and found him quickly and disposed of him efficiently and she had someone watching me without me knowing and was happy with how I worked so she hired me for six months. I was her personal hitman and took out every contract for her even had to go off of Omega for some but those are different stories. At the end of the sixth month Tarak gave me an offer to join the Suns and I wasn't about to just ditch Aria for some merc band but I told him I'd think about it." "Can't imagine that Aria didn't know before you told her." Shepard said.

Ty shook his head and stood up than said "She's got eyes and ears everywhere, I was on my way to tell her when I saw Anto flirting with this human so I butted in and picked her up myself which pissed Anto off, he still hates me for that by the way like really badly but I didn't want him to like beat the woman or something you know because he's a Batarian and she was a human. Nice girl. Anyway he dragged me to Aria because of it and Aria told me she knew about the Suns offer and wanted to know what I was going to do."

Ty sat on the edge of his bed and leaned back on his elbows and continued "Aria doesn't pay her guards terribly but I wouldn't call it great either but me on the other hand I was getting paid a ton for contracts. I didn't do it for the money though and I never really have used the wealth I gained from everything that has happened, Aria knew I didn't want the money but she wanted to make sure I was set up well on Omega. Anything I wanted all I needed to do was ask but I didn't use those benefits often. I told her I was happy working for her and would continue doing it but at the time she was out of contracts so she made me a deal I help her when she needed it and gave her heads up on the Suns movements and we'd be cool so I took it." "The Suns know about you reporting to Aria?" Shepard asked standing up and readjusting the plush chair to face Ty.

Ty nodded, _can't call them complete idiots,_ Ty thought. "The Suns weren't complete morons, they had to figure that but I never told them. So I did my stint in the Suns helping Aria out when she needed it and it worked for two years making me fifteen than the Suns killed my guys, then a two years later, seventeen, they killed another friend then another two years later while I was thieving, which was when I was nineteen, I found someone who was gathering information on Arias guys and some of her other businesses and his own contacts, needless to say I killed him and brought the info to Aria who was not happy to know it slipped passed her guys."

Shepard leaned forward and brought her hands together and said "She couldn't have been happy." Ty laughed and said "She was pissed off at her guys; she biotic bitch slapped one of them so hard that he left an impression on the floor after falling from where she sits to the bottom. She was happy to know I was still keeping my eyes peeled 'cause it had been a year since we talked but she owed me and I knew it so I took advantage of it and got some information on someone I was hunting at the time and we were even but then I guess you can say she saved my ass since a group of guys hired by the Suns were coming after me and I didn't know cause the Suns hired them as freelancers. I was to focused on killing them all that it slipped past me so she gave me a heads up and I killed them all before they attacked."

Ty sat up and rubbed the back of his head and said "And then I owed her which is why you wanted to talk." "Wait a minute what are you brother and dad doing during all this?" Shepard asked. "My brother was working with my dad going after the Suns bases while I hunted the leaders. Before hand though my dad was relaxing and my brother was honing his skills as a mercenary, he was kinda like your old friend Wrex in the essence that he was a loner, didn't like depending on people or being depended on unless its family." Shepard raised an eyebrow and asked "You know Wrex?" "We met once; he probably doesn't remember me though." Ty said though he was sure he had left an impact on him, he knew the other Clan leader would remember him. Shepard nodded and leaned back on her chair and asked "So what did you do to pay back Aria?"

Ty looked away out the window and said "She didn't really give me a choice on how to pay her back, she told me to meet her at some apartment penthouse on Omega before I got there so I did and when I got there she was waiting for me. I asked her what was with the penthouse meeting than she started explaining that she had been watching over me since I was thirteen, watching me grow into who I was I guess you can say. Now I'll tell you right now that some of the stories I have heard from people who have been with Aria really scared the crap out of me. I had been around the block a lot when it comes to sex but everyone I had heard from said that being with Aria was intense but left it at that so I was thinking a long the lines of, "she's going to tie my ass up and rape me."

Shepard grinned slightly at Ty's expense though he was completely serious in what he thought; he was seriously worried she was going to tie him up and shove a ball gag in his mouth and rape him that day. "Maybe she is different with others but it hadn't been what I thought it was going to turn into. Aria crafted the deal that day because, I'm paraphrasing her words by the way, "she wanted to get inside of my head and see where things went between us." She really liked me, like more than I thought she did. I saw her as a friend and one of my contractors and I don't think I ever thought about her in any way but that. That changed that day, she melded with me during it all and I don't know if you know a lot about Asari physiology but there are different levels to melds and thank the greater spirit she didn't use the meld that makes them have kids, I was so not ready to be a father at that time, still not but I think I figured out why people called her intense because my mind joining has nothing on hers."

Shepard smirked and put her hands out in a stop motion and said "Whoa whoa whoa so Aria likes you, do you like her like that back?" Ty smirked and said "I told you Shepard I don't do relationships and I told her that but I still had to pay her back and since in that moment I had a very short amount of time to make sure that I found her attractive on more than a physical level I made a mental check of everything I found attractive about her from facial features and eyes to personality and then her body. Never considered her age until afterwards, don't know what that says but I did find her attractive in certain aspects and I agreed to the deal. We had sex and she melded with me and after that we always have been close and anytime I had to pay her back we'd do that so whenever she gives me the information that's what I have to do."

Shepard had what Ty referred to as a stupid grin on her face but he attempted to ignore it and continued "So when I was twenty one you started going after Saren and you killed him and Sovereign than further in that year and two and a half years after melding and having sex with "the pirate queen of Omega" having an on again off again friends with benefits thing a few months after the initial meld you get blown up by the Collectors and I start looking into Cerberus and helping Aria out here and there melding with her when I owed her. Two years after that I get in a fight with Tarak and his goons that turned Omega upside down then for two months I was on the Cerberus facility and then me and Aria met again and then we met." _And hopefully soon I can add, and then I killed Haley's captors and saved her to that,_ Ty thought.

**A/N: Okay two things, the first is that I have a recommendation for you all, this is entirely up to all of you readers out there and I wont be offended or anything if you don't do it but while I was looking for some inspiration for future chapters I went onto youtube, which I own nothing of just in case I need to put a disclaimer here that belongs to the respectful owners of whoever owns it, and I typed in Mass Effect tribute. Now I know I have stated many times that I'm a big nerd but I promise you if you watch these two videos I'm about to ask you to watch there is no way you will be completely disappointed. It will bring you on a nostalgic journey of Mass Effect and if, like me, you fell deeply in love with the universe then you will really enjoy the videos. The first is called Mass Effect 3: Hope (fan tribute), great video, also I do not own anything from that, that belongs to the person who posted it and Bioware/E/A since they made the games from which he created the video from. The other is called Mass Effect Squad Tribute – True Strength, which I also do not own anything of and that belongs to the person who made the video and Bioware/E/A who created the universe. Now I know some might think that it's a fan made tribute video and those all suck, trust me I thought it would to but the damn things proved me wrong and I promise if you do watch it you will not be disappointed. If you don't then you also wont be disappointed because you didn't watch it, either way if you do watch them let me know if I led you astray or not. I don't endorse not watching it without a box of tissues to the extra sensitive, you have been warned. I also am not endorsing anything or anyone in general just in case I need to put that in there. Anyway my second thing to my first, I thought of something funny that's based on my last chapters ending author note and I'm putting it at the end here, so I will see you next time.**

**Nuclear Meltdown in T-Minus – Two chapters, get to the bunkers now for preparation.**


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The Path of Vengeance

**A/N/Disclaimer: I don't own the Mass Effect Universe, all of that belongs to Bioware/E/A. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe. Onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

Shepard had that smile on her face again, that stupid grin that would prove to be the only warning Ty would get before she gave him a question that she knew he would not particularly enjoy but would answer anyway. "So you looking forward to melding again?" Shepard asked. Ty shrugged, it would always be fun and would make his mind feel tingly but it wasn't about getting laid for him right now, it was about finding Haley and since Aria was about the only person he trusted to find her quicker than he could or his family could that meant he had to pay back the usual way whether he liked the idea or not though he hoped she'd let him get her first before paying her back otherwise their deal would hit a bump in the road. "Eh its fun and sensual and a bunch of other details I'll leave out but not the best I ever had, she's great but definitely not the best I've had and I've had almost every alien race except ones like Elcor, Hanar, Krogans, Salarian's, etcetera etcetera." "Turian?" Shepard asked.

Ty actually had to think about that one, he searched his memory banks for any Turians when he saw her, the red markings on her face he should have remembered instantly, "Yea there was one I met on Omega that was a biotic and there were a few others who wanted to but I never got around to it. Interesting experience, passionate woman to, and surprisingly flexible but I had assumed Turians would be all stiff." Ty said. "Drell." Shepard asked. "Ummm…yea one, pretty trippy too." Ty said with a chuckle remembering the hallucinations. "Quarian?" Shepard asked. That struck a broken heart string in Ty making him glance down for a second before looking back up to change the subject "Yea one, anyway that's mine and Arias deal I help her she gives me information she helps me I meld with her." Ty said. "I guess that explains what she meant when I asked her about you when we met on Omega." Shepard said.

Ty raised one of his eyebrows, Aria rarely spoke to anyone about Ty and the fact she spoke to Shepard about him was actually quite shocking. "What she say about me?" Ty asked. "She smiled when I asked if she knew anything about you then told me she knew a lot about you and you knew a lot about her. She said you were a good guy and to watch out because you were on a mission of your own and not in a good mood. Also said you lived by a respect code and were as likely to charm a woman as you were to kill someone without a second thought in public and that was something that always intrigued her about you." Shepard said. Ty nodded, that definitely sounded like him and definitely sounded like Aria's way of describing him "Glad to clear up the confusion for you, you should probably go find Jacobs father I've taken up more then a minute of your time." "I don't mind your fun to talk to." Shepard said standing up.

Ty smirked, he didn't know if fun was the right word to describe how it would be to talk to him but he appreciated her taking the time to talk to him, a lot of minor things he had been holding against himself had been solved thanks to being on this squad and thanks to her talking to him. She treated him better than he ever expected and better than he probably deserved. "Thanks Shepard, you coming down here and listening to me talk about my past has let me square away some things mentally...You've treated me as an equal instead of treating me like the most wanted criminal propaganda asshole that everyone claims me to be. You treat me like an actual person and that means a lot." "You're a good man Ty you don't deserve what happened to you and your family." Shepard said.

That was actually shocking to hear from her since she was an Alliance soldier and they were apart of his blacklisting. Ty nodded to her in appreciation and said "Thanks Shepard it means a lot coming from someone whose life is the Alliance. See ya when you get back Shep, thanks for coming down to talk." "You're welcome Ty." Shepard said as she walked out. Ty laid down completely and let his legs hangover with his hands behind his head; he stared into the stars and relaxed himself completely. Ty closed his eyes and cleared his mind of everything so he could rest.

An Hour Later

Ty once again was awoke by a strange beeping noise but this one was coming from his Omni-tool, he sat up and shook the cob webs from his head and hit a button on his Omni-tool and said in a slightly still tired voice "Yea." "I got your information and Tarak wasn't bullshitting." Aria answered back. Ty's brain woke up once when he heard the word information, the name Tarak sent it into overdrive, he could finally save her. Ty stood up and said "No shit, are we meeting to discuss this or what?" "No time for that you've got to get to Illium and save your friend, you can pay me back after." Aria said. Ty started getting his gear on and said "Why isn't there time and don't bullshit with me Aria, not about this." "They're experimenting with biotics on her, I don't have all the details on why but its sounds pretty bad even for Scrum."

_Experimenting on her with biotics? Those motherfuckers I swear I'm gonna rip their fucking heads off!_ Ty thought. Though Ty never liked Scrum he had to agree with Aria since Scrum never dipped into the darker side of being a merc when he had known him, and that was saying something since he was a Batarian and most Batarian mercenaries were vicious. "Alright rent a place on Illium unless you own one and I'll meet you there afterwards, what part of Illium is he at?" Ty asked. "You can get to him from Nos Astra I'll give you more when you get there, hurry up time may be running out for her." Aria said.

Ty walked up to EDIs console and said "Thanks for the help Aria I'll talk to you soon." Ty turned off his Omni-tool and said "EDI I need to talk to you right now." EDI popped up and asked "What is it Ty?" "How long till Shepard gets back?" Ty asked. "My scans show they are closing in on Jacobs's father, I estimate they will be done within the hour." EDI answered. That was way to long, he had to act now and get Haley out of there before they did anything worse than they already had done, "Shit, alright I gotta go right now I just gained information on where Haley is and I have to act now so I need you to give her a message." EDI turned red and said "I cannot allow you to leave the Normandy I do not have the authorization." "EDI do you trust me?" Ty asked. "Trust is not in m-"

That was a bunch of bullshit, she may be an A.I. and programmed by Cerberus but she still knew what those things were and she was able to deem if she did or not. Ty interrupted EDI and said "EDI I didn't ask what you were programmed to do I asked if you trusted me." EDI was silent for a couple seconds contemplating her answer "….Yes Ty I do." "I will be back EDI I give you all my word on that so please EDI give Shepard a message for me." Ty said. "What is the message?" EDI asked. "Tell her that I got information on my kidnapped friend and I didn't have time to wait, don't let her freak out or panic, interrupt her if you must and tell her to go to Nos Astra on Illium and talk to her friend Liara T'Soni she will have information on me. If Miranda interrupts tell her I know Liara and she can be trusted, Liara will have a message for them on my progress, can you do that for me?" Ty asked.

EDI turned her regular blue again and said "Yes Ty I can, anything else you need?" "One last thing tell Jack and Garrus to be ready to go with Shepard when she gets back her biotics and his sniping might be needed." Ty said as he started walking towards his door. "I will, be safe Ty." EDI said. "I promise I'll be back EDI tell them all that to." Ty said as he walked out.

Ty had his hood up and all his gear on as he slightly jogged to the elevator, he got in and hit the cargo hold button and waited impatiently for it to descend. Ty brought his Omni-tool up and dialed his brother and waited for him to pick up, ring…rin- "Ty what's up." Z answered. "Are you busy?" Ty asked impatiently. "No me, Daddy, Darian and Jess are just talking, what's up? You sound troubled?" Z asked. "I found Scrum and Haley we gotta go right now." Ty said.

Ty could practically feel his brother shock on the other end, "No shit where at?" Z asked. The doors opened and Ty jogged towards his space bike and said "Nos Astra on Illium, get moving I'll meet you there." "See ya soon." Z said. Ty hung up and got to his space bike and started checking it over real quick to make sure it was still flyable and had enough fuel for the relay hopping he was about to do, everything still looked good but he was going to have to refuel next time they stopped to refuel. As he began to get on he heard Jacks voice, "So where you think you're going?" Jack asked. "No time to talk Jack I gotta go so ask EDI." Ty said getting on his bike.

Jack got next to him and said "Alright but one thing I need to know just in case you get yourself killed again." _Well isn't that confidence boosting_, Ty thought. "Thanks for the confidence Jack." Ty said starting his bike up. "What was her name?" Jack asked. "Her name is Haley but as I said ask EDI." Ty answered. Jack slapped his arm and said "No not her dick I meant your Quarian girlfriend they murdered in front of you."

That hit Ty hard and he had a sudden flash of her in his head, _"Ka'Reena I promise I'm going to get you out of this, let her go you pieces of shit she has nothing to do with this!" Ty yelled at Tarak and Jedore. Jason and Scrum weren't there anymore but it was Scrum who had given them the information to find her, "Ty, promise me you'll continue to live life as you have with me if I don't make it." Ka'Reena said. Ty stared in awe at her blue mask; there was no way that he was going to let her die let alone move on if she did. Ty shook his head getting that thought out of his head and looked at her and said "You aren't going to die." "Wrong." Jedore said with a smirk as she pointed her pistol at Ka'Reena's head. "I'll always be with you my love." Ka'Reena said. "Don't you fucking dare Jedore don-" _

_Jedore fired her pistol off right into the back of Ka'Reena's head. Blood sprayed out and Ka'Reena fell to the floor with a thump cracking her blue mask but not shattering it. Ty's legs caved in as he feel to his hands and knees seeing Ka'Reena dead on the ground, Jedore aimed at him but Tarak pushed her pistol down and said "Leave him, you've killed him already we'll finish the job after its sunk in that everyone he knew died because of him." Ty heard their footsteps leave as he felt hot tears coming out of his eyes as he stared at Ka'Reena's body, "Ka'Reena." Ty choked out. There was no answer though he hadn't expected one, the silence that swallowed them both was deafening and that day all that was left of his heart was torn from his chest and destroyed leaving an empty shell of a person who was once full of life. "I'm sorry." _

Ty shook the memory from his head before the tears welled in his eyes and looked at Jack as he answered "Her name was Ka'Reena nar Ryya." Ty said. "You loved her didn't you?" Jack asked with a little bit of emotion in her voice. There wasn't a word for how much he loved her, the bottom part of Ty's mask activated as he said "She was the breath in my body and the love of my life, now she's my guide on this path of vengeance, you wanted to know why I'm a vengeful asshole who doesn't let anyone get close to him, especially women, its because I had felt love before and all it did was kill me on the inside, see ya around Jack."

The rest of Ty's mask activated covering his eyes as the cargo bay door opened, Ty flew down and out of the Normandy and started flying to the closest Mass Relay, as he got close EDI popped up on his bike and said "Ty you are approaching the Mass Relay plot your destination." "Get me to Illium EDI." Ty said. "Destination set get ready for mass acceleration." EDI said. When Ty had worked on his bike the "installation" EDI had been monitoring was her own installation onto his bike, he didn't completely unshackle her but he did "borrow" an enough of her quantum blue box that she had free reign between his bike and his Omni-tool which were connected to one another. She was definitely going to be much more fun to talk to than his old VI.

As Ty prepared his Relay Hop to the Crescent Nebula and the Tasale System where Illium was located he began to gain speed until he hit the Relay and began Relay Hopping. "Prepare for deceleration." EDI said. The bike began to decelerate as he came out of his final Relay Hop, Ty saw Illium in the distance, hold on a little longer Haley I'm almost there, Ty thought. "Jump successful Ty." EDI said. "Thanks EDI, Shepard back on the Normandy yet?" Ty asked. "No they are talking to Jacobs father now but I have coordinates set for Illium for when they get back, Miranda wished to speak to you about sparring but I explained you were gone. She was less than pleased but when I told her why I believe she began to understand why you left. Shepard and Jacob will debrief with the Illusive Man as we head to Illium and it should take us about thirty minutes." EDI answered. Ty sighed, he felt bad ditching since Shepard wanted to help him but he couldn't leave Haley at the hands of these bastards any longer. "Alright I'll keep you updated EDI and patch Shepard in after you give her my message." Ty said. "Yes Ty." EDI said.

Ty brought his bike down to Nos Astra and landed in the docking bay his family had, having their own personal docking bays was important to being successful at traversing the Galaxy's main ports. Ty got off his bike and began walking towards where he remembered Liara being but called Aria as he walked, she answered immediately "You at Illium now?" Aria answered. "Yea I'm there, where's Scrum?" Ty asked. "Their facility to the east past the Dantius towers shouldn't be hard to find it's the only facility they have in that area." Aria said. "Alright east past the Dantius towers got it, I'll be in touch." Ty said. "Don't get yourself killed." Aria said. _More confidence boosting, thanks guys, _Ty thought. "I won't Aria; Haley won't suffer the same fate as Ka'Reena." Ty said.

Aria knew of what happened since Grizz and Ty had told her after it happened, the Suns taking Ka'Reena had slipped through her net but when she found out that it was happening right under her nose she sent Grizz to assist Ty but he arrived moments after they killed her. "That wasn't your fault Ty those bastards are the ones who killed her not you. You didn't know Tarak would take it that far and somehow he got it past my people."

_I should have known though, I ran with the four eyed bastard and he had my guys killed and tried to get me to sell women and children into slavery._ "I was ignorant to think he wouldn't take it that far, I ran with them for two and a half years and I knew each person and how far they'd take something and the thing that matter to me most at the time I didn't protect and she was killed Aria while I stood by trying to defuse the situation instead of killing them all where they stood. Now again I saved Haley and didn't fucking keep my eyes on her and now who knows how fucked up she is." Ty said as he got closer to Liara's office.

Aria sighed, Ty had only heard that sigh a few times and that meant she was about to unload on him and give him a reality check of some sort. "You've had this ass ripping coming for a while, do you really think she'd blame you for what happened to her Ty, I mean seriously do you because if you do than you are fucking ignorant. I watched you both and she cared for you more than you did for her and that's saying a fucking lot because of how much you loved Ka'Reena. Do you really fucking think that she would have began getting her body adapted to yours if she didn't cherish being around you, huh? Now not only did I see you and her but I saw you and Haley too, she trusted you with her life the moment you two met. They wouldn't blame you for what those fuckers did to them. The only thing you could've done to save them both was put them in a fucking cell until you took out all the people you've been hunting since you were fucking fifteen. Ty after you save this girl and kill Scrum you need to get your head out of your ass and back in the game and get back to who you were before you started down this path that has destroyed everything everyone loves about you and made you push everyone away." Aria snapped off.

Ty didn't say anything because he knew it was true, he had pushed almost everyone away except his family; even Darian hadn't seen Ty for years until he started hunting Cerberus and they were always close. He hated it, he hated the hell he was living in day in day out but he thought he deserved it for what had happened. Maybe Aria was right, he needed to get his head back in the game. "You better be fucking listening to me because I'm only telling you this because I care Ty otherwise I would've told you to go fuck yourself and killed you a long time ago." Aria said. Ty chuckled and stopped at Liara's stairs and said "I know Aria you aren't much for giving grade A ass ripping's unless you care…I'll work on it all alright and I'll attempt to make up the last seven years to you after I'm done, you deserve that much and more for everything you've done for me over the years." Ty could feel Aria smiling as she said "I look forward to it now get your ass moving Haley's life is on the line."

Ty hung up and jogged up the stairs and walked past Nyxeris and into the room, "Hey you can't just walk in there." Nyxeris said. Oh he believed he could after what he and Liara had gone through after Shepard died, Ty got in the room and said "Liara T'Soni I find your security a bit lacking I could have shot you about five times by now and impaled your head with my tomahawk." Liara smiled without looking up as she had one hand holding a data-pad she was reading and the other in her lap, "Please I had you pinged right when you landed and I saw you coming before you even took three steps in this direction, if I felt threatened I would have ripped you apart with my biotics as soon as the doors opened." "Still feisty as ever, anyone ever tell you the sunset on Illium accents your eyes and skin very well I mean you look gorgeous holding that pistol between your legs." Ty said.

Liara's smile got bigger as she brought her other hand up and put the pistol on the table, "Still charming as ever, sorry can't be too sure on Illium." Liara said. "Hey no worries I understand but you shouldn't ever worry about me killing you, honestly I think our relationship has advanced." Ty said with a smirk. Liara seemed to remember the reference judging on the smile on her face, "That wasn't my fault you know that, we had little choice and it isn't as if I intended for that to happen, I didn't want us to land that way." "I believe the blush that covered your face said differently and your eyes totally were thinking differently." Ty said.

Ty looked back and saw Nyxeris lean against the wall behind him, he didn't like the look she had but he turned back to Liara who was attempting to stop the blush she had coming on, "Hmm you still get embarrassed, I guess you didn't spend enough time around me." Ty said. "I believe you are the reason why I still get embarrassed actually, can we move on please?" Liara asked. Ty smirked slightly and said "Sure, Goddess I'd hate to embarrass you further." Liara shook her head slightly also catching that reference, "I hate myself sometimes." Liara muttered under her breath. Ty chuckled out loud which surprised Liara who had thought she was quiet enough but Ty's hearing picked it up, "Its been a while Liara but I got information for you surprisingly."

That got her attention quickly, as she became more serious "What do you have?" Liara asked. "Commander Shepard is going to stop by looking for me." "What? How do you know?" Liara asked now interested. Ty couldn't resist "She's hunting me, trying to kill me actually." Ty answered as non-caringly as he could without laughing. "What?!" Liara yelped. "You know the Alliance wants me dead." Ty said as he did everything in his power not to start laughing or smile. "Yes but I had reports that Cerberus wanted to recruit you not-…you aren't being serious are you?" Liara asked.

Ty laughed a little at how flustered Liara had become then raised his hands in a surrendering motion and said "You caught me, sharp as ever though I am surprised you believed me." "You are very believable when you want to be." Liara answered with a slight smile. "True, honestly though I had to leave the Normandy since I have been fighting with her since she recruited me so she is looking for me and she has a message to ask you about me. I need you to tell her that I'm at the Blue Suns facility to the east past the Dantius towers and that I have back up. She'll need directions so do you know where that is?" Ty asked. "Ty I know this place better than anyone, don't worry I will tell her but after she's done helping you I may need both your help." Liara said.

Ty nodded, that was fair and he had been meaning to help her eventually to get back Feron, the Shadow Broker had to pay for that one. "I'll help you don't worry, oh and give her this." Ty pulled up his Omni-tool and grabbed a data pad and transferred the information onto it, he gave it to Liara and said "This is everything I know of the situation and some of the schematics to the building it should help her out." Liara nodded and said "Alright I'll make sure she gets it, be careful Ty." Ty started walking out and said "I will, see ya soon Liara."

Ty walked out and down as he called his brother hoping they were already waiting for him on Illium, rin…"We're on Illium where we meeting at?" Z answered. "Their facility in the east past the Dantius Towers." Ty said. "It's always got to be the biggest one doesn't, probably on the top floor to uncreative bastards." Z said. Ty chuckled and said "Yea they probably have defenses up around the building so we'll have to scout it before hand." "Already done we got a layout of every facility they have here and all their weapon systems, the one we're going to has an entrance right…ah the 95th floor." Z said. "And let me guess we get to fight our way up the other five to the top." Ty said jogging back to his bike. "Nope just four floors they only built it to ninety nine floors, weird you think that they'd just add another floor for an even one hundred." Z said. "Alright I'll see you on the 95th floor then." Ty said.

As he got on his bike EDI popped up and Ty said "EDI tell Shepard that there's an entrance on the 95th floor when you can and tell her Liara has more information on the place." "They are debriefing now and we are about to make our final Mass Jump to the Tasale System but I will inform her when they finish." EDI said. "Thanks EDI you're the best." Ty said as his mask full mask activated and he lifted off.

As he flew across Illium to the Blue Suns facility that happened to be a skyscraper he tried to ease the tension in his body that was forming, he could feel his anger building up and his demon thrashing about inside him just waiting break free. He couldn't let it free though, not without good reason to because once it was released he wasn't sure if he would ever break its hold again. It took him years the last time it happened and if something worse happened to Haley…He didn't want to think about the worse possibilities or what would become of him if he let his anger control him once again, he didn't like his odds of breaking its hold. He knew of one way he would be able to let it loose and come back but he didn't want to rely on that, that was a dark path and he wanted to just save Haley and be done with the Suns for good.

As he neared the base he broke out of traffic and flew straight up climbing the skyscraper quickly when EDI popped up and said "You are nearing the 95th floor would you like me to land when you reach the floor." "Yea, any idea if anyone knows I'm flying up the building or if my family is there yet?" Ty asked. "Internal scans show that there hasn't been an alarm raised yet and there are two life signatures on the floor you wish to land on." EDI said. "Good." Ty said.

Ty reached the floor and EDI landed his bike on the floor where his brother and dad were waiting with their own variations of space bikes his dads with a purple glow and his brothers with a neon green glow. Ty got off his and said "EDI patch yourself into my Omni-tool so we have constant communication." EDI disappeared off his bike and his Omni-tool popped up with a EDIs blue hologram, he couldn't help but smile just because he liked EDI and giving her more access than her small programming had to be slightly freeing for her compared to the shackles, "You're so cool EDI don't let anyone tell you differently." Ty said with a smile. "Thank you Ty." EDI said then disappeared.

Ty walked up to his dad and brother, his brother was sitting in the seat of his space bike fully while he leaned forward on the handle bars. His dad was sitting sideways in his seat while he played with one of his throwing knives. Now his brother was 26, 5'11 and 195 lbs. of pure muscle which made him stockier than Ty was but all his muscles were finely defined like his younger brother but Z had more of it. They both shared the same tan complexion and long dark brown hair but Z had wavier hair then Ty did and never ever ponytailed it stating that "It restricts the freedom I feel." To which Ty always retorted with "Yea but whose hair gets in his face and could possibly mess up a shot."

They shared a lot of the same facial features, full eyebrows, round eyes, high cheek bones, normal sized nose, slim jaw and their big smiles and perfect teeth but one thing they differed on was their eye color. His brother's irises were different than Ty's, instead of being purple Z's were bright neon green and like Ty's they filled out the white of his eyes when he visited past moments or lost control of his temper. Other than sharing the same facial features they also shared a somewhat similar personality, they both liked bantering in sarcasm and both lived by the code that had been taught to them since they were kids, Z was a bit more of a happy go lucky guy though, or as his family said "Fun time Z."

They liked helping people in need and both would kill any who messed with their friends or family but they differed on certain subjects. Z would have never gave Shepard the time of day, he wouldn't have killed her because she is the only reason the Reapers didn't kill everyone two years ago but he wouldn't have joined the mission, definitely with Miranda there. He had stronger feelings against Cerberus and the Alliance than Ty did, Ty hated them for what they did but if the need was dire he'd work with someone like Shepard, though if Cerberus by themselves approached him he'd probably just had shot them dead on Omega. The Alliance were assholes but Cerberus was evil, Ty could work with assholes, he couldn't work with evil. Z hated working with assholes and killed evil at the smell of it.

Z wore a black wife beater and black jean shorts with black and white skater shoes and fingerless black gloves. His weapons of choice were a Carnifix Hand Cannon, a customized Avenger assault rifle he had strapped to the back of his waist like Ty's sniper that was black with green trim with RBZ 4 Life engraved on the side of it and finally a katana that was strapped to his back that he trained himself to be able to dual wield with either gun. The katana had a black and purple hilt and a black and green fringe hanging off of it with RBZ 4 Life Family Forever engraved into the sword itself. He was covered in more tattoos than Ty was but the ones that stuck out was RBZ 4 Life on his left forearm, a wolf head on his lower belly, an eagle across his chest with the word Believe above it, a blue nine sided star on his left shoulder and a combination of Buddhism, Hinduism and Japanese art on his arms where there weren't tattoos and also on his back.

Their dad, or Mr. Rhoddy as most called him, was 6'0 and 210 lbs. of pure solid muscle; he was also 55 years old and could outwork both his sons. He had all the same facial features as his sons but then again that's where they got it from though his eyes were a normal green, a vibrant green but it was a normal human color. He was tan but unlike his sons he went in the sun a lot though even if he didn't he'd still be tan. His face didn't show that he was 55 and his body sure didn't either since he, like his sons, practiced parkour and could do handstand push ups like it was going out of style.

He had long ponytailed hair that was dirty blonde and a mustache and soul patch in the shape of a downward triangle, he wore a dark purple V-neck T-shirt and long black cargo shorts with black motorcycle boots. He also wore the RBZ 4 life tattoo on his left forearm and he had many other Native American tattoos on his body from feathers to animals and special designs. His weapons of choice was one sawed off Scimitar shotgun and a heavy Predator pistol and a custom Avenger assault rifle that was black with purple trim. He inherited the throwing knife tradition and had many holsters from his sides to his boots that held a custom knife.

The code that Z and Ty lived by was taught to them by their father and their father learned it from his father, Mr. Rhoddy had raised his sons to live by their code and not break it for anyone. Their father now, exception of the latest hunt for the Suns, didn't go out to fight as much, he was looking to retire from their way of life before it killed him so he could relax on a beach somewhere with his sons in peace and let their legends become exactly that, a legend.

The life they lived wasn't exactly glamorous and Mr. Rhoddy was tired of running since he had been for almost twenty years from the Alliance and more than that since his father was alive. He didn't have as much hate for the Alliance anymore, he didn't really hate anything anymore exception of Cerberus, because he had spent years harboring his hatred on someone and when he was finally able to release it all he was robbed of it. Ty and Z didn't know who their father would go ape shit on because he never showed anger around them but they knew well enough that if someone did earn his hatred than they really did something bad. Ever since that fight though their father hadn't spent time with hate and anger and he tried teaching Ty and Z that but they got his stubbornness.

Ty got to them both and they both got off of their bikes allowing Ty to hug them both as he said "Glad you guys came on this." "He's the last one from what happened its only right that we finish what we joined in on." Z said. "I see you brought along a friend from the Normandy." Mr. Rhoddy said. Ty chuckled and said "EDI this is my dad and brother guys this is EDI an AI on the Normandy who has now been installed onto my space bike and Omni-tool." EDI popped up and said "It's a pleasure to meet you." "You to, alright so this place is going to be well fortified more than the others, what's our plan?" Mr. Rhoddy asked.

Ty shrugged, planning wasn't one of his strongest qualities, "Go in clear floor by floor look for clues on Haley find her, save her and kill Scrum." Ty said. "You think it'll be that simple?" Z asked. Ty laughed and said "Hell no but a guy can dream right." "There may be more than one way in from here like an air duct maybe we can utilize that for a tactical advantage." Mr. Rhoddy said. Ty pulled up a scan on the building and it showed an air duct on the building off the platform, "Well that puts a little damper on Christmas." Ty said. Z chuckled slightly and said "Maybe you forgot but we're all trained in parkour that means we can get to that from here if there is stuff to climb."

Z walked away and scouted the side of the building, Ty saw a pole protruding out of the building then another higher right next to the air duct. "I got the air duct you two can go in through the front door." Z said. "Be careful." Ty said. Z jumped to the first pole then started swinging on it until he was able to get on top of it with his feet, he jumped to the higher pole then shimmied over to the air duct and pulled himself in and his voice came through Ty's earpiece "I'm always careful, I'll update you if I hear anything on Scrum or Haley." Z said.

Ty pulled out his pistols and said "So Daddy you ready for the final stretch on this road of vengeance and redemption." Mr. Rhoddy pulled out his pistol and sawed off shotgun and said "Ready when you are." Ty and his dad went through the door and an alarm went off, "Can't say I didn't expect that." Ty said as they started jogging through the complex looking for enemies. They turned the corner where there were some low walls for cover in front of them and across from them; six guys were waiting for them one with a rocket launcher, a Turian with an assault rifle and four regular ground soldiers with pistols or shotguns.

Ty and Mr. Rhoddy took cover behind the same low wall and Ty said "Just like the good old days right." "When were those again?" Mr. Rhoddy joked. Ty smirked and got out of cover and shot two of the regular soldiers in the head and hit the Turians shield three times before being forced into cover because of the amount of gunfire. "I taught you better than that you're supposed to do this." Mr. Rhoddy said.

He stood up and with his pistol shot the other two regular soldiers in the head, the rocket launcher girl in the chest twice and punctuated it with another head shot on the Turian; Ty smirked as his dad got back into cover and said "That's how it's done." "Cocky bastard." Ty said still smirking. Ty and his dad got out of cover and started walking cautiously through the building, "Ty just heard Scrums voice over a communicator he said he knows you and daddy are there and has taken the girl with him to the top floor, also said you were a piece of shit looking for an already dead bitch." Z whispered through his comm. Ty's fuse was lit but he said "Alright keep moving and be stealthy we just cleared some guys out but there will be more, there's always more."

**A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one, it took me two days to get it exactly how I liked and you might want to expect that for the next as well since the next is an important chapter, it is Ty's loyalty mission and I have to make sure I get it just right with everything that goes on during it so it may or may not be up tomorrow. I am slightly excited for the next chapter though just because of what it contains though I hope it turns out as high as my hopes are and it doesn't fall flat on its face, that would suck for all involved I believe. Anyway not much else to say except thank you to those reading and those who follow and favorite this story, we are fifteen chapters down, sixteen actually if you include the prologue but that's besides the point, and I still have a long road planned ahead so thank you for showing your support early and I hope I keep you entertained through the whole journey. So thank you to all of you who read this and I will see you next time.**

**Nuclear Meltdown T-Minus: One chapter, evacuate as soon as possible go to ground and hope that the shit doesn't hit you.**


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

End of the Road the Demon Unleashed

**A/N/Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Mass Effect Universe, that belongs to Bioware/E/A. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not part of the actual Mass Effect Universe. I apologize for the delay on this chapter but I hope it turned out good.**

** Nuclear Meltdown imminent! Duck in Cover! Violence is coming! You have been warned! RUN!**

"I wish we had more time to catch up Shepard but right now you need to go help Ty." Liara said. Shepard stood on the other side of the table that had her old friend sitting behind it as she nodded in agreement with her. Miranda had apparently contacted EDI to talk to Ty back on the Normandy while she was waiting for Shepard to finish with Jacobs father and learned that Ty wasn't even on the Normandy anymore, after Shepard had finished up with Jacobs father Miranda told her and Jacob on the ride back that he had left to go save his friend without any help.

At first Shepard got a little agitated with him, she had thought at first that he wasn't thinking and was just reacting to the situation instead of waiting for Shepard to get back and go in with a team. She had promised to help him out and she didn't like the fact he was making her break her own promise but then she thought about it more, Ty didn't react without thinking through what he was doing just like back on Omega. He knew what he was doing getting himself blow to hell and back for her and Miranda though he probably didn't think he would get impaled. Then Shepard thought about it even more, his friend Haley was captured at the hands of this mercenary group doing god knows what to her and any second longer she spent with them could either mean death or more pain.

The more and more Shepard thought about it she began to understand his motives for just up and leaving, he'd no doubt call his family for back up and if they moved as fast as he did then they'd more than likely be there when he arrived. One thing that had Shepard actually worried was what Ty was walking into, despite all the Illusive Man's bullshit he had been right about Ty's abilities and if his sources were right then if he lost his temper they were all in for a show of some sort. Shepard and Jack had seen it slightly back on Korlus but he seemed to manage to keep his anger still chained but she saw some of it seep through. "Liara do you know anything about what he is going to find there?" Shepard asked. "You are worried about his legendary temper I take it?" Liara asked.

Shepard nodded though she was surprised Liara knew about it but it seemed Shepard was the only one who didn't really know as much about Ty as everyone else though that had began to change recently. "He left me a data-pad to give you…here it is, this has all the information you need but if you want a quick overview of what it says than know that your worry of his temper is well placed. They are experimenting on his friend and if he sees anything or hears anything that pertains to what they did you may see him lose control." Liara said as she gave Shepard the data-pad. "Why do I get the feeling there's more to his temper than everyone is letting on?" Garrus asked. "Because there is but there is no time for me to explain that, you need to get to him soon otherwise you may lose him." Liara said. Shepard saw a look in Liara's eye that worried her, "Lose him?" Shepard asked. "You will need to ask him I'm not sure how to explain it other than when he loses his temper he changes." Liara answered.

That was almost exactly how the Illusive man explained it and it also was probably the only information she was going to get out of Liara about it, she had to go help Ty if he really did change. She felt a sudden protectiveness over him though she wasn't sure why, he was one of her crew but this felt different. "I'll come by after I'm done helping Ty out so we can catch up." Shepard said as she stood up. Liara nodded and said "I look forward to it; I hope you get Ty and his friend out of there safely." "Thanks Liara." Shepard said. As Shepard walked out with Jack and Garrus in tow she opened up her omni-tool to call Ty, hopefully he was still okay.

* * *

Ty and his dad were in cover as rounds impacted against the corner Ty was taking cover against and the low wall his dad was sitting with his back against, they had advanced further into the building but ran into the twenty Blue Suns who were trying their best to kill them both. Ty blind fired around the corner hoping to hit someone just to lighten up the fire while his dad looked like he was relaxing against the low wall. "I should have invited Grunt, he would've loved this." Ty said as he stopped blinding firing and rested his head against the wall. Mr. Rhoddy looked over to him with a raised eyebrow as he asked "I take it he's a Krogan?" "Yup genetically built and is huge, he loves fighting more than any Krogan I have met I think." Ty said. Mr. Rhoddy nodded slightly then got into a crouch before standing up and shooting down field with precise shots, he got back into cover and said "Now this reminds me of the good old days, that is five more for me by the way."

Ty not wanting to be outdone just yet by his dad put his pistols away and pulled his sniper out than got out of cover and aimed down his sights, he saw four guys near each other so he took a deep breath and let it out than took another and held it as time began to slow for him, the first guy he aimed at actually began to go back into cover but he wasn't quick enough as Ty pulled the trigger and the round pierced through his skull. Ty moved to the next guy who was a Batarian and Ty pulled the trigger again sending a round right in between his four eyes, the next round he fired pierced the next mercenary in the throat making him drop his gun and grab at his throat as he fell to the ground. The last mercenary was still attempting to look at all three of his fallen comrades when Ty's last round found its way through the side of his head.

Bullets impacted against his corner making Ty retreat back behind the wall when EDI came into their comms, "If I can interject Ty there is some explosives behind them, a well placed shot could take out multiple Blue Suns, also Shepard would like to talk to you." An explosion hit Ty's corner sending a shockwave through his body so he said "Tell her that I'm a little busy at the moment and thanks for the advice, Daddy you hear that?" "Way ahead of you buddy." Mr. Rhoddy said.

Ty went out of cover at the same time as his dad and aimed his sights down again at the Suns and waited for the explosion, Mr. Rhoddy had pulled out his Avenger and shot a burst shot at the explosives. The shockwave sent tremors through the building and took out six of the guys killing them either through the explosion or through being set aflame which left five guys who were knocked to the floor because of the explosion. Ty held his breath and searched for his targets, the first two were on their backs and Ty hit them with headshots, the third he shot through side and through his heart, the fourth was on his hands and knees and Ty shot him through the throat then the final was on his knees sitting up so he shot him in both shoulders and both knees but left him alive, barely.

Ty started walking towards the carnage with his dad and said "Daddy don't kill him yet I got a few questions." Mr. Rhoddy nodded and they continued walking until they got to the man laying on his belly groaning in pain, Ty kicked him over and pointed his sniper rifle into the mans face and asked "You know who we are don't you?" The man nodded and Ty took his hood off and said "Good then you know that I will kill you without second thought unless you answer my questions, where is Haley?" "The bitch is on the top floor with Scrum you asshole." The man said. Ty smirked and flipped his sniper rifle around so he was holding the barrel in his hands and said "Very poor choice of words." Ty slammed his foot onto the guy's leg right above his knee forcing him to straighten it out then he brought his sniper over his head and slammed it down onto his knee breaking it along with hitting the original bullet wound.

The mans eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his head as he began screaming and grabbing at his leg, Ty slammed his foot into the now broken knee making the man squirm in pain as he continued to scream, as Ty was about to stamp on it again his dad put his hand on his shoulder indicating it was time to stop torturing the guy and get back to business. Ty wasn't really sure why he hadn't realized he had gotten off track but he took his foot off the guy's leg and said "Now my next question what have you done to my friend because rumor has it your testing biotics on her." "She already had biotics and an implant, Tarak found out she had the potential to become a powerful biotic before he sent her here and told Scrum to do whatever it took to make her powerful and brainwash her to work with us so she would fight you the problem is the bitch is still resilient to the Suns."

_Why didn't I ever notice she had an amp, maybe this guy is full of shit, _Ty thought, _and brainwashing her to fight me is smart even by Tarak's standards, I don't know if I could kill her if that happened, I don't think I could kill any of my friends if that happened. _That was something Ty hoped he never had to deal with but he sighed on the outside for the mercenary calling Haley a bitch, his fuse had been lit already but this was just shortening his wick, nobody called any of his friends a bitch. He put his sniper away and pulled out his tomahawk and slammed his foot onto the man's left forearm and asked "Hand or finger?" "What?" The man asked.

Ty shrugged as he crouched down next to him and then he slammed his tomahawk across his middle and index finger cutting them like butter, the man screamed in agony and Ty said "Consider yourself lucky since I missed your hand, call her a bitch again and I'll cut your fucking head off. How does Scrum plan on making her work for the Suns once they make her into a powerful biotic?" The man had his mouth closed as he muffled his screams so Ty placed his blade gingerly on his pinky and said "Answer me and you keep your remaining fingers." The man looked at him with hatred as tears were starting to come out of his eyes, "He's gonna plant a control chip in her head, she's already a biotic but she can't control it yet. Scrum is gonna put it in after he kills you and your piece of shit father you sadistic bastard, the bitch has it coming she killed some of the Suns already."

_Piece of shit father? The bitch? He just instigated his own death, _Ty thought as he put his tomahawks away. Ty stood up as the mercenary began holding his hand where his fingers had been, "I hope he kills her right in front of you just like Jedore killed that Quarian bitch!" The man yelled at Ty. Ty felt his whole body twitch at the mention of Jedore killing Ka'Reena, Ty pulled out his sniper rifle and unfolded it as he felt his anger begin to rise, "Know that this death was your own doing asshole." Ty said. He flipped his sniper so the barrel was in his hands and then he brought it over his head and slammed it down into the mans chest then he wound it up again and brought it down into the mercenary's good knee breaking it as well. As Ty wound up again the mercenary attempted to sit up and grab his knee but as he did Ty swung his sniper right into the mercenary's face knocking him back down.

He stepped closer to the mans face and began to bring his sniper down repeatedly into his face until all that was left of it was a bloody mess that left him unrecognizable. Ty's rage had kicked in as his breaths became sharper and his veins and muscles began to bulge out. Ty looked back at his dad but even despite the animal like ferocity he showed Mr. Rhoddy was unfazed by Ty's rage, he had done and seen far worse from himself and his sons. "I know that fire in your eyes, let's go get this guy." Mr. Rhoddy said as he motioned Ty to continue forward.

Ty simply nodded and started walking towards the stairs with his dad, "What the fuck was that explosion about, it nearly took out the air duct." Z's voice came through the comm. "We were outnumbered, any new news?" Mr. Rhoddy asked. "No but I think I'm on the 98th floor and I can see a bunch of test labs through the grate I'm sitting by." Z said. "Alright hold there until we get there and try not to be spotted." Mr. Rhoddy said. "Ten four, Ty alright?" Z asked. "His demon is getting un-chained, we'll be there soon." Mr. Rhoddy said. "Gotcha see ya soon, love you." Z said. "Love you." Mr. Rhoddy said as they started up the stairs. Ty was glad his brother and dad knew what was happening just so he didn't have to explain it to anyone; they understood what was wrong with him right now. He had to get it back under control before it got completely un-chained, he couldn't go down that path again. He needed to save Haley without it.

Ty pulled up his Omni-tool as he thought about his demon remembering that EDI had told him Shepard wanted to talk, he wasn't so sure he wanted to talk to her in the state of mind he was in but he brought up EDI and asked "EDI where's Shepard?" EDI popped up and said "Flying to the building now with Garrus and Jack would you like me to patch her in." "Sure." Ty said.

They got to the top of the stairs and Mr. Rhoddy said "Stay here I'll go scout ahead and kill anyone who gets in the way." Ty nodded knowing his dad could handle himself better than anyone he knew so he let his dad walk off as Shepard's voice came through, "So you've got a lot of explaining to do, ditching the Normandy without permission a-" Ty interrupted her and said "What the fuck did you want me to do? Haley's life is on the line you're damn right I ditched to go save her. I've already blown through the 95th and 96th floor and my dad is working on the 97th right now, did you get Liara's information and EDIs?" Ty asked.

Her tone had been in a joking manor but Ty didn't notice it in his state of mind, he just wanted to save Haley and be done with Scrum so he could move on from the chapter of his life that was so full of bad memories. He knew he probably wouldn't ever move on but he hoped that when he finished Scrum and saved Haley he would at least attempt to move into a new chapter of his life. "…Yeah I did. Should we still come in at the 95th floor?" Shepard asked. "Yea but I can't guarantee that no one will be there since they probably will come up from the bottom floors if they are smart." Ty said. "So why did I need to bring Garrus and Jack it sounds like there wont be much sniping or fighting for that matter." Shepard said. "Better safe than sorry I guess was my thinking at the moment. Just have Jack and Garrus ready and do me a favor before you get here ask Jack why I'm a vengeful asshole and tell her I want her to explain it in short…If I'm still me by the end of this and if you still want me in your squad I'll tell you it in full." Ty said.

Before Shepard could say anything Ty shut his transmitter off on her and started looking for his dad, it didn't take long after taking a few corners he found his dad fighting with his sawed off and a knife fighting close quarters, his dad shot the sawed off blasting one guy away then stabbed another in the throat. Before the other three knew what happened he sliced ones throat and shot another blast of his shotgun into another and threw his knife in between the eyes of the last.

Ty saw two guys running away from his dad and they hadn't seen him yet so Ty hit his cloak and pulled his tomahawks out. As they got close Ty slammed the spike end of his tomahawks into their chests piercing through their armor and killing them almost instantly. Ty put his tomahawks away and he caught up to his dad who looked like he was having a good time due to the close quarter's fight he had just dominated. They didn't trade many words as they continued onto the next floor where there were very minimal Blue Suns so they decided to do it discreetly.

They were definitely in the room that Z was in an air duct in, there was a bunch of research rooms with humans and aliens alike laying on some of the beds, by the smell they were all dead. There were five rooms on the right and six so after a silent conversation of hand motions Ty and his dad deduced that Ty was going to take the five rooms on the right and his dad was going to take the six on the left which all lead to the last room that was bigger and what Ty assumed to be the main one.

Ty cloaked and broke the neck of the first guy in the first room and put him down softly then crouched and snuck into the next room with two guys waiting to be killed, he got behind one and tapped his shoulder as he threw his tomahawk at the other guy killing him instantly with a head shot and slamming his hand into the other mercs throat breaking his windpipe followed by snapping his neck. Ty crouched and grabbed his tomahawk and went to the next room slicing a Batarians throat when the other Turian wasn't looking then walked up behind him and lodging both of his tomahawks into the back of his head.

He passed through the fourth room that had no one in it and broke the last guys neck before the main room, Ty saw the air duct going through that room so that's where he assumed his brother was waiting, as both Ty and his dad entered the main room the grate of the air duct was kicked out and Z came flying out with his katana drawn. He landed and a Batarian and Turian popped up but they were soon met by Z's katana. Z lodged the blade of his katana into the throat of the Turian then kicked the Batarian in the chest as he brought the katana out of the Turians throat letting the Turian crumple to the floor.

The Batarian recovered from the kick but Z was ready for him as the Batarian attempted to charge him, Z brought his katana back with the blade facing towards the Batarian at Z's shoulder level. As the Batarian got in range he stabbed it forward making the Batarian run himself into it before Z pushed it in the rest of the way. Z pulled it out and swung it backwards making the blood fly off of it. Z looked over to his brother and dad and said "I hate waiting; those two have been talking trash the whole time I've been sitting up there. The good news is that there's information in that console over there I heard them talking about."

Ty nodded and headed over to the console and started going through the information, most of it was just information Tarak passed to Scrum about Haley but three things of interest got Ty's attention, the first was a plan that the Blue Suns were initiating to try and take down the other merc bands then take down Aria. A power vacuum was forming since Shepard showed up on Omega and took out the three mercenary group leaders on Omega and the Blue Suns were trying to capitalize on it. The second was that Haley had great potential in biotics, she could be very powerful if trained right and could unlock some abilities that only the Asari Justicar's and Matriarchs have unlocked which would not only prove helpful for her own protection but in the coming fight against the Reapers.

The third item of interest began to send Ty over the edge, there was a woman dead in the room they were in and the woman happened to be Haley's mom, that was bad but what was worse was they were doing horrific things that he would never mention to another soul to her to get Haley to do tests. Ty downloaded the information and when it was received his rage seeped out. He grabbed the first non-bolted down object he could find, which happened to be a big chair, and let out a wordless scream as he tossed it out the glass window shattering it. He walked over to the Haley's mom and said in an angry tone "This was Haley's mom, the sick fuckers were using her to get Haley to do tests and they killed her." Ty's rage was exploding in him but he was still trying to fight it not wanting to lose complete control of it. He looked around the room then saw the stairs leading to the top floor, "This ends now by my hands, get Haley's mom back to Shepard's shuttle and tell her to keep moving forward." Ty said. "You sure Ty?" Z asked.

Ty nodded and walked over to the stairs, before he left he said "This is the only way to redeem myself for what I've let happen and what I've done, be safe on the way down Shepard might think your hostiles." "Be safe Ty." Z said. "I will." Ty said as he started jogging up the stairs. Ty didn't know what Scrum had waiting for him but he didn't care, his demon was unchaining itself and if he lost control he was going to let it loose on the Batarian bastard who gave Tarak Ka'Reena's location and information and more than likely helped find Haley and killed her mother. He got up the stairs and he saw Scrum with Haley on the far side of the room in a lab room that had all glass walls.

There were five Blue Suns standing guard in front of the glass lab, they looked more advanced then the ones Ty and Mr. Rhoddy had blown through on the way up but that didn't matter they would die the same. Haley was on her knees next to Scrum who had his back turned to Ty but Haley looked up from her slouched position and saw Ty and when she did Ty could see the look of hope mixed with desperation and pain. "TY!" Haley yelled.

Her voice was hoarse like she had been screaming for long periods of time and knowing the Suns and seeing that her hands had Omni-shackles and her shirt and jeans were ripped up she probably was screaming a lot, that added more fuel to Ty's inner inferno. Other than the cuts and bruises she looked the same as she did a year and a half ago all five foot three of her. She still had her thin eyebrows and round green brown eyes though her eyes were bloodshot and her right eyebrow where she had a piercing had a gash, her slim jaw and high cheek bones, her nicely shaped lips had a cut going through them on the right side, and she had her long black hair as well.

Her body was still in an hourglass shape and her muscles were still well toned by the looks of it, her boobs were still the good natural size that fit her body well so she definitely didn't get implants like she teased Ty she was going to because of a joke he said. Aside from all his anger and the shitty predicament that he was faced with it was good to see Haley alive and like the way she was before.

Scrum turned around and slapped Haley across the head and said "Shut up bitch." Haley fell to the floor but forced herself back up as Scrum turned to Ty "I am impressed that you made it this far Ty I thought for sure you would have killed yourself after you let your girlfriend die but maybe it will take seeing this bitch die to finally rid the universe of you." Scrum said. "You do that and I will rip your fucking eyes out!" Ty yelled back. Scrum smirked slightly and said "Your threats are empty just like Tarak left you, finish him off."

A shot rang out and Ty felt a sudden burning on his right peck until it exploded into an excruciating pain, he grabbed his chest as the force from the round made him fall down to his butt. He was surprised to see blood coming out of the new graze wound that was now under his arm. Getting shot was not part of the plan but nothing ever goes according to plan and all it did was make his bloodlust skyrocket as he applied medi-gel to stop the bleeding and fix the cybernetics.

Ty looked up to Scrum and Haley and saw tears running down Haley's face as she cried out "Ty don't die please, you have to let your demon fre-." Scrum back handed her again knocking her to the ground again as he yelled "If you don't shut up I'll kill you understand!" Haley forced herself back up as she stared at the grounded Ty. He felt his demon raging in its cage trying to break its way out but he continued to hold it back, he felt his mind pull his conscious self in and when it did he saw a familiar Asari "_Why are you holding it back?" Tara asked. _

_Ty looked up and saw her kneeling next to him, he wasn't an idiot he knew she was dead but seeing her again without a memory was weird. She was just his anger taking form in his mind and eye sight as a fallen friend of his but he had wished she was still alive, "I don't want to lose myself again because there is no guarantee that it will save her or that I will come back from it. It took years last time and I don't want to go down that path again." Ty thought. "Who the hell are you? You don't sound like Tyler Rhoddy." Ty shook his head hearing the Krogan from his squad's voice. "Tyler Rhoddy wouldn't sit on his ass while his friend was at the hands of that bastard holding back the one thing that would let him kill all in his path and save her." The Krogan said. "Tyler Rhoddy is just a legend he doesn't exist anymore." Ty thought. "Bullshit, you are just holding him back out of fear. You don't let fear run your life." Tara said._

_Ty could feel his anger raising and taking more control of his mind, Ty felt Tara's hand rest on his hand as she said "You can do this, we'll guide you." Ty looked up to her and thought "And if I don't come back, what then?" Tara stood up and was soon joined by all of his dead friends including Ka'Reena, seeing them all in front of him all looking ready to fight by his side almost brought Ty to tears. Tara put her hand out for him to grab and said "Take a leap of faith, you can do this." Ty looked past them at Haley and saw tears running down her face, everyone around him were all in slow motion except for his dead friends. Ty looked back to his friends and Tara's extended hand, he reached up and grabbed it and as he did he saw them all begin to absorb into him and as each one did he felt his demon to come out of his cage. _

Needles began to prick at Ty's skin as he pushed himself off the floor and back into reality, he felt his body begin to shake uncontrollably as he got both feet planted firmly on the ground, he felt his normal self leaving and his anger taking control of him, I_ am not going to sit here and let them harm her any longer! _Ty thought. His voice was mixed with anger and anguish as he said "Enough...I cannot...let this go on...any longer." He would not let his anger be chained any longer, Scrum broke one of Ty's golden rules twice now, never, ever lay a hand on one of Ty's friends.

The needles poking his skin moved over his entire body even onto his eyes which told him his pupils were shrinking to their smallest size, Ty let go of his chest since the medi-gel had healed the graze wound and then he looked at his hand that was now blood covered. He saw the blood on his hand and how shaky it was remembering that it had looked the same when Ka'Reena died. Seeing his hand covered in blood, no matter the color, always unchained him now, this time was no different. His anger continued to surge as he pulled his tomahawks from their holsters. _Tyler Rhoddy isn't just a legend, you are him and you cannot hide from that. Embrace your demon and let it run free_, Ty thought. His own pep talk mixed with his bloody hand had the desired effect, _They've killed so many innocents and hurt Haley so much, I can't let it continue I won't just stand idly by_, Ty thought. Another shot rang out but this time it grazed his right arm and then the needles poking his skin turned into knives and they all stabbed into every part of Ty numbing his body of all pain, _And I wont let them live ANY LONGER!_ Ty's demon unleashed itself with a thundering roar "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

As Ty's demon was roaring he felt an energy in him exploding out and it seemed to spread to all near him freezing them like they were in a stasis field but there was no stasis field it was just the pure shock of seeing him change and hearing his roar. His pupils suddenly started shrinking more and more, his demon was in fact transforming him into something scary and he could feel it all over his body as the mental cold blades were still stabbed into his body.

As his pupils shrank his purple irises started to spread like water filling over the white more and more, his pupils shrank completely until they didn't exist and the purple had consumed the rest. His eyes were now completely purple but this time he wasn't visiting the past, oh no this time his demon was in control and his focus was on Scrum and the other Suns. His muscles flexed out to the point they looked like they were going to pop, his veins in both his arms became bluer and bluer until they were completely visible and a dark blue making it look like he had blue designs across his arms. His scream echoed across the room with everyone still frozen from it, it wasn't like anything anyone in the room except Ty and Haley could comprehend because they were the only ones who had lived it.

The Suns were not able to comprehend the sight they were seeing, they could see the change and that his aura was changing, the Ty everyone had seen walk in wasn't there anymore this was Tyler Rhoddy, grandson of a killer, son of a murderer, and a mass murderer himself. This was the dark side of him, a side very few people had seen and lived to tell the tale, any remorse, any code or moral was erased and he was about to enjoy every kill and more if he had the time to torture, his demon was unleashed.

The change was apparent to everyone who was in the room; the only thing that could make him more menacing was a lighting aura around him. "Wh- What are you waiting for ge- get him." Scrum ordered. "Uh boss somethi-" The Blue Sun was interrupted by Ty's voice which was now angrier, "No one has pushed me this far for years so I hope you are proud of yourselves. You've all passed the point of redemption killing all those innocents down there for no reason. I've dealt with scum like you before and the only way to end the trail of bloodshed and anguish is your own deaths. You Suns have killed too many innocents here, you've hurt too many of my friends and killed more than I should have ever allowed, you even killed Haley's mother…" Ty's anger rose substantially remembering Haley's mother and all his friends he lost for a second and as his anger rose, his voice did as well "I will not let this continue!" Ty roared. It was time for a leap of faith; his fallen friends were going to be his guide.

* * *

Shepard, Garrus, and Jack had climbed the stairs to the final floor where they finally found Ty and as they found him he was shot in the chest. Jack went to go forward but Garrus stopped her and said "Jack wait he's already fixing himself up and if we screw up the element of surprise his friend could be killed." Jack stopped and Shepard watched closely knowing that his cybernetics would heal quicker than a normal wound would, she saw his friend on her knees shackled at the wrists with cuts and bruises on her arms and face as the lead Sun back handed her for trying to communicate with Ty. Garrus aimed down his sniper as Ty reached slightly out but then began to push himself up and started talking again, before Garrus could aim down his sights Shepard motioned him to stand down. She didn't know what it was but something was telling her to wait and see what happened despite her better intentions to not allow him to lose control.

Another shot rang out and it skimmed Ty's right arm but as it did he let out an Earth shattering roar that shook the room, his roar echoed around the room as his muscles started getting bigger and his veins got bluer "Look at Ty's arms they are covered in blue." Garrus said. "What the fuck." Jack said in astonishment. _His muscles are completely tensed up and his veins…what the hell did they awake in him, _Shepard thought. "I've never seen any human or alien do this." Shepard said. Shepard watched as Ty's hands gripped his tomahawks tighter making his knuckles go white, the Suns were all completely frozen and Haley had a slight smile on her face, "Remember when Ty freaked on Jedore." Jack stated. "Yeah." Shepard responded knowing where Jack was heading with it. "This is the second coming of the motherfucker." Jack said_. He's changing, the stories were true about his anger changing him but does he change back? God I hope he changes back,_ Shepard thought.

The echo of Ty's roar ended and you could feel the tension building in the room between him and the Suns, the leader ordered the Suns to kill him but Ty interrupted them and as he started talking the three glanced at each other with different looks but all had the same reason behind it, it didn't sound like the Ty they had accustomed to hearing and the underlying tone of his voice wasn't his usual caring, sympathetic, sarcastic happy tone, his voice didn't waver and it was devoid of all the caring, sympathy, sarcasm, and happiness that Ty was usually known for having, now his tone was so angry and full of hate it seemed like someone else was talking, "I will not let this continue!" Ty screamed.

* * *

Ty jolted forward and jumped a low barrier completely clearing it and continued running at un-human speeds, the first Sun stood in the way and Ty jumped up and brought his right tomahawk back then tackled the guy and started swinging his tomahawk down repeatedly until the mans face looked like red chopped meat. Ty rolled forward off of him and brought both his tomahawks up the middle of the next guy and slammed both into the side of the guy's neck, he kicked him out of the way and as he ran to the next guy who looked scared he screamed, "DIE!" Ty spun as he got to the guy then brought both tomahawks into the guys chest and followed him to the ground and slammed his tomahawks into his chest repeatedly. Ty looked at the last two guys between him and Scrum who were seeing him as the devil, "You…you're crazy I didn't sign up for this." The Batarian said.

Before the Batarian could run his face was lodged with a tomahawk, Ty smirked at himself and said loudly "Only the innocent deserve mercy!" Ty stood up and walked slowly as he picked up his tomahawk casually. He got right up to the last guy who was frozen stiff and put one tomahawk away and said "Boo." The man freaked out but Ty grabbed him by his throat and as Ty looked into the man's eyes he put his other tomahawk away and pulled his pistol out and put it to the mans mouth and said "Say ah." Ty pulled the trigger and let the man drop then he shot the remainder of the thermal clip into the man's chest just to be sure. He put his pistol away and stared at Scrum when a group of four more guys came running from a back room of the glass room Scrum was hiding in.

They surrounded Ty with two in front of him and two behind him, Ty looked at them all and asked "Who wants to die first?" The guy that was in front of him on his left ran forward first but was met by Ty's right hand hitting him in the throat as hard as he could making him crumple to the ground dead with a thud. The guy on his back left moved next going to grab Ty but Ty flipped him over his shoulder and back kicked the guy to his back right in the jaw as hard as he could knocking him to the floor, the man who Ty had flipped over his shoulder attempted to sweep kick Ty from the ground but Ty jumped over the kick and landed on the back of the guys neck breaking it.

As Ty landed on the guy's neck he pulled out both pistols and aimed one at the last man standing and the other he had kicked in the face, "Time to die." Ty said. The man attempted to back away in fear but Ty unloaded his pistol into his chest and unloaded his other pistol into the body of the merc on the ground. Satisfied that they were all dead Ty turned his animalistic gaze to Scrum who was in disbelief, "Yo- you were shot and Tho- those were my best guys, what the hell are you?" Scrum said. Ty smirked as he walked slowly towards him than he said "I am the spirits of all the innocent lives you have preyed on, I am the leader of the men and women you helped murder eight years ago, I am the lover of the innocent woman that you assisted in capturing and murdering right in front of me, I am the grandson and son of the two most skilled hunters and killers in all of this galaxy."

Ty got a few feet before the glass and pulled both his tomahawks out again and said "My name is Tyler Rhoddy and since I started on this path of vengeance I have become the baddest motherfucker in this galaxy and the end of everything you know." "No this is not how it ends." Scrum said looking around for something more than likely a way out. "That is no longer for you to decide." Ty said. Scrum looked at Haley then back at Ty then he grabbed her and put a gun to her head and said "If you want your pretty little bitch to survive it will be."

That was the last straw and Scrums last move, Ty slammed his tomahawk into the glass cracking it then he jolted forward and jumped breaking his way through the glass, as he landed on the ground Scrum pointed the gun at him and shot. He hadn't thought about that but as Ty flinched from what he imagined an impeding round piercing frenzy to go with the stabbing pains the rounds were blocked by a biotic barrier, a purple aura surrounded Haley's arm as she aimed it at Ty. The biotic barrier that surrounded Ty stopped the rounds from hitting him but caused blood to start running down her nose. Haley gave Ty a smile as her eyes began to roll upwards into her skull and Scrum ran out of ammo in his thermal clip.

Haley fell as dead weight to the ground and Ty threw his tomahawk at Scrums foot piercing it and making him fall to the floor, Ty grabbed his tomahawk and put both away and picked Scrum up by his throat and dragged him to the closest wall. As he got to it he slammed Scrum hard against it then pushed is left forearm into his throat and said "Why did you do it Scrum? My guys were innocent and so was Ka'Reena, why did you kill them all?" "Like you cared about your guys Ty you didn't give a damn about them you didn't even know all their names." Scrum said.

Ty slammed his right hand into his chest hard enough to break some ribs "Fuck." Scrum mumbled and Ty said "Really so the names Urdnot Kar the first and last Krogan in the Suns, Gallick the Batarian who had been in the Blue Suns a long time, Whitney Lopez and Brad Dillon both humans, Grissom first and last Drell in the Suns, Valera and Tara T 'Vana the two first and last Asari's in the Suns, Carson Vataris a Turian and Darian Talin another Turian and the only other living member besides me Scrum do they ring any bells." Scrum coughed and said "Whatever they betrayed the Suns once they followed you that's what Tarak said." Ty grabbed Scrum with both hands then tossed him across the room making him slam into a desk hard. Ty walked over and kicked him as hard as he could in the chest then picked him up again and slammed his head face down into the desk and said "BULLSHIT SCRUM! There were women in children on that ship you would've done the same thing back then."

Scrum coughed and said "Bullshit Taraks Suns didn't sell people back then." "I know what I saw! Why did Tarak let Jedore do it? He didn't care that she wanted me dead because I didn't sleep with her what was the real reason?" Ty said. "Once you got your own squad Tarak started getting paranoid thinking you'd betray him so he wanted you out of the way, you were supposed to be on that ship when it blew but Jedore fucked it up she wanted you to feel pain before you died that's why she waited till you were off and why she killed your girlfriend right in front of you." Scrum said.

Ty was fuming so he reeled Scrums head back far then slammed it as hard as he could into the desk and as his head bounced up he punched him in the back of the head hard making his head slam back into the table. "Stop that shit." Scrum managed to get out. Ty didn't hear it he grabbed Scrum and turned him around then slammed his left forearm across his throat again pinning him against the desk as he said "You low life fuckers! Why did you help them find her?!" "I knew of Ka'Reena because she came to Omega before she met you once so she was in my list and I had a bunch of information on her since she was Quarian. I didn't know they were going to kill her that wasn't part of the deal Tarak made me back then." Scrum said as he coughed. "You were there when they killed her Scrum you didn't seem to care that they had her at gun point." Ty said.

Scrum spat blood away from Ty, smart move on his part, "Bullshit Ty you're choosing to remember it differently, when Jedore pulled out that gun me and Jason tried to defuse the situation but all Jedore cared about was herself and Tarak wanted you to come at him stupid with rage but he didn't know your rage made you focus. They fucked us all when they killed her and left you alive to suffer, me and Jason were the only ones that realized that." Scrum said.

Flashes of the day popped into Ty's head and he remembered Scrum and Jason trying to stop Jedore and then he remembered seeing Ka'Reena get shot in the back of the head again which fueled his rage as he punched Scrum in the stomach with his right hand and said "Then why did you take Haley Scrum? You could've just told Tarak to fuck off?" "Money and drugs have changed me but don't get all self-righteous with me Ty look at what you did just today, you mutilated all the men in this building just so you can taste revenge and you've been wasting this whole time trying to get answers instead of checking on your friend. You are no different than me, Tarak, Jedore or Jason and neither is your family. You are all sadistic bastards just like us so stop creating this fantasy that you are better than any of us low life mercs. Just kill me and get it over with." Scrum said.

Ty looked over at Haley who was still passed out with blood rushing out of her nose but what was new was Shepard kneeling down next to her with her omni-tool out, Garrus and Jack were standing on the other side of the broken glass where Ty had jumped through both looking at him in a bit of awe. _Fuck him I'm better than he is,_ Ty thought. Ty's eyes turned back to normal and everything else that changed on his body went back to normal as he said "No Ka'Reena wouldn't want me to she wouldn't have wanted this, your internally bleeding and will die soon enough since you can't walk. Enjoy a slow death Scrum you deserve it."

Ty let him slide off the desk and fall to the ground with a thud while he walked over to Haley and Shepard. "Let's go." Ty said bluntly as he picked her up in his arms. Shepard nodded quietly and began walking with Ty as he said "Give Tarak and the others my regards in hell asshole." Ty and Shepard got to the glass when he heard Scrum laughing then coughing, "She's as good as dead Ty I implanted her with miniature bomb that will kill her in ten minutes and you don't have the time or technology to save her."

Ty was thankful that Shepard was next to him as he came to an abrupt stop, Scrum needed to die. As Shepard turned to see what Ty was doing he said "Hold her for me." "Ty your above revenge don't let him get to you." Shepard said. "That's the thing Shepard; I'm not above revenge or him. I'm far worse." Ty gave Shepard little choice in the matter handing Haley over to her before he said "Scrum you set up my friends and Ka'Reena and then helped in the kidnapping of Haley and I was letting you go." Ty's veins reversed back into what they were when he let loose his anger "Ty don't." Shepard pleaded but it was too late. Ty snapped his head around, Scrum saw his eyes all purple again and his laughing stopped, "For what you've done to my friends I was willing to leave you here to die in peace." Ty said as he walked back over to him.

Ty got back to him and picked him up by his throat and stood him up, "But you've gone to far now, what you've done to them and put me through I will never forgive you." Ty's muscles flexed out again as his grip tightened around Scrums throat "I will not let you live for this!" Ty screamed. Ty kicked both legs breaking them instantly then slammed a screaming Scrum onto the desk and he began choking the life out of Scrum feeling his heartbeat quicken under his grip. Ty could feel the animalistic grin on his face as he felt the heartbeat getting weaker and weaker by the second, then Scrum had to ruin his enjoyment with his choking voice. "See Ty you're no different than us you are just as evil and sadistic as us, if you really cared about your friend you would've just left just like if you really cared about your girlfriend you wouldn't have just stood there you would have saved her."

Ty's grin faded as he felt something snap in his mind, he released his right hand from Scrums throat and then he began punching Scrum as hard as he could with his right hand right in his face, "DON'T…YOU…DARE…QUESTION…MY…LOVE…FOR HER! Ty screamed. Ty punched him one last time with Scrums face being completely bloody and nearly crushed all the way in, Ty pulled his tomahawk out and as Scrum started sliding off the table he screamed "DIE SCRUM!" Ty slammed his tomahawk into his throat cutting his head clean off and killing the last person that had to do with Ka'Reena's death. Ty could feel his body still shaking as he put his tomahawk back, his body and eyes didn't return back to normal they stayed purple as he jogged back over to Shepard and Haley, "EDI get my bike ready to go and get Chakwas, Mordin and Miranda ready on the ship, Haley's been implanted with a miniature bomb and I've got ten minutes until it kills her." Ty said. "Yes Ty." EDI said.

Ty took Haley from Shepard and ignored the look she was giving him of disappointment or shock or something between the two and said "She's got a bomb inside her I need the Normandy's med-bay, after that if you don't want me in your squad I'll be gone." Ty started running as fast as he could with her in his arms leaving Shepard behind to catch up while she tried to understand why he thought she'd want him to leave. Ty kept going not waiting for her though running past Garrus and Jack without so much as a nod or a comment from any of them.

He ran down the stairs and started skipping steps as he ran down them and jumping down with five stairs left, he ran through the research labs to the next stairs then through that room and down the last stairs back to the 95th floor. He ran out the door to see his dad and brother already on their own bikes, "EDI gave us the update lets go we'll cover you in case more Suns show up and chase us." Mr. Rhoddy said. "Ty wait up." Shepard said as they caught up. Ty put Haley on the front of his bike, he put a breather mask on really quick and asked "Where's the Normandy?" "Docked here on Illium wha-." Shepard was interrupted by Ty "I don't have time for a hundred questions Shepard if you want to talk I'll be in my room when we get back, I'll see you on the Normandy." _Come on Haley just hold on._

**A/N/Reviews response: As I said up top I'm sorry for the major delay on this but I was torn on some parts in this trying to get it just right so it would still be cool and also show the inner conflict of Ty not wanting to lose control due to the viciousness it brought out of him. I hope you all enjoyed it and a quick note, the lightening aura comment in the story is my bow to Dragon Ball Z which I am a big fan of and some of the inner thoughts and outer words Ty had were slight nods to certain parts of the DBZ series. The idea of his anger changing him came from my love of DBZ though I didn't really realize it at the time I actually wrote it out, I figured that out after a friend of mine pointed out how it was Ty going Super Sayian so I threw in the lightening aura comment. As for DBZ in general I do not own any part of that because that belongs to Akira Toriyama who I thank for making my childhood so interesting and making me want to have energy blasts come out of my hands, so cheers mate. **

**Now for my response to reviews, to masterk11er I hope it all works out and I look forward to reading it if it pertains to anything that I know, I actually started writing because I loved this fan fiction story that I cannot remember for the life of me and it was so good that it inspired me to write my own story and now here we are. I wish you the best and remember to have fun with writing, you're imagination is the limit so have as much fun as possible. And to FORD B thank you, I am happy you like my story so much and that you enjoy reading it. I'm still trying to learn more and become better as a writer as I progress but I'm glad you are enjoying this story since this is my first go at writing. I honestly didn't expect to get a lot of people reading this or to even have people favorite and follow it so thank you to all of you that have so far and to all who have contributed to the 1,651 views I have as of now. It means a lot to this nerd so thank you. Any questions, comments, constructive criticism or need to tell me about your fantasy of shooting energy blasts from your hands then sound off in the reviews. Well that's all I got for now, I will see you next time. **


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Stay Strong

**A/N/Disclaimer: I don't own the Mass Effect Universe that belongs to Bioware/E/A, I stake claim to the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of that universe. Onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds. **

Ty put his hood on and his mask came over his mouth as he took off, "EDI open the cargo hold and lock the elevator down there until we get there." Ty said. EDI popped up on his bike and said "Everything is being prepared Ty. I recorded everything that happened due to the change being apart of your rare condition, Cerberus would dictate using it for research purposes but I'd like to ask you what you would you like done with it. Should I show it to anyone or just delete it?"

If it wasn't for the fact that Ty was not in his normal state of mind he would probably have been more shocked at EDI's question but as he caught a glimpse of his veins being bluer than normal he didn't feel that shocked by her question, "Grunt probably would enjoy seeing the carnage so let him see it...Show our resident Salarian Scientist and Miranda later they'll probably be intrigued by it but if it is possible block her from giving it to the Illusive Man. If you can't than don't worry about it, I'll see you soon EDI." Ty's speed increased as he flew to the Normandy and as they got there they went under the ship and into the Cargo Hold, Ty came down and hopped off as his bike was still shutting down with Haley in his arms. He rushed to the elevator with his dad and brother on his tail and got into it, Ty looked at the buttons and aimed a precise kick at the Crew Quarters button nailing it and getting the elevator to start going up.

His heart was racing faster than normal and for once it wasn't a result of his demon being unchained, Haley literally had minutes before she died if he didn't get her to the doctors and they didn't defuse the bomb in her head. The elevator was going its usual slow self making Ty kick the Crew Quarters button again in agitation. "Stupid fucking slow ass elevator." Ty spat. He wanted so much to punch the damn thing as hard as he could just to try and make it go faster while inflicting pain upon himself for letting this happen to Haley. _If she fucking dies I swear I will destroy the Blue Suns and all who fly their colors_, Ty thought.

The breather mask was still covering Haley's face so Ty lift his knee up to support her back while he used his now free right hand to take the mask off and hook it to his shorts. Ty wiped the blood off from under her nose then put his arm back under her back and dropped his knee_, god damn it Haley don't you fucking die on me,_ Ty thought as his body began to return to normal. "Ty you okay?" Z asked. "What type of question is that?" Ty asked with agitation. "Your body is returning to normal quicker than it ever has." Z said. Ty looked at his arms seeing the blue fade away and the tingle in his eyes told him they were returning to normal as well, Ty looked up from his arms and saw Tara standing in front of him again giving him a nod with a warm smile then fading away slowly, "I guess I got lucky with my leap of faith." Ty said.

Ty wasn't sure if that was his demon taking form in his dead friends anymore, he did believe in an afterlife, or spirit realm as he referred to it, so maybe it had been Tara and the others intervening to get him to unleash his demon and save Haley. Maybe they had been guiding him this whole time, maybe what he had said to Scrum about being the embodiment of all the innocent spirits who had fell prey to the Suns. He doubted that for the most part but he wished it to be true and that seeing all his dead friends as if they were alive wasn't just his imagination or his demon taking form as his fallen friends. Ty looked down at Haley and said "Come on Haley don't you quit on me now I didn't come this far to lose you as well as Ka'Reena. I know you can hear me just hang on a little longer and everything will be alright you and Jess can reunite and stay with us and I'll make sure nothing ever happens to you again just make sure you come back Haley."

The doors opened and Ty went flying out and around the corner to the med-bay, Miranda, Chakwas, and Mordin were waiting and as the door opened Chakwas saw the concern on his face so she said "Lay her down here, how long do we have?" Ty laid her down, he wasn't sure, Scrum could have been lying for all he knew, maybe she had less time maybe she had more maybe she didn't have a bomb in her head at all Ty didn't have a clue. "I dunno probably six; seven minutes…you guys can save her right?" Ty asked. "I brought you back from the dead with little supplies, getting rid of a bomb shouldn't be much harder." Miranda said starting scans. Chakwas put a hand on Ty's shoulder and with a compassionate look she said "Ty maybe you should wait back in your room, we need all the space we can get." Ty nodded and said "Just…please do your best to save her." Chakwas nodded as she went over to Haley, _hold on Haley, _Ty thought.

Ty walked out and began walking back to his room with his dad and brother joining him until they all got into his room. The doors closed behind them and as they shut Ty brought his left hand up to his hair and undid the ponytail holding the crown of his hair up and then let his fingers run through his hair. Ty walked to his bed and sat down on the edge of his bed, "No matter what happens buddy you did your best to save her remember that." Mr. Rhoddy said. "You did more than your best with what you were given, she'll be fine Ty and the doctors will do their jobs to save her." Z said. "I know it's…I promised to take care of her. I shouldn't have wasted so much time on Scrum I should have just gotten Haley out of there. Maybe Scrum was right about me being no different from them." Ty said. "That's bullshit Ty and you know it." Z said. "Letting loose your anger was the only way you could have gotten through those men quick enough to save her and as for killing Scrum, that bastard deserved it for what he did. You saved Haley and finished your mission." Mr. Rhoddy said. "She's not saved yet. You two mind giving me some time alone for now, it may be a Cerberus ship but no one will attack you two unless they're stupid." Ty said.

They nodded and left, Ty removed his hood and ran both his hands through his hair again ignoring the fact they were both covered with dried blood and stopping them about half way to grip his head and bring his elbows to his knees. He felt like shit for multiple reasons from Haley's predicament to his body changing back and his muscles aching because of it, _spirits if you are listening let Haley pull through and be perfectly fine, let her be spared from this end, _Ty thought.

The sound of EDI popping up made Ty look up and release his head from his grip, "Ty they found the bomb and are diffusing it now, she may need to spend some time in the med-bay after they are done to heal." Ty nodded, that was some good news at least, "Thanks for the update EDI…and thank you for all the help you did for me today." Ty said. "You're welcome Ty. Shepard wants to know what she should do with the body that she brought with her in the cab." EDI said. "Tell her its Haley's mom and to bring her to the cargo hold so Haley can give her the burial she wants." Ty said. "I will inform her…It is not my place to say but you did your best for Haley Ty but for now you need to take care of yourself since you are wounded and covered in blood still, you should wash up." EDI said.

That was putting it bluntly but it made Ty's mouth arc up into a smile hearing it from EDI, they were bonding that was for sure so he hoped that Cerberus never turned her against him, well he could always unshackle her in response. "Alright mom I will." Ty said with a smile. EDI disappeared and Ty decided to take her advice and applied some more medi-gel to his graze wounds and then make his way to his bathroom to take a quick shower. After washing his hair and body getting all the blood off of himself he jumped out and got all his clothes on and put his gear away, he put the breather mask on the desk as well so he could grab it on his way out.

He walked out of the bathroom back into his bedroom and walked towards where he had been sitting before, Haley's fate was hanging by a thread at the moment and it was weighing heavy on Ty so he sat down on the floor with his back against the front of his bed with his hood up and his right elbow on his knee and his hand pressing against his face. He learned everything behind his friend's death and managed to save Haley for the moment and had managed to kill everyone behind the deaths of his friends and Ka'Reena but despite the slight feeling of actually avenging them all he couldn't help but feel empty, yeah he had finished it all but what did he have now, what was left? Nothing but a pile of bodies and the painful memories of losing them all.

Ty's doors opened and Shepard came in wearing her blue wife beater and jeans, she began to look for him but then she saw him sitting at the edge of his bed on the floor. She looked down at him and her expression went from her normal look to a slightly pained expression, he didn't doubt that it had to do with how he looked hell he felt like shit and he was pretty sure he looked like it to. "Hey." Ty managed to get out in a hoarse voice. The constant yelling he had done was getting to him. "Hey, they diffused the bomb but she still needs medical attention if all goes well she'll be out later today." Shepard said.

Finally there was some good news but despite it making Ty feel slightly better his head was still swirling from all the questions he was asking himself. "That's good." Ty said. Shepard walked in more and sat down on his right with her knees bent up to her and her arms wrapped around them, she looked at him a little longer until she said "I expected you to be more excited." He probably should have been more excited but as usual his mind was getting in the way of something he should actually be enjoying. "I'll be excited when I know she's going to recover completely." Ty said. "How's your chest and arm?" Shepard asked grabbing his right arm and checking his graze wound out.

His body ached but the actual wounds he had sustained didn't feel that bad, the thousands of mental knives jabbing into him felt more painful than this but he couldn't fault Shepard for checking and caring, if there was one thing he had found out from being in this squad it was that he may have been a caring leader of his crew but Shepard would always beat him in the who can care more for their crew test. "They're fine, medi-gel will do its job and so will the cybernetics, I'm lucky that they just grazed me on my chest under my arm." Ty said. "You sure you are fine?" Shepard asked as she let go. "Yea I'll be fine don't worry about it." Ty said. "What happened to you back there when you got shot in the arm and let out that scream, your whole entire body changed?" Shepard asked. "That's my anger changing me, it's usually more permanent." Ty simply stated. "But your veins became bluer and your muscles looked like they were about to pop?" Shepard asked.

Ty looked away from her, he didn't know the answer to her questions and he hated that he didn't know it. He didn't like not knowing why his body changed and since his brother was the only other person with it and he didn't know either that left him with no one to help him understand, the only thing he knew now that he didn't before was that his nervous system was extremely complex but he doubted it held any new answers. "I don't know Shepard it just happens like that I don't have any answers." Ty said. "The person I saw back there didn't seem like you." Shepard said.

Ty forced a laugh, in a way it wasn't the him she knew but it was still apart of who he was, it always had been he just never let his demon off the chain around her, mostly because he didn't think he could come back from it and still be himself and he didn't like that it made him enjoy taking the life from someone, "You didn't know me well enough then." Ty said after his forced laugh. That made Shepard sigh before she said "I wish I did so I could help you more…So you got your revenge you feel better now?" Ty shook his head and said "Ask me tomorrow right now I don't know, I usually would say yea but now…now I'm asking myself a lot of questions."

Shepard scooted closer to Ty and asked "What kind of questions?" "What I stand for, do I still fight and kill for the betterment of others not just to make myself feel better, would Ka'Reena and my friends have wanted this…Am I a good person or just another low life thug who kills, should I be on this mission or am I just taking up money and supplies. You know just questions." Ty said shrugging. "Got any answers?" Shepard asked.

Ty let his hand drop and rest on his leg than said "Yea I'm pretty sure the answer to most are no, I lost everything I stood for and pushed everyone I cared about away after Omega because everything I was, everything I fought for, the very essence of my life was Ka'Reena and I vowed after she was murdered to never let myself rest to never let myself love and never let myself get close to anyone else so they never suffered the same fate…and I still fucked up." "You haven't screwed up Ty, you saved Haley." Shepard said.

Ty stayed quiet for a few seconds contemplating what Shepard said, he had saved Haley but that was the only exception, "Aside from Haley who the fuck have I not let die?" Ty asked. Shepard went to speak but Ty interrupted her as he continued "My whole life story is surrounded by the death of everyone close to me from my friends to Ka'Reena. You know what its like Shepard to lose people, Akuze, Ashley and anyone else you've lost but what do you do…you keep fighting, harder than before for them and you succeed and what do I get when I fight harder, I fuck up every time." Shepard looked hurt at what Ty said, maybe she felt offended or maybe she felt hurt to see him this way, he wasn't sure which it was, maybe neither but she said "That's not true, none of that is." Her tone matched the look. Ty looked at her and said "Prove me wrong tell me one instance you know of, aside from Haley, that didn't end in me fucking up and letting someone die."

The look in Shepard's eyes was of fire, he was about to get his second ass ripping of the day it looked like, Shepard put her hand on his and said firmly "Omega, you fought hard and saved not only me but also Miranda and probably Garrus's life in the long run pushing through the pain." Okay he set himself up for that one but that wasn't completely fair either, "Tha-" Ty was interrupted by Shepard this time "That what? Doesn't count? Okay here's another, Horizon those Scions showed up and you pushed Garrus and me out of the way stopping them from getting the jump on us and taking the brunt of it and then you risked your life again during all your blackouts helping EDI get those guns." Before Ty could respond Shepard continued on her proof "Your dossier says that you snuck into a Blue Suns base killed ten Blue Suns and rescued twelve captives without raising an alarm and the only reason the story is known is because you left a data pad behind that said "improve your security" with your name under it."

Hearing her say that made Ty chuckle a little as he went to try and lie about it not happening "Shepard tha-" Shepard interrupted again and said "Was what? Exaggerated? I heard the story from Garrus so I hacked into the security feeds of the base and found the day you were there, hell I didn't even see you there until you waltz right out the front door with the twelve captives still shackled while you were dressed in Blue Suns armor as you escorted them out and you didn't get caught. There's your proof right there Ty, you fight so hard for those you cared and care about, Haley, your family, Garrus, Miranda, Jack, me, everyone else on this ship, and everyone you lost you fight for but when you look at it all you see is that all these moments that mean the world to those you do them for are nothing when they truly aren't just nothing."

Ty went to speak again but once again Shepard cut him off by removing her hand from his and pointing at him as she said "Don't even start because I'm not done, you were right on one thing and that was that I understand what its like to lose friends to fighting and that I fight harder for them but you were wrong when you said that I succeed. I tripped and stumbled while fighting Saren and I would have face planted while fighting Saren if it weren't for my crew and not just the squad I mean everyone apart of the Normandy…There was a soldier named Richard Jenkins that we lost right at the beginning of going to Eden Prime because of a few Geth drones and I sent him to where he was standing when he died. I almost had to kill Wrex on Virmire and had to leave Ashley behind to die so we could all survive. We got grounded and I had to leave Anderson to deal with political ramifications for knocking Udina out and helping us basically commit mutiny and steal the Normandy, granted that still worked out in the end. I could continue on choice after choice I had to make that led to the death of someone I knew or could've ended badly but we'd be here for another ten minutes."

That got a chuckle out of Ty even if was meant to be serious but he didn't go to say anything this time he waited knowing she still wasn't done, it was a more pleasant ass ripping then the one Aria gave him that was for sure. "You've been fighting non-stop to avenge Ka'Reena and your friends who died that's why you pushed everyone away, that was your mission you set yourself on after they were killed. I know you well enough now that when you set yourself on a mission there's nothing that can get in your way, like a bull in a china shop and you make sure those you care about don't get involved so they don't get hurt. Would Ka'Reena have wanted you to go on this revenge mission? I didn't know her but I'd guess no but she also wouldn't have wanted you to have been mourning her this long. You're not a bad person either; you protect the innocent and kill the wicked. If that's bad than I'm the worst at it."

Ty lowered his head, she was speaking so highly of him and sounding truthful in everything she was saying but Ty didn't know if he believed it himself. He had lost faith in who he was and what he stood for a long time ago it was only now that he had really thought about it but here she was doing something he was scared of doing, she was making him believe again. He soon felt Shepard's hand go under his chin and lift it up, he looked over at her and she asked "You want to know what I see every time I see you?" "Probably my pleading eyes for you to end my life but besides that a sarcastic asshole whose life is filled with killing and death." Ty said in a joking manor.

Shepard rolled her eyes than let go of his hand and chin to pull his hood back to reveal his face and said "No I see you, not the son of Timothy Rhoddy the most wanted criminal, not the grandson of Franklin Rhoddy the legendary contract killer, not the propaganda Alliance fugitive named Tyler Rhoddy who has no morals and doesn't care if he has to kill innocents, I see Ty. I see the fire of hope burning strong in his eyes and the will to fight anyone who messes with who he cares for. I see past the hood and propaganda at a man who's heart is what pushes him to keep fighting for what he believes in and I see Ty the second biggest badass who we all need here on the Normandy and who I need at my side when we go into the pits of hell to kick some Collector and Reaper ass, that's what I see."

Ty could see the truth in her eyes; he could still hear Tara's voice in his head, "Take a leap of faith." He wanted to believe in himself again, he wanted to feel the hope he had once had. Shepard was giving him that feeling again, "What makes you so certain in what you say?" Ty asked. "What I've learned about you since you were first carried onto the Normandy battered and broken and what you did today for Haley." Shepard said. He saved Haley but not only did he use his Viper to break a wounded mans knees and crush his face in he broke the knees on another man and attempted to choke the life out of him while he had a smile on his face, that didn't give her a good case. "I mutilated those guys back there and when they asked for mercy I murdered them, what does that say about me." Ty said. "And you think they deserved to live after what they had done?" Shepard asked.

That answer was simple but that didn't justify his actions, "No but they probably didn't deserve getting their heads chopped off." Ty said. Shepard gave an unconvinced look and said "Come on Ty they were mercs who killed and captured people and did horrific tests on them, what if it was the Collectors instead of Blue Suns?" "That's different they're trying to destroy the universe." Ty said. "And they were doing it for money. You're not going to lose any sleep about it." Shepard said. "Probably true but…if you were me would you have gone that overboard?" Ty asked. "If it was someone close to me and I had tomahawks that could chop someone's head clean off and all the moves you had…yea probably, sure it looked bad but what you did today wasn't." Shepard said.

Ty looked away because he didn't know what to say or what to feel about what Shepard was telling him so he stayed quiet, he couldn't make heads or tails of the woman. She was an Alliance soldier yet she was looking through the propaganda and trying to be a good friend to him, he couldn't make sense of her but she was making perfect sense with everything she was saying making everything fall into place and not be such a burden. He began to feel the remnants of who he was through it, "What's bothering you?" Shepard asked. "The fact that all these years I've been blaming myself for everything and you just come in here and in a few minutes make me...feel like me again and make everything kinda fall into place, I don't know what to do?" Ty said. "What is your heart telling you?" Shepard asked. Ty looked at her and said "It's kicking me in the ass." Shepard smiled and said "Your welcome, so you still on board for this mission." Ty nodded and said "Yea I'm on board but I still gotta get Haley back to my place and pay Aria back."

Shepard nodded though Ty was slightly surprised she was okay with the deal he and Aria had, he wasn't going to change it if she did just because that's what their deal had been for years now and it wasn't going to change unless he actually was in a committed relationship like he had been with Haley but the odds of that happening were next to nil. "That's fine and if there's anything else I can do for you to help you stay focused let me know. I want you completely one hundred percent when it comes time." Ty shook his head and said "I'll be fine Shepard."

Shepard grabbed his hand and asked in a caring tone "Are you sure Ty?" Ty couldn't help the smirk that came to his face or stop the joke from coming out, "Is that concern in your voice Shepard?" Ty asked in a joking manor. Shepard blushed a little and looked away for a second then looked back and said "I just want to make sure you are okay Ty I wont be able to convince them again to bring you back to life or on the ship if something bad happens." That was true and he wasn't going to waste the second chance he had, "I know and I'll try not to screw up the second chance you gave me but right now I'm fine, you let me clear up a lot of bad history even if you didn't know it. As long as you don't one eighty on me I'll be focused and ready for anything." "I won't one eighty I promise." Shepard said as she stood up. As she walked away she stopped at the door and said "Stay strong Ty we all need you here." "Funny I was going to say the same about you." Ty said.

Shepard walked out and Ty got off his butt and walked over to his nightstand and grabbed Haley's necklace and looked at it for a few seconds remembering all the time they spent together and when he gave the necklace to her. She meant a lot to him back then but he didn't allow himself to get closer than he did with her even though she was the closest thing he had to a girlfriend or even a lover for how close they were. It caused them both pain when they both decided that they should stop, Ty knew they both had good reasons for it, Haley didn't want their friendship to end because she pushed to far and she also didn't want a boyfriend. She didn't like dating guys and only had dated one and had one bad sex experience with the same one that ended up causing her trauma before she met Ty. She loved women but she loved Ty to a degree, they started as friends but their feelings grew for each other and she wanted to try again with a man that she knew wouldn't hurt her.

He didn't force her to do anything he let her get comfortable with him taking it slow day by day, week by week starting with just being fully clothed and literally sleeping with one another, though Ty was shirtless, to being in underwear and letting her get used to his body letting her feel his body against hers. Eventually they worked their way to her goal of trying again and all the time they put into getting there before hand had made their relationship rock solid, there was nothing that could break their friendship now because of how much trust they had for each other. The last time Ty saw Haley though was almost a year and a half now, they spoke periodically during that time but the last day they physically saw each other was on the Citadel when he gave her the necklace.

_The Citadel_

_ Ty and Haley had spent the day together roaming around different parts of the Citadel laughing and joking, holding hands and kissing and doing all things that people against public display of affection hated. It was the last day they would spend together before Haley went back to her home and Ty went back to doing what he did best, surviving and hunting people down. They finally approached their exits, one led to a docking hanger for the taxi Haley was taking and the other was to the next docking bay where Ty had his space bike, Ty walked her to the door that would lead her to the transport and when they got there they both stopped and faced each other. Haley intertwined their hands as she looked at them and said "It's been a long year and a half hasn't it." "Yea it has but its been a good year and a half." Ty said._

_ Haley looked up at him and Ty knew she was holding back her emotions as she asked "Are you going to be okay Ty, I know you can take care of yourself in fights but I mean will you be okay without me being around?" "Will I be okay without you being around? No. I'm going to miss you being around, I'm going to miss you giving me shit, I'm going to miss seeing your smile and hearing you laugh and I'm definitely going to miss you screwing my brains out." Ty said in a joking manor at the last part. _

_Haley smiled and blushed a little then Ty continued "So no I won't be okay but I will survive and we'll stay in touch with one another, what about you?" Ty asked. Haley, who usually would have made a joke, looked down at their hands and said "No I'm going to miss this, what we have." "We will always have this no matter what happens." Ty said. Haley looked up at him and said "Ty I…I know that we both agree on not taking this any further but I just wanted to say that…" Haley stopped and Ty said "Go ahead Haley say what's on your mind." _

_Haley took a deep breath and said "I just wanted to say that you will always own a part of my heart and if you ever wanted to take it all you could. I know you don't want to and I don't want to ruin our friendship because of that but you've done so much for me in the past year and a half and you never expected anything out of it because you were just doing out of your kind heart but…" Haley stopped and with a shrug of her shoulders she said "Oh fuck it." _

_Haley leaned up and into Ty as she kissed him and un-intertwined their hands and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. Their tongues danced with each other as Haley and Ty poured out all their feelings for one another into the kiss, Haley pressed her body against Ty's but it wasn't enough she wanted more but being arrested for indecent exposure wasn't on the to do list. As they parted Haley said "I don't know if that made what I was trying to say clear since I've always sucked at trying to express my feelings through words but I think what I'm trying to say is thank you for everything and that I have and will always love you." Haley said. _

_Ty reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace he had bought her a few months back but didn't give to her since he couldn't find the right moment to give it to her but now was the best opportunity and probably the last. Ty grabbed her right hand with his and opened it, he put the necklace slowly into her hand and said "I got this for you and engraved something into the back of the pendent that I mean with all my being." "What is it?" Haley asked as he closed her hand and held it closed. "Something tangible in case something ever happens to me and I don't come back. I can vouch that sometimes memories aren't enough when you love someone and you lose them, you need something tangible." "Ty please don't talk like that." Haley pleaded. "I just want you to be happy no matter what happens to me, there's tons of women where you live so find one that steals your heart and live happily. I love you Haley more than I ever thought I'd love anyone after what I went through, be safe and if you are ever in trouble or think the Suns are coming after you call me or get Darian to call me." _

_Haley's hand was still being held closed by Ty as she basically threw herself into Ty's arms and held him tightly with both hands after wrenching it away from him. They ended the hug and kissed each other one last time then Ty said "Stay safe Haley." Haley smirked a little and said "You stay safe, I love you Ty." "Forever and a day Haley." Haley smiled as a tear ran down her face; Ty wiped it away and said "Now go on and call when you feel the need to talk I'll always answer." Ty said. Haley nodded and turned away and so did Ty as he walked to where his space bike was, he never looked back and never saw Haley's face when she saw the engraving but it was better that way, they'd be friends forever this way and he wouldn't have to worry about her getting dragged in as a hostage by the Suns like Ka'Reena was._

* * *

Ty flipped the pendent over in his hand and looked at the engraving, _4ever &amp; a day I'm yours,_ if there was ever another person who stole his heart it was Haley and he meant what he engraved but deep down they both knew it wasn't to be. He looked at it a little longer until he decided to go out as well to see what his brother and dad were doing; he pocketed the necklace and grabbed the breather mask attaching to his shorts again as he walked out of his room and into the mess hall where he found them.

They were sitting down relaxing at the table with Garrus, Jack and now Shepard. "There's the crazy asshole, you tore those guys to shreds Ty I'm impressed." Jack said. "I thought Shepard was the only one to go against impossible odds for friends you were completely outnumbered and wounded but you still killed them all. You move with such speed and so ferociously and smoothly when you lose control, I think you made Jack here look sane." Garrus said. "Bite me Vakarian. Nice battle cry Ty I almost felt scared." Jack said with a smile. "Ha that was nothing you should've seen him the first time he lost control, it scared me." Z said with a smirk.

Ty sat down next to his brother and said "It's nothing that I should be completely proud of but thank you for the compliments." Z wrapped his arm around Ty and said "Come on don't be so modest what you did today was crazy, crazy in a good way though. You killed the bad guy and saved the girl like you are so fond of doing." "Says the man whose only partners have been women exception of me and daddy." Ty said with a smirk. Z let go of him and raised his hands in an I surrender motion and said "Guilty as charged but look at your track record." "Not as impressive as daddy's that's for sure." Ty said with a glance up and smirk at his dad. Mr. Rhoddy smiled and took a sip of his drink which looked like a flavored water of some sort since that was the only thing he drank, "You three have had to have some interesting adventures over the years being on the run from the Alliance, care to share any?" Garrus asked. All three looked at each other and nodded, "Alright what was an interesting adventure, there was the one some years back that I had where my lover wanted to have human kids." Mr. Rhoddy said.

_Whoa what the fuck is he talking about, his lover wanted to have human kids, like he was with an Alien not a human?_ Ty raised an eyebrow and asked "What the hell are you talking about wasn't the egg a human?" "No she was a Drell; I'll explain that later to you two since its something I've been meaning to tell you. Okay here's one a few years back while I wasn't killing and you two were off being mercs I took a trip down to Earth to see New Mexico and Florida." "That was ballsy can't imagine it went well for you." Jack said. Mr. Rhoddy laughed and said "It went well until someone ratted me out to the Alliance and they came looking, I was minding my own business when…"

Thirty Minutes Later

Mr. Rhoddy finished the story as he said "Followed me from Earth all the way to the Citadel and all the way to the Terminus system where they backed off, had to repair my bike from the fire I sustained but they gave a good chase." Jack was smirking and Garrus was shaking his head, Shepard was the only one who it didn't surprise "I remember hearing from Aria about that when I got back from whatever I was doing for the Suns." Ty said. "What about you Z you do anything as crazy as that?" Garrus asked.

Z nodded and said "Well there was this one time I was working on this colony in 2176 when I was 17 and they were attacked by this group of Batarians, they brought enough people to try to take over a colony but I have no idea how many it was. They began laying siege to the colony and all the fighters the colony had were disoriented and were getting slaughtered so I grabbed a communicator and had them call a full retreat while I began holding off the mercenaries. Some stayed with me and fought but most were too wounded to fight leaving me fighting them basically single handedly. Fighting was nonstop constant back and forth shooting, ran out of stock ammo so had to start using their guns which weren't all good until finally the Alliance decided to show up and scare them off. I saw the ship fly away but knowing that they could just recruit more and comeback or attack another place I had a 'diplomatic' discussion with one of the wounded so I could find their base, he gave up the info and I found their space station. After I redecorated it with explosives it fell from orbit into a nearby moon that had research bases on it."

Everyone except Jack kind of winced and Garrus said "Ouch that probably took a lot of civilian lives." Z smirked and said "That's what I thought turns out it was a secret Cerberus base that was doing some fucked up tests that got blown to smithereens." Jack started laughing and Ty said with a smirk "Guess Cerberus has a reason to hate us even if it was unintentional." "That's not the craziest thing I've ever done but its high up there on the list of shit I've done." Z said. "Any interesting things you three did together?" Shepard asked. "Taking down part of the Suns was fun." Z said with a smirk. "Then there was the time we took that space station for ourselves that we live on now from those crazy biotic activists, that was a grueling fight that lasted days and we almost lost Ty on that one." Mr. Rhoddy said. "I don't know about you guys but I wanna hear how the dick almost died that time." Jack said. Ty smirked but then heard Miranda's voice "Ty Haley's waking up you should come talk to her." "Enjoy the story I gotta talk to Haley." Ty said.

Ty got up and walked quickly to the med-bay hoping to get there before she awoke completely, he didn't want her to worry that she was being tested on still and he wanted to see her alive and in good condition. As he walked into the med-bay he saw Haley's eyes opening so he grabbed a chair and brought it to the side of her bed and sat down next to her as he waited for her to get her bearings. She looked right and then left and saw him sitting there with his hood down, "…Ty is that you?" Haley asked. "Forever and a day." Ty said with a smile.

Haley smiled and leaned over to Ty to give him a hug, which he gave her, feeling her body against his reminded him of how much he missed her and the feel of someone he cared about being in his arms. It felt damn good. "I knew you would find me." Haley said softly into his chest. "I'm just glad I was able to." Ty said. They held each other for a few moments longer until she let go of him and asked "You okay?" "No but I'm surviving." Ty said. Haley smiled a little and gave Ty a peck on the lips, "Good to know some things never change." Haley said. Ty smirked and asked "How you feel?" "Good knowing you saved me." Haley said. Ty smiled and said "Thank the docs, if it weren't for them we wouldn't be talking." Haley looked over at them and said "Thank you."

All three nodded and Ty said "It wasn't easy finding you Haley but Jessica got me on the right track, I found your message and saw what you did on Freedoms Progress, why'd you go running at them?" "They were looking for me and I wanted them to just take me but well they took a few others, mom was one of them and they tortured her to get me to do tests." Haley said lowering her head. Ty grabbed her hand and said "I'm sorry Haley." "They put a bomb in her when you got there to show what was going to happen to me if you got through." Haley said. "We have her body just tell me what you want done and I'll take care of it." Ty said.

Haley nodded, he still couldn't believe what they had done to her mother to get Haley to do tests, it was despicable and now that he looked back on it after Shepard's pep talk, those people, if you could call them that, deserved every ounce of the painful death's he gave them. Haley looked back up at Ty and asked "Is Jessie alright?" "Yea she's fine probably worried sick about us all." Ty said. Haley smiled and said "That sounds like Jessie. I hope she took advantage of being with you like I told her to." "Yea she took advantage alright." Ty said remembering it clearly. "So was she better than me?" Haley asked with a smile. "Moving on, thanks for saving my ass with that barrier." Ty said. "It was my last hoorah if things went sour." Haley said with a smile. Ty smiled and said "That's my girl." "So what now?" Haley asked. "Get you back to Jessica and you two are going to live with us so we know you're always safe I on the other hand have a round trip to hell and back to attend to." Ty said. Haley rolled her eyes and said "Oh god what did you get yourself into now." Ty chuckled and said "You say that like I get into a bunch of trouble." "You do." Haley said giving a light laugh. Ty smirked and said "True but it's always for a good reason."

Ty stopped smiling as he remembered Freedom's Progress, her home was taken by the Collectors after she was taken and that was one of the main reasons he was having her stay with his family aside from keeping her safe. He hated being the bad news bearer but she had to know, "Haley…Freedoms Progress…it's gone. The Collectors took everyone there and I'm trying to help stop them from doing it to more colonies." Haley stopped smiling to and said "All my friends and all but one of my family were there." "I'm sorry Haley it happened some time after you were taken by the Suns, Commander Shepard is leading a group of us to stop them and rescue anyone we can."

Haley nodded but looked like she was going to cry not that he blamed her, losing all her friends and all but one of her family members in one blow could break most people, it had almost broken Ty when he had lost his own friends. Haley was a strong woman though there was no doubt about that, she had always been a fighter since the day he had met her. "If there's anything I have learned Haley it is that Shepard can do it, she has the will to make people follow her into hell itself and she's hell bent on stopping these guys and their masters so believe me when I say that if there are any survivors we will bring them back and if not we'll kill everyone who took them." Ty said trying to make Haley feel better. Haley nodded and said "I believe in you Ty and I know that you mean what you say you've never lied to me about anything, not even your past." "Thank you Haley that means a lot to hear you say that." Ty said.

Haley took a deep breath and said "Okay so can I get up and going yet?" Ty looked at Chakwas, Mordin and Miranda, who were all standing waiting for Ty and Haley to finish talking, and asked "What's the deal ladies and Mordin what's her medical status?" Chakwas stepped forward and said "Medically she's fine on the surface but the testing they did on her internally was harsh on her organs, I'd recommend taking your time recovering but we don't have the time to keep her here, she should be able to walk but help will probably be necessary." "I did some tests on the new amp they installed on her and some other tests and she may also become a powerful biotic and surpass most humans if she trains on it otherwise any attempt will make her nose bleed and make her pass out." Miranda said.

That was good to hear; Darian was a Cabal before and still trained with his biotics so he definitely would be able to help train her along with his dad and brother who were great fighting trainers. Ty looked at Mordin and asked "Mordin in your professional opinion do you think it's possible for Haley to have any more troubles with the bomb they implanted in her?" Mordin put his hand out and it had a little piece of metal in a cylinder shape he then said "No we took it out, if someone implants her again it would be problematic but she will not have trouble from this one." _Even better news._ "Alright thanks you guys I'm in even more debt to you for saving both my life and hers." Ty said. "Gratitude is all that is needed." Mordin said. Ty nodded and said "Thank you then. Haley what do you want me to do with your mom you shouldn't have to see her how she is." "I originally was planning on burying her at home but now I think I should cremate her." Haley said. "EDI this ship have a place to cremate someone?" Ty asked. EDI popped up behind him and said "No it does not but Illium does." "Alright I'll have Z take care of that while I get you back home, I'll be right back." Ty said.

Ty got up and EDI disappeared as he walked out the med-bay only to be greeted by Shepard's voice "You're crazy Ty." "No he's not…he's fucking psychotic." Jack said. "Thank you really I take that as a compliment, where's Jessica?" Ty asked. "Had Darian bring her to an apartment on Illium, he's watching over her right now why?" Z asked. "Haley's clear to go and I gotta pay Aria back along with this ship needs to get going so we can beat the Collectors so we gotta boogie." Ty said. "Boogie? Who the fuck says that?" Jack asked with a smirk. "We do, alright what about her mom?" Mr. Rhoddy asked. "She wants her cremated and in a nice vase, I'll take Haley to the apartment then find Aria and pay her back then we can all have one last hoorah before I come back. Z you mind taking care of Haley's mom?" Ty asked. Z shook his head and said "No but where do I get her cremated at?" "Here on Illium they have a place, EDI can give you directions if you ask her otherwise use the maps they have." Ty said. "Alright gents times wasting lets go get everything done with, we've shared enough stories for one evening." Mr. Rhoddy said standing up.

Z got up and said "Garrus, Jack, Shepard it's been a pleasure meeting you, look after Ty for us." "We would but he seems to have a tendency to do that on his own." Shepard said with a smirk. "Yea but we do it much more stylishly." Garrus said with his Turian smirk. "He's right about that." Jack said as she stood up. Ty, Z and Mr. Rhoddy walked back to the med-bay and walked in to see Haley sitting up already but not on her feet yet. "Well looky who decided to wake up." Z said with a smirk. "Z, Mr. Rhoddy!" Haley said in an excited voice. Z walked over and gave her a hug, "Hey there kido nice to see you in better shape and in our care again." Mr. Rhoddy said giving her a hug.

Ty smiled seeing Haley smile reminding him of the good times the four of them shared together and the times just the two had shared, Miranda was gathering her things to leave and Ty could see a little bit of a smile on her face. Maybe she did have a soft side; Miranda got her stuff and started walking towards the exit but was looking closely at his brother. _Oh my god is she checking him out…Holy crap she is!_ As she got close to Ty he grabbed her arm softly stopping her and said "I may be gone for the rest of the day if not until tomorrow so if you guys have to leave go ahead I'll come find you guys." Miranda nodded and said "Alright we may be still on Illium we have some business to settle here still, try not to run into trouble while you're out I don't think I have enough in me to save you again."

Ty kind of smiled and said "Is that an attempt at humor princess." Miranda smirked and said "Maybe. Don't take up to much time stopping the Collectors is our top priority and needs to be yours now." "It is don't worry princess, don't get killed by Jack while I'm gone." Ty said letting Miranda go. "I'll do my best Ty." Miranda said as she walked away. Ty looked back at his brother, dad, and Haley and said "Alright lets get going, Z you go on ahead and try not to cause any disturbances." Z smirked as he walked out and said "Who me cause disturbances, please you must have mistaken me for another criminal." All three rolled their eyes and Ty walked up to Haley and put his left arm around her back and his right arm under her legs and picked her light body off the bed, "You are such a gentleman." Haley said with sarcastic smile.

Ty had heard that too many times to know it was Haley's sarcastic side so he just rolled his eyes and smirked, they got to the elevator and hit the button before the doors opened Shepard walked by so Ty said "Hey Shep one thing before I go." Shepard stopped and asked "What?" The doors opened and Ty said "Thank you for the pep talk. Take care of yourself and the crew until I get back please." Shepard nodded with a smile and said "Consider it done." Ty nodded in a thanking manor and walked in the elevator, Mr. Rhoddy hit the button for the cargo hold and the doors closed. Haley was safe and his mission to make all those pay for what they had done had been completed, he had felt empty and lifeless before but now…now his life was starting again it seemed.

**A/N: Not much to say actually except thanks for reading, as you were and I'll see you next time.**


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Something of Value

**A/N/Disclaimer: Sorry for the delay computer shut down while I was working the other day and didn't save any thing so it took me a little while to get this chapter edited. Anywho I don't own the Mass Effect Universe Bioware/E/A does. I stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe so with that said onto the next entry of Suicidal Odds.**

The elevator doors opened up to the Cargo Hold allowing Ty with Haley in his arms and Mr. Rhoddy to get out of it and start walking to their respective bikes which happened to be on the other side of the Cargo Hold. Haley had a look of contemplation on her face since the elevator had began descending down to the Cargo Hold but she finally looked up at Ty and said "I think Z has a secret admirer now." That made Mr. Rhoddy and Ty smirk, "Or is he himself checking out someone." Mr. Rhoddy countered.

Ty didn't catch if his brother was checking anyone out but he had noticed Miranda eyeing up Z which was weird in of itself. She believed in Cerberus but yet she was checking out a man who had a more potent hate for Cerberus than his younger brother. If the Illusive Man caught wind he'd no doubtly tell her to not engage unless she was going to kill him later or use her "assets" to make him fall for her and get him to start spilling information, which had about the same likelihood of Ty deciding to mate with a Hanar or Elcor. That thought made Ty shake slightly in disgust but not enough for anyone to notice, he had nothing against the two races but that was a train of thought he didn't want to go down.

Deciding it was best to get out of the train of thought Ty moved back to the conversation at hand, "Who Miranda?" Ty asked. "The pretty one in the white and black spandex with the really nice boobs and big ass." Haley said in an admiring way. Ty smirked as he said in a joking scolding tone "Haley no." "What I'm just admiring the art I was able to see on this ship, she was just one of the more stand out pieces of the art I saw." Haley said as she looked to be exploring a realm of thought that Ty didn't want to go on. Not wanting to give Haley the chance to explore any of that thought pattern Ty said "That's Miranda Lawson, she's Cerberus through and through…Or at least for now, who the hell knows what'll happen during this mission maybe we'll run along one of Cerberus's failed projects or the Illusive Man will finally show his true colors to her…You really think they'd fall for each other daddy I mean his hatred against Cerberus verses her belief in it, she'd try to probe him and then they'd kill each other." Mr. Rhoddy shrugged as he said "You never know buddy, love is anything but predictable and it can blossom in the strangest places."

He had a point, love was about the most unpredictable thing Ty had ever encountered and probably something he would never be able to predict but then again he wasn't looking for love. Ty put Haley on the back of his bike then un-hooked and handed Haley the breather mask and asked "Where's this apartment?" "Follow me and try to keep up." Mr. Rhoddy said as his he put his mask on. Ty put his hood up and his mask came out and covered his eyes, mouth and nose, "Surely you aren't challenging me to a race daddy when I don't know the destination." Ty said. "No not at all why would I do that." Mr. Rhoddy said sarcastically. Ty shook his head and said "EDI could you open the cargo bay doors." "Command confirmed Ty." EDI said. The doors opened and they both lifted off and flew out, Ty let his dad get ahead and followed him across Illium while he flew he opened his omni-tool and dialed Arias private number, it took one ring and she picked up, "That took longer than I expected." Aria said.

Ty smirked behind his mask at Aria's opening comment and said "Yea well things got complicated but I won't bore you with the details but everything turned out for the best and Scrum is dead along with me finding some information you might want to read." "Really I thought you'd owe me longer, that's a shame. Anyway you ready to pay me back you still owe me that." Aria said. "Yea just send the coordinates to my omni-tool and I'll be there soon just gotta drop Haley off, hell it might be at the same place." Ty said. "Let me check." Aria said.

Ty followed his dad right and towards a big hotel looking building, he wasn't surprised at all that Aria knew where he was going despite him not knowing himself. Staying one step ahead was one of the reasons why Aria was still the Pirate Queen of Omega. "Well it's not the same building but its close; I also have something you might consider of value." Aria said. Ty sighed inwardly thinking that he would be in debt to Aria again, not that he didn't enjoy their time together but he needed to focus on the Collectors. "Am I gonna have to pay you back for that also?" Ty asked. "No this one is free of charge just because I know what it meant to you at the time." Aria said. Ty could kind of sense a smile across her face like it was something that would be a real surprise but he ignored the feeling and said cautiously "Alright I'll see you shortly then." "See ya soon." Aria said.

They arrived at the big hotel and flew up to the top where the room was located and a landing pad was, as they landed their bikes on it Ty took notice of the custom space bike that Ty had made for Darian parked on the pad as well. Like Ty's, his dad's and Z's bikes Darian's had a glow as well but his was bright white and instead of being multiple lines from the back to the front like the others Ty had made them come down from the middle of the seat and in the formation of Darian's facial markings. They were similar to Garrus's markings except for the fact that Darian had a few extra markings and didn't have half of his face blown off.

Ty chuckled slightly at his own joke then helped Haley off of his bike and into his arms before walking over to the door where his dad was waiting for him. They walked in and Ty saw that it was a nice place but it was definitely one of his dad's or brother's safe houses though judging on the décor which looked similar to their home base. Ty walked over to the couch which sat in front of a vid screen and had a love seat adjacent to it on the right if you were standing in front of it and a comfy looking seat on its left that made Ty want to sit down for a moment.

Ty sat Haley down then heard a very familiar voice "Haley you're okay!" Jessica nearly yelped as she ran over from the bedroom. Ty saw that there were a few other bedroom doors down a hall and probably even more space further down a different hall but he didn't have much time to look as Jessica nearly knocked him over as she rounded the couch and dove down to Haley and wrapped her up in a hug which Haley returned back. They held each other tightly for a few moments until Haley let go and brought Jessica up so they could look at each other, "Jessie I missed you so much." Haley said. Jessica nodded tears nearly in her eyes and wrapped herself around Haley again and kissed her cheek before she said "I did my best to find Ty as soon as I could." "I know you did, I got some good and terrible news." Haley said. "I don't want terrible news when you get back, what's the good news?" Jessica asked. "I've got biotics now." Haley said. Jessica backed off of Haley and gave her an estranged look as she asked "How is that good news you have always had them though you never trained with them?"

Haley stretched her body and said "Yea but now I know I can do a lot with them so I'll start training with them but the terrible news can't wait its about mom sis." _Right she would proba- Wait what? Sis? Like Sister? Bu- Shit I- Fuck me._ Hearing sis hit Ty like a truck now figuring out that one they were related and two why they looked so similar, he had never considered the possibility of "more than friends" being sisters he had jumped straight to a conclusion that was possible but not right. The good news was he didn't feel so bad because he didn't help somebody cheat but the bad news was that he had sex with Haley's sister and he had told himself he was never going to have sex with a close friend's sister or a girlfriend's sister if they weren't together anymore.

He figured it would cause complications but so far neither seemed upset though he wasn't going to start going around screwing his remaining friend's sisters. "Hold on I hate to break up this reunion but you just said sis like in sister right? I thought that you two were in a relationship not related." They both gave him a weird look mixed with a little disturbed obviously at the thought of them being more than just sisters and asked in unison "Why?" "Jess said you were more than friends so I assumed that since your preoccupations before and after me Haley that you two were, ya know together. I noticed a resemblance when I met Jessica but didn't take complete heed to it because you never mentioned a sister, you both a lot alike now that I really think about it."

Jessica began to think for a moment as she scratched her head, "Sorry buddy we found out after you left and forgot to tell you." Mr. Rhoddy said. Jessica seemed to have an "oh" moment and then she said "Oh that's right I did say that, I wonder why I didn't tell you we were sisters. Probably just nervous because I was on Omega alone, I guess I should've phrased my words better." Jessica said with a nervous smile. Before Ty could say anything Darian walked out of the bedroom that Jessica had come from and didn't seem to notice anyone so Ty decided to use his most authorative tone as he said "Lieutenant Darian Talin what in the hell are you doing!"

Ty was right in his assumption of him not noticing since he almost jumped out of his armor because of how loud Ty was but then attempted to snap into a salute only to stumble into the kitchen counter, though Darian had worked out most of his military habits while working with Ty some crept back in when he was caught off guard. Ty was attempting to keep himself from laughing while Haley and Jessica themselves were stifling their laughs but not doing a very good job at it. Darian looked up at Ty and shook his head at him as he said "Dammit Ty you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

Ty smirked as Darian got himself situated and continued his way to the fridge, "Come on Darian after all the hell we walked your afraid of me giving you a heart attack?" Ty asked. Darian got a dextro drink out of the fridge and then looked at Ty and said in a mockingly serious tone, "Yes." He shut the fridge door to accent his response which only made Ty laugh a little more. Despite wanting to stay and talk with them all Aria was waiting, and she was not a patient woman. "I know we just arrived but I gotta go and meet Aria and we all know she's not patient, when I'm done lets all meet at that Illium bar, Eternity I think it is so we can all have one last laugh before I have to go on my round trip to hell." "Alright call when you're heading out so we can be there." Mr. Rhoddy said.

As Ty nodded and began to leave he stopped himself short and reached into his pocket feeling the necklace fall into his hand, Ty turned and walked back over to Haley and said "Haley I think your missing something." Ty pulled out the necklace and handed it to her; she grabbed it as Ty said "Jedore saw fit to return it to me." That got a chuckle out of Darian and Mr. Rhoddy, Haley smiled and said "I thought it was gone forever thank you Ty." "No problem, love you guys." Ty said. "Aw love you to Ty." Darian said sarcastically with a smile. Ty rolled his eyes and gave him the finger before walking out and getting back onto his bike. He checked his omni-tool for the coordinates Aria sent him and put it into his bike, his mask came over his face as he lifted off and he thought, _damn I really wish I didn't have to pay Aria back so soon Jess is about to learn that the Blue Suns killed their mother and that their home and all of their family were kidnapped by the Collectors. Those motherfuckers are going to pay for working for the Reapers…Hopefully Z gets back soon so he can help Darian comfort the both of them even though arriving with a vase with their mothers ashes won't be helpful._

Ty shook off the guilt of leaving Haley to explain what happened and tried to stay focus on flying knowing that the guilt would kill him, maybe literally if he didn't get to Aria. He got to the building and started flying up to the penthouse suite and as he ascended he saw the sun setting in the distance. It was a magnificent sight and a bit of wish fulfillment since he had been wishing to see a sunset for sometime now. He had seen it when he spoke with Liara but he hadn't taken the time to enjoy it and though he was going to have to land his bike momentarily he let the sunset absorb into his being filling him with happiness. It wasn't Earths sun but that didn't matter it was a damn sunset and something he had been hoping to see for a while now but there was a memory he had of a sunset on Earth as a child but the memory was broken in pieces in his head so he truly didn't know how he was there and who brought him since he figured it wasn't his grandfather. He always assumed it was his dad but after what his dad said on the Normandy he had started second guessing that judgment even though he didn't want to.

He reached the top and as he parked on the landing pad his mask came off, Ty got off his bike and walked into the penthouse suite which happened to be a huge two story room with tons of space mixed with a lot of decorations and normal things houses had just on a more high end scale. Ty looked around as he walked in for Aria who wasn't in sight but he decided to follow his instincts figuring she'd be waiting for him in the bedroom despite there not being any rose petals leading the way to it. That made Ty begin to laugh out loud to himself which he figured would make him look crazy despite his already strange appearance. The thought of Aria leaving a trail of rose petals for him or anyone else to follow was like expecting to have a conversation with a Thresher Maw. It would be a cold day in hell before that happened.

Ty looked around the suite looking for the bedroom when he noticed a door slightly closed but cracked open slightly on the second floor, Ty went up the stairs to the top floor and knocked on it as he walked in and said "Knock knock, Aria you in here." As he guessed Aria was standing in the room looking out the window in the room at the sunset. It didn't take long for Ty to realize what exact outfit she was wearing after noticing the white dress sleeveless jacket she had on with the long white skirt, it was the same outfit she wore when they originally made the deal just this time she was bare footed.

In the reflection he could see the black skin tight shirt she was wearing under the jacket that had an opening in the shape of a circle between her neck and chest revealing her cleavage but there was another below it revealing the bottom of her breasts and two others below it on showing off more of her purple skin near her waistline, "Hey there loverboy what took you?" Aria said not breaking her gaze off the sunset. Loverboy, that was a nickname he had been given by her when he had told her that he couldn't do the usual pay back because he was with Haley at the time.

Though the two never called it a relationship he treated it as one and he didn't agree with sleeping around while you were in a relationship. Aria understood, she didn't like that she was "being deprived" in her words but she didn't make to big of deal out of it except for giving him the nickname of Loverboy which ended up sticking even after he stopped seeing Haley. Ty shrugged in response to her half question half statement and said "You know usual." Ty walked over to her side and looked out the window with her, "Admiring the sunset or admiring you're soon to be empire?" Ty asked partially joking partially not.

Aria gave a small smile and said "It may be little bit of both. So all those slimy bastards are finally dead?" Ty nodded and said "Yea, hard to imagine it's over but it finally is. Wish my friends were still all alive to see it but I'm sure they are still watching out there." Aria looked at him and her light blue eyes made contact with his deep purple eyes as she read his facial features, body language and his eyes for something, she began to get a bit of a smile on her face, "What?" Ty asked. "Your back, maybe not all the way yet but I can see the man who I grew to like again and I'm only going to say this once but it is damn good to see him again."

She was right that he was coming back around, when you lose everything and become a shell of who you are and then suddenly you start to become yourself again you begin to notice the changes in yourself from the emotions you hadn't felt in awhile to feeling your posture change from mostly straight to fully straight again. He wasn't back completely but he was feeling better than he had felt in years, the emotional wounds he had been dealt would never fully heal but maybe they wouldn't be making his soul bleed out anymore. "Thanks Aria. You know I was expecting roses up the stairs when I got here." Ty said in a joking manor. Aria barked out a laugh as she turned around and walked to the bed, "Really? Well I was expecting a bouquet from you." Aria countered. "Illium was fresh out." Ty joked back.

Aria smiled and sat down on the bed, Ty met her light blue eyes again as he took in her smirk, she may have been hundreds of years older than him maybe even going on a thousand but she was still a good looking woman, "How long until you return to your fight?" Aria asked. Ty shrugged and walked towards her and said "I've got the rest of today and part of tomorrow to be with you and then my family before I go back to fighting for the safety of the Galaxy." "You trust her?" Aria asked. "Shepard I'm beginning to trust with my life, I have no doubts in her at all to the point I'm pretty sure she'd assist in letting me escape from the Alliance. Cerberus and the Illusive Man I don't trust at all, I fully expect them to betray us at some point and I think Shepard does to." "Why are you doing this Ty? You don't owe the Galaxy anything." Aria said.

There was actually a bit of worry in Aria's tone though Ty would never say anything about it, he understood her worry and her point on him not owing the Galaxy anything. Why was he risking it all on a suicide mission, why would he put his life on the line for a Galaxy that outcasted him and had been hunting him down since he was eight years old. To him though it didn't make a difference what the Galaxy thought of him, this was bigger than any grudge he could hold against the Galaxy. The Reapers were a threat to everyone he cared for and Shepard needed people on her side, people that would raise hell no matter what and he was a hell raiser.

Ty walked forward to Aria and knelt down in front of her since she was lower than he was when she was sitting, "The Reapers are a threat to everyone I care about Aria. I can't sit and wait for them to come, I won't be able to live with myself if I sit on my ass and do nothing while people are out here getting kidnapped by the Reapers puppets, my code won't allow me to do that. I have to fight." Ty said. Aria shook her head slightly and spat "Damn your code."

Ty smirked slightly at Aria and said "Aria you've watched over me since we first met, you know that my code is the only way to make sure I don't turn into what I hunt but it isn't the main reason I fight. The safety of my friends and family are what drive me into battle knowing that maybe just maybe I can save them or prevent them from getting hurt. I'd run into the deepest pits of hell for anyone I care for and I'd murder without second thought anyone attempting to harm them. The Reapers are threatening the people I care about and that means I am going to kill them whether directly or indirectly and if fighting with Shepard means everyone I care about gets to live without fear of the Reapers killing us then I'll fight by her side." Ty said.

Ty stood up since the kneeling was making his knees a bit sore, Aria looked up at him and smiled then said "You are very interesting Ty." Ty smirked and said "I know the Queen of Omega has told me that many times." Aria stood up and pushed his hood down revealing his face fully, "Feeling dramatic are you." Aria said. Ty shrugged and said "Nah I just thought it sounded good there instead of saying the de facto ruler of Omega." Aria smiled and said "Well at least I don't have to worry about you forgetting the number one rule of Omega." Ty simply smiled and said "Wouldn't think of backstabbing you Aria you've helped me since the beginning."

Aria smiled and grabbed him by his tank top then dragged him down to the bed with him on top as her lips met his and her tongue "forced" its way into his mouth, or at least that's what Ty would say if a joke ever prompted itself for him to be able to say that she forced herself onto him. Ty moved from her lips to her neck trailing kisses along it but stopped himself short before things got out of hand since he had a comment that came to mind.

He brought his face back to hers up with a slight smirk on his face as her predatory gaze met his eyes, she didn't appreciate him stopping apparently, and he said "Besides fucking with you is overrated and not good for my life expectancy, I simply prefer the rule of don't fuck with Aria with the word 'don't' replaced with I and the word 'with' taken out." Aria rolled her eyes at the comment but she couldn't stop the edges of her lips turning up into a smile before she grabbed him and rolled him onto his back and got on top of him, "I can arrange that." Aria said. "We already did Aria." Ty said sarcastically. Aria once again rolled her eyes in response and said "Oh just shut up and kiss me loverboy."

Their lips met once more as she moved back down to him, Ty let his hands glide up her clothed back until he got to her shoulders. He pushed her up slightly as he brought his body up but never once missing a beat during the kiss they were passionately involved in, Aria brought her hands away from his face and neck where they had been as Ty grabbed the shoulder area on her jacket and began to help her strip it off revealing more of her skin despite still having the black skin tight tank top that had circle openings in it.

They moved themselves to the center of the bed and Ty turned the tables on Aria as Aria attempted to push him back down he made sure she ended up on her back with him between her legs. He didn't have any preference on top or bottom really, both were enjoyable but she had on that huge white skirt and that needed to go and then he'd let her force herself back on top of him. Ty kissed Aria on the lips and then began to kiss down her chest in the open spaces that she had which meant the tops of her breasts first, then her stomach right below the bottom of her breasts and then at her waistline where he stopped momentarily as he looked up at Aria. "You can be such a fucking tease Ty." Aria said in a low tone that almost sounded like a growl.

Despite the tone in her voice sounding agitated Ty knew that she wasn't, she had a pleased smile on her face but the predatory look in her eyes was still there, she wasn't going to let him do it much longer so he decided to have a little fun before she decided to attempt to get him pinned down under her muscular legs again. Ty pulled down the waist line of her skirt to show about only six inches of her left thigh though most of it was under the underwear she had on but that didn't stop Ty as he let his lips and tongue run across or kiss her thigh. He made sure to get as far as he could down her inner thigh without going at a weird angle or making it so blatant he was doing this for fun, after running down and back a few times making Aria let out a throaty hmm of approval each time he made his way back up to her waistline where he planned to do the same to the other side.

Before he could do the same to her other thigh her hands ran across his face as she said "You do that on the other side and I'll make you pay tonight." That was reason enough not to, Aria's hands ran through his hair slightly and Ty let her fingers explore his head and hair. The few Asari he had been with always seemed to enjoy running their fingers through his hair probably due to their lack of hair but Ty never minded since the feeling of someone running their fingers through his hair always felt good, hell when he wasn't doing it out of stress he liked running his hands through his hair. He wasn't sure but he believed the feeling had to do with nerve endings either way though he had shut his eyes as Aria did it.

Aria began playing around with his hair sending shivers across Ty's body as he leaned down to her stomach and kissed at it while she continued to run her fingers through his hair. Aria brought her hands out of his hair after a minute of playing with his hair while he kissed at her stomach and chest and then let him proceed to take off the long skirt she had on, under the skirt she had a black piece of underwear but Ty didn't pay much mind to it as he made his way back up to Aria's face, Aria's knees gripped both of Ty's sides as her hands ran across his face and into the back of his hair as she kissed him. Aria's biotics began to glow around them both but they weren't coming to life fully yet as they died down after they began to glow. Ty felt Aria's weight shift slightly and then he found himself on his back again and Aria on top of him yet again, Aria grabbed at the edge of his tank top so Ty sat up and let her take it off of him and toss it to the same side he tossed her skirt.

Aria grabbed the edge of her skin tight tank top next and began taking it off. Though the shirt itself left nothing for the imagination seeing her bare skin was far better than seeing it obscured. Aria brought her hands to the back of his neck again as she kissed him on the lips while she pushed her bare chest up against his while she forced his weight backwards so he would be laying down on his back again. Ty ran his hands up her sides and to her back slowly and softly as they kissed, they both had a long night ahead of them and they would both enjoy it.

The Next Day

The Illium sunrise gleamed through the window and into the bedroom stirring Ty from his sleep, Aria was still asleep next to him with an arm over his torso with a slight smile on her face more than likely from the dream she was having whatever it was. The night was fun and during all the passion Aria had melded with Ty as she neared her final climax and maintained the meld through the remainder of the time they were awake which made the ending of the night great. Ty enjoyed the melding process and being on the receiving end since he didn't go unconscious from it and everything that it did, he hoped that the very few times he had done his more intimate joining that it felt as good as the Asari's did though so far he had yet to hear bad of his own joining.

Ty got Arias arm off of him gently and sat himself up so he was looking out the window at the sunrise which, like the sunset the night before, was beautiful. The pinks and purples mixed with the yellows and oranges creating what looked like an airbrushed sky. Ty couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight; it looked so peaceful out there with the sky cars flying around and the way the colors of the sunrise bounced off the buildings to the room he was in. Ty contemplated laying back down next to Aria while he waited for her to get up while he watched the sunrise or if he should get up and going but before he could decide he felt Aria's left hand and then her arm wrap around his lower abdomen as she pulled the two of them together so her stomach was against his lower back, Ty looked back at Aria seeing her holding her body up with her right hand so she was eye level with Ty as she let her fingers on her left hand move up to his shoulder and start running up and down it. Ty gave her a slow kiss on her lips which she reciprocated, as they parted Ty said "Hey there sleeping beauty, how you feel?"

Aria had a pleased smile on her face as she said "Good." "Not fantastic?" Ty asked with a smirk. Aria just rolled her eyes while her mouth quirked up into a smirk "You ready to get up and going?" Ty asked. "What's the hurry you could always stay a while longer and we can have some more fun." Aria said with a suggestive smile. Ty smiled and said "As much as I want to, definitely after last night, I can't Aria I need to get prepared for the mission I signed up for since the Collectors are going to have my collective boot up their ass." Aria rolled her eyes again at him and said "You and your missions, maybe one day you'll come back and work with me exclusively." Ty put on his best mock hurt face as he said "But I thought I did great working with you exclusively last night."

Aria gave him a biotic punch in the arm but it wasn't a very hard punch thankfully, "I made a deal and promise and I have to see it through just like I did with you and still do to this day. I have some data on the Suns you might want where do you want me to send it your personal inbox or one of your guys?" Ty asked. "My inbox, lets shower together afterwards I have something for you." Aria said getting up.

Aria and Ty got off of the bed and as Ty began to walk towards the shower Aria grabbed his hands and made sure that he made it to the shower with her. They both got into the large shower with Aria turning the water on to a good temperature before pulling Ty into her chest and wrapping her arms around his neck as he brought his hands to her waist and met her lips as she came in for a kiss. The washed each other down amongst other things and after their long pleasurable shower they got out and dried off.

Ty started getting dressed in his clothes that were scattered across the room while Aria got dressed in what she usually wore on Omega since she had brought a medium sized duffle bag that carried her extra outfit, she put her dress jacket, shirt and skirt in it but Ty also noticed some weapons in it. Ty hooked up his Omni-tool and sent the information the Suns had to Aria as he followed her down the stairs to the kitchen where she pulled a box that looked like it was for jewelry out of her duffle bag and put it on the counter while she put her bag down and zipped it up. Aria stood up and picked up the jewelry box and said "Back when Ka'Reena was murdered and you had Grizz take her body while you chased after Tarak and Jedore something went missing that she had and I knew it was something that she valued which meant you valued it."

Aria opened the box and pulled out a very familiar necklace that Ty had once admired everyday, "It took some time but better late than never, I heard from one of my guys that Tarak's bitch Jentha had acquired it from Tarak so when she got killed during the Archangel incident I had my guys search her body for it and she still had it so I made sure I got it." Aria handed it to him and Ty grabbed it and laid it across his hands, it was a short platinum chain that had a medium sized nine sided star as a pendent, he honestly couldn't believe what he was holding in his hands.

He figured Ka'Reena still had it on her when she was murdered and he always figured that her family had it now since they would have found it on her but seeing it in his hands rendered him nearly speechless except for one sentence he had memorized, "Este es su estrella guia." Ty said in Spanish as he looked at it in awe. "That isn't Quarian language is it something you humans speak?" Aria asked. Ty nearly didn't hear Aria but shook the shock from his body and said "Sorry that was Spanish a human language what I said was this is her guiding star, she considered it a symbol for not only her pilgrimage but for her race as a whole. I thought it was destroyed or I didn't see it when I took her to her family." Ty felt his emotions inside building up but he had them controlled for the moment, "I'm going to need to drink some Noverian rum after I say this but it only felt right to get it back to you as not only a token of my appreciation for you but because it belonged to someone you cherished…I feel the need to kill someone now after saying that." Aria said looking disgusted at the words she had just spoke.

Ty nodded with a slight smile on his face due to the look on Aria's face but he was holding his emotions back as he hooked it around his neck then he grabbed the pendent to look at it for a moment before he let it drop against his chest. He looked back up to Aria and said "Thank you Aria this really means a lot." Aria shook off the disgusted look then smiled at Ty and said "Don't mention it loverboy." Ty smirked at the nickname and asked "You're never gonna move past that are you?"

Aria gave him a passionate kiss that they shared for a minute then as they parted she said "Not until you're either mine or someone else's." Ty couldn't help but chuckle at her response but then he said "Thank you, I'll be in touch and I hope the info helps." Ty started walking away when Aria called after him, "And Ty take good care of yourself if I here about you dying on this mission I'll personally bring you back so I can kill your ass again." Ty looked back with a smirk knowing what she really meant and said "Thanks for the heads up, take good care of yourself Aria thanks for everything you've ever done for me." "This better not be the last time I see you loverboy." Aria said with what Ty thought might have been a little emotion but his ears had deceived him before. Ty put his hood up and said "I'll see you when this is over if not before count on that, be careful and stay safe Aria." "You better do the same Ty." Aria said. Ty turned around and walked out to his space bike and jumped on it, he was going to call his dad to tell him to meet him soon but he had one last stop before that.

EDI popped up on his bike as his mask came over his mouth as he was lifting off and she asked "Enjoy your evening last night Ty?" Ty chuckled and said in a joking manor "Wouldn't you like to know." "I did not mean to offend you with my inquiry." EDI said. "I was joking EDI yea it was fun, the crew still on Illium?" Ty asked. "Yes the commander, Grunt and Mordin are helping out Ms. T'Soni right now." EDI said. "Can you patch me through to Liara?" Ty asked. "Yes setting up link now." EDI said. Ty took a right with the traffic towards a separate area of Nos Astra as Liara voice came into his ear, "Yes Ty how can I help?" Liara asked. "Sorry I'm not down their helping you right now Liara I'm sure I don't need to explain why but I'm heading to an area on Nos Astra to get something is there anyway I can assist you and Shepard?" Ty said. "Yes I know why you aren't down here since a certain Aria T'Loak had a penthouse rented but since you are offering your assistance and…now I know where exactly you are going, do you really need more tatt- never mind I forgot you lost all of your right arms tattoo's. Anyway there's a terminal down there I need you to hack so I can get the last information on my target, think you can help?" Liara asked.

Ty started to land and asked "What's the terminal look like?" "Its nothing abnormal, you've hacked them before when we worked together. When you do hack it and get the information contact me." Liara said. "Ten four." Ty said as he got off his bike. "What?" Liara asked. "It means okay, I'll contact you soon." Ty said. Ty's mask came off and he started looking around for the closest information kiosk he could find, he wandered around for a few minutes until he found what he was looking for. As he walked up to it he got his Omni-tool ready to go and couldn't help but wonder if it would be information on the Shadow Broker, he hoped she was getting closer to finding him so she could save Feron but he wasn't going to let her do it alone despite knowing that if Liara had the chance she probably would do it but hire a bunch of mercenaries, she wouldn't want to bother him since he was busy is what she would more than likely say to him. He didn't have as much personal stake except for wanting to kick the Shadow Brokers ass for taking Feron but that was reason enough for him to make sure he helped her, after all he was the one who was with her when they lost Feron.

He pressed a few buttons on the tool and a green light flashed on the terminal and a list popped up on his Omni-tool, a Batarian, a Vorcha, a Krogan and a few others that all were coordinated with someone called the observer, not the Shadow Broker must be someone close to him. Ty linked Liara in and said "Hey Liara I got the info but it doesn't make any sense to me, what has Shepard come up with?" "Let me patch her in." Liara said. There was silence then Liara's voice came through again, "Shepard what do you have Ty's on the line by the way." "I'm not really sure there's a few races on here but none seem to be the Observer." Shepard said. Ty scanned the information again and said "Or female." "What do you mean?" Liara asked. "Ty you're onto something, we need to mark this day down. Liara the observer is a female and these people are all males who gave you this information." Shepard said and Ty knew she had a smirk on her face because he did to. She was quick witted he gave her that much.

Ty missed the first part of what Liara said as he shut his Omni-tool down but he heard the last bit, "Nyxeris gave me the information…Nyxeris could I see you for a moment, I'll talk to you later Shepard, thanks for the help again Ty." "Don't mention it." Ty said. Liara's side went dead as Ty walked along a balcony towards a tattoo shop, "Ty you heading back to the Normandy soon?" Shepard asked. "No I paid back Aria but I still have to meet with my family one last time so I can say goodbye until we're done with the Collectors." Ty said. "Alright, hey Grunt didn't you want to say something to Ty?" Shepard asked her voice more distant.

Ty got to the door but waited outside of the tattoo shop as Grunt's deep Krogan voice came through, "Ty seeing the carnage you created was glorious but it got me thinking; if you can do all that I need to see what you can do against a Krogan." _Heh heh he's funny I thought he was serious but… oh shit he is being serious isn't he,_ Ty thought. "Um don't take this offensively Grunt but I don't want to fight you, it'd be a good fight probably a long grueling good fight but I don't want to cause problems on the Normandy between the crew." Ty said trying to avoid the fight. "Hmm I see your point human but we need to find out who's tougher between the two of us otherwise I may have to kill you." Grunt said. _Damn this is just like Kar he wanted to do the same thing, oi my head is gonna hurt if he agrees to this idea_, Ty thought. "How about a head-butting contest, if you win you can say you're the strongest most powerful squad mate Shepard has and you don't kill me, and if I win you don't kill me." "You're on human we'll have it right when you get onto the Normandy and if you don't show up I'll come find you and tear your spine out of you." Grunt said. _Fuck me, _Ty thought. "Sounds like uh…fun, I guess, see you then Grunt." Ty said.

Ty could hear muffled laughter from Shepard until she said while laughing "I'll make sure Chakwas is prepared when you get on the Normandy." Ty rolled his eyes and said sarcastically "Thanks Shepard, I gotta take care of something so I'll see you all later." "See ya Ty." Shepard said as she ended the call. Ty walked through the door to the shop and as he did he thought, _Kar was a normal Krogan and he knocked me out when we did it and Grunts the almighty genetically built super Krogan….shit I got some stupid ideas._

**A/N: Thanks to all those who have read this thus far and to all the new comers that read this it means a lot to this nerd. Two quick side notes first off the small sentence that was in Spanish I don't know if that is actually how it is said I used google translate so if you do know Spanish and I happen to be wrong, my bad. Last side note, when Ty and Aria are together and there is the paragraph talking about her running her hands through his hair and he is talking about the Asari fascination with that, I don't know if that is true or if there is any mention of it I just kinda figured they would. And Ty enjoying how it feels to have her hands running through his hair is actually something that I enjoy, I don't know if all people with long hair men or female like that but I personally have always enjoyed someone playing with my hair ever since I grew it out to the long length it is now so I had that reflect on Ty since I get shivers every time someone does what Aria was doing. Anyway enough about me and my weirdness if you have any questions, concerns, comments, or statements about the story let me know I'll do my best to explain anything that you are confused about and if you aren't confused and you just want to tell me you enjoy the story or if you have some constructive criticism I'm all for it as long as it isn't really rude. I will see you next time.**


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Shore Leave

**A/N/Disclaimer: As usual I don't own nothin' from the Mass Effect Universe that glory belongs to Bioware/E/A. I do stake claim to the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe. Onwards!**

Ty believed that if you were going to get a tattoo it had to have some meaning behind it other than because it looked cool. A tattoo stayed on for life except if you got it removed and if you were going to get something that you were going to keep forever it needed to have some meaning so when Ty found himself in a tattoo chair again explaining to the Asari woman what he wanted done he made sure that it was going to be a meaningful tattoo that would show his code and the people he cared about through symbols or something that they had. He missed his old sleeve tattoo but the tattoo had little meaning to him and was going to be replaced by something that would have meaning to him. The Asari traced out a stencil of the tattoo and thankfully she was versatile in human designs and had a very creative mind since she made his idea look much cooler than he imagined it, it was a sleeve tattoo again but instead of doing the same Japanese art he had he choose Samoan designs that would go from his shoulder to his hand on every inch of space he had but that was just the base background he was going to have.

The Asari pulled up all her equipment and chair and sat down next to Ty and then began tattooing his arm, the Samoan designs would go down first but throughout the designs she was leaving open spaces to fit the animals and symbols that he was using to represent everything. Ty let his mind wander as the Asari tattoo his arm and as his mind wandered he thought about the symbols that were going into the tattoo, the first was an Eagle flying on the outside of his bicep near the top and he chose it to represent his brother and the freeness that his brother had.

Above it on his shoulder he had described to the Asari what a scarred Turian mandible looked like and she drew a very real iteration of the scarred side Garrus's face tattooed with Garrus "Archangel" Vakarian carved into a Viper rifle below the scarred mandible. Below both of those tattoos right at his elbow he had a medium size fleur de lis which was a symbol of purity but inside of the left "leaf" was the name Haley and in the right "leaf" was the name Jessica. The main reason behind it was to represent Haley and Jessica since they were still pure and innocent for the most part. Between the fleur de lis and the eagle he had a smaller version of Tali's visor with the front of it facing out and Tali'Zorah vas Nemma nar Ryya engraved along the side of the mask. On the opposite side of his bicep in the middle was a lion head to resemble courage and bravery for a reminder to never back down, it was something that reminded him of his father and grandfather before him but mostly his dad. It was one of the Rhoddy rules he implanted in them, never back down, never give up.

On the top part of his forearm between designs was a nine sided star that looked exactly like the pendent around his neck now with the name Ka'Reena in the center of it. The rest of the top part of his forearm to his wrist was a tattoo of a tattoo that he had come accustomed to seeing now. It took a little while for the Asari to get it exactly how it looked because of how much Ty had to describe but in the end they got it exactly right, the remainder of his forearm on top was Jacks back tattoo from the top of her shoulders to her waist but smaller so it fit his arm and still flowed with everything and with her name in cursive inside the Omega symbol.

On the bottom part of his forearm but at the elbow he had Normandy SR-2 tattooed with Joker and EDI tattooed right below it, at the mid point of the back side of his forearm he had a claymore shotgun horizontally with the name Grunt below it since Grunts head was to huge to put on his arm. Below that at his wrist the Samoan designs separated a little to show one Japanese symbol and his old crew's symbol. The tomahawk and sniper in the X formation was something that his crew had gotten after getting rid of the Blue Suns symbol but Ty had never gotten it because he never found the time to do it and didn't want to give Tarak any heads up to him leaving. He owed it to his crew and Darian now to get it on him since Darian still had the tattoo. The Japanese symbol translated was the symbol of lust and that was to represent Aria and the reason, well it was self explanatory.

The last tattoos were on the back of his hand and palm; on his palm he got a left hand that was facing palm up so the thumb was on the left. The hand went from the bottom of his wrist to right below where his fingers were, in-between the thumb and index finger on the tattoo a line came down and went down into the center then began a going up in a counterclockwise way and going all the way around making a circle but then going back around until it reached the center of the palm coming back around without touching any other part of the tattoo. It was a Native American symbol for healing hands something he hoped he would get but it was also a symbol for the three doctors on board and all the help they had given him.

On the back of his hand the Samoan design started after the reimage of Jacks ended and they went to the sides of his hands across his thumb and pinky and went across his other knuckles and onto his last three fingers leaving a circular space on his hand that now had a two medium sized dog tags both with a thick black outline and a silver base color, the badge on the right if he was holding it up to look at it had a dove flying towards a shining star symbolizing hope for a brighter future or a guiding star leading the dove to hope the other badge was empty for now since he didn't know what he was going to do yet and since they still had more crew members to get he figured he'd be back there or at another tattoo parlor to get more names or symbols for those members if they became friends. He decided to get the tattoos while he had worked on his back before joining his mind with Jack, he was apart of a new crew now and so far he liked working with them a lot and thought of them as friends so he felt the need to tattoo something to resemble them.

The tattooing process took some time but after the Asari finished Ty was happy to see that it ended up with great quality, Ty scanned his credits into the machine for the tattoo's and thanked the Asari before walking out. He was thankful for the cybernetics in his right arm since the only feeling he had from the tattoos was a slight tingling feeling in his arm but no real pain. As he walked to his bike he called his dad who picked up before the first ring ended, "You done playing slap and tickle?" Mr. Rhoddy asked. Ty chuckled and said "Yea been done for a while now but I had to run an errand first, you guys up and going?" "Yea Darian took Haley and Jessica to the bar already but I wanted to talk to you and Z first in private." Mr. Rhoddy said. "About egg?" Ty asked.

Their dad was usually a very calm person and had never snapped at his sons about anything but to Ty's surprise his dad snapped back and said "Don't call her that anymore I'm done hiding the truth about her. She was more than what you two know." Ty was shocked at his dad snapping so he said "Okay sorry, where you want to meet?" "By that star charts place on Nos Astra we'll be waiting for you." Mr. Rhoddy said. Ty got to his bike and said "Be there soon, love you." "Love you bye." Mr. Rhoddy said than ended the call.

Ty got on his bike and traveled back to the usual area on Nos Astra but he landed his space bike at the star charts areas port to find his dad and brother waiting for him standing near the edge of the port while they talked. Ty got off his bike and his mask came off as he walked over to them and gave them both hugs, he took his hood off and his brother said "Nice tattoo, bet that has to sting like hell right now." Ty shook his head and said "No though it would if it weren't for the fact I have cybernetics in that arm now, you guys are in it as symbols." "Let me guess I'm the dove because of my beauty." Z said sarcastically while doing a girly stance.

Ty rolled his eyes and said "No the eagle, though I thought about making you something girly, daddy you're the lion head, Arias this symbol and the others I'll explain when we get to the other three." Ty said showing each symbol. Mr. Rhoddy nodded and said "So you two ready for the truth." _Not really, _Ty thought but he nodded and said "Alright so what exactly happened to her?" Mr. Rhoddy took a deep breath and said "Your mother was a Drell, a beautiful Drell. We met in 2150 way before Franklin was murdered and she traveled with me on some adventures knowing exactly who I was and who my father was. She was trained by Hanar to be an assassin and a damned good one and we went along for years on adventures until she wanted to have children…we were going to adopt no matter what but we found a man who would make her wish come true, to be able to have human children with Drell qualities."

Thirty Minutes Later

Ty was staring out into oblivion as his dad finished the story not knowing what to think or what to say, he always thought his mother was a bitch who abandoned her children not a nurturing mother like his dad just explained to him. Broken memories of his childhood started to piece themselves together but the only real full memory that he could recall her completely in was the sunset on Earth but he still didn't know if he was happy_. I spent my life hating this woman and now I learn she wasn't at all what I thought she was, fuck this is hard to take in_, Ty thought. Ty finally found some words to say after a few minutes of silence passed, "I'm sorry daddy she must've been incredible." "She was but I'm the one who is sorry for allowing the trauma that happened to make you forget who your mother really was, I should have told the two of you years ago but with everything that happened in the last eight years prevented me from being able to tell you. Your mother, like me, would've been so proud of you two for what you have become as individual people." Mr. Rhoddy said. "And my purple eyes?" Ty asked avoiding what his dad had just said. "Part of the experiment, she gave Z his bright green and gave you purple." Mr. Rhoddy said.

Ty nodded still staring into a void, "I can see her." Z said finally. "Me too, I remember her like I had known who she was all along." Ty said. "I know it's a lot to take in but you two deserved to know who your mother truly was." Mr. Rhoddy said. "I don't know what's worse thinking all my life she never gave a damn about us or learning she did actually care and my hatred was at someone who was genuine." Z said. "Do you believe that daddy?" Ty asked. "What?" Mr. Rhoddy asked.

Ty sighed knowing he had to ask or it would haunt him, "That she would've been proud of us, look at us and what we do." Mr. Rhoddy allowed a smirk to get on his face as he said "Trying to save the galaxy and being a loving brother, I don't know any parent who wouldn't be proud." Ty nodded holding back his emotions trying not to tear up, it wasn't working very well but he had it controlled for the most part, "Its gonna take some time to get used to, come on lets head to the bar for one last hoorah until I get back so I can get my mind off this for a little while." Ty said. Mr. Rhoddy nodded and said "Okay."

Before they walked away Ty pulled up his Omni-tool and said "EDI could you take control of my bike and bring it back to the Normandy without destroying it." "Yes Ty, would you like me to drive it slow to make sure I don't crash it?" EDI asked. There was a bit of humor in her tone which made Ty smile, "I trust you EDI drive however you please." Ty said. EDI was silent for a second than she said "Yes Ty, and thank you." "No problem EDI." Ty said than she disappeared and he shut his Omni-tool down.

As they walked across Illium to the Eternity bar Ty was having a hard time gripping that his mother was actually a good person. _Z was right I don't know what's worse hating her 'cause I thought she abandoned us or knowing she actually cared and died defending us. I can see her now she took us to Earth with Daddy but its hard to go from hating who I thought she was to accepting the truth, its like a late stage of denial thinking that she couldn't possibly be a bitch when I just spent the last decade for sure seeing this woman just pack her shit up and leave without saying goodbye because she found a better man. It's like there were two women my real mother who was a bitch and this new one who's loving and I'm afraid to let down my barriers 'cause I don't want to be hurt by a motherly figure again._

They got into the bar as Ty finished bantering with himself in his head and Jessica, Haley and Darian were sitting in a booth all laughing having a good time. All three walked over to Darian and the girls and sat down, Jessica was in the middle with Darian on her left and Haley on her right. Ty sat next to Haley and Z sat next to Darian and Mr. Rhoddy sat next to Z, "Sooo how was your night?" Haley asked as she gave him a mischievous smile. "Eventful I'm sure." Darian said sarcastically before Ty responded. Ty just smiled and said "I'm sure Jessica and Haley could assure you that any night spent with me is more than eventful." "True we could…but we won't." Jessica said with a laugh. They all laughed and Ty said "Thanks girls it means a lot."

Haley scooted closer to Ty and leaned her head onto his arm, Ty wrapped his arm around her and let her rest her head on his chest and shoulder as he looked down at her, she had her necklace on along with different clothes than she had on when Scrum had her. She wore a fuchsia low cut shirt that showed her mid drift and the tattoo she had of a red sun that out lined her belly button, she had on a similar black skirt that Jessica wore and then a pair black shoes that went up her ankle a few inches.

She looked great but still bruised with healing cuts from being captured, Ty looked up to Darian seeing the tomahawk and sniper in an X on his neck still which brought a smile to Ty's face but then asked "So Darian what you been up to since we last talked?" Darian shrugged and said "Well aside from explaining to C-Sec that I had nothing to do with the armed soldiers of a mysterious origin that chased a hooded man out of the bar." That got a laugh out of Ty because of the tone Darian used; it was so innocent and so easy to buy if you didn't know Darian's bullshit tone. "I met a nice girl." Darian said with a shrug. "'Bout time I was starting think you had an alternative way of thinking." Z said with a laugh. Darian just shook his head and said "Nah not my thing I'll leave that to you and your girlish figure." Z slapped Darian lightly and used his most flamboyant tone as he said "Damn it Darian you're making me blush stop it you know I don't swing that way."

Everyone looked each other momentarily but then they all busted out with laughter at his impression, as the laughing died down Ty looked at his brother with a smile as he said "I think that was your best you've ever done." Z bowed his head slightly and said "Thank you." "So who's the Turian lover Darian?" Ty asked. "Me." Jessica said with a smile. At first Ty thought she was joking until he saw the seriousness she had in her expression, "You…wai...s…What?" Ty asked now completely shocked. "I'm a lady killer what can I say." Darian said leaning back putting his hands against the back of head.

Ty was in a bit of shock but hearing Z sneeze brought him out of his shocked state, the sneeze was followed by Z coughing while he said "I'm sorry I'm allergic to bullshit…ehem, ehem." Ty smirked as he looked over at Darian and said "Darian I know you're a klutz when it comes to talking to women, so how did this all happen?" Ty asked. "Well it took some of my Turian magic but she fell hard for me." Darian said still exuding confidence. Ty, Z and Mr. Rhoddy all stared at him for more than ten seconds before they said in unison "Rrrriiigghhtt." Darian leaned forward back towards the table and said "Okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little." They still all stared at him with a we know your lying look until Darian finally threw his hands up and said "Okay I'm exaggerating a lot but hey it almost worked." "Uh huh." All three said in unison smiles spreading onto everyone's face. "Don't be so hard on him he's actually kinda charming and cute when he's stumbling over himself trying to say the right things." Jessica said with a smile. "So you two shagged?" Z asked with a smirk.

Darian started clearing his throat and looking around which Ty figured as the Turian equivalent to a blush while Jessica turned a deep, deep red. Z didn't miss the moment, "YOU DID DIDN'T YOU!" Z yelled pointing his finger at Darian. Darian looked for a way out and then caught all the new tattoo's Ty had and said "Anyway how about that new tattoo Ty." "Aw you two are embarrassed it's so cute. So did you Jessie?" Haley asked with a smile. "I'll tell you in private later but you better not tell anyone." Jessica said. Haley put her hand up and said "Sisters honor." There was an awkward silence or what Ty assumed was an awkward silence for Darian and Jessica so he said "So about this tattoo Darian it took some time but I finally got the tattoo."

Ty put his arm on the table showing him them the tattoo then he continued "I was going to make you the bird but I figur-" The look Darian had would've incinerated Ty if looks could kill, Darian hated being referred to as a bird, Darian interrupted him and said "Stop right there unless you want my Turian boot smashing your face in." Ty smirked and said "But I figured you wouldn't want that, Haley, Jess you two are the fleur de lis which is for purity." He flipped his arm around showing them the fleur de lis, Jessica examined the tattoo and asked "Who are all the names like the Turian on your shoulder, the Jack name in that colorful part and all the other names?" "The crew members I have become friends with on the Normandy." Ty answered. "What about the blank badge and the dove?" Haley asked. "No one yet I just like the meaning behind it the empty badge I don't know what to do so I'm going to wait, this one is Native American for healing hands." Ty said. "Finally something you can use." Darian said sarcastically. "Ha ha ha." Ty said slowly faking irratance.

Two Hours Later

Laughing had ensued at the table over the two hours all of them just reminiscing on good times, they had gotten so loud that Aethyta, who was a friend of Mr. Rhoddy and by extension was friends with Ty and Z, had to ask them to quiet down slightly despite her enjoying their presence and wanting to kick out the annoying bastards who wanted them to quiet down. It was really enjoyable just sitting and talking with them all, Ty missed just being around them because of how much fun they always had but if on queue his left wrist lit up with his omni-tool flaring to life and EDI's little blue chess piece coming up in the center of his hand, "Ty I do not wish to interrupt but Shepard has returned and wants a report on what you're doing and when you'll be back." "Is there any way you can get her to pop up like you do on my omni-tool so I can tell her directly?" Ty asked. "That would require for her to be using a vid comm or be a slightly unshack-"

Ty interrupted EDI not wanting her to finish that in the presence of the people of the bar that were not among his friends, unshackled A.I.s scared people despite EDI only being slightly unshackled A.I. and the nicest of them all so far, "Ah ah ah, a simple no would suffice, tell her that I'll be there soon I just gotta say goodbye to everyone now." "Would you like me to tell her an estimated time for your arrival?" EDI asked. Ty sighed and thought, _I wish I had more time with them but duty calls I guess, I'll just stay in touch with them as much as I can._ "Um I dunno depends on how emotional the goodbyes get, tell her that I said to have patience and for her to sit her Alliance ass down and take a breather while she waits for me she's gonna work herself to death and tell Miranda to calm her Cerberus ass down and be patient it wont kill her to relax and smile a little." Ty said. "I will relay your message to them." EDI said. "Thanks EDI." Ty said.

Ty shut his Omni-tool down and saw the sadness and irritation on everyone's face, the irritation was mostly on his dad and brothers faces, Ty picked up a glass and raised it up than said "Here's to having you guys here with me, thank you all for being there for me always and showing the meaning of having a great, dysfunctional fucked up loving family. I love you all." Everyone raised the glasses in front of them and clinked them together and Haley said "Thank you all for coming to find me." Everyone nodded and Ty stood up and asked "You guys wanna walk with me to the Normandy?" They all nodded in silence and Ty said "I should get back before Miranda comes out here looking with Grunt, come on."

They all exited the booth and walked as a group making a little small talk along the way mostly trying to get their minds off their inevitable destination. As quickly as the journey to find Haley started it was now ending abruptly and it didn't look like anyone was happy about it especially since the spent the last two hours joking and laughing with each other like the big family they had become. They arrived at the Normandy and Ty turned around and said "And here we are which means its time for my departure." Haley was the first to cling onto Ty though she wasn't crying yet, "I'll miss you Haley but I'll try staying in contact as often as I can so stay strong for me." Ty said rubbing her back. Haley looked up and said "This is twice I've had to say goodbye to you." "Yea let's hope we do better with our next reunion so it's something normal not you kidnapped." Ty joked. Haley smiled and two tears found their way out of her eyes so Ty wiped them away and said "Save these for when they are truly needed not on me taking a vacation to hell." Haley forced a laugh and smiled through her tears than said "Please come back unharmed Ty don't make this the final memory I have of you." Ty smiled and grabbed the pendent of her necklace and showed her the back of it and said "It won't be trust me." Haley nodded and put her head against his chest and said "I love you Ty." "Love you to Haley." Ty said.

Haley let go and stood next to Z who wrapped his arm around her and held her close, Jessica came next giving Ty a big hug but still holding back her tears so Ty hugged her back and said "And you look after your older sister till I get back so she doesn't get into to much trouble alright." Jessica nodded and said "I will, thank you for everything Ty, I know we haven't spent much time together but you've been a great friend to me and my sister and I won't ever forget that. I'd say you were the most amazing guy I ever was with but now that I met Darian it I can't say that, no offense." Ty chuckled and said "None taken, don't have any hybrid babies while I'm gone and if I don't comeback, which is highly unlikely but if I don't you live the rest of your life with him without regrets or sadness okay."

That did it for Jessica she started crying but not hysterically thankfully, "Will you do what I said Jess if worse comes to worse?" Ty asked. "Yes but don't you dare not come back Ty there's to many of us who care for you here for you to just leave us." Jessica said. "I'll come back don't worry just a contingency plan for you if I don't." Ty said. Jessica nodded and said "You be safe Ty and don't die." Ty let her go over to Haley since Darian walked up to him, "Ty you've been my friend since you joined the Suns, I've followed your orders and listened to you as best I could learning how to live my life like you did back then without regrets but this time you listen to me. You comeback from this little quest to hell and back and you make sure you are unharmed, you've got to many people here that care about you to see you throw your life away on some suicide mission that you joined to solve some of your inner conflicts. You've been a great friend and a great mentor but you still have this dysfunctional family that cares about you." Darian said than he pointed behind him at the group.

He then pointed at the Normandy and said "I know you well enough to know that those people on that ship are your friends and you look after them like you did our squad and I know there are people on that ship that care about you as well so do us all a favor and see this mission through and continue being the sarcastic, caring, gun toting psycho that you are understand." Ty nodded and Darian said "Good and one last thing make sure you kill those Collector bastards." Ty and Darian gave each other a bro hug and Ty said "I will and make sure you keep your eyes on Jessica, shouldn't be too hard for you." "That's easy." Darian said walking back to Jessica and wrapping his arm around her.

Next up was his brother who Ty could tell wasn't to happy to be staying behind, "Z you've been a role model for me since I was a kid, I remember always looking up to you and wanting to be just like you and wanting to be at your side for every adventure we took not wanting to accept there was some we had to do separately but this time its my turn to go off on my own into hell to make sure everything turns out okay." His brother nodded and said "I know, I don't like seeing you go off on your own to a hard fight but I know that its something I can't partake in, I gotta get Darian's ass out of retirement since he's gotten a little fat and train our two green friends." "Hey!" Darian, Jessica and Haley yelled in unison. "Just saying." Z said.

His brother sighed and said "Ty you've gone through a lot in these past years and I can assure you its hurt to have seen you shatter at the hands of the Suns more than you know but it would be nothing compared to if I lose you to this mission. There can't be an RBZ with just me; the Rhoddy Boyz will always be us so you make sure you come back from this mission." Ty hugged his brother and said "You're the best brother anyone could ever dream of, you're a great person and I will always look up to you and be with you." Ty swear he could feel his brother holding back his emotions but he also knew he himself was holding back emotions as Z said "You're an even better brother and person, take good care of yourself Ty." "I will Z, take care of Haley, Jess and Darian for me." Ty said. "I will." Z said. "Love you Z." Ty said. "Love you Ty." Z said. They let go of each other and Ty said "RBZ 4 Life." Z smirked and said "Family Forever." They fist bumped each other and Z walked back into the group, Mr. Rhoddy walked up and said "Everyone else has already told you to look after yourself so I'll skip that part and tell you this, look after the crew, you are all counting on each other and need to look after one another like you used to with your squad. The Collectors are already dead but you need to make sure you put them down completely and not let Cerberus dictate how the mission goes."

Ty nodded understanding where his dad was coming from with Cerberus, if Cerberus had their way Ty was sure they would try to brainwash the Collectors to work for them and kidnap alien races. Mr. Rhoddy continued "I know what this mission and those guys on the ship mean to you, I can see you coming out of the hell you have been going through the last eight years but I know you are still guarding your heart with a unbreakable fortress and as I have told you no one can tell you when you are done mourning just remember the other half of what I said. It's a choice not to find love again after losing someone you loved." Ty nodded again and Mr. Rhoddy finished by saying "You've come a long way from being a merc and I have given you as much guidance as I could, I know that this life isn't a normal life but I just want you to know that even though I wished for something different for you two that you have both made me the proudest father in this universe. I love you buddy take good care of yourself and everyone and comeback in one piece."

Ty let tears escape but he kept himself composed and said "I will daddy; take good care of the others make sure they don't get into trouble." Ty hugged his father and his dad said "I love you buddy." "I love you to." Ty said in a choked up voice. Tears were rolling down his face as Ty hugged his dad and they held each other a little longer until they let go and his dad said "Here's something to keep in your room while you are away, don't open it until you get in your room though." Mr. Rhoddy handed him a tiny wrapped square shape and Ty nodded still having tears run down his cheeks, Mr. Rhoddy put his hand on Ty's shoulder and said "Go on we'll be waiting for you to get back."

Ty nodded and looked at everyone and said "Love you all." They all nodded and everyone including his brother and Darian had either tears running down their faces with smiles or crying completely. Ty turned around and started walking to the Normandy's air lock tears running more and more down his face, he got to the door and looked to his family, no friends all family and forced a smile seeing them stand together waving to him. He waved back and quietly said "Love you guys, take good care of one another while I'm gone and if the worst happens I'll always be with you." He put his hood up and took a step into the airlock losing sight of everyone and hoping it wasn't the last time, he got decontaminated and the doors to the bridge opened where he was soon greeted by Jokers sarcasm, "Hey enjoy the shore leave 'cause you know there's a galaxy needing saved." Ty wished he could have responded with a joke but he walked by and said in a strained voice "Joker…please not right now."

**A/N: Forgot to say in the last chapter that the outfit Aria was wearing I based off of a comic drawing that I think is from Mass Effect Invasion if there were comic drawings in that, I had to look up something on Aria and found myself on a wikia page and when I scrolled down looking for the information I saw the picture under the Mass Effect Invasion area so I decided that would be her outfit for their meeting. Now that Ty is back on track it is time for some one on one with the resident Krogan, oh it's going to be fun…for me as a bystander at least I doubt a head butting contest with a Krogan would be much fun at all except for the Krogan. All the symbols mentioned in this are real things, the hands of healing I think is probably the only one that I really need to say that for at least but if you are unsure exactly how it looks feel free to look it up they have pictures of the symbol. Last thing I'd like to say is thanks once again to all of you reading.**


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Knock Out

Ty continued to walk up the deck hearing Joker and EDI talking "Did I say something wrong?" "No Mr. Moreau he's experiencing extreme sadness due to having to say goodbye to his family." EDI said. Ty walked down the stairs no longer able to hear them, he got around the galaxy map and as he passed Kelly she asked "Are you alright Ty?" Ty got to the elevator and opened the doors, "I just said goodbye to my family Kelly and learned some things about my mother, I'm going to need a while to answer that honestly." Ty said in his strained voice. Ty walked in the elevator looking down at the ground trying to avoid eye contact with everyone so no one saw his tears as he hit the button for the crew quarters, the elevator descended as he looked at the wrapped gift. He figured it was a picture judging on the shape that looked like a frame, the doors opened and he walked immediately to his room and shut the door behind him as he got in.

Ty took all his gear off and put it on his table in his usual order than he took his hood off and sat down on the side of his bed next to his dresser and unwrapped the gift, he saw the corner of a frame as he took apart the paper until he took it all off completely and saw a recent but doctored picture that made tears continue to flow down Ty's face. The picture had his dad and his brother with an arm around each others shoulder than Darian with Jessica on his lap and Haley next to them on the couch at the apartment each smiling but what was doctored was Ty sitting in front of them with his arms around the waist of a woman while she sat between his stretched out legs, the woman was none other than his lost love Ka'Reena without her mask on.

It was an older picture of the two though Ty looked like he did now just a different sleeve tattoo, the original picture was the same just without Haley or Jess in it, Ka'Reena had taken stimulants and immune system bolsters so she could take the picture without her mask but she still had a cold because of it. You could tell in the picture that his dad had said something to make everyone have a real smile on for both parts of the picture. Ka'Reena had such beautiful features and such a pretty smile, her raven black hair was long and draped over her shoulders and she had stunning eyes and markings on her chest.

As tears streamed down his face he felt paper and something round on the back of the frame so he looked behind it and saw a note taped to the back of it with a circular holo projector, he took it off and set the frame down on his nightstand and began to read the note. _Dear Ty, I knew there was nothing that we could ever say to stop you from going on your revenge mission that started what seems like a lifetime ago and we stood by you through the whole thing but we hoped after it was over you'd start to live life again. Ka'Reena had told me once that when she started her pilgrimage she never imagined that the thing of value she was going to find was you. I found this holo after she was killed and I figured it would do more harm than good back then so I kept it safely hidden until I thought the time was right which I think is now, I hope this does more good than harm, be safe Love Z._

Ty hit the button and Ka'Reena popped up without her mask on and started talking "Ty if you have found this than I am probably dead because of my pilgrimage or because the Suns came for me. Please if it's the second do not blame yourself for it you Bosh'tet you gave me probably the best two years of my life that I would ever live." Ty forced a laugh at her calling him a Bosh'tet it was her favorite thing to call him then she continued "I know life without me is going to be hard for you with what you have already lost but know I will always be watching over you and making sure you are okay. Tell Tali to be safe and that I loved her like a sister, she was a great friend. Until we see each other again I want you to always feel my love and take my soul into yours and continue to live your life. Don't mourn me forever and try to find love again and be sure to love that person like you did me it'll make that person very lucky."

Ty had gotten control of his crying when he was reading the letter but he felt it coming back seeing her and hearing her say this, "I love you Ty forever and always, I will be as free as dust in the solar wind until you find me in the next life. Goodbye my Bosh'tet bond mate, keelah 'se lai." The holo ended and tears started going down his face again and they burned, "I love you to Ka'Reena, I wish I could've saved you and you could've returned to your people a proud Quarian not dead because of the Suns." Ty said to himself.

Ty put the holo down next to the picture and stood up and walked over to EDIs terminal and asked "EDI you there?" "Yes Ty, are you alright?" EDI asked. "Is Grunt busy?" Ty asked avoiding the question. "He's pacing back in forth in his quarters as usual." EDI said. "Tell him to get ready for a head-butting contest." Ty said. "Are you sure you should do that right now?" EDI asked. Ty just walked away and said "No but I'm going to anyways." "I will inform them you are on your way." EDI said.

Ty put his hood up and walked to the elevator and got in, he hit the button for the Engineering deck and let the doors shut as he leaned back against the wall behind him as he waited for the doors to open and let him out. The idea that he had was a stupid one but he hadn't been known for smart ideas for a while now, the head-butting contest would surely render him unconscious and then he would be able to escape from the memories that were haunting him now. His vision remained normal but he could mentally see different times he and Ka'Reena had been together, seeing her in her dark blue and black suit with her blue mask on as they fought off the mercenaries that were attempting to attack her when they first met. Not the nicest way to meet someone but Ty had found her in the streets of Omega being chased by the mercenaries who were calling her an abundance of slang terms but the most memorable and the only one that Ty understood was suit rat.

If someone would have told him that they would go from him saving her to the relationship they had he would have called them crazy idiots but as his dad said love blossoms in the strangest places. Many other memories flooded Ty's mind, all were pleasant memories but seeing the memories again did nothing to sooth his aching heart. Ty wiped the tears from his eyes as the doors opened and he walked to Grunts quarters where his release from the pain was going to be,_ it only took Kar around fifty head-butts to knock me out but then again I lost count because of how bade my head hurt so maybe Grunt will do it quicker, _Ty thought. The doors opened to Grunt's quarters and as EDI said he was pacing back and forth, "You ready to find out who's strongest Grunt?" Ty asked hiding his emotions. Grunt smirked and said "Good you came I've been waiting for this." Grunt sniffed the air and asked "Have you been crying human?"

Ty's response, though probably not smart, was head-butting Grunt hard. It hurt Ty's head but Grunt reeled back than smirked and said "Not bad Ty." Grunt took a step forward then slammed his head hard into Ty's knocking him back a few steps, Ty ignored the pain and said "Is that all you got." Grunt chuckled and said "Don't want to kill you yet." Ty smirked and got back to Grunt and slammed his head into Grunts face harder than before, Grunt reeled back again than cracked his neck and slammed Ty pretty hard again knocking him back more steps than before. Ty cracked his neck and said "Oh this is gonna be a long fight."

* * *

"You sure about this Mordin?" Shepard asked. The Salarian nodded sharply and said "Have run many tests and it is only possible scenario, will show you data." Shepard nodded slightly as she leaned forward against Mordin's table as he began typing away on his terminal. Shepard had been making her way around the Normandy talking to all of her crew while she waited for Ty to get back, Jacob seemed to have a clear mind after dealing with his father and Ty told her that he was going to be fine as well so that was some great news but she still had a lot of work to do for her crew and between the five new dossiers and finishing up Project Firewalker and handling Project Overlord. They still had to find a way to defeat the Collectors but Shepard wasn't allowing herself to worry about that, a solution would present itself and then they would bring them down.

During her rounds she had stopped by to talk to Mordin about potential shielding tech for Ty since he was without them and would likely continue to not use them unless she forced him to, her initial conversation with Mordin had proved to be successful but Mordin stopped her before she could leave and began to talk to her about his recent experiments that had to do with their resident purple eyed warrior. "This seems impossible Mordin along with being completely unethical." Shepard said with a shake of her head. "Unethical yes but not impossible, look at history of Cerberus experiments you have run into. All failed and unethical but still were goals that were not impossible for a time. All would end up failing but all within possible parameters." Mordin said. _Guess he has a point_, Shepard thought. Akuze had been one of Cerberus's experiments and despite how much she hated Cerberus for what they did to her squad Mordin was right about the experiment they had run, they were all with possible goals though all would end up failing.

Despite all of that Shepard couldn't wrap her head around what he was telling her now, this wasn't a Cerberus experiment as far as they knew but if what Mordin was saying was true than they might have figured out part of the reason why Ty was able to read all the memories of his own and around him with perfect clarity. A blue hologram of a female human body popped up with its nervous system outlined, Shepard looked at the hologram then looked back at Mordin and asked "What am I looking at here Mordin?" "Normal human structure, more notably your nervous system." Mordin stated. "My nervous system?" Shepard asked. "Yes easier for you to understand this way." Mordin answered as he continued typing away on his terminal.

Shepard wasn't sure if she should feel insulted by him making it easier to understand but she figured the more scientific explanation wouldn't make sense to anyone but a doctor. Another hologram popped up but this time it was a male human hologram but instead of having the one green nervous system that Shepard's hologram it alternated between red, blue, yellow and green. _There's no way,_ Shepard thought. "He has four nervous systems?" Shepard asked. "Yes." Mordin said with a nod. "But why are the colors only showing up on his one system? Is it like a power conduit running off of four separate generators?" Shepard asked. To Shepard's surprise Mordin smiled and pointed at her as he said "Yes! Exactly! The green is his normal system but the red, yellow and blue are three separate systems all working alongside each other." "How is that possible?" Shepard asked. "A experiment though I doubt it is Cerberus work. I ran tests on his nervous system and the yellow system has similarities to Drell nervous systems."

Shepard nodded slightly, that made sense despite how outrageous it was. Ty had the memory of a Drell with some extra capabilities though Shepard wasn't sure that Mordin was right about it not being Cerberus. "Why do you rule out Cerberus Mordin, being able to do everything Ty can do would be a great quality for an undercover agent?" Shepard asked. "Understand your point but Cerberus would see using the abilities of other alien races as a weakness more than a strength no matter how useful the talent." That made sense but before Shepard and Mordin could continue their conversation the doors to the tech lab opened, Shepard and Mordin looked over to see Kelly standing in the doorway with a look of worry on her face. "Hey Kelly is everything okay?" Shepard asked.

The usual perky yeoman shook her head in response which worried Shepard; if Kelly was worried there was reason to be worried about something. "I'm worried about Ty." Kelly answered. "Worry understandable due to his recurring injuries." Mordin said with a smile. Shepard couldn't help but smile at Mordin's joke but Kelly shook her head again and said "It's more than that, when he got back on board the Normandy he wasn't entirely himself, I believe he was crying." Crying was never a good sign but Shepard knew if Ty was than something was definitely wrong, "Problematic." Mordin stated. "Yea, I'd like to hear more about your findings Mordin but I need to go see if everything is okay with Ty. Make sure you forward your findings to Miranda and Dr. Chakwas so they are kept in the loop about Ty's condition." Shepard said.

Mordin nodded and began to work again as Shepard walked to Kelly and out of the tech lab. Kelly stopped at her station and turned around back to Shepard, "Did he say anything to you?" Shepard asked. "I asked him if he was alright but he said that he just said goodbye to his family and learned something's about his mother so he would need time to answer it honestly. I talked to Joker as well and he said that he attempted to joke with him but Ty said "Joker please not right now." I worry about him, we haven't had the chance to speak to each other in depth but from what I understand he's had a rough time." "A rough eight years to be exact." Shepard said solemnly. Kelly shook her head and said "I feel so bad for him, he's gone through so much and he's still only twenty three. He didn't even get a chance at a normal life."

That summed up how Shepard felt as well on what happened to Ty, his words on Horizon still struck her hard, "All of the Alliance is just as bad as Cerberus; they both steal fucking childhoods and hide behind back room political bull-" Shepard was agitated at the situation on Horizon when she had snapped at him but thinking back on it now she couldn't blame him for his own agitation. Kaiden had compared him to Saren and berated him and his family despite not actually knowing them, he knew the propaganda but not the real person and that seemed to get under Ty's skin pretty fast.

Shepard couldn't help but wonder if that was how she was towards him at first, would she have said the same things if she wasn't recruiting him. Shepard shook the thought from her mind, "As bad as this sounds I'm happy he didn't grow up normal, if he had I would have never have met him on this mission and I would have always thought of him as the propaganda criminal everyone thinks he is. I just wish he hadn't gone through all the tragedies he went through, no one should have to go through what he did." "Maybe you should go down and talk to him, see if he is okay." Kelly said. Before Shepard could answer EDI's synthesized voice came over the intercom, "Shepard Ty is down with Grunt and they are in the midst of head-butting each other, Ty has sustained severe damage but continues to push on." EDI said. "Shit, how bad are the injuries EDI?" Shepard asked. "His face is covered in his own blood." EDI answered. "Oh my." Kelly whispered. "I'm on my way down right now EDI." Shepard said. "Yes Shepard." EDI said. "Good luck Shepard." Kelly called as Shepard got in the elevator. "Thanks Kelly." Shepard said_. I'm going to need it knowing those two,_ Shepard thought as the doors closed.

* * *

The taste and smell of blood had filled all of Ty's senses and all he could hear was the constant pounding of his head which sounded like a Krogan army marching through his head. The pair had been at it for nearly thirty minutes and had head-butted each other what seemed like over fifty times each but since each one was harder than before Ty could barely recall what he did the past few days. It might have been blood loss mixed with the huge migraine he had but he didn't stop and wouldn't stop until he was unconscious and so far all they had achieved was bursting open Ty's forehead getting blood to flow down his whole face and starting to cover his neck and Ty had began to bruise Grunts face. Grunt slammed his head into Ty's knocking Ty down again. With his energy kicking into overtime Ty kipped up again and head-butted Grunt, Grunt recovered and said "I'll give you credit human you got a quad. I thought you were going to be done after the first hit, this has been a good fight and you are worthy of your reputation."

Grunt slammed Ty hard making him see black dots but he stayed on his feet with some strange will keeping him going, he didn't have enough brain cells working to understand why but the ones working made him assume it was the hurt he had inside of leaving his family, the holo, and learning about his mother. Everything hurt, especially his head now but his heart was hurting the worse of it all and that's why he kept going because he wasn't going to stop until he was knocked unconscious. Ty head-butted Grunt hard again knocking him back a few feet when the hydraulic door opened behind him, Ty wasn't going to break his focus so Grunt could get a free shot at his temple. "Little busy." Ty said preparing for the next hit. "Stand down both of you before you get killed Ty." Shepard's voice came from behind him.

Her voice sounded like it was full of shock and worry but Ty could barely make out Grunt's body now, it was all becoming really blurry and dark in his vision. He wasn't sure if he was stumbling to keep himself up or if his vision was just becoming really shaky but he attempted to plant himself in a ready position for Grunt's next hit, "Not until he's knocked out or I am, come on Grunt hit me as hard as you can or are you gonna quit." Ty taunted. "Ty-" Shepard was interrupted by Grunt taking two quick and large steps forward before he head-butted Ty. The charging head-but made Ty fly back knocking Shepard and another body but both were definitely human judging on the skin contact he felt. The ceiling was even blurry as Ty stared at it but he coughed from having the air knocked out of him and taunted again "Is that all you got."

Ty stood up and attempted to walk back towards Grunt but ended up stumbling wearily towards him as he did, his whole body felt heavy and felt like it would collapse at any moment with his will still pushing him to keep going. "You are strong human." Grunt said. "Ones strength is measured by their will to continue fighting no matter what, or something like that." Ty said. Blood continued to flow from his forehead into his mouth and down his neck. "How do you still fight Ty?" Grunt asked huffing and puffing a little. "As someone great once told me I have a heart that pushes me to fight and a will to fight anything and anyone. Not to mention the stubbornness of a bull." Ty said than head-butted Grunt again.

Ty was on his last legs knowing the next hit was either gonna take him down or the one after that so he prepared himself for it, Grunt put his giant frame back in front of Ty and as Ty looked up to him he slammed his head hard into his face again. Black dots swarmed his vision but he fought the sensation to fold over and black out, "Ty, Grunt stop this is ridiculous you're gonna hurt yourself badly." Shepard said trying to step between them. "Come on Shepard this is getting good." Jack said. "It's not over yet." Ty said moving her to the side then head-butting Grunt.

Before Ty could prepare himself Grunt brought his head flying back at him and smashed him hard, Ty stumbled back and black swarmed his vision and the pain was too much, "Now it's over." Ty said. Before anyone else could say anything he fell down sideways and blacked out leaving Grunt the winner, _this was just like Kar,_ was Ty's last thought before he blacked out.

* * *

Shepard looked down at Ty's knocked out body_, damn it Ty why do you have to did you do this_, Shepard thought. _Did he call me someone great, I did say those things but maybe someone else did_ _too?_ Shepard stared down at Ty's unconscious form when Grunt brought her from her thoughts with his roar and his fists slamming together, "HA! I knew I was the strongest, we should do this more often." Grunt said. Shepard kind of smirked and said "Yea I don't think Ty's gonna be up for this again, Jack help me with him lets get him to the med-bay, Grunt you should let Chakwas check for anything that Ty could've done." "Yes Shepard." Grunt said walking to the elevator. Jack and Shepard picked Ty off the floor both holding a shoulder and Jack said "I swear the dick blacks out ever week and we always get stuck having to help his ass."

Shepard smirked hearing one of Jack's pet names for Ty, Jack had really began to consider Ty as a friend and she had began to call Ty by names such as dick or ass for his sarcastic personality. Shepard wasn't sure if Jack was entirely aware of the friendship forming between the two but it was nice to see someone like Jack branching out with the crew. "You enjoy it." Shepard said sarcastically. Jack let out a laugh and said "Haha, hell no this seems to get worse every time." "So you do care." Shepard said as they got to the elevator where Grunt was waiting. "Shut up Shepard he wouldn't last with me." Jack said with a smirk. "He seems to think of it the other way." Shepard countered. "Yea that's 'cause the ass doesn't know what he's talking about." Jack countered back.

Shepard hit the button and said "And you gave him pet names it sounds like you do care." Jack was silent for a few moments making Shepard hope she didn't just push the line but than Jack said "Give me a break Shepard he's been the closest thing to a friend I've ever had but I still have no interest in him." Shepard just smirked and waited as the elevator got to the crew quarters, the doors opened and Grunt went thumping out towards the med-bay as Jack and Shepard carried Ty carefully. They got through the doors and Chakwas was already looking over Grunt, "Grunt you've sustained a lot of bruising on your face but nothing appears to be broken, I'll give you a quick treatment but how on Earth did this happen?" Chakwas asked. "A great battle." Grunt said. "Uh doc Grunt isn't your only patient." Shepard said.

Chakwas turned around and saw Ty's bloodied and knocked out form and responded "Oh my, does he ever have a normal day. Sit him down on the usual bed I'll take a look at him after I'm done with Grunt." Shepard got to the bed with Jack and said "Lean him against the bed than we'll put his legs onto it." Before Shepard could respond Ty began to glow blue which made Shepard look at Jack, she used her biotics to lift Ty off their shoulders and laid him gently onto the bed "That's what biotics are for." Jack said with a smirk. Shepard nodded and said "Thanks Jack you can go if you want." "Hey what the hell is that?" Jack asked going to Ty's right arm. Shepard and Jack walked over to look at his right arm and examine the new tattoos, Garrus, Tali, Ka'Reena, Joker, EDI, Normandy, Grunt, a symbol in what looks like Japanese, a tomahawk and sniper in an X, two badges one empty the other with a dove flying to a star, a fleur de lis, an eagle and a lions head and…Jacks back tattoo. "What the fuck the dick has my name and tattoo on his arm along with some of the rest of the crew." Jack said in confusion.

Shepard stared at it for a few seconds and said "That is really strange but then again it is Ty after all, he has all his dead friends that were his crew members names tattooed on a cross on his back I think he tattoos things that have an impact on his life." "What the fuck Shepard why would he tattoo my name." Jack said still confused. Shepard motioned for Jack to follow her outside which she did and when they got out of the med-bay Shepard checked to make sure the coast was clear not wanting Miranda to see Jack in this freaked out state, the coast was clear but Jack started again as she said "Shepard this doesn't make sense to me why would he do that with my name, hell why would he tattoo those other names." "Jack, Ty's been fighting internally with himself for years now not trusting anyone or getting close to anyone because of his past, you were one of the first he started bonding with as a friend." Shepard said trying to be comforting. "Shepard 'friends' don't tattoo their names on one another, the fucking dick and me aren't even that close." Jack said.

Shepard gave her an are you serious look as she said "So "he's the closest thing I've had to a friend" wasn't true." Jack went to retort but began to struggle with what to say when she finally said, "Fuck." Jack looked nearly defeated as she looked down at her feet, Shepard put a hand on her shoulder and said "Jack you are honestly the closest thing he's had to a friend in a long time, yea he's started to expand his friendship to everyone he has to so far but you were the first he seemed to even consider a friend." Jack stayed quiet so Shepard took her hand off her shoulder and said "Face it Jack you've both become friends whether you admit or not. He considers you a friend enough to tattoo your name and tattoo on his arm and that's a serious thing to him." "Shit alright alright I get it." Jack said. Shepard smirked and said "Not to push the boundaries of your emotions but I consider you a friend as well." "Shepard I know but your really pushing the boundaries of that friendship right now with your emotions and comforting." Jack said.

Shepard continued smiling and Jack said "And wipe that stupid ass smile off your face you're making me even more uncomfortable." "You gonna head back down?" Shepard asked. "Yeah and tell the dick when he wakes up to stop getting himself injured or I'll start kicking his ass." Jack said as she walked out. Shepard rolled her eyes with a smile and walked back into the med lab and over to Grunt as Chakwas was attending to his face and asked "You alright Grunt?"

Grunt smirked and said "I feel great Shepard, that human gave me a great fight I didn't think he had it in him. He's got a quad that's for sure but I'm still stronger than him, I have a respect for him now and can't wait to see how he is when we push the Collectors to the void and step on their fingers one by one." Shepard nodded and said "Good to hear, do me a favor and try not to do something like this with him again he's already had a bunch of injures since he's gotten on board we don't need to keep accumulating them for his sake." "Fine but if he becomes stronger I want to make sure he knows I'm still the strongest."

Shepard nodded but thought, _I don't think he's crazy enough to do something like this twice, or at least I hope not for his own sake_. "I'm going to go see what Garrus is up to I'll check in on Ty later doc." Chakwas nodded and Grunt bowed his head a little and said "Shepard." Shepard stole one more glimpse at Ty as she walked by and could see red around his eyes and thought_, Kelly was right he had been crying._ Shepard walked out and towards the battery, _I hope he'll be alright I need his head on straight for this mission, hopefully his head can stay on straight after that little contest he and Grunt had._

Shepard got to the battery and Garrus turned around and said "Shepard, you need something?" "Chambers said you wanted to talk, oh by the way Ty's in the med-bay again after having a head-butting contest with Grunt." Shepard said. "Oh wow, who won?" Garrus asked. "Grunt but Ty did a lot of damage I'm sure Jokers watching it right now laughing his ass off, you should ask EDI about it she probably recorded it." Shepard said. Garrus nodded and said "I will, he's one crazy bastard isn't he. He risks his life for his friends and family and does things like this without second thought; he's not what I expected from the legend of his family."

Shepard nodded in agreement, he had proven to them all that everything negative ever said about him was not true, she liked the man he actually was not what everyone said about him. "You and me both he's surprised me a lot since he joined us." "He would've been helpful with Saren even though we handled that without him, things like getting us off lockdown and on Therum in that ridge where we could barely go anywhere because of the Geth snipers." Garrus said. "True but he has integrated himself into our crazy crew after Omega." Shepard said. Garrus nodded and said "Yea he has, you think he'll stick with us when the Reapers get here?" Garrus asked. Shepard wasn't sure, Ty had promised when they first met that he would stay on board until the mission was over and then he would cut loose but he had seen them as an enemy then and now things were different.

Shepard wanted Ty to stay around, she hoped he would stay and fight by her side. "I don't know Garrus but I hope so, we need people like him on our side." Shepard said. "True enough but if he keeps up how he is he might get himself killed and I don't want to explain to his family that he died saving us." Shepard laughed and said "You and me both, I'll talk to him about it but back to why I came here, what's going on Garrus Kelly said something about you having a fire in your eyes about an email."

**A/N: Thank you all for reading! I will see you next time.**


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The Good Doctor

_Ty stood before his crew awaiting their answer, yes or no was the only answer that was available and either way he would stand by their decision just as they stood by all of his thus far. They all sat in their briefing room which was in the CIC of their ship similar to the one on the original Normandy, Ty stood in the center of the circular room with each of his friends reading over the information he had gained from the location they were either heading to or breaking off from. Ty looked around at all nine of his friends trying to get a read on what they were thinking as they read over the data, most showed facial expressions between shock and thinking that he was entirely insane. Brad was the first to speak up, "This is fucking crazy man, a Thresher nest? We've done some over the top shit Ty but this…fuck sign me up man I'm in."_

_ Ty shook his head slightly at the hot headed risk taking human in his crew before he said "Brad this isn't something to take lightly, this is the closest thing to a suicide mission we'll ever be on…Anyone who goes down there with me has no guarantee of coming back." Silence filled the room as Ty laid the odds of survival out for them; Ty wasn't going to allow them to go in blind to this. Odds of survival were low but still high enough that Ty was certain they could walk away if things worked out. "Why not just bring the ship down into atmosphere and blow the Maw up with our big guns?" Whitney asked._

_ Before Ty could speak up Carson sat up straighter and said "Our ship won't be able to handle the atmosphere of the planet, even with both Valera and I at the helm we'd likely lose all systems before crash landing on the planet and it'd be at least a week before someone found our distress signal…if the Thresher didn't find us." Ty nodded since he had already gone over all of that with Carson and Valera, "Our shuttle would drop us off away from the nest a bit of ways to make sure we didn't get attacked before we even started and then from there we would go on foot to the nest. If things played out we'd evac out after we were done, if things went sour I already decided that I'd stay behind while the ground squad retreated to the shuttle."_

_ Silence once again ensued; Ty had made the decision right when he went over all the possible scenarios of what could happen and what the best chance for escape would be. Thresher Maws could move faster than they could no matter how fast they ran and calling the shuttle into the nest was an even worse idea so if retreat was necessary Ty wasn't going to have any of his crew die because of his decision. He would stay behind and do his best to hold off the Thresher as long as he could on his own. Ty saw a fire in Tara's eyes but before she spoke he said "That decision is not up for discussion, if I call retreat than any of you that are down with me are going to retreat and leave me there to fight it. This is my decision and mine alone." "Then I say screw them and let them send someone else in. Why should we risk our lives against a Thresher Maw for some useless materials and credits that we'll never see? Every time we do something for the Suns we get screwed out of all the profit and always end up with someone getting nearly killed." Tara said._

_ That was one of the reasons Ty didn't want to go through with it, the missions the Suns always sent him to do usually ended up with someone seriously injured or close to dying because of the difficulty of the missions they sent his way. The last mission they went on to take out a group of Eclipse nearly ended in Whitney dying at the hands of that Asari Enyala because the Blue Suns had failed to mention that the Eclipse members happened to be an elite squad and they happened to be waiting for a group of Blue Suns like Ty and his squad to come after them. "I'm with Tara on this one Ty, count me out." Darian said._

_ Ty nodded understandingly at both his second in command and chief engineer but brought his sights to the remaining squad who had yet to answer him, "Fuck it I already know that I'm gonna die fighting so I might as well die fighting a Thresher Maw, count me in Ty." Brad said. "Are you sure Brad?" Ty asked. "Fuck yea I am; besides if we succeed I can go around saying that I killed Thresher Maw." Brad said. "And if you die?" Whitney asked. Brad shrugged and said "At least I had the balls to stand by my leader to the end." Ty saw the frustration build in Whitney's, Darian's, and Tara's faces from Brad's comment, Ty wasn't sure if it was intended to get under their skin but he wasn't going to have Brad goading anyone into a fight which he was so great at doing, "No matter what you all stood by me through everything we've been through, this one mission does not change a thing about you all being my crew and friends. I will not hold anything against anyone who does not want a part of this." Ty said._

_ There was shuffling from Carson which caught Ty's attention, "Speak your mind Carson." Ty said. The Turian was the most nervous person he had in his squad and it surprised him that a Turian could be so nervous since most were calm and cool. Carson always had a problem with speaking in front of a group even though he knew all of the squad very well, "If you chose to do this than I am with you Ty." "Carson are you sure?" Ty asked. Carson nodded and said "I am." Ty nodded in response than looked at Valera and said "That means your sitting it out Valera." Valera attempted to argue but Ty cut her off by putting his hand up as he said "If shit hits the fan and none of us make it than someone needs to be able to pilot the ship, like it or not you're sitting it out."_

_ Valera still wanted to argue but she chose to stay quiet, if it had been Valera to volunteer first Ty would have benched Carson, that left Whitney, Kar, Gallick and Grissom. Ty looked at Whitney first and noticed a bit of unease in her face, "Whitney?" Ty asked. "I'm sorry Ty but I can't do this. The sound they make makes me freeze up and that would make me a hindrance to you." Whitney said. Ty nodded and said "I understand." "I'm in you little Pyjak, I'm about the only chance you have of defeating that thing." Kar said. "Kar have you ever faced a Thresher Maw?" Ty asked. "You'd be surprised by what we Krogan have to do in our Rite of Passage." Kar said. "I'll take your word for it since I doubt I'll ever be apart of one. Gallick, Grissom it comes down to your decisions, I won't go unless I have both of you."_

_ Grissom looked his normal calm Drell self as he looked up from the data-pad and said "I am with you." "You sure?" Ty asked. Grissom nodded once and said "If I am to depart to the sea it will be while I fight by your side." "Gallick?" Ty asked. The Veteran Batarian looked at his data-pad one last time then looked up at Ty and asked "Are you sure?" "When the hell have I been sure about anything?" Ty answered as he always did when Gallick asked. Gallick smirked and said "Good then I'm in." "Alright then that means this mission is a go, I'll let Tarak know. If you have anything you want to do before this mission guys than let me know, this may be our last chance so put some thought in, we have as long as we want to finish this mission." Ty said. As the crew began to file out Ty felt the uneasiness in his gut as he watched them all walk out the door, he couldn't help but feel he was sending himself and his five friends who decided to follow him to their deaths. __**How bad could it be right?**_

* * *

Pain, pain was all Ty could feel as he woke up with his head throbbing like a Krogan drum line was playing. Ty opened his eyes and immediately regretted it as the bright white light pierced through and sent waves of pain through his head making him let out a groan as he put his hand up in front of his eyes in an attempt to block the light out. _This must be what having a hangover feels like_, Ty thought. As the light became less bright due to his eyes readjusting to the amount of light in the room he began to lean up onto his elbows to get his bearings of where he was and try to remember why he was in such pain. Ty looked around and saw that he was in the Med-Bay and Doctor Chakwas was sitting at her desk typing away. He felt his head and felt fabric around it and that brought back the memories of head-butting Grunt until he was knocked unconscious.

His head continued to throb as he looked back over to Chakwas who had turned to look over at him at the same time, "Oh you're awake." Chakwas said. "How…how long have I been out?" Ty asked trying to get his words together. Chakwas stood up and walked over to him and said "About an hour or so, how do you feel Ty?" "Like the Krogan army is marching in my head." Ty said feeling his bandaged forehead. That got a smile out of Chakwas as she said "Well you should've guessed that would happen doing what you did with Grunt though I am surprised you managed to bruise Grunts face pretty badly." Ty nodded, he was surprised himself since he didn't figure his own head was that hard but he went up against Kar's full head plate instead of Grunt's still growing head plate so maybe that made the difference, that or he was hard headed in a more literal sense than he thought. Ty sat himself up against the wall behind the bed and asked "So what are the doctor's orders?" "You need to lay here and rest yourself for a day or two so I can keep a close eye on your concussion, aside from that I would actually like to talk to you." Chakwas said.

Ty groaned a little at hearing he was bed rested though he was sure if his head had any say it would have breathed a sigh of relief. Bed rested were two of the worst words in fighting history, those words meant he couldn't do anything except sit around and wait to be cleared. "Who put me on bed rest Miranda or Shepard?" Ty asked. "Both, you'll need to be a hundred percent when you go against the Collectors and that's what the Commander and Miss Lawson want to make sure of. You shouldn't be surprised really after how many injuries you've accumulated since you got on board." It had only been one major injury in his eyes and that was being impaled on a wall, the whole cybernetic problem and this weren't really "injuries" in his eyes, just slight bumps in the road.

Despite Ty hoping she'd just let him go Chakwas didn't look like she was going to change her mind, she dealt with the Queen of stubbornness in Shepard so he doubted his bull headed stubbornness would get him out of it so he let out sigh of slight disappointment and said "Okay I have a feeling our talk will take some time so you should probably bring over a chair." Chakwas nodded and walked over to her chair and brought it over to the side of Ty's bed and sat down in it, "So what's up doc?" Ty asked.

Chakwas relaxed herself in her chair and said "I've seen you in near death states and other injuries more times than any other person on this crew, excluding Shepard and Garrus, but I've never actually got to know who you were aside from things I hear from Miss Lawson and the Commander. I was alive during your grandfather's rise to infamy and then his demise and then the subsequent blacklisting of your father and you and your brother but the way the Alliance described you all doesn't exactly fit the person that sits here in front of me. I like to know the people I am taking care of and I have a feeling we will see a lot of each other in the coming battles." Ty nodded and said "Fair enough, what do you want to know?" "Why did you really join this mission, it wasn't to find Haley you didn't really use the Commander or Cerberus for that so there had to be some other reason?" Chakwas asked.

That was a valid point, he never used any of Shepard's or Cerberus's resources he had just used Aria. He had asked Shepard to help him find Haley and that was his intention of joining the mission but he didn't use her help. He wasn't sure if it was feeling that he was obligated to help because they asked and the things that were happening was going to be a universal problem soon enough or if it was just his want to do good and attempt to help save the Galaxy by fighting with the one person he knew was going to be spear heading that fight. "Hearing that human colonies were being abducted and the threat of the galaxy from the Reapers was a big thing. Despite what the Alliance says I don't want to kill everyone, I want to help and I always have wanted to help but, well I'm a most wanted criminal." Chakwas nodded and said "That's very noble but is that it surly there's something else that made you do it, I heard from the Commander that you have told her that she has helped you with some of your inner conflicts even when she didn't know it."

Ty didn't know what about Chakwas it was but she seemed safe for him to talk about anything, she was like a motherly figure and for some reason he could tell that she legitimately cared, so he decided to spill the beans but before he did he had one sarcastic comment, "I thought Chambers was the one to go see about psych evals, yea that was part of it to." Ty stopped for a second and took a deep breath than he said "I've been on the run since I was thirteen since that's when I started running into bounty hunters and Alliance marines who decided that going to Omega would be "one big party" and from being on the run and doing everything I've done it's come with a lot of ups and downs but the downs seemed to always get worse no matter how much I thought it couldn't get worse."

Chakwas looked attentive as Ty stopped; it felt weird talking about it to someone since he hadn't talked about this stuff to anyone for a very long time. His family never pushed him to talk about it and back then he didn't feel that talking would do anything except piss him off. "I've always tried to be the good guy even when I was a bad guy which is why I had my moral code, well that and my dad raised me to have my code that represented what I stood for. I have no illusions about what I did as a merc being good because a lot of it wasn't but I never did something that crossed my code and that had allowed me to live without regretting my actions. My friend Grissom who was a Drell once told me that life has a balance and that you can't change the bad you did but you can do something good to balance out the bad. It would never change the bad but he told me it would give me balance, I had listened to him but after everything happened I lost my way and the balance of mind I had created changed to my one goal of vengeance no matter what it cost me."

Chakwas nodded her head understandingly but waited for Ty to continue, his mind had been balanced at one point and his ability to join minds with someone didn't render him unconscious because of his mental fortitude. "When Shepard approached me for the mission, well after I got done shoving my gun in her face and staring them down I thought about the mission and I saw it as a chance to not only fight the Reapers but find my balance again or at least die trying to do something good. I was on the Citadel when Sovereign struck so I have been trying to find a way to stop them since then but Shepard is the only one who has made head way with it thus far so I figured that it'd be best to have a truce of a sort between me and her since I saw her as the Alliance. She allowed me to save Haley and right a wrong that I've been trying to right for eight years now and through talking to her I feel like I'm finding that balance again." Chakwas waited to see if Ty was going to continue but when he didn't she asked "Why do you blame yourself for the loss of your friends and girlfriend?"

_It was my fault, I should've figured I was being spied on when I saw the cargo bay full of women and children, I should have brought them with me instead of leaving them on the ship,_ Ty came up with plenty of reasons over the years but when Chakwas asked him none came out he just would open his mouth then close it trying to find words to say. "You seem uncertain about something." Chakwas said. Ty found some words finally and said "I don't know…I should've been more careful and thought about all the angles the Suns could come at me. They were my responsibility and I let them down that day." "You aren't to blame for their deaths and they wouldn't blame you." Chakwas said. She was right about that, Darian held no grudge with him and he knew the others wouldn't blame him for what happened but he still felt responsible. "If it wasn't fo-" Chakwas interrupted him and said "If it wasn't for you're morals and being good hearted they wouldn't have died? If you would've just been a complete scum everything would've been okay?" Chakwas asked in a rhetorical way.

_Ouch,_ Ty thought but what she said was true, he would have had to give those women and children to the slavers to allow them to live and he was pretty sure based on what Scrum had said that Tarak would have killed them all anyway. Ty chuckled a little at Chakwas's comment and said sarcastically "Yea if I embraced my inner asshole everything would've been fine." Chakwas rolled her eyes and said "You know that no matter how much you want to blame yourself there was nothing you could've done except for being an uncaring zealot and never had them as friends." She was right in her own way which made Ty upset because there was no way around it, "Yea that would've stopped it all, its just…my friends deserved better than they got when they stuck with me. They shouldn't be lying in unmarked graves with the ruble of our ship on top of them. Its not fair to them that I go on living and they died all because the Suns wanted me dead and Ka'Reena…she was everything I always wanted to have but once again the Suns wanted me dead so she was dragged into it, I know life aint fair but she didn't deserve that, it wasn't her fight it was mine."

Chakwas looked Ty in the eyes with an understanding look and said "I understand what you are saying Ty but do you think that she would have blamed you." Ty had gotten the answer from the holo, "No." Ty said quietly. Chakwas put a hand on his hand and said "Loss is hard no matter who it is but you can't dwell on it all your life, when you get my age you'll understand that everything that happens to you when your young is just to form who you are as a person." Ty nodded and said "Thanks Chakwas." "Anytime Ty, you should relax while you can you'll be cleared for duty soon and back to being shot at in no time." Chakwas said as she stood up and brought her chair back to her desk.

Since being on bed rest stopped Ty from being able to go about his business he figured listening to Chakwas even if it was just this once would probably be a good idea so he laid down. He stared at the ceiling and would ask Chakwas random questions about her figuring out why she did what she did and learning more about Joker and his brittle bone disease and her relationship Shepard. As hour upon hour passed by he was surprised to be visited by Garrus, Miranda, Jack and Grunt, all at their own times and for different durations of time making Ty realize something very important, this was his new crew. These were his new friends even though Grunt just showed up to thank him for a great fight and Miranda tried to hide the fact she was coming to visit by saying she was checking on his health, they were his new friends which is why he had some of them tattooed. Though he would always remember his fallen friends and Ka'Reena, these people were what he had now along with his family and this ship was where he needed to be.

A little while later Ty let Chakwas know that he was going to be visiting his past memories to pass the time and chose one that even now made him smile. As the Med-Bay faded from his vision his senses were assaulted by the different sounds, smells, and sights that Chora's Den had as he watched the memory take hold of his vision and let him look through his own eyes in the past as he approached a very drunk Kar inside Chora's Den.

* * *

_Ty moved through the crowd where he heard the bellowing laughter of his Krogan friend over the music in the club, "Haha! Come on you Pyjaks you can't out drink a Krogan!" Kar yelled at the humans who happened to be passed out drunk next to him. Ty shook his head at his Krogan friend as a smile crept to his face when he finally reached him and slapped him on the back, "Kar! What the hell you doing challenging these suckers to a drinking contest when you know damn well you can out drink anyone!" Ty yelled over the music. "Ha! That's the fun part, seeing these little Pyjaks trying so hard only to end up looking like that!" Kar yelled as he pointed at the passed out drunken human next to him. "I'll take your word for it! You almost ready to head back to the ship for the night? We still have a few days of shore leave here!" "One more drink and I'll be good to go! How about another!" Kar yelled to the waitress. She nodded with a smile before disappearing around the bar._

_ Ty sat down next to his friend and waited for the waitress to get back, he looked around the club since he had never personally been inside of it before. It looked like it was a lower rate version of Afterlife with people who looked like they were normally too uptight and used this low rent club as a release before they fell back into being a bunch of uptight suit wearing monkeys. The bartender came back with Kar's drink and put it down in front of him, Ty assumed she was going to leave when she leaned down on the counter in front of him, she was a human with long brown hair tied up in a bun while wearing a dancers outfit, "Hey there pretty eyes I haven't seen you here before." The bartender said. Never once had Ty been called pretty eyes but it felt weird and he wonder if it felt that weird for a woman as well._

_ The bartender herself had pretty hazel eyes and a great smile so Ty decided while Kar indulged himself in a bottle of ryncol he'd indulge himself in a little bit of conversation with the nice bartender. "First time actually, may not have ever ventured here if it wasn't for this big lug." Ty said as he motioned to Kar. She smiled as she glanced over at Kar, "He is the most interesting Krogan I have met, a lot nicer than the lot I usually deal with." The bartender said. Kar slammed the glass down and let out a roar which made Ty and the bartender chuckle, "Yea he does that." Ty said. "So this isn't your kind of place then?" The bartender asked. _

_Ty shrugged a little, clubbing had never been his thing unless you count walking in and out of Afterlife to give a mission report and receive a mission clubbing. He had nothing against these kinds of joints but he couldn't find sense in sitting around thinking about getting laid when you could be out getting laid. "I got nothing against these places I just never have had the time for them, plus I can't stand a group of drunks. I'd rather go out dancing then sit around getting drunk or sit around thinking about getting laid when I could be getting laid." Ty answered. The bartender got a bit of a smile on her face as she looked at Ty; she went to speak but was interrupted by a man sitting down further yelling at her, "Hey sweet cheeks how about you pour me a drink!"_

_The bartender rolled her eyes in agitation before she said "Don't go anywhere I'll be back, how about another drink?" The bartender asked Kar. "Bring it on!" Kar yelled. Ty chuckled slightly as she left__**, so she knows I won't leave without Kar so she offers him another drink while he's so drunk he can't realize he's had enough…well played my mysterious bartender well played**__, Ty thought. Soon enough she was back with another drink for Kar and a back to leaning in front of Ty, "So my shift ends in an hour, after you drop off your friend here you want to meet me at my place and then we can go hit a dance club?" The bartender asked. "You're not worried that I could be a horrid dancer?" Ty asked with a smirk. She chuckled slightly as she shook her head, "If you were worried about your dancing you wouldn't have mentioned you like to go dancing." The bartender said. "Maybe I just like to dance even though I may not be good at it." Ty said. "I'll take my chances." The bartender said with a smile._

_There was something about this woman Ty liked but due to his ability to multi task and eavesdrop on the man who had yelled at her before he had been able to pick out that he was getting a bit agitated at the attention she was showing him. Ty decided it warranted caution but he focused back on the woman in front of him, "Alright you convinced me, where do you live and where is the closest dance club so I know whether to get a cab or not." The bartender opened up her Omni-tool and Ty gave her his contact info so she could send him the information he needed. _

_Afterwards she leaned back down and asked "So you're not going to stand me up right?" Ty smirked slightly, she seemed like a nice enough woman but the way she said it sounded like she had been stood up before. If she had been Ty felt bad just because doing that was a pretty dick move or bitch move depending on what gender did it, "I promise I won't but if I can't make it due to my crew needing me we'll reschedule it because I don't like to stand people up and I don't like breaking my promises." Ty said. She nodded and said "I'm Kiara." "Tyler but everyone calls me Ty." Ty's peripheral hearing caught the sound of a glass sliding across the bar counter at a fast speed so he looked to his right and saw a glass flying at Kiara's head._

_As the glass about impacted with her head Ty grabbed it stopping it completely and his eyes locked with the man who tossed it and if looks could kill Ty's death glare would have been like acid burning the man until he was just a skeleton. The man looked at his friends and said something to them about kicking Ty's ass. "How did you hear that?" Kiara asked a bit in shock and shaken up with what could have been a hard hit. "I got good hearing, I think that guy and his…four friends that I can see are about to try and start a bar fight with me so if I can't talk them out of it and if I don't get arrested I will see you tonight. If I do get arrested hopefully I get out tonight and I'll see if you are still up for dancing." Ty said. The men began to approach Ty, "Kar you still sober enough to fight?" Ty asked. "You kidding I could take out a whole platoon right now!" Kar answered in a drunken voice. "Great then be ready." Ty answered._

_The four men approached Ty as he continued to look forward at Kiara, "I suggest you take yourself and your men and walk away, I don't want any trouble but you shouldn't have tried sliding a glass into the bartenders head because you aren't getting the attention you feel you deserve." "Boy you already got trouble." One of the men said. Ty shook his head and turned around in his chair, "One last chance, leave now." The response Ty had hoped for and the one he was given were to opposite entity's, the leader of the group and the one who tossed the glass threw a very bad punch at Ty which allowed him to dodge and stand up while bringing his fist right into the mans sternum knocking the wind out of him, "Bad choice, Kar time to fight, try not to kill them!" Ty yelled to his drunken friend._

_The next moments of chaos led to an all out bar fight that started with Ty and Kar against the four lackeys of the leader to Ty and Kar fighting everyone who decided to jump into the fight including security. Ty head-butted a new entrant into their all out fight and kicked him in the knee knocking him out of the fight while Kar charged his way through a group of people punching and head-butting through them like they were bowling pins while he was laughing a drunken laugh. Ty turned around back to the bar since someone punched him in the back of the head so when he saw the man who did it Ty punched him in the face and tripped his feet out from under him. _

_Ty saw Kiara standing behind the bar still and she still had a smile on her face, "Sorry about this." Ty said with a smile and a laugh. He heard someone approaching him from behind so he looked over his shoulder and saw another drunken man so he elbowed him in the face, "C-Sec will be here any moment so if you're not arrested all night meet me at my place." Kiara said. "It's a deal." Ty said before turning around and punching the next person who approached him with hostility._

_Everyone in the bar had been knocked out or were on the floor groaning in pain when Ty and Kar found that they were the last two standing, before they could make a triumphant exit Ty saw a group of Turians in armor walk into the bar with guns raised, "Kar we gotta surrender this time, I already sent Darian a message he's working on getting us out as we speak." Ty spoke in a whisper to Kar. "He better make it quick, as soon as they find out who you are we're both screwed." Kar whispered back._

_Ty and Kar both raised their hands in surrender as the C-Sec officers stared at the piles of unconscious bodies in a bit of awe before approaching Ty and Kar, "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" The lead Turian asked. "Ummm, it wasn't me?" Ty said in a joking but questioning manor due to the weird question. "Can you believe that this little Pyjak is actually the great great great great nephew of my great great uncle twice removed on my mother's side, I could hardly believe that a Krogan spirit would live in such a tiny form but look at that head plate." Kar said as he pointed to Ty's forehead, "It's gigantic." Kar said in a very drunken voice._

_Ty couldn't help but bust out in laughter before the officers omni-cuffed them both a bit rough due to their answers and brought them down to C-Sec headquarters, Ty and Kar found themselves in an interrogation room with a female human officer staring at them both with a scolding look that was making both Ty and Kar chuckle here and there while making jokes to one another about the bar fight. After Darian faked a signal of a huge shootout in one of the wards and sent it over all of C-Sec channels making them mobilize Valera hacked the door they were in and dressed up as a C-Sec officer and escorted them out of C-Sec and to their ship while Darian made it look like Ty and Kar had been allowed to leave. Kar went with Valera back into the ship while Ty on the other hand messaged Kiara to see if they were still on for some dancing, which it seemed they were. As Ty got a cab he couldn't help but laugh to himself as he remembered that C-Sec officers scolding look that she gave them._

* * *

Ty could feel the smile on his face in the real world as the memory began to fade, that was one of the many good memories he had with his crew and the remainder of the night with Kiara had been a fun time as well dancing for a long time before heading back to her place. The scolding look the officer had gave him still made him chuckle but he began to hear a voice in the real world "…y…hello are you listening to me, TY!" The distant voice got louder and he felt a slap on his left arm which snapped him back to reality to see Shepard standing above him with a serious look that looked exactly like the officers look, Ty couldn't stop himself as he busted out into laughter.

Though he thought for sure his outbreak of laughter was going to get him sent to a loony bin or they would think his brain was damaged he couldn't help but laugh at the stern look she was giving him, "I…I'm sorry but…you caught me at a bad time." Ty managed between laughs but he then realized how ridiculous that sounded which made him start laughing harder. Chakwas was smiling and Shepard tried keeping her straight forward military stone face on until she broke into a light laugh, she got control of herself after a second then Ty was able to get himself into a small chuckle here and there as he said "I'm sorry but the memory of being scolded by C-Sec with my friend Kar plus the fact the look you were giving me looked exactly like the female officer who arrested us got the better of me." Shepard chuckled and said "You'll have to explain that one to me later, me, Grunt and Garrus are going down onto Haestorm to get Tali and I figured since you were probably bored you could head up top and be an over watch."

Ty shrugged and said "Sure but I can do it from here." Shepard, who Ty had just noticed was fully armed and in her armor, raised an eyebrow and asked "How?" Ty figured it would be a good time to let her know his and EDI's little secret so he pulled up his Omni-tool and said "Hey EDI time to let the Commander in on our secret." EDI popped up on his omni-tool and said "Hello Shepard." Ty grinned at Shepard's disbelief and said "That's how, I got EDI here and she can help me." "Ho...wha…how did you do that?" Shepard asked. Ty smirked and said "I'm a genius what can I say." "It was his idea of having his way with my quantum blue box and memory." EDI said in a joking manor which Ty caught. "Oh admit it you enjoyed it as much as the next A.I." Ty joked back.

Shepard seemed loss for words so EDI said "Those were jokes Shepard." "She's still hardwired to the Normandy I just 'borrowed' some of her processes and memory to put it on my bike and omni-tool." Ty said. "You unshackled EDI?" Shepard asked. "No…well not completely…EDI?" Ty asked. "You did not unshackle me completely but I am able to roam between the Normandy and your omni-tool and bike." EDI answered. "See no problem, so EDI can you show me the battlefield while they are down there?" Ty asked not actually sure what was possible and moving the conversation away from the previous. "I can patch you into her helmet camera or their gun cameras, if those are not suitable I can give you an overhead view for a more tactical approach." EDI said. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable having you in my head Ty." Shepard joked.

Ty just smirked and said sarcastically, "Knowing you I'm always in your head you sicko besides not like you need your helmet right so I'll be on your pistol, shotgun or tactical view, you should get going though just in case she needs help." Shepard rolled her eyes at his first comment and said "Just don't over exert yourself doing this." Ty gave her a really look as he said "Really how the hell will I over exert myself sitting here giving you tactical advise." "Never know being on my cameras may get you excited." Shepard said than stuck her tongue out and began walking away. Though Ty had found it funny that she stuck her tongue out since he couldn't recall seeing her ever do that he couldn't let her get the last word, "You'd enjoy me looking at you wouldn't you, you sick freak." Ty retorted as she left the room. The doors closed stopping her from countering him and Ty looked at EDIs mini hologram and said "Nice joke EDI you're catching on." "Thank you Ty, I will bring up the tactical view when they land." EDI said than disappeared.

Ty laid his head back down and put his hands on his chest as he waited for EDI to pop up on his omni-tool again with a tactical view, as he waited Chakwas looked over at him and asked "Are you teaching EDI human emotions?" Ty shrugged a little, he wasn't sure if he was really "teaching" or if she was just paying attention to what he said so she could learn more about human behavior, "I'm not entirely sure I'd call it teaching but she is catching onto having a sense of humor so if she learns other human behaviors while I do that than I guess, EDI may be an A.I. but she's the nicest one and I have a feeling she'd never betray us no matter what." Ty said. Chakwas nodded and said "That's good of you to do for EDI she has human like tendencies like curiosity, maybe one day she'll be more than just a hologram." Ty chuckled and said "I hope that day comes because the day she has a body of her own is the day I'll get Joker to hook up with her and take the human ship relationship further, he may not like her but she's still part of the ship which he loves so part of him has to like her." Chakwas just smiled and shook her head and went back to work.

It didn't take more than ten minutes for EDI to pop the tactical view up on Ty's omni-tool and patch him into the squad's ear-pieces. The display had three blue dots indicating the squad and anything red was enemy's, any Quarian was white, all dots had life signs on them so Ty could inform the squad of others life signs or their own since the sun was frying their shields which made Ty thankful he didn't go because he would be the one sun burnt…or fried and dead. Ty had a good view of everything and he started speaking to them in his best attempt to rhyme though he was sure it wouldn't be that great, "So ladies twas the day of a great battle and all across the planet nothing had been stirring since the sun shorted it all out. The Quarians had been running tests and the Geth had found out, fights had ensued since the Geth had come down. The Quarians had no choice but to flee and destroy having no hope at all that they'd ever see them destroyed. Shepard was itching for battle and ready to help with their over watch watching hoping they wouldn't melt, they started to move forward into the light when suddenly they figured out oh shit we're getting fried. They dashed forward to the shade and spotted a gate which happened to be locked, well who'd have figured you would happen to be blocked. Go forward at once and swat them like flies or I'll come down there myself and probably get fried." "That was…actually not that terrible." Garrus said. "Not as good as a battle song." Grunt said. "Nice to have poetry while your about to go into a fight." Shepard said sarcastically.

Ty smirked and continued his rhyme "Oh you liked it here's another, you still haven't got moving and my rhyming needs work, get your shit together and find something that works, I'm running out of ideas so here's some advice get yourselves moving and stay away from the light. My head is still hurting but my memory is intact so you should probably dash or Grunt will tear you in half." Ty heard Grunt laugh than he said "Good one Ty." "Thanks but seriously get moving." Ty said. "Okay okay we're going, geez your worse than my mother." Shepard said. Ty chuckled and waited as they opened the door and started going forward, there were some dots along the way but none were alive, there had been only two Quarian dots and both were dead but the second one had a radio on it and Shepard starting talking to a Quarian marine named Kal'Reegar.

Ty was able to listen in on the conversation learning that Tali was still alive, which he was happy about, but the only problem was that she wasn't with Kal she was with another team further ahead. Shepard and the squad started running forward since a Geth ship took out a column, the column landed in front of the door and for obvious reasons no one was happy about it so Ty started scanning the area and found the two explosive packs that Tali left behind, "EDI mark these for Shepard." Ty said. "Marking." EDI said. "Shepard you got hostiles, four troopers and two destroyers there's a perch for Garrus on the right but it might be covered in sun or more Geth that haven't activated, there's also a perch on your immediate left but I don't know how good it'll be." Ty said. "Thanks Ty, Garrus you heard him pick your perch and be careful." Shepard said. "On it." Garrus said.

Garrus had picked the perch on the right but had to kill more Geth that activated and then he sniped the remaining ones Grunt and Shepard hadn't destroyed. After the battle finished Ty was moving the camera angle around looking for more enemies as Shepard and the squad got to the first demo-charge. So far there hadn't been anything terrible but then four red dots popped up and forcing Ty to scan what models they were, he figured it was karma biting him in the ass for thinking that they hadn't fought tougher enemies when he saw the dot that came up as Geth Prime, "Ah shit, Shepard watch your ass you've got a prime." Ty said. "I can see that! You know I was expecting you to make a rhyme about it." Shepard said and Ty knew she had a smirk on her face. Ty shook his head with a smirk and said "See that's the problem with a lot of people, you do something once and they expect you to do it all the time. Hey Garrus use your overload and after it hits Shepard use a pull field on it to get the others in it than both you and Grunt use your shotguns and blow it to smithereens and Garrus snipe the ones they miss, use your biotic charge if you want Shepard." The blue dots started moving around and as soon as the plan came to mind it went into action as red dot after red dot disappeared.

Ty was doing good at being an over watch helping Shepard and the squad with strategic points and warnings of the Geth getting them safely through to the second charge and back, as Shepard was setting the charges Ty made up a very short rhyme, "As we all sit impatiently for the charges to get set I couldn't help but wonder what do the Geth have next." "You know if being a fugitive doesn't work out for you Ty you should take up poetry, serenade the Reapers until they fall over." Garrus said sarcastically. Ty rolled his eyes and shot back "And if being a sniper doesn't work for you Garrus you should take up being a comedian, make the Reapers laugh themselves to death."

"Now I'd pay to see Garrus make a Reaper laugh." Shepard said. "Hey Grunt who do you think would have a better chance at making a Reaper laugh, Garrus or Joker?" Ty asked. "Hmm, that's a hard one Ty though I doubt either because I would have already killed the Reapers before Vakarian or Joker would be able to say anything." Grunt replied. Ty nodded to himself and said "Touché though I would have knocked one down before you." "Is that a challenge human?" Grunt asked. Before Ty could continue Shepard chimed in "Uh no it wasn't because lets face it I would have killed one before all three of you. Everyone back up it's gonna blow in ten seconds." "I think I would have killed a Reaper before any of you, my Thanix Cannons would take them out." Garrus joined in. "Alright alright this is a challenge then, when the Reapers get here whoever kills the first Reaper wins but until than take cover." Ty said. The bomb went off and Grunt started laughing, "What's so funny Grunt?" Shepard asked. "Sorry I just imagined having a Reaper under my boot and seeing the shock looks on all your faces as I won the bet." Grunt said.

**A/N: Hey sorry for the delay but I'm back now so hopefully there won't be as long of a wait for the next chapter. Sorry about the poor attempt at rhyming but I thought it was kind of funny and couldn't help it, I seriously doubt there will be any other rhyming, if you can call it that, in this story because that took me a long time to come up with. Thanks for reading all of you, and thank you to A Shadow In Chains and SharpRevan for the reviews, I agree SharpRevan the med-bay might have been a better room for Ty for all the recurring injuries he gets but I think every time he wakes up in a med-bay or gets bed rested he hears Beethoven's Fifth. Thanks for the review A Shadow In Chains though I'm not sure if you'll see this any time soon since it says you reviewed on the first chapter but if you are all the way here than thanks if not and you read this later on thanks as well. As usual thanks for reading and thank you for following and the favorites and the reviews, I will see you next time. **


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

A Concerning Problem

The image of Grunt standing on top of a Reaper raising his hands in victory flashed through Ty's head making him start to chuckle lightly, it was highly unlikely to happen with the whole indoctrination thing the Reapers had going for them but it was still a funny image. What made it slightly funnier for Ty was that Shepard and Garrus had stopped completely and he imagined that they were both probably slacked jawed just like the image Grunt had created for himself. Ty decided to input his image for them, "I can see it now, Grunt standing victorious on top of a Reaper, a crowd forming around him staring in awe until Grunt raises his hands in victory and lets out a bellowing roar. The crowd goes wild raising their hands with him as they cheer his name over and over and over again." Ty said. "See he understands." Grunt said. "Grunt the warlord who took down a Reaper, I think it has a ring to it don't you Grunt?" Ty asked. "Heh heh heh." Grunt laughed lowly. "And Garrus the Turian sidekick who held your ammo clips for you." Ty joked. "Ha even better!" Grunt roared. "How about Garrus the dashing Turian that kills Reapers on the side." Garrus said. "Eh." "No." Ty and Grunt responded within seconds of each other.

Shepard chuckled in the background but started to move forward which signaled for squad to stop bantering with one another. The squad got into the building and found technology, dead Geth and dead Quarians, a recording left by Tali and finally Tali looking for the base camp squad. _Thank the Spirits! She's still alive, _Ty thought, _come on Tali just hold out a bit longer, Ka'Reena please watch over her. _Ty switched to Shepard's pistol camera hoping to at least see what type of room they were in or the place Tali's voice was coming from but he was dissatisfied since she had all of her guns in their magnetic holsters so he switched to Grunts shotgun to find him still aiming it and looking around. "Hey Grunt could you move your shotgun to the right a little." Ty said. The camera moved and he saw some dead Quarians and Geth than Shepard and Garrus talking to Tali, she looked okay in the holographic image but it was hard to tell much since it was just a holo, Ty looked around the area and saw a few guns, an Avenger, Viper, Carnifix, and a Scimitar to be exact, laying around that looked useful still_. Hmm the crew is going to need the best guns that we can get on short notice and the only weapons dealer I know is shady on his best day and a rat on his worst,_ Ty thought_, I can upgrade their guns though but I don't want to use up all the guns in the armory on an experiment since it might take me more than one gun to get it right_. "Hey Grunt see that rifle there on the ground." "Yea." Grunt answered. "If you bring that back I can customize it and maybe give it inferno rounds for you to use and some other useful things, unless you're against burning your enemies alive." Ty said with a smile.

Ty knew Grunt liked carnage and he figured what better way to cause carnage than burning your enemies alive, judging on the deep chuckle that came from Grunt Ty was right in his assumption, "Don't tease me Ty, I'll bring it back for you, there's four including that one do you want us to grab them all." _Hmm I could outfit each with different ammo and give it to the others to use,_ Ty thought, _if I can get it to work at least_. "Um sure why not I could use a science project while I'm on bed rest bring them all and if you see any other weapons along the way and you have room to carry them grab them to I'll make us some nice guns with special ammo." Ty said. "Sounds like fun; hey Garrus grab one of these." Grunt said sounding more distant. "What for Grunt?" Garrus asked. Ty decided that he should explain to Garrus since Grunt might over exaggerate his customizing capabilities, "Hey Garrus he's grabbing them for me they still look usable and I should be able to customize them and give them new ammo like inferno rounds or strong armor piercing rounds and if I'm lucky some warp ammo." Ty said. "You know how to do all that?" Garrus asked.

_No not completely,_ Ty thought. Brad had taught him how to do his sniper and pistols and he was able to customize his dad's and brother's weapons but it had been some time since he done anything like that and despite being able to see his past with perfect clarity, the skill to do it and remembering that he did it were two separate things. "Kinda, if I succeed you get a new gun if I don't then no worries." Ty said. "True, do you want us to pick up every gun we see?" Garrus asked. Now that, as funny as it could be, was not what he wanted. They needed to get Tali that had to be their main focus not scavenging for guns. "No not every gun but if you happen to see sub machine guns or pistols that you can grab without getting shot than go ahead." Ty said. "Okay we'll grab some." Garrus said. "Much appreciated." Ty said than went back to a tactical view.

Tali got the door open and the squad grabbed some of the guns than they moved through the building to the next room, before they opened the door dots swarmed Ty's screen and one dot in particular caught his attention at the far end of the map. "EDI what's that dot there?" Ty asked clicking on the only un-marked dot. "Scans show it is of the Colossus class." _Colossus? Why does that sound familiar,_ Ty thought. "Sounds familiar, EDI could you describe it in terms I'd understand?" Ty asked. "Four legs, has a strong beam canon." EDI answered. _Oh shit now I remember_, Ty switched the camera to Shepard's pistol and saw the floor and asked "Shepard what did I tell you about leaving your gun on the floor?" The camera started moving than Ty saw the Colossus and Shepard said "Its not my fault that damn thing tried blowing us up." Shepard said in a mock agitated tone. "Ah definitely just like old times." Garrus said. "This is why I fight with you Shepard, you fight big enemies. Now let's go kill this thing." Grunt said.

Before they got moving Ty saw a Quarian dot still alive so he said "I think that Kal'Reegar guy is still alive I got a living Quarian on here but he's taken fire. You should hurry up he may be in danger of dying." "You heard the man lets move." Shepard said. The field ahead was swarmed with enemies there was a high point on the right covered with sun and enemies, the middle was swarmed and you were screwed on both sides than the left had enemies but it wasn't as bad as the others. Ty was formulating a plan for the squad as Shepard told Kal to stand down so he started to pass his plan onto Garrus and Grunt, "Hey guys I gotta plan to take that thing down." There was an explosion then Garrus said "I'm open for suggestions any time you feel like sharing."

Ty smirked at the slightly stressed Turian, not that the stress was unwarranted Ty had seen the damage the Colossus could cause on the Citadel when the Geth invaded. "Okay the middle will tear you to shreds and the right will burn the shit out of you than the left you've got Geth up the wazu." Ty started. "Where's the plan in there?" Garrus asked dryly than an explosion went off. "I'm getting there don't get your armor bent out of shape, Grunt what's the likely hood of you taking out all the Geth on the top floor before your shields need to recover?" Ty asked. "I could destroy them easily." Grunt answered. "And Garrus how well of a target do you have on everything from there?" Ty asked. "I can see the Colossus and all the Geth from here but I'd be widely exposed unless-" Ty didn't wait for Garrus to figure it out, "Unless the Colossus is distracted and all the Geth are gone, when Shepard's done talking tell her to take the left and take out the enemies there, Grunt take the right and do what you do best and in the midst of everything the Colossus will be so confused that you can get a shot on it Garrus."

Ty and his brother had used a similar tactic against the Colossus they had ran into just instead of trying to get it confused so someone could shoot it with a sniper they were trying to confuse it so it would stay still while their dad dropped a sky car on top of it from the level above them. Ty decided to leave that out for the three; there was an explosion than Garrus said "Yea but the Colossus huddles down and repairs itself taking away the advantage." Ty and his brother didn't have the repair problem to deal with but the plan had confused it enough to not move around a lot so he figured if it worked for that it would work here, "True but Garrus if Grunt and Shepard are shooting it from the sides it'll be so confused that-" It was Garrus's turn to interrupt "It wont huddle down making it get attacked from three sides easily taking down its shields and destroying it, Grunt did you knock brains into him?" Garrus asked. Ty chuckled and Grunt replied "If I had known that that's all it took I would've head-butted him a long time ago." "Ha ha ha you two are hilarious I get it I'm not always the tactical one, I like to take risks." Ty retorted. "Yea and look what's that got you, cybernetics, a tomahawk slicing your face, getting knocked unconscious from the Collectors, getting knocked out by Grunt, it seems to be working out for you." Garrus shot back. "That's it your not getting a new gun." Ty joked in mock anger. "Ha!" Grunt laughed. "Ah come on that's not fair, I'm sorry I didn't mean it." Garrus said in a mock sad tone. Ty was holding back his laughter as he said "Okay I believe you I wont switch your dextro food and drinks to human food and drinks." Garrus was silent for a second than he asked "You wouldn't do that would you?"

Before Ty could start laughing Shepard finished with Reegar and asked Garrus for Ty's game plan since she overheard it while she was talking. Garrus told her the plan and Shepard said "Damn Grunt you knocked a brain and rhymes into him nice job." "You're all fucking hilarious." Ty said with a smirk. "We try, okay you two you know the plan let's take this thing out and get Tali, Ty keep us updated if more Geth come." Shepard said. "I will, don't get sunburned." Ty joked.

To Ty's surprise the plan worked. Grunt charged and blasted through the Geth on the top all before his shields went down while Shepard used her biotics to take down the Geth on the left side. As they reached the sides Garrus took down all the Geth in the center and began shooting the Colossus while Shepard and Grunt killed the remaining Geth that surrounded the Colossus and then began shooting it as well. The Colossus couldn't take all the damage and live and when Shepard pulled out her Arc Projector and shot it the Colossus promptly exploded. Ty had worried the plan wouldn't work since after all it was his plan but relief washed over him knowing that not only did he not end up getting the three killed because of his plan but Tali was safe. Ty missed talking to Tali and hearing her call him a Bosh'tet because of his sarcasm, their friendship had been strong while he was with Ka'Reena but after her death Ty disappeared off the map and stopped talking to Tali due to the guilt he had felt at the time. He hoped that they would get it back to how they were before but that would require her to come on board for the mission, and knowing Tali as he did she probably would.

The mission was a success overall and that made Ty smile slightly as he took down the tactical view and disengaged his comm, as he began to drop his arm EDI popped up and said "Ty I have a…concern." That gave Ty a weird feeling as he kept his left arm up,_ concern I didn't know that EDI had that programed in her unless she's been picking up on human emotions between me, Shepard and anyone else. _"That concerns me already EDI that you have a concern. What's up though?" Ty asked. "Shepard, her vitals are troubling." EDI said. Ty glanced up at Chakwas who was now more alert and looking over at Ty and EDI, _what the hell could be wrong with her, didn't Miranda say she made sure there was no issues, man Shepard you're not supposed to have health issues that's my duty on the ship_, Ty thought.

Ty stayed silent for a couple seconds, _Shepard seemed fine before she left, hell she seemed fine this whole time she's been on the mission so what the hell would make her vitals troubling. Part of me doesn't want to know due to the fact it'll probably make me worry a bunch but we have to figure this out, if Shepard gets taken out we're all screwed._ "Okay lay it on me EDI don't sugar coat this." Ty said. "I have some unusual readings coming from her that Miss Lawson had me watching. There wasn't anything troubling before but there has been a spike in her brain activity causing headaches and her biotics have flared on more than one occasion." Ty looked over at Chakwas and asked "Shepard ever mention headaches to you?" "She did mention it once but she had a history of them when we were going after Saren so I just prescribed her the pills she used to take and she hadn't mentioned it since." "You did the right thing Doctor Chakwas she hasn't had an issue since then it's just been on this mission." EDI said.

Ty thought about biotic flare ups and headaches, all the biotics he had ever known didn't have flare ups or headaches or at least they never spoke about them. Darian was a rare Turian biotic but his training in the Turian military when they transferred him to the Cabals had helped him get an expert control of them. _The sun down there was shorting everything out and taking down shields, what if it affected her amp_, Ty thought. "What about the sun there maybe that's throwing her out of whack, frying her amp maybe?" Ty asked. "Hmm it could be possible, best to notify Miss Lawson since she had EDI watching out for this, she may know what is wrong." Chakwas said getting up. _I hope so,_ Ty thought. "Okay EDI we're getting Miranda best you go to the med-bay area where you pop up so Miranda doesn't throw a hissy fit." Ty said. EDI disappeared off his Omni-tool than popped up onto her med-bay post than she asked "What is a…hissy fit?"

Ty smiled to himself at EDIs wanting to learn and get passed the synthetic organic barrier and said "When a woman or man gets really upset and start pitching a fit about something like when Joker tries to pretend you aren't there then you remind him you are and he starts complaining, difference is Miranda's will end in me probably getting killed." "I see so when you first got onto the Normandy, before you saved Miranda and helped Garrus, Miranda was venting to Shepard about you being a danger to the mission because of your history, was that her throwing a…hissy fit." Ty couldn't help but burst out in laughter knowing that EDI was telling the truth and it sounded like something Miranda would do, "Did I say something funny?" EDI asked innocently.

Ty pulled himself together since he saw Chakwas and Miranda on their way back in so he said "No what you said was yes a hissy fit but I couldn't help but laugh because I wished I would've heard that conversation though I'm sure I could guess what was said." Miranda and Chakwas walked in and Ty said loudly "Hey, visiting hours closed about an hour ago please sign up on the list for tomorrow." Miranda let one side of her mouth quirk up into a smirk than she said "Last time I checked not only am I the second in command but I saved your life so I'm allowed to visit whenever I please." Title throwing was something that Ty paid no mind to because, quite frankly, he didn't give a damn but he would let Miranda indulge in the title so he put his hands up in an I surrender motion and said "Cool it down princess no need to bring in facts like that. Besides if I recall I saved your ass from losing an arm or worse."

Miranda shrugged and said "We're even, anyway what have you and EDI got for me that Chakwas hasn't informed me of already?" "I don't know much just what EDI told me but what it truly gets down to is that Shepard is hiding the fact she's hurting right now from everyone so if it weren't for EDI we wouldn't be having this conversation. EDI is there anything you can tell us about the flare ups in her biotics or her headaches that maybe we can piece together before they all get on board?" Ty asked. "I can't pinpoint at this time why it is happening, it could be a lengthy exposure to the sun affecting her amp or maybe it's something from the Lazarus project that is affecting her." "It can't be the last one I took every precaution it has to be something else." Miranda said jumping on the attack.

EDI went silent and Ty began to felt his agitation rise. She may be an A.I. but in Ty's view she still had feelings and she was his friend so Ty went to her defense, "Listen Miranda we don't know what it is maybe its something from all the way back when she was a child or when she fought Saren, who the hell knows? All we can do is speculate which is what EDI was trying to do since I asked her to give me some ideas. You also have to take into account that Shepard was woken up early her scars didn't fully heal maybe the sun down there is affecting them or maybe someone sabotaged her while you were working on her."

Miranda seemed a bit shocked at Ty jumping to EDIs defense but she quickly recovered from it as Chakwas jumped into the conversation, "It may just be a coincidence too we wont know anything until we can run proper scans on her, though I'm not sure she'll just do it she's always hated doing check ups and has escaped me more than once." Ty felt his mouth quirk up into a smile_, Commander Shepard afraid of a little check up; oh if I get the chance she is never going to hear the end of this. I may hate needles but I've never ran away from one._ As Ty let the funny thought leave his head he had an idea, _wait a minute if EDI could get her readings while she's down there maybe…_"Hey EDI would you be able to keep a continuous watch on Shepard's vitals and brain activity even when she's just walking about or sleeping?" Ty asked. "Yes." EDI answered. Ty looked at Miranda and asked "And princess lets assume something bad could happen like…I don't know something really bad would you and the doc be able to get to her before something even worse happened like, lets just say saving her from an imminent death?"

Miranda nodded and said "I could get to her easily." "I'd be able to get to her." Chakwas said. Ty nodded and said "Okay then how about this we keep a close eye on her for the rest of the day and into the night see if her condition gets better or worsens, no tests no scans just see if something changes or maybe she'll say something about it, meanwhile EDI I know you do a lot but would it also be possible for you to run scans on a cause of what's going on along with your other duties?" "Yes, I wouldn't be close to being tasked to my maximum capacity and I could still run at full potential." EDI answered.

Ty nodded, that was the plan then, watch, observe and figure out what the hell was going on. This wasn't a rush in and blow something up type of thing this was a watching and planning accordingly type of thing. Shepard would no doubtly brush them all off and say she is fine so that meant hiding that they were observing her every move kind of like infiltrating a restricted area which was something Ty was very accustomed to and good at. Now that the plan was set it was time to gather every bit of information they could, that meant no detail was to small or to out of the ordinary_. Ferreting out secrets, Liara I think you rubbed off on me,_ Ty thought. "See problem solved until we find out what the hell is going on; Miranda is there by any chance someone could have sabotaged something, anything without you knowing?" "We had a traitor but I dealt with him, I think I would've noticed sabotage on her." Miranda answered.

She was too confident, granted it was warranted since she did bring Shepard back to life but she was already overlooking information and they had to look at it from all angles and look at all possibilities regardless of how low the possibility was and that was something Ty hadn't done when he needed to most but this was his chance to balance out what he hadn't done with what he could do. "Is there any chance, even a slim one you missed something whether it be sabotage or just something with putting her brain back together?" Ty asked in a serious tone. Miranda must have realized how serious he was being about this, she herself was being serious but what he had asked was for one hundred percent certainty and judging on the look she had, she couldn't give him it. Miranda sighed and said "I don't know. I know I put everything back together correctly, but I wasn't looking for sabotage." "There's your project then look into any way the traitor would've done something even ask the Illusive ass if he has any top secret experiments that you didn't know about that the traitor may have been trained in." Ty said.

Miranda seemed awe struck by Ty giving orders but he saw a hint of a smile on her face, maybe she liked being ordered around or maybe she just thought he didn't have it in him because he usually followed orders it didn't matter all that mattered was figuring out what the hell could be wrong with Shepard. "What are you going to do; you obviously have some plan going?" Miranda asked.

Ty smirked, maybe Grunt had knocked some sense into him or maybe he always had it and never really showed it because given the choice of planning an infiltration and jumping through a window to hopefully catch someone off guard Ty would more than likely choose the window. "Me plan, I don't plan I just go on whims and hope I come out the other side, or at least I used to until Grunt gave me a concussion." Ty said rubbing the fabric on his head. "Yea that seems to have changed you a little, what are you going to do?" Miranda asked. Ty adjusted himself and said "First off get Shepard to bring Tali down here so I can say hi, second after Tali leaves I'll talk to Shepard see if I can get her to spill the beans without forcing her." Chakwas nodded and said "That sounds like a good idea though the commander usually doesn't open up to others but maybe you'll have better luck."

When had he ever had any better luck than others, Shepard seemed to enjoy talking to him so maybe she would open up, he doubted it though. "I sure hope so because I'd hate to have to tie her down to make her take a test." Ty said. "I'll go start looking into what I can, EDI see what you can find on what Ty said." Miranda said. "Yes Miss Lawson, Ty I will inform Shepard upon her arrival to have Tali'Zorah visit you." EDI said. "Thanks EDI you're a big help." Ty said sincerely. "Thank you Ty." EDI said than disappeared. Miranda gave Ty a disapproving look as she said "I'm not even going to ask about you befriending an A.I." "Her name is EDI." Ty said in an agitated tone giving Miranda his first glare since he first got on board.

Miranda was taken aback by what Ty's glare and what he said but she said "Okay no need to get defensive about it, I'm going to start looking for anything I can find to answer this problem." "Have fun princess." Ty said. "Stop calling me that." Miranda said as she walked out. "Not a chance." Ty said loud enough for her to hear as the doors closed. _EDI is no different from any of us aside she's a hologram, she's not just a tool to be used she's a shipmate and a friend, _Ty ranted to himself. _Now we wait for Tali and Shepard and when Shepard does come down we can hopefully figure out what the problem is before something bad happens._

* * *

_"Yeah but you were both "exotic dancers" so you have no room to debate." Ty said as he stood next Darian. Tara and Valera were standing across from them at his doors both with smiles on their faces as biotics began to glow around them, suddenly Ty felt his feet leave the ground and he felt his back hit a wall before finally falling to the ground with a thud. He heard a second thud next to him which told him that Darian had gotten tossed to for jokingly saying that everyone knew about the T'Vana sisters and their reputation, a false statement but a funny one. Darian and Ty had been talking about what they needed to do and where to go next when the two came up to find out that information themselves only to start giving Ty a hard time. They were all just having fun with one another at this point, throwing in jokes about the Asari sisters pasts and Ty's last "expedition" with the "friendly bartender" as Valera and Tara called it about a month ago._

_ Ty and Tara had an on and off again relationship due to neither one being able to summon the courage up to tell the other how they actually felt about one another but at this point they were together, Ty and Darian pushed themselves to their feet and Ty said "Biotics are so cheating." "You never used to complain about my biotics Ty." Tara said with a smirk. "That's because you didn't toss him around." Valera said with a smile coming on. "I don't know Valera, I heard that Tara was into some kinky things and she might have used some of it on Ty." Darian said. That prompted a biotic push hitting Darian but this time he was ready and put up a biotic shield to stop himself from flying. "Throwing us isn't a good defense, yea she was dressed like a stripper and yea she liked to dance but so did you two." Ty said._

_ Ty couldn't remember how he quick he went from standing to being on his chest again but he did know it hurt, "You had that coming Ty." Darian said from a distance. "You are supposed to be on my side Darian!" Ty yelled from the floor. Tara suddenly came into view as Ty stared at the ceiling and straddled his chest, "I thought I was on your side." Tara said with mischief in her eyes. "I've seen this before, Valera lets go tell the crew that Tara and Ty are going to be "preoccupied" for the next few hours, bring us into the Citadel while we wait for these two." Darian said followed by his footsteps. "Aye aye, have fun you two." Valera said with a laugh coming on. For some reason Ty figured he didn't have much choice in the matter._

* * *

Thirty minutes later and a good memory relived later Ty heard the sound of the hydraulic doors opening, he had just come out of the memory only a few minutes ago and when he looked over at the doors he saw Tali standing there so he sat up and said "Hey Tali looks like you got a round trip ticket to hell and back too, welcome to the new Normandy." Tali's silence was telling Ty her jaw was wide open in shock.

**A/N: Hey thanks for reading and sticking with me thus far and giving me over 3,000 views in the nearly two months I have been posting this, I never thought I'd get above a hundred so thank you to all you readers out there checking in and reading these chapters as I post them and a thank you to all the favorites, followers and commenters. You make this self professed nerd smile so thank you, I will see you next time.**


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Tali'Zorah vas Neema

It took a few seconds for Tali to break from her shocked state; Ty didn't blame her for being shocked at seeing him. The last she knew he was going to find Haley and he wasn't going to be employed by Shepard to help her, hell she didn't even know Shepard was alive at the time though she was only moments away from finding out after Ty left but Ty ever being recruited by a Alliance soldier with the help of Cerberus to fight off a galactic threat? Ty wouldn't have believed it if anyone ever told him it and he knew that Tali probably had blinked more than a few times to see if she was just imagining him there. Tali and Ty had history with one another because of one commonality and that was Ka'Reena. Ka'Reena looked at Tali as the younger sister she never had and when Ty and Ka'Reena began to become more serious Tali insisted to Ka'Reena that she was allowed to meet him through a vid-comm so she could give her judgment on it.

Knowing Tali as he did now he knew that she had probably been really prepared to be serious with him and judge him but when they met over the vid-comm she became the shy, nervous young Quarian she was at the time. After helping Tali break out of her nervousness they hit it off and became nearly instant friends. After Ka'Reena was murdered Ty made himself believe that she wanted nothing to do with him because he had been so full of guilt and pain after her death that he figured Tali blamed him, he blamed himself so why wouldn't she was his thought pattern. After being reunited by accident due to Ty hiding on the ship she happened to be on Ty had remained in contact with her as they began to re-forge their friendship. Aside from the obvious regrets Ty held of wishing he had saved his crew and Ka'Reena there wasn't much he regretted but one thing he did regret was breaking off contact with Tali, he should have been there for her as a friend since Ka'Reena had been close to her but he didn't. He couldn't change that choice but he was being given his second chance and he was not going to waste it.

Tali began to walk towards Doctor Chakwas as she said in a shocked tone, "Ty, Doctor Chakwas what are you two doing here?" "The spirits have a strange sense of humor, a little bit twisted if you ask me but that only supports my claim that my friends are still following me around." Ty said with a smirk. "You have yourself to blame for that one then Ty, you taught them that sick sense of humor." Tali said with humor in her tone. "No they were sick and twisted when I met them, I just…." Ty trailed off trying figure out a comeback when Tali decided to jump back in, "Made it worse." "Eh…Well…Alright damn it you win I take full credit for making those bastards more fun." Chakwas chuckled slightly while Tali giggled to herself, "I'm here for the Commander, it is nice to see you Tali." Chakwas said. Tali gave Chakwas a friendly hug and as she let go she said "It's nice to see you too doctor."

Tali looked back over at Ty and through being with Ka'Reena and seeing Tali the times he had he began to pick up on Quarian body language and the signs he was reading from her were of curiosity. Why would he be here was most likely a prominent question in her mind, he had spent his teenage years from fifteen and until only short time ago hunting the people who stole his friends and Ka'Reena from him. He had history against both Cerberus and the Alliance and just a general hatred for the both of them so why would he suddenly no longer be hunting the Suns and join a ship flying the colors of people he despised and with the legendary Commander Shepard who was an Alliance woman. Not to mention he also had told her he was on a mission to save a friend, something she knew he'd never abandon unless death took him.

Tali walked over to his bed, which was the second one down, and asked "Ty I thought you were on your own mission?" Ty readjusted himself so he was sitting on the edge so he was in front of her, Tali gave him a friendly hug which he reciprocated, she held him tightly as she rested her mask on his shoulder. She released him after a few seconds and then looked at him for answers, it was a long story but he could spare the time for a shortened version since he didn't have much to do anyways and the long version would prevent her from getting to work on the engines, which Ty knew she was dying to get her hands on again. "Well I was but…I hit a complication." Ty started. Chakwas chuckled softly before she said "I didn't know a near death incident was just a "complication" Ty."

Ty rubbed the back of his head as Tali went from looking at Chakwas back to him with a stare that penetrated through her mask, many found it hard to see Quarian faces behind the masks but from Ty's experience stone cold stares always made it through. "Ty?" Tali asked in a way that meant he was about to have to spill his guts if he didn't want to face her wrath. _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, I face near death odds with ease but I'm scared of a woman's rage, I don't know if that makes me smart or if that makes me weirder than I already am_, Ty thought.

Ty let his hand drop and proceeded to spill his guts, "It was for a good cause I assure you." Chakwas interrupted one last time, "I hope you don't make a habit of being impaled on a wall for good causes Ty." "What?!" Tali yelped. Ty looked over at Doctor Chakwas and said "Aw come on Doctor Chakwas admit it you enjoy the thorough surgeries on me." Chakwas gave a hearty chuckle with a shake of her head before Ty looked back at Tali and said "On Omega we were recruiting Garrus and I took a carnage blast from the Bloodpack leader to save Miranda Lawson who if you haven't met I'm sure you will soon, and then because I was with only the use of one arm I got my ass kicked by a Blue Sun when Shepard saved me but then Tarak launched a missile from his gunship at me and Shepard. I chose in that short time frame that her life was worth more than mine and pushed her out of the way before shooting the missile while it was flying at me…I ended up as a decoration on a wall because I happened to hit a spike that impaled me and held me up." "Keelah Ty." Tali gasped. "Eh it wasn't that bad, a little bit of cybernetics and I was good as new." Ty said with a shrug. "Cybernetics?" Tali asked.

Ty nodded and said "That's what I'm told, after that though while I was waiting for Aria to get back to me on finding my friend I joined this rag tag crew of miscreants and hopped on the Galaxy saving adventure we are on then I saved my friend and loss a head-butting contest to our resident Krogan which is how I achieved this." Ty pointed at his bandaged forehead and Tali chuckled and said "Seems like your doing about the same as usual."

Tali touched his right arm but took it back quickly which Ty just chuckled at her, she obviously was curious to the tech behind his remarkable recovery, "Go ahead Tali I don't bite, too hard." Ty said. "That's not what Ka'Reena told me." Tali said sarcastically which Ty just gave a light laugh to since it was funny. Ty held his right hand out and said "Short notice repairs but still good work none the less." Tali intrigued by the engineering behind his new arm started feeling up his arm pushing down on it feeling the cybernetics where his bones and tendons would be like when Miranda tested his arm after he woke up. "Keelah Ty the fact you survived is incredible, you said your whole entire arm was repaired?" Tali asked feeling up his bicep.

Ty chuckled a little, any other person he would have made a comment about them feeling up his arm but Tali would be flustered so easily and despite seeing Tali flustered being funny he decided to let Tali go a few moments without him making her feel embarrassed. "Yea and my right lung and ten of the twelve ribs I have, not bad for one accident and saving a life." Tali laughed a little as she stopped and said "You always had a way of hurting yourself for others." Ty shrugged with a smirk and said "True but still scars are what makes us who we are." Tali nodded slightly as she let go of his arm, "Aside from physically being hurt how have you been? You seem different compared to the last time we really talked?" Tali asked. _Really talked, that had to be the year Shepard was killed,_ Ty thought. He felt different, his dark cloud of revenge had clouded everything but now that it was dissipating things were beginning to change in him. "I'm better, or at least I'm getting better as the days go by now. Shepard's helped some but what about you? How you been and how'd finding that Quarian go?" Ty asked.

Tali sighed a little, _not good by the sound of that,_ Ty thought. "We found Veetor but Prazza that Bosh'tet got his squad decimated by an YMIR mech, and then on this mission I lost a lot of my friends because of some data on a star." _Damn Quarian politicians for sending their people to do dangerous missions, what the fuck is wrong with peace why does it gotta be war? Your lives are fragile as it is sending them to battle is just a quick way to get them killed_, Ty thought. "I'm sorry." Ty said sincerely. Tali waved him off, "Don't be it wasn't your fault, how's your family?" Tali asked changing the subject. "Back together now, Darian is still bartending and my brother and dad are taking a well deserved break from hunting the Suns. I have a picture of them in my room that I will have to show you but since I'm confined to bed rest it'll have to wait, how's seeing Shepard again been?" Ty asked.

Tali nodded sharply and said "Good, it's a little weird since…well she died but I'm just happy she is alive and still Shepard, she's like an older sister to me." _Only if Kaiden had been the same way, maybe he's come around, I hope he did for her sake_, Ty thought. "Cerberus is my only worry though after what they did." Tali said. Ty nodded knowing fully of what she spoke of, Cerberus attacking the Idenna didn't get past Ty and he nearly had launched his own attack on Cerberus for doing it. That was just another reason that he wanted to kill those who wore that insignia, well present company excluded…for now. "Don't worry about them we'll be ready for the betrayal, none of us non-Cerberus members trust them but we trust Shepard and that's what counts." Tali nodded and said "True, I probably should go down and check the engines out so I can familiarize myself with them."

Ty chuckled and shook his head, _that's Tali for you always the mechanic but if she wasn't like that then I'd be worried that something bad happened_. Ty waved her to go and said "Go ahead Tali don't let me stop you." Tali gave him a friendly hug which he returned and she said "See you later Ty." "Count on it." Ty replied. Ty watched her walk away as he began moving himself back onto the bed so he was comfortably laying against the pillows, as she reached the doors she stopped making Ty raise and eyebrow as she turned around, "Did you kill-" Ty interrupted her knowing what she was going to ask and said "Yea but I'll explain another time, those engines won't tend themselves you know." Tali giggled a little and said "Okay bye Ty." "See ya Tali." Ty said as she walked out.

A few moments of silence passed letting Ty relax himself a little more, it was good to see Tali again and it was going to be nice to be seeing her for the duration of this mission. Ty felt his mind slip into another memory as his vision of the med-bay slightly dulled and he saw Ka'Reena laying next to him looking at him, he knew the memory before she spoke but since he could still see the Med-Bay it felt weird seeing Ka'Reena there like she was still alive, _"If anything ever happens to me could you please watch over Tali?" Ka'Reena asked. Ty nodded and said "For you I'll be the shadow at her back but nothing is going to happen to you while I'm still breathing." Ka'Reena leaned the front of her mask against Ty's forehead, she left it there for a moment with her eyes piercing through her blue visor into Ty's purple eyes, "I love you Ty." Ka'Reena said. "I know, it's hard not to love me." Ty joked. "Bosh'tet." Ka'Reena said with a laugh coming on. "That I am but I am your Bosh'tet and nothing will ever change that." Ty said. Ka'Reena backed her head up slightly as Ty placed his hand on her mask like he was cupping her cheek, "I love you Ka'Reena." Ty said in a loving tone. "I am yours Ty, forever." Ka'Reena said with the same tone._

It took a lot of will power to not do the movements himself since it felt nearly real like Ka'Reena was still alive and there with him but Ty let the memory fade from his mind when he saw Chakwas look over at him, that was a memory that he wished to be lost in but he couldn't lose himself in the memory while there were things in the present still needing to be done, namely saving the Galaxy. _I failed to see that promise through but that will not happen again_, Ty thought. "How do you know Tali?" Chakwas asked. "She was Ka'Reena's best friend growing up though Ka'Reena was older than her but they were really close, after being with me for a while she had me meet Tali over vid-comm. Tali was three or four years away from pilgrimage and meeting Shepard but she hasn't changed at all except her enviro-suit, she was really nervous when me and her first talked but after a while she got used to me and my personality. After Ka'Reena died I gave the body back to the Ryya than broke contact 'cause…I thought it was best though looking back now I don't. Hindsight always in 20/20." Ty said.

Ty stopped to give Chakwas a minute to absorb all the details and when she gave him a nod to continue he did "So when she was returning from her pilgrimage I was on the run from some Suns who had been chasing me and I hacked the ships cargo hold and hid down there evading them and disappearing for a day, what I didn't know was I was about to be held prisoner for invading a Quarian vessel and interrogated. I was compliant so they didn't torture me but the interrogator happened to be Tali." Ty said.

As Ty mentioned Tali being his interrogator the doors to the med-bay opened and Shepard came walking in wearing her usual blue wifebeater, black jeans and shoes and holding a folded up Avenger. Her tribal shoulder tattoo gleamed when the light of the med-bay hit it and so did her sapphire eyes but Ty saw a look of confusion swarm her face as she asked, "Whoa Tali interrogated you? When did this happen?" After the confusion washed away a smirk made its way to her face, "Two years ago, a few months after you got spaced Tali was returning from her pilgrimage and I happened to hop on her ship without her knowing." Ty said. "Okay I want to hear all the details I missed but before that what do you want with all these guns that Grunt and Garrus grabbed?" Shepard asked. _Wonder how many they picked up_, Ty thought. "A science experiment, did you guys put them in the cargo hold except that one?" Ty asked.

Shepard nodded and brought it over to him and sat it down on his bed than said "Grunt insisted I give you this so you could make him his new gun first, he said something about "flaying his enemies alive" and you would figure it out." Ty couldn't help but imagine Grunt hopping up and down like a kid in a candy store insisting to get something which made him laugh a little, "Okay I just hope he knows it'll take me more than a day." Ty said. Shepard sat down on the bed next to his with her legs hanging over and asked "So what happened I want to hear this one from the beginning?"

Ty went through all the details he had already told Chakwas about him, Ka'Reena and Tali and was back on track where he was before, "So I had figured out it was a Quarian vessel and made sure to cover my face with my mask and took the precautions so I didn't contaminate anything but when I was sleeping apparently a curious Quarian came down to check something in the cargo hold and found little ol me sleeping…shit nothing like waking up to a gun hitting you in the forehead than having that same gun aimed between your eyes, I actually thought I was gonna die." Ty said. In all his injuries he never once considered death except for when he got impaled on Omega but no matter how bad it was he always figured he'd come back but seeing a gun in his face made him think he was going to die, he thought of it as a very anticlimactic death. "I'm surprised they didn't put you in the nearest air lock and open it." Shepard said with a smirk.

Ty nodded in agreement but he had heard them discussing it and was already attempting his escape at that point, hearing air lock made him work faster, "You're telling me, but they didn't and I was sent into basically a cell for lack of a better term and the Quarian that found me started asking me questions like, what was I doing, why was I here, was I a threat? My answers were, catching some shut eye, hiding from my pursuers and I wasn't a threat as long as they didn't point a gun at me again."

Shepard shook her head with a smile and Chakwas was doing the same so Ty said "What it was true." "You're lucky they didn't kill you but continue." Shepard said. "So as they were deciding what to do with me I thought the interrogating Quarian looked sort of familiar but I had run into more than two so I wasn't sure so I asked her and lo and behold my answer was "Tali'Zorah nar Ryya you Bosh'tet". My jaw dropped behind my mask and I said "Tali is that you." She immediately dismissed my claim of knowing her but I responded with "Tali it's me Ty what the hell are you doing here." Ty said imitating himself and Tali.

Ty stopped letting the details be absorbed than when they were ready he continued "She was shocked at the revelation since we hadn't seen each other in years so she still didn't believe me so when I started talking about Ka'Reena she immediately knew it was me and released me only to slap me along the head for breaking contact and for infiltrating the ship so then I revealed everything that had happened in the past months and why I ended up on the ship. She informed me that she finished her pilgrimage after helping a commander and her crew save the galaxy from Saren and the Reapers but said the Commander was killed a couple months before hand and she was on her way back to the flotilla with her gift. We exchanged a few pleasantries I told her I was happy for her doing everything she did and then I asked if I could leave without being killed so she could completely finish her pilgrimage. She let me but not before slapping me, punching me and giving me a hug and warning me if I broke contact again she'd shoot me with her shotgun."

It was funny looking back at it now the pure luck of it being her and the fact that she hit him with not only her hand but her pistol, Garrus had thought that part hilarious when Ty had told him and so did Ty. Shepard chuckled a little and smiled which Ty figured was because of her headache that he knew she had since Chakwas was laughing a hearty laugh and Ty was a little since he was watching Shepard. "So did you keep contact?" Shepard asked.

Ty nodded and said "Yea once every few months until me and Tarak tore Omega apart than I disappeared onto the Cerberus facility, one time we met again before that because she had to go get something for the flotilla I couldn't tell you what I forgot that but it was on the Citadel and me, Darian, my dad, and my brother were all on there visiting and the three of us were finding some interesting things on a certain Blue Suns member who wanted to try and disappear when we literally ran into each other, I luckily caught her by the hand as she nearly hit the ground, she didn't have her new outfit yet but she had something new on maybe she didn't like it and switched to what she has now I don't know but I do know she was shocked to see me and my family walking around casually on the Citadel."

Fighting to save the people who lived on the Citadel should have wiped the slate clean and repaired their family name but as normal no one except those who they came in contact with knew what they did. Shepard nodded and asked "I've been meaning to ask you the same thing, how do you get through scans with guns?" Ty rubbed the back of his neck, he had never told anyone this because it was supposed to be a deal between his family and the Captain but he figured Shepard wouldn't rat the Captain out and if she did Bailey was safe, his dad made sure of that. No one who helped them could be traced back to them, "My dad knows a C-Sec guy named Bailey and they're friends, he gets us through the scans clean without C-Sec or the Alliance knowing. As far as getting busted like me and Kar did we move quickly so are names are not recorded with many tricks of our trade."

Shepard was about to ask something but she stopped and a little bit of pain struck across her face_, her headache isn't getting any better, shit I hope EDI or Miranda come up with something._ "You okay Shepard?" Ty asked. Shepard nodded and said "Yea I'm fine, I'm going to go check up on some of the other crew than call it a night, see you two tomorrow." Shepard got up and left quickly trying to hide the pain but Ty and Chakwas knew what was up and as soon as the coast was clear Ty said "This doesn't look good, EDI did Shepard's brain activity spike just now?" EDI popped up on the med-bay station and said "It was quick but yes it did she managed to stop her biotics from flaring up as well." _Damn your stubbornness Shepard, huh feels weird being the one to say that, I'm sure she is used to saying it about me though_, Ty thought. "EDI keep a close eye on her I've got a bad feeling about this." Ty said. "Yes Ty." EDI said than disappeared.

Two Hours Later

It was getting closer to "night" on the ship and Chakwas looked exhausted while Ty was stripping and cleaning the Avenger as he sat on his bed completely awake, _she needs her sleep if something happens and stims won't be good,_ Ty thought_. Losing sleep to stims doesn't help anyone, funny coming from me who sleeps only five to seven hours_. "Hey doc take a break for a little while, Shepard's fine right now and if something does happen you need to have some rest." Ty said from his bed. "I know but I need to find out what the problem is before something bad happens. Miss Lawson isn't getting through to the Illusive Man about the traitor, she says that he said he searched the file and found nothing that would cause concern." Chakwas said.

Ty stopped cleaning the gun and said "That doesn't sound shady at all." "I agree and so does Miranda, she feels that he is stonewalling her but she is still trying to get it though_." Fuck protocol I can hack any file and I know how to hack Cerberus files, hell I did it for two months and never got caught…well sort of_. "How about this you and me switch you lie down and rest while I look for something that may be causing this. I'll hack into Cerberus files on my omni-tool so I don't have to get up or see any of Shepard's personal files and see if maybe the traitor could've done something since I don't give a damn about Cerberus protocol, working yourself to death isn't going to help anyone." Ty said.

Chakwas seemed to consider it than she nodded and said "Okay I'll take a break." "Doc you of all people need to take breaks when needed, you're the only doctor we have in the field of purely medicine and helping the wounded if you aren't on you're A game then we all suffer. Its not a crime to take breaks." Ty said putting the gun piece down that he was cleaning. Chakwas nodded and left the room to get something to eat and drink and Ty pulled up his omni-tool and started hacking into the Cerberus data base and looking for the traitor's name, _time to work my magic on Cerberus._

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, I had planned to get this out yesterday but I fell asleep and woke up with the computer still in my lap so I decided it was best to wait until morning. Kind of a short chapter/interlude but next chapter picks up the pace once again for…reasons…..A thank you to both cainchaos and FORD B for the reviews, I'm glad you are enjoying the story and reviews are always nice to see so I know how you enjoy the chapters or if you have any questions. I'll throw a short disclaimer here and say that I don't own Mass Effect since that belongs to Bioware/E/A though I do stake claim in Ty and co who are not apart of the actual Mass Effect Universe. Thanks for reading and I will see you next time.**


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Long Night

In took three hours to find the name of the traitor, Wilson, and start to even uncover any data around him and so far most of it was completely useless. Ty enjoyed the thrill of the hunt though, sifting through information trying to crack the code, or in this case looking for any hint that this guy had something to do with what was happening to Shepard. Breaking codes and finding information had been something that Ty took a liking to ever since he learned how to do it, things were much easier now since his hacking programs made quick work of everything no matter how restricted they were but stealing information was a fun past time no matter how easy it was. The Med-Bay was still empty aside from Ty being the lone figure in it, Chakwas was still taking her break which was good in Ty's opinion because that meant she was going to be more alert just in case something bad really did happen.

It was a bit odd seeing the Normandy at this time though since mostly everyone was asleep except for a few crew members that Ty didn't know by name. Ty didn't pay mind to them though his eyes were filled with the glowing of his omni-tool and all the information it brought up into his sights with a multitude of colors to signify the different files opened ranging from purple to blue to a regular orange. His eyes read each word, every miniscule detail did not get pass him, if Ty's gut was right and this guy caused this problem he would not escape Ty's eyes.

Though Ty was enjoying the hunt for information the only problem he encountered was that Wilsons file was a slow read, it was as if this guy wanted Ty to beat his own head against a wall while he read his file and the worse part of it all was that nothing really shot out and said this could cause a problem. So far all it had been was his upbringing, why he joined Cerberus, or why he hated aliens. The guy had no reason to hate aliens other than just xenophobia which was a completely ridiculous reason that Ty couldn't believe would make someone qualified for a job but seeing as it was Cerberus and they were a Pro-Human organization it made sense. Unfortunately for Ty his gut guided him and his gut told him that dismissing it completely would be stupid so Ty forced himself to continue reading though it was getting extremely boring.

There was something fishy about what the Illusive Man said though, well everything that came out of that man's mouth was always twisted and only partial truths or just a small amount of information, it was a wonder how Miranda and Jacob had worked so long for him. Ty had nothing really against Jacob except for the fact he worked for an egomaniacal psycho who hated aliens, he hadn't taken the time to talk to the man that often or really since he got on board but Ty had read enough about him and in the short amount of time they saw each other from tossing Ty around with his biotics to working together and he didn't seem like a hater of aliens or an at all costs kind of guy. Hell he worked for the Alliance and did some good work but got swept under the rug so Ty couldn't figure out why he would work with the Illusive Man of all people.

Miranda was another conundrum of Ty's, he knew a lot more about her then he had let on and more than Miranda thought he knew so he knew her reasoning for joining Cerberus and how they helped her but how could she not see the messed up things the Illusive Man had ordered and just justify it. She wasn't stupid, she was a smart person but here she was working for Cerberus, one of the most messed up ideals in the Galaxy and that was saying something since Ty had met the Mad Prophet on Omega and he rated really high on Ty's messed up ideal scale.

Ty shook the thoughts from his mind, he couldn't let his thoughts distract him right now, if those two wanted to work for Cerberus that was their own deal but he wasn't going to sit by and listen to the Illusive Man's half truths and bullshit on this traitor. Traitors always have more planned then they show or are able to do, that is why they are traitors. They are cunning and deceptive people who should not ever be overlooked and either the Illusive Man was hiding something from Miranda that Ty didn't care about or he was as ignorant as Ty thought, which was a hard toss up. _He would have had back up plans, failsafe's in case his initial plan failed, he would know Miranda would save Shepard no matter what and if he lived to tell the tale without them knowing he wouldn't risk shooting her, he would be the prime suspect,_ Ty thought. His mind began looking at every angle of this man's plan, _Shepard waking up must have stuck a knife in his initial plan, what could he do to knock her out or kill her without anyone knowing…Could he plant a bomb in her mind? They can't be too hard to come by and that facility had a lot of tech, but would he risk Miranda noticing? _

There were so many possibilities that Ty couldn't see that this Wilson guy could be attacking from, _like a viper coiling up getting ready to strike._ Ty shook slightly at his own comparison, he hated those slithery creatures. Ty shut down one of his screens finding no useful information and pulled the blue screen from the side and into his view. _A list of all the specialties of those on that facility, wow and they are all deceased except Miranda and Jacob, you really know how to keep your people safe Illusive Man, go you. Let's see Wilson, Wilson, Wilson, where the hell is this guy? Wilson? Worked with Miranda on Project Lazarus, I think this is the right guy. Specialties aside from being a traitor? Hmm…Oh wow he was handpicked for the Lazarus project because of his training in memory rebuilding that is pretty interesting but…oh shit…Fucking A Illusive Man you are fucking ignorant! You put this guy on the rebuild squad and he also specialized in memory wiping! And you didn't pass credits his way when you knew he was a stingy motherfucker! _

Ty had found it and whether or not the Illusive Man knew this side information right this second was beyond him but if he did Ty was personally going to whip up that QEC and reach through to rip that dumb bastards head off. "EDI how's the commander?" Ty asked as he pulled more specifics on Wilson's training. "She's had seven spikes in the last three minutes and is now awake pacing in her room." EDI answered. _You have got to be kidding me, seven in three minutes? Oh this is gonna be really bad_. "I think I found a lead, forward a message to Miranda and tell her that you found something interesting in Wilsons file but you need her to look into Wilsons training right now, it is the only unrestricted thing she can get into. Oh and be sure to wake the doc up I think we're in for one hell of a night."

Of all the gut feelings Ty had he hated the bad gut feelings he had, the ones that told him that danger was just around the corner. He could feel his heart beat quickening at the possibilities of a memory wipe, who would take charge of saving the colonies from the Collectors and then get the entire Galaxy to unite to fight the Reapers. None of them could, only Shepard could and this Wilson guy was going to get them all killed. Shepard was in so much danger right now and she didn't really know it, or maybe she had the same gut feeling Ty had but was trying to figure it out on her own. He was worried, more worried than he ever thought he would be about someone from the Alliance.

Ty scowled slightly at himself, yeah she worked with the Alliance but she wasn't the Alliance, she was Shepard and that was a huge difference. She was becoming a good friend, someone worthy of his worry and someone who had taken the time to get to know him despite her ties to the people who out casted him. "Message sent, what do you think the problem is?" EDI asked. "Research memory wiping and how quick it takes once activated, I think Wilson booby trapped the Commanders mind to a specific sight or smell or something that would act as the trigger. How long has she had the flares?" Ty asked as he continued searching for anything else he might have missed. "There was one when she returned from Horizon after she found you knocked out down in engineering." EDI answered.

_Horizon, shit that's where we met Kaiden, seeing her old flame or something to do with him must have been the trigger, shit, shit, shit._ "EDI how's compiling data on memory wiping going?" Ty asked as worry worked its way into his tone and began reaching out to his body. "My data mining takes time but I have sufficient enough information in case there's an emergency." EDI stated. _In case? No this is for certain now, this is about to be the worst case scenario added with some Thresher Maw for icing and a Reaper as the candle to the cake bomb_. Ty heard his stomach growl, _yeah shut up stomach this isn't the time to be hungry this is about to be a shit storm so you're gonna wait,_ Ty directed at his stomach. Before Ty could voice his next question EDI spoke "Shepard has collapsed, brain activity is dangerously high I believe memory wipe has begun."

_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!_ Ty yelled inside of his head. He couldn't do anything though not because he was bed rested, he didn't give a damn about that, he couldn't do anything because he wasn't of a scientific mind or a doctor. All he could do is get in the way and that meant he couldn't help save the person who had ordered bringing him back to life and someone who had done a lot to help him whether she knew or not. He forced himself to calm down, he needed to remain calm, losing your cool under pressure would get someone killed or more specifically Shepard in this case. "Get Miranda and Chakwas up there now; do you know how to stop it or how long it takes?" Ty asked. "Yes but I cannot help her myself." EDI answered. Ty couldn't tell if that was supposed to be a joke or not, he knew she physically couldn't help so maybe it was intended as a joke. He wasn't sure so he continued on his orders, "Get Miranda and Chakwas and go to Shepard's quarters EDI, there's nothing I can do from here except get the elevator going down so get those two moving now." Ty ordered.

EDI disappeared and Ty opened up his hacking program and found the elevators circuitry and hacked it_, maybe I should add some extra speed to it_, he shook his head at his thoughts. This was not the time to screw with the elevator speed since if he did screw it up Shepard would be joining the Spirits of the fallen. Miranda and Chakwas went running from where they were to the elevator and now all Ty could do was sit, wait, and hope. He felt useless, he hoped everything would work out and he would see Shepard on her feet again with that stupid grin and her sapphire eyes that were full of so much life, a life that shouldn't be cut short. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about her but he didn't allow the thoughts to linger, they were more than likely just his protective thoughts over a friend and he wouldn't allow them to trouble him when he could do nothing. Ty picked up a piece of the gun and continued where he had left off.

The gun was cleaned and was ready for Ty to start doing more on when he got the chance but he kept cleaning it to pass the time and keep his mind preoccupied. He couldn't let his thoughts drift to Shepard, the thoughts would begin to eat at him and he would begin to dwell on his inability to help. He didn't want to do that so he just let his mind focus on the gun, the way it was, the way the pieces felt and the weight they had. He wondered if the reason he liked his sniper rifle so much was the same reason Zaeed loved Jessie so much.

All guns, even guns of the same make, had a certain feel to them, kind of like a different heart beat. When Ty was behind his scope the way his Viper felt in his hands made him feel invincible though he knew how wrong that statement was based on his own injuries over the years. The heartbeat in his hands reverberated through the gun making it feel alive in his hands and nothing was able to touch him. He had the Viper for so many years now that it had become part of him and he would trade all the guns in the world for it to work if it ever broke. Ty smirked slightly to himself as he shook his head, now he was sounding like Zaeed, _"I'd trade all of my guns in for one last mission with that shitty old rifle." _

The sound of Zaeed's voice bounced around in his head making him laugh slightly allowing him to forget for a few moments that something bad was going on. Time passed by slowly but eventually an hour passed since Miranda and Chakwas went running to the elevator and since then there hadn't been a peep from EDI or movement outside the med-bay except for the occasional miscellaneous crew member getting something to eat or drink. Ty put the gun back together and set it back down on the bed and laid his head against the wall behind him, _Fuckin' A why did this have to happen when I can't do anything to help, I'm not even allowed to leave this room._ The thought processed through Ty's brain and then his stomach growled, _Fuck I'm hungry…What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I following orders? I can walk I should just take this gun and head to my room and sleep or get something to eat; I haven't eaten since…shit almost two weeks now. Fuck it I'm out of here I've been sitting on my ass way to long._

Ty grabbed the gun and got off the bed with his stomach growling at him, starvation was just around the corner but hearing his stomach growl was shocking, he usually ate at least more than a few days before this. He walked out of the room and put the gun on the table then went to the cabinets to find something to eat. There were some dextro snacks and some food that had to be cooked, _ew that sounds gross, probably what they call Rupert's surprise, hmm no that doesn't sound good…Ew regular ration paste…Oh my god is that…Holy shit it is ramen! Chicken flavor? Fuck yes that sounds so good right now. _He pulled out the bag of ramen and found a bowl then prepped and began cooking it.

After it finished cooking he grabbed a spoon and brought it to the table and sat down ready to indulge himself in his guilty pleasure of ramen, it wasn't a big bowl but it was enough to get him by for another two weeks. Either way he was hungry and he was going to enjoy it. His mind drifted back to Shepard and he felt his worry start again. He attempted to shake the worry from his mind, _I'm worrying way to much its Commander Shepard she survived Akuze, defeated Saren, helped defeat a Reaper and survived the destruction of the original Normandy, this is small time compared to all those…but it still doesn't help its been an hour with no word._

As he was sitting there eating his ramen and failing at not thinking about Shepard he heard an unsteady walk behind him, "Aren't you supposed to be in the med-bay?" Joker asked. Ty looked back and saw Joker limping his way to the kitchen, Ty nodded at him and said "Hey Joker you getting a midnight snack or is your Fornax collection hidden down here." "Sarcastic ass." Joker said as he got to the fridge. "I try." Ty said than continued eating his ramen.

Joker limped over with a plate of food and sat across from Ty and started eating, Joker looked up at Ty and asked "So any word on Shepard?" Ty looked up from the table and asked "How do you know about that?" "EDI, apparently it's useful for something." Joker said. Ty smirked and shook his head than said "You'll like her eventually but no I haven't heard anything, what about you?" Joker shook his head and said "Not a peep, she'll be fine she's survived worse." Ty nodded and said "True." "I've been meaning to ask you, how do you know about my…collection?" Joker asked awkwardly. Ty smirked, he actually didn't know about it, it had just been a joke, "Don't worry about it Joker I haven't found it I just know about it and that's all you need to know. When you guys were going to take out Saren why was Shepard getting headaches originally?" Ty asked.

Joker took a bite of his food than as he finished chewing and swallowing it he said "I usually don't talk about Shepard to others but she seems to trust you like she does me, Garrus and Tali so I guess I can talk to you, you know about her and the Akuze incident right?" Ty nodded, everyone who knew about Shepard knew about Akuze and the Thresher Maws killing her whole squad. Ty continued eating his ramen as Joker began to explain, "Well you can only imagine how that affects someone mentally, it took her a while to get over it originally but when she found Corporal Toombs who was part of her squad, he killed himself because of what he went through after killing all the doctors that put him through it. That's when her original headaches started, Chakwas told me it was something like a PTSD but not as severe, after Saren and Sovereign were killed she stopped taking the pills Chakwas subscribed and she was fine, well as fine as Shepard can be."

Ty nodded with a smile, she was one tough woman that was sure. Not many people could go through what she did and come out the other side still ready for more. Joker took a bite of his food than Ty asked "Do you think that seeing Kaiden again on Horizon is what started her headaches and triggered whatever the hell is going on?" Joker shrugged and said "I haven't got a clue, that's not my field of expertise. Maybe it's something to do with the Collectors taking that colony. I got no idea but she'll pull through she always does and if she doesn't than the Reapers are going to kill us all."

Ty swallowed his noodles quickly making himself choke slightly before he began laughing through the choking, after he stopped laughing he said "Listen to you Mr. Positivity." "Hey if that happens I've got the Normandy and I plan on getting the hell out of here, you could stay or go." Joker said. Ty smirked as his eyebrows rose in amusement, "And you think you'll be able to hide from the Reapers in this ship, it's not as small as the old Normandy and the Reapers are very thorough." Ty said with his smirk. Joker frowned in defeat and said "Not to mention an A.I. that would probably claim to be the vanguard of my destruction." Ty started chuckling at the comment and said "C'mon give EDI a break she's not all bad, she helped me out and probably saved Shepard's ass right now." "It seems to think it was your idea." Joker said looking up from his food.

Ty grabbed his now empty bowl with a satisfied stomach and stood up to go wash it all; as he walked away he said "I don't know what you're talking about." Joker chuckled and said "Sure you don't, c'mon Ty we both know you hacked Cerberus files to find out about that Wilson guy and his training in memory wiping." Ty sighed as he began washing his bowl and spoon, he didn't want recognition for anything that's why he told EDI to tell Miranda that she had found it out not him.

Not to mention there would more than likely be repercussions for hacking Cerberus files, the Illusive Man probably was triangulating the hack to Ty as he stood there. Ty didn't take the time to cover his tracks; there wasn't much point in his mind since he was doing it for a damn good reason. "Just keep it between us than, I don't need Miranda on my ass about it." Ty said. "Don't worry, as long as the A.I. doesn't rat you out she wont know, besides Miranda probably wouldn't care. With all the rules you've broken I'm surprised she hasn't had you report to the Illusive man." Joker said. If she did she and the Illusive Man would both regret it, he had a few choice words for that "man" if you could call him that. "Don't curse me Joker, just do me a favor and don't tell anyone including Shepard okay? I don't need the attention for it." Ty said.

Joker nodded and continued eating his food, Ty's hunger subsided but he still felt like he had enough room for a snack so he found a bag of chips and walked back to the table and sat down, as he was about to open the bag his ears caught the sound of two pairs of footsteps plus the dragging of another's feet. Ty looked up and Joker looked behind him and they saw Miranda and Chakwas both with one of Shepard's arms over there shoulders dragging her to the med-bay, "Told you she'd be fine." Joker said. Ty nodded and said "Yea but I'm probably about to be told to go lay down in the med-bay again." "Yea that's true, Miranda will probably be out here to scold you any second now." Joker said starting to eat his food again. Ty passed the bag of chips to Joker and said "Here have these I'm not that hungry anyway." Joker nodded and finished up his meal and opened the bag of chips, "Ty can I talk to you in here?" Miranda asked.

Ty got up and grabbed the Avenger and said "See ya later Joker." "Don't hit your head on anything." Joker replied back sarcastically. Ty flipped him off over his shoulder with a smirk making its way to his face as he said "Don't break any bones brittle boy." "Asshole." Joker said as Ty got to the med-bay door. Ty walked in and saw Miranda and Chakwas, both looked mentally and physically exhausted from the events of the night so Ty knew he should tread carefully with Miranda, _no I told you so, not to much sarcasm she looks like she wants to rip someone's head off with her biotics, just be nice and stay cool, we can do that right?_ "So it looks like she had a hell of a hangover." Ty said plopping himself down on his bed. "Her memory was almost wiped but EDI managed to help us save her." Miranda said with a little of her ice queen edge. "Okay so what you need from me aside from giving you two a break. Seriously you two go catch some z's I can watch her if you want, I can go a day without sleep anyway." Ty said.

Miranda shook her head and said "No I need to make sure her memory is going to be intact, I should've noticed it before when I was still working on her she wouldn't have had this happen if I would've paid more attention." Ty rolled his eyes, _and I thought I liked to blame myself for things I couldn't control._ Ty looked over to Chakwas and asked "Chakwas is Shepard stable and going to be fine?" "Yes but when she wakes she'll need to stay here until we can run some more tests on her." Chakwas answered. Ty nodded and said "Okay go catch some z's I'll watch over Shepard, she'll be fine till morning plus I need to talk to Miranda alone." Chakwas nodded with a grateful smile and said "Thank you Ty." "No problem you earned a good nights rest." Ty said as he stood up. Chakwas left and Ty walked up to Miranda who was running her hand through her raven black hair as she was hammering away on Chakwas terminal, Ty put his hand on her shoulder and said "Go get some rest Miranda, that's not a request."

Miranda swatted away his hand and said "You're not my boss I'll work if I want to." Ty shook his head and sighed, he had really hoped she would have listened to him. Ty wasn't sure how well his new plan was going to work but she was tired, her body was shaking even, she wasn't going to be able to put up much of a fight. "I really hoped it wouldn't come to this but you are forcing my hand." Ty said. "Wha- Hey!" Miranda shouted as Ty picked her up out of the chair and threw her over his right shoulder. A smirk had already made its way to his face as he said, "Shepard will be fine till morning you need some rest so you can work at your full potential, I can watch over her since I'm supposed to be confined to bed rest, hell I'll even report to the Illusive Man if you want that way I can tell him how much of an ignorant jackass I think he is. You need rest and if I have to tie you down to your bed or knock you unconscious I will."

Miranda was slamming her hands into the right side of his back which didn't really faze him at all as he walked out the med-bay, he had her legs gripped well enough that she couldn't knee him or move all that much except for what she was doing though he wished he had gagged or knocked her out first due to her yelling at him, "Put me down dammit! I will kill you if you don't put me down right now Ty! I swear that you'll be dead by my hands if you continue carrying me!" Miranda shouted. Ty smirked at the empty threats, she was really too weak to do anything, she also seemed to be tapped out in the biotic department since she had yet to use them.

As he walked towards Joker he saw him putting his empty dish in the sink and his empty bag of chips in the trash, Jokers jaw dropped in a shock but he could see the sides of his mouth upturning into a smile, "Oh. My. God Ty. That…that's hilarious, hold on let me get a holo of that." Joker said while suppressing his laughs. "Don't you DARE Joker! I will crush every bone in your body with my biotics!" Miranda yelled. "On second thought maybe I wont, I'd like to, you know, survive so I can still fly my baby." Joker said still smiling. "Oh come on just one wont hurt." Ty said stopping in front of the kitchen counter.

Joker seemed to consider it but than said "Nah sorry Ty but I value my brittle life." "LET ME GO!" Miranda yelled loudly. Ty shook his head and said "Oh shush your gonna wake everyone up. EDI mind taking a recording or a holo of me and Miranda so we can show Shepard when she wakes up?" "EDI if you dar-" Ty interrupted Miranda and said "Don't listen to her EDI I wont let her do anything to you, Joker want in on this?" "Sure what the hell I can't get into to much trouble just by being in it." Joker answered limping over to Ty's left side. EDI popped up above the kitchen counter and asked "Would you like a recording or a holo?" "Take a holo it lasts longer." Joker answered. "Do both EDI, alright everyone smile like we actually like each other." Ty said with a big grin and wrapping his arm lightly around Jokers neck.

After a couple seconds EDI said "Done I will send them to you Ty when you have recovered completely from your injury." Ty let go of Joker and said "Thanks EDI, hey Joker where did Shepard want you to fly to next?" "Going to the Citadel to help Garrus out, we'll be there in two days. I figure we might get some shore leave with her injury after she helps Garrus." Joker said. Ty shrugged and felt Miranda's weight go up and down with his shoulder, she wasn't very happy about that but Ty said, "Beats me, don't know if Miranda would be too fond of that." "I am still on your shoulder and if you don't put me down right now I will tear you in half with my biotics!" Miranda raised her voice again.

Ty looked around and asked "Did you hear that, I swear I just heard Miranda's voice. It's like she's right here." Joker laughed and said "God you are so going to get it when you let her go, so where would you like your funeral and what do you want done with your stuff?" Ty titled his head up so he was looking up sideways at the ceiling acting like he was thinking hard on it than he said "Cremate me give me back to my family and run for your lives, give one tomahawk to them then give the other to Shepard, give Garrus my sniper, my pistols give to Jack and Tali. You can have my hoodie if you want Joker if not give it to Shepard to decide who to give it to, the picture in my room give to Shepard and the holo in there give to my family."

Joker gave him a curious look and asked "Are you serious?" Ty felt a chuckle come on as he said, "Well yea if I die on this mission than someone who will survive needs to know what to do with me and my stuff." "God dammit Ty PUT ME DOWN!" Miranda yelled starting to slam her hands into his back again. "There's that noise again I swear it's like Miranda is standing right here." Ty said looking around again.

Joker just smirked and shook his head, "I gotta get back up to the cockpit, and send me a copy of that holo and recording okay." "I will don't worry, if Shepard is still being held against her will in the med-bay aka bed-rest bring us into the Citadel and tell the crew to go on shore leave. I'll watch over all the trouble making guys like Grunt, Jack and myself." Ty said. "Who is giving you the authority to do this last time I checked I was-" Ty interrupted Miranda and said "Hung over my shoulder like a damsel in distress, you got all that Joker?"

Joker nodded and said "Yea I'll take care of it if Shepard's stuck in here; I'll see you later, unless you're dead than I won't be seeing much of anything from you." Ty waved him off and said "Don't worry I'll be fine, see ya Joker I gotta put the princess to bed." "I'll prepare your funeral." Joker said as he started limping away.

Ty smirked and rolled his eyes as he started walking over to Miranda's room while she was still thrashing about, Ty opened the door and walked around her desk and to her bed where he put her down gently and onto her back and said in a joking manor, "Now be a good girl and go to sleep otherwise I'll tie you down." Miranda attempted to stand up fast and punch Ty but he grabbed her arm as he side stepped her and said "Now if you weren't exhausted you probably would've hit that. Miranda go to sleep, trust me you need it." "I need to do work and find out if there's anything else that I can do to help Shepard, it was my fault that this happened. I should've been paying attention to sabotage of any sort." Miranda said losing a little of her edge but Ty kept her arm in his hand. "Do you really believe that?" Ty asked.

Miranda glared at him and said "I'm the project director and I was in charge of bringing her back without any issues, your damn right I believe it." Ty let go of her hand than she went for another punch that Ty caught right as it was about to hit his face, "Give yourself a break Miranda, you may be created to be perfect but your still human just like me, Shepard, Jack, Jacob, Kelly, Joker and any other human on this ship." Ty said bring her hand down but still holding her wrist. "That's none of your business." Miranda said through gritted teeth than she went for a punch with her other hand.

Ty caught it, he had enough of it so he pulled her in close to him so they were face to face and looked her dead in the eyes as he said in a stern tone "It wasn't your fault. It was that traitors fault. Now you can think that you're going to sit in here and blame yourself all you want but don't expect me to stay quiet. I don't give a shit if you were the project director or that you are the XO, those titles mean absolutely nothing to a person like me. You are fucking human Miranda, fuck what your father ever said about you needing to be better, fuck the Illusive Man making you feel that you need to push yourself harder, fuck everyone who ever thought that you should be held to a higher standard because of your genes and fuck your genes they aren't what make you who you are as a person."

Though Miranda was unaware at the time, well everyone on the ship was actually unaware except for Ty who had just found out himself but he had been created just like she was just with a few more additions. He held no resentment towards his father or his mother for their wish because that didn't change who they were to him or who he was to them, he was a Rhoddy through and through even if he and his brother were created inside a tube of some sort. Miranda tried to look away but Ty pulled her in closer so there bodies were touching forcing her to look him in the eyes which held hers with an angry stare as he said "I was created just like you were but I didn't know until my dad just told me, do you think I'm going to use that to shape me to be who I am for the rest of my life. Money may have bought you everything but it didn't make you who you are, fuck that genetic tailoring bullshit."

Ty stopped and let go of one of her hands than poked her right below her throat and continued "You decide who you become not your genes, your personality and what you do is what makes you the person you are not some rich fucking asshole who decided to play god. Now you can tell me to go fuck myself, call me an asshole and try to kick me off this mission but if you think for a god damn second I'm going to let you stay up all night blaming yourself for something you couldn't control and making yourself believe that you should have seen it coming or whatever because of your genes than you've mistaken me for some other follow the rules stick up the ass guy who doesn't speak his mind."

The years he had spent blaming himself for everything had been painful and knowing Miranda the way he did now she probably held every mistake she ever made against herself and that was also probably the reason she could be such a frigid bitch. Ty let go of her other hand and let her move her body off his as he continued his rant, "I've been blaming myself for the past nine years because I thought I could've done better for everyone I lost, that I should have done better for them because of how much they meant to me and you wanna know what all nine years have been like?" It was a rhetorical question but Ty paused as Miranda nodded slightly for him to continue "It's been life draining, it's been like being shot and then having someone sticking their finger in it, it's felt like no matter what the fuck I do I can't do a goddamned thing right and I'm never fucking good enough for anything. So in short all nine years have fucking sucked except for the short two years I was with Ka'Reena and all the short good times I had after that and those were few in number and scattered."

Miranda gave Ty a look that was between surprise and shock and a little bit of understanding, the first two were probably because she never expected to hear anything like this from him but Ty continued his rant "Every second, every minute, every day, week, month, and year have been a hell that never ends, from the time I wake and all the way into my sleep all it has been is a constant reminder of what I failed to do. The people I failed and how much pain it caused me, they always find their ways from the memories to come back into my mind no matter how hard I try to lock them away, like having a collapsed lung and every breath you take burning and wishing you to end your own life."

Miranda's look softened slightly at Ty, Ty didn't realize how much emotion he had flowing through him at the time and he wasn't sure how this all ended up coming out on her but had he been alone thinking of these things or with his family he would have more than likely broke down into tears. It hurt thinking of all the pain of losing his friends and then the self inflicted hell he put upon himself because he made himself believe it was his own fault. His comparison struck his own heart cord though he kept his unbreakable fortress on the outside, it was true though. He could never describe realistically what the pain felt like except for saying it was like having his heart ripped from his chest and stamped flat right in front of him but no one knew what that felt like unless they to felt it, a collapsed lung and the constant pain it brought with each breath was exactly what his life had felt like day in and day out.

It was different now, the pain wasn't as severe and the scars were scabbing over but they would never truly heal he knew that much, but he could find balance once again. "I can see it in your eyes Miranda, you blame yourself for every failure, every mistake, every single minute detail that never went according to plan and you continue to force yourself through this hell that you have created all because you think that because of your genes all your failures are what matter and none of your accomplishments, accomplishments that you do on your own that have nothing to do with your genes. I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you torture yourself for another god damn minute so sit your big round ass down get some fucking sleep and stop blaming yourself, got it."

Miranda's face was without the icy structure it usually came with, her usually icy blue orbs had become softer and full of emotion, emotions Ty had not seen in the woman though that was many emotions. She sighed in defeat as she sat down and rested her face into her hands not fighting back against Ty's rant, seeing that his work was done he started walking out since someone had to watch Shepard and he needed some time to himself anyway.

As he got to the door he stopped and looked back and saw Miranda still resting her face in her hands, _maybe I went a little over board, I didn't intend too but despite her icy exterior she is still a person under there, a person with feelings just like everyone else_. He decided he'd hit his rant home in a nicer way, "Miranda look at me." Ty said. Miranda looked up and Ty continued "You're a good person under all this icy bullshit you put up, I can see it though you hide it with walls and walls of unbreakable stone but you need to understand you're still human no less than anyone else. Your real personality is what makes you beautiful along with the looks though you try and hide that by acting like an ice queen. I can see the other side of you and I know you hate that I know of it but that's the real you and personally I like that side of you better. Take the rest of the night off; go to sleep, relax let your mind rest so when you have to work you're one hundred percent." "How do you know I won't use my terminal or my omni-tool?" Miranda asked.

Ty chuckled and waved his right arm at her computer as he activated his omni-tool with a locking hack locking it completely with his own code than he said "Easy I locked it with my own code and since you didn't notice I have quick hands." He had grabbed her and pulled her in mostly for the rant but he had also used it as a chance to remove a certain item, Miranda looked down at her right hand than caught on to what he said than she said "Damn you. Give me that back there is sensitive information on there." She was now without her omni-tool though Ty held no intention to go through it, he only removed it so she would sleep. "Don't worry about it princess I'm not going to look through it, I don't want to see your dirty pictures. Get some sleep Miranda I'll see you in the morning and if Shepard has any issues I'll get EDI to get you okay." Ty said. "Fine." Miranda sighed in defeat.

The doors opened and as he walked out he said "Remember Miranda you have the choice to either let your past define you and use it as a crutch or you can use it to make you stronger as a person, only you can decide what you become not me or anyone else, including your father." Ty himself was ready to stop letting his past failures be the only thing he remembered but for now he had to watch over Shepard.

**A/N: I always thought that it would have been kind of cool if Wilson had done something like this to Shepard in the game, you would have to get to the med-bay while your screen is all foggy and then Shepard would be knocked out for a day or two and either you would wake up after it was over and continue on after some dialogue with all the crew or you would end up playing as Garrus or someone else or they let you chose who you wanted to be for like a mission or two with a bunch of new story scenes and dialogue. Anyway my random ideas to the side, Thanks FORD B I'm happy you enjoyed the last chapter. I honestly wasn't to sure about it, I retyped more than a few parts trying to get it just right because it didn't seem to flow well at first but I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you to all you readers out there for taking the time to read this, I will see you next time.**


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Joking with Joker

After giving Miranda a small reality check that he had been waiting to give her Ty retreated back to the med-bay to meditate and watch over Shepard. Ty had a few reasons for his little talk he gave Miranda first being that she needed someone to give her that reality check and the second reason being she also needed to know that she wasn't alone with the whole being created thing. His final reason was that he needed to make her realize that she didn't have to hold herself to such impossible standards of perfection because of her genetics. He wasn't sure how successful he was but he hoped that he had made her lighten up a bit more, or as much as someone like Miranda could with this mission. He was happy he got her to stand down though but he was sure it had more to do with the fact that she was tired and less to do with what he said, he didn't doubt the effect his words had but Miranda wouldn't have taken being thrown over his shoulder on a normal day without her actually trying to fight out of it. She was just too tired to fight it all but at least she would get some sleep, Ty on the other hand was going to have a sleepless night remedied with watching out for Shepard and some normal meditation that didn't take away his sense of the outside world.

He figured that nothing would happen since Chakwas said they got her stable but he wasn't going to revisit a memory and have Shepard's memory wiped or die while he was supposed to be watching her, that wouldn't do him any favors among the crew or the galaxy and knowing Shepard she'd probably haunt his ass for being stupid. Ty got into the med-bay and put Miranda's omni-tool onto the table that Chakwas terminal sat on and then turned to go back to his bed, as he walked in the direction of his bed he stopped at Shepard's and examined her. Her face held no sign of stress which was a bit different since her features usually showed some stress but seeing as she was asleep it made sense. Her scars were healing but they still had a slight orange tint to them. "One hell of a night huh Shepard?" Ty asked to himself. Ty patted her hand and said "You'll be fixed up in no time and back to kicking ass. Sleep well; you of all people need it." Ty said as he walked to his bed.

Ty plopped down on the bed and looked over to EDI's terminal; he had to make sure she was still watching after Shepard, "EDI are you still keeping a constant check on Shepard's vitals?" Ty asked. "Yes Ty, she is stable at the moment and there hasn't been a flare up since they found her. It would seem that Doctor Chakwas and Miss Lawson may have solved the problem completely but I cannot speculate further without more data." EDI stated.

Ty let out a sigh, Shepard didn't need this crap happening to her and he felt completely useless with it. "Okay I'm sure they did their best and I know you did too; keep me posted if there is any irregularity or if she wakes up." Ty said. "I will Ty, is there anything else you need?" EDI asked. Ty shook his head no, aside from a doctorate in some type of medical field there wasn't much she could do for him, "Nah I'm good EDI." Ty suddenly had a thought, "Actually can you tell me if Miranda is lying down or sleeping?" Ty asked. "Miss Lawson is asleep, anything else?" EDI asked. "Tell Joker to cancel the funeral he was planning and to not crash the ship otherwise you can leave if you want." Ty said. "Logging you out Ty." EDI said as she disappeared.

It was going to be a long night even with meditation so Ty moved himself so his back was against the wall behind the bed and crossed his legs as he relaxed his body and mind. Meditation would help pass the time and help him relax from the semi stressful night of the Normandy, it wasn't everyday your Commander and friend nearly had their memory wiped and though Ty had more stressful days this one was different and he wasn't sure why it felt different. He didn't let that bother him though as he let his mind relax, as he started to meditate to pass time his thoughts drifted across different things but they were mostly focused on the squad. This new squad was turning out to be very formidable all the while becoming his friends, the first wasn't a huge surprise since they all were fighters of a sort with their own specialties and pasts, the second surprised Ty slightly.

He took being apart of a crew seriously and knew he was going to watch all of their backs and get to know them a little but the way all the friendships had formed so far was, in a way, surprising, especially with Jack and Shepard. Jack was in the mission to survive and stop the Collectors then cut loose but somehow the two began to bond, maybe it was because he treated her differently than she had been treated by anyone else or maybe it was just a façade, though he doubted that, either way though the friendship they had formed was slightly surprising to Ty.

Then there was Shepard and that was a confusing conundrum in of itself, Ty never figured that Commander Shepard of all people would want to get to know him or even give a damn about him in the first place but that was mostly because he didn't know her at the time he deduced that conclusion. Now though he considered her as a great friend, his confidant as of late and just an overall good person, why she took interest in him was beyond him but he didn't regret meeting her. Meeting Shepard was the only reason why everyone who had to do with the murdering of all his friends and Ka'Reena were dead, meeting Shepard was the only reason why he was able to save Haley from death. If it wasn't for her he'd probably have never lived to see them all die or been able to save Haley, he owed her more than he'd ever be able to repay.

One thing he couldn't figure out about her went back to their conversation about her moving on from Kaiden, the guy walked away sure but in Ty's mind it was probably a heat of the moment thing mixed with Ty being there since no one in the Alliance really liked him for obvious but false reasons. Shepard probably didn't really want to be with Ty of all people she was probably just saying that he forgot to mention himself in that list of people he gave her for who she could move on with but it still confused Ty, the way she gripped his hand while he was sitting in front of his bed when she gave him his pep talk after rescuing Haley and the pep talk itself showed a great amount of care towards him but he himself showed the same amount of care towards his crew so maybe it was just his mind toying with him but he couldn't help but feel he was missing something. Did she really consider him as someone she would move on with? Probably not and Ty didn't want to put her life at risk anyway with the crazy people he dealt with and even if she did consider him it wouldn't work anyway. They were on two very different sides of the law and any association with him would ruin everything she worked for, something Ty wasn't going to do to her.

Ty shook his head at himself; he wasn't sure why he was even thinking about her in such a way, sure she was attractive and had a great personality but it was impossible and never going to happen so there was no sense wasting thoughts on it. He didn't really want to just jump into another relationship anyways, his dad was right on a lot but he was dead on when he said that Ty had chosen not to listen to the second half of his advice and not go searching for love again. He wasn't planning on going down the hurting highway more than once in this life and though it was going against Ka'Reena's wishes he couldn't bring himself to think about being with another woman right now. Maybe someday in the future after the war was over, but not now.

Ty didn't know how long he had been meditating but he knew it was long when he began to feel a bit of numbness in his legs. He opened his eyes and checked his omni-tool for the time, it was going on nine in the morning and Chakwas was already up and on her terminal hammering away. "Mornin' doc." Ty said as he uncrossed his legs. Circulation began to flow through his legs as Chakwas looked over to him, she gave him a warm smile as she said, "To you as well, I hope I didn't wake you up I was trying to not be too loud because you looked almost completely at peace." Ty shook his head and said "No you didn't, my internal clock was just waking me up telling me I've been meditating to long, along with my legs starting to lose circulation. Anything new on Shepard?"

Ty glanced over at Shepard, she was still asleep or unconscious Ty wasn't sure which but it looked like she hadn't moved since she was put in the med-bay. Chakwas shook her head and said "No, right now she seems to be sleeping and she hasn't had any flare ups but that doesn't mean the threat has passed." Ty nodded as he looked back over to Chakwas who continued, "Otherwise with you it seems you haven't had any side affects from being knocked out and being slightly concussed exception of course for your rhymes and becoming a little more tactically sound." Chakwas said with a cheeky grin. Ty smiled and shook his head and asked "So do you need to do your final evaluation?" Chakwas stood up and said "I suppose I could so you aren't confined to bed-rest anymore."

Chakwas did several tests on him starting with using a pen light and shining it into his eyes and ending with some internal head scans, she grabbed a data-pad after finishing and said "It seems that you have recovered completely from your head injury and as long as you don't engage into another head-butting contest with Grunt you should be fine. I do not condone you participating in anything like that again but if you find it necessary then I cannot stop you, my advice for right now is to relax a little while we wait for the Commander to recover and refrain from hitting your head." Ty nodded as she put the data-pad down and unwrapped the bandage around his head, after she finished she went back to her table and went back to work on her terminal.

Ty grabbed the Avenger off his bed and looked to the table for Miranda's omni-tool but did not see it, "Did Miranda come get her omni-tool?" Ty asked. "Yes and she wanted me to tell you she needs you to unlock her terminal." Chakwas said. Ty chuckled slightly; he'd be surprised if she was even seventy five percent of the way through breaking his hack. Ty put his hood up and said "Alright that's my first stop then, if Shepard wakes up while I'm gone tell her I say she needs to lay off the sand and to take her time recovering since we need her at her best." "I will tell her when she wakes up, be careful Ty." Chakwas said. Ty nodded at her and said "See ya doc."

Ty walked out and through the mess hall where two crew members he did not know were eating breakfast talking about the man's family being on a colony near the Collector attacks and the woman reassuring him that they'd be fine. Though the guy was Cerberus Ty did hope his family would get out of there, no one deserved the fate of being taken by the Collectors. Ty shook off the memories of the frozen colonists and the cocoon pods all over Horizon as he got to Miranda's office, the doors opened and he saw Miranda with her omni-tool up pushing buttons on it with a bit of a frustrated look on her face, "Hey princess how's hacking my lock working for you?" Ty asked sarcastically. She scowled at her omni-tool as a message popped up, it was one of Ty's personal fail messages for those who tried to hack his locks and by the look on Miranda's face it was the "I can't believe you are seriously still trying." message.

The chuckle that escaped Ty brought Miranda's eyes up to him, she looked severely frustrated at the hack but even with her frustration it wasn't really at Ty, just his hack. "I've been working on it all morning and I haven't even gotten a quarter of the way through it, could you please unlock it now?" Though Ty's initial comment was going to be something about not being able to hack his lock he stopped short as the word please rang through his head, "Oh my god. Did you just say please?" Ty asked in a shocked tone. "Don't press your luck, now could you unlock this I have reports to send." Miranda said pointing at her terminal. Figuring it'd be better to just leave it alone despite his inner sarcasm wanting to have fun with it Ty opened his omni-tool and pressed a few buttons undoing his lock, "Your clear princess, if you need me I'll be in the cargo hold fiddling around with this gun." Ty said showing her the gun.

Miranda nodded and as Ty was walking out she said "And Ty, thank you for what you said last night though I'm not sure I believe it all." Ty smirked a little, not only had she said please but thank you as well, was this the same Miranda who had threatened to rip him in half with her biotics? The voice of Miranda yelling at him made Ty smile bigger, "Don't mention it Miranda you may not believe it because we're from opposite sides but I did mean it, see ya later." Ty said.

Ty had a plan on what he was going to do with the guns but he figured it would take him a while to get them all done, especially figuring out the special ammo but he was game for figuring it out, he liked working on stuff like this, it's how all four space bikes had ended up getting created, that and a lot of hours getting zapped. That's how he found himself down in the cargo hold with the Avenger he had cleaned the night before on a work bench as he had his breather part of his mask on and was spray painting slowly and precisely the new gun. He didn't know that the Normandy would have boxes full of special spray paint that he was able to use on the guns, similar if not the same type of paint he used on his own guns but he was happy since he didn't have to buy all the paint and he had practically an unlimited amount.

He had music blaring again but this time it was actually more instrumental music from the twenty first century. Ty enjoyed the music which is why he was listening to it while he was working; each gun was going to resemble their owner in some way through color, ammo and/or names carved into it. He had a good idea for the color of Grunts but he didn't know what for the engravings yet, _maybe bloodrage or I am Krogan_, he was still figuring everything out.

His precision spray painting lasted another three hours since he added a custom paint design into it turning the front of it into a Varren's face with it's teeth showing, _this looks sick if I do say so myself_, Ty thought as he finished the Varren's teeth. Now if he was fighting someone who happened to have the face of a Varren on the front of their gun, well it wouldn't change much for him but he figured that if a bunch of mercenaries saw Grunt charging at them with a battle cry and the gun in his hands they'd probably panic before dying, or panic more than usual.

Ty left it to dry and washed the paint off his skin and let his mask retract off his face as he sat down at a terminal to research how to put special ammo into the weapons. He himself had never taken any interest in modding his ammo, whether or not the people had armor, barriers or shields didn't matter to him because his rounds would cut them down no matter what and if they didn't work his tomahawks would find their way into their chests, skulls or backs. Grunt on the other hand used incendiary rounds, incendiary rounds were good against weaker armor but Ty knew of a special type of inferno rounds that also happened to be illegal in Council space that ripped through the toughest armors all the way up to Thresher Maws who had some of the toughest armor that Ty had run into.

He found what he was looking for after an hour of searching and being unsuccessful due to the fake extranet sites that claimed to know but really didn't. He downloaded the information onto his omni-tool so he could always have access to it, he didn't know if everyone in the crew would accept the new guns but he figured even if they didn't at least he'd have fun making them and he could probably sell them on the extranet to get some extra cash, though he didn't really need it, or give it to Jessica, Haley or Darian since none of them had custom guns. The good news was if he screwed up he could get some more from the armory or in the field but he didn't plan on messing up.

He sat down on a crate to relax but as he did Jokers voice came over the intercom "Hey Ty you busy?" Joker asked. Ty turned his music off and said "Nah just relaxing for a second before I continue work on the gun I just finished spray painting, something important going on?" "Nothing spectacular, Shepard's still playing Snow White and we're about to dock at a re-fueling station before we can finally finish getting to the Citadel. The crew knows about Shepard now since they were all starting to question why she hadn't been around to talk, Miranda gave them the low down but not the whole story, can't say I blame her." Joker said.

Ty nodded to himself agreeing with what Joker said and what Miranda told the crew, they didn't need panic among the crew or doubt. "I can't say I blame her either, it was pretty bad and it could effect the moral of the some of the squad like Garrus and Tali getting worried about her health and someone calling it quits because they aren't completely dedicated yet." Ty said. "I wouldn't want to explain that one to Shepard "hey yeah since you almost lost all your memory and died half the crew left." Joker joked sarcastically. Ty laughed at his joke and as he laughed Joker continued "I know you put a lot of hard work into recruiting them Commander but they weren't going to follow you if you almost died and you weren't even in battle, only Ty could pull that off and get away with it. Speaking of Ty though he's gone too, he left because there was a Krogan uprising and he was going to stop it by head-butting them all and getting blown up by a missile, but hey at least we still got Garrus and Tali right."

Ty couldn't help but laugh at the joke because it was funny and he could only imagine the grin on Jokers face as he joked about his injuries, Ty got control of his laughter and said "Good one Joker you finally got one over on me." "Yes! Finally, I've been waiting for this moment and it feels good." Joker said with Ty assumed a big smile. As Ty smiled he heard EDIs synthesized voice come over the intercom, "I don't think it was the joke that is making you feel good Mr. Moreau it might be that site you have booked on the extranet." "What!" Joker yelped in shock. "That was a joke." EDI said.

This led Ty into bursting out with laughter because EDI had gotten Joker good and this time Ty didn't have anything to do with it. "Ty did you set that up?" Joker asked in an accusing tone. Ty wasn't capable of answering because of how hard he was laughing, he wanted to take credit for it because it was good but he couldn't not when it was EDIs first joke on Joker. She set it up so perfectly or just picked a great time to say it without knowing of a time it was. "I do not think Ty is able to answer you right now but no it was not him." EDI answered. "I can't believe it, beat by the talking toaster. Ty you are so gonna pay for teaching it human emotions." Joker said.

Ty got a little more control over his laughter but he still was laughing a little as he said "I'd say it wasn't my fault but I take full responsibility for it. Good one EDI that joke was great; make sure you make a note of that to tell Shepard." "Really Ty you have to have it make a note about it, now I'll never hear the end of it." Joker said moaning. "Do not worry Mr. Moreau I will not incite your emotions with it, as you said no hard feelings good game." EDI said. Ty started laughing again hearing EDI use Jokers material against him, it was funny and he could only imagine the look on Jokers face now, "Yea well look at it this way…Shut up." Joker said in an irritated tone. Ty got better control of his laughter this time and said "Calm down girls, Joker how much longer till we reach the Citadel."

Ty heard Joker mumble something about Ty taking EDIs side in the conflict than he said "About ten hours, hopefully Shepard will be up by then but if she's not then I don't know what we are going to do about the mission." "I'll think of something to keep everyone on track, I may not be a second in command or anything but I think most the squad trust me more than Miranda." Ty said. "Maybe you should go talk to Garrus about what he needed to do on the Citadel, if anything you and him can take someone on the mission if Shepard's still down." Joker said.

That was something that Ty did not want to do, stepping into being the leader of a squad, even if it was temporary, was not something he ever wanted to do again. Besides that point though this was Shepard's squad and they needed to be loyal to her not him. "I don't know about that Joker that's stepping way to far into the Commanders territory for my liking, they need to be loyal to her not me, plus I don't think Garrus would want me snooping in his personal business." Ty said a little uneasy at the idea. "Yea well better you than Miranda, it's just an idea I personally think Shepard will be up and going by then but if not someone needs to do something while she's down and you're the top candidate." Joker said. "Mr. Moreau has a point Ty, though all decisions should be handled by the second in command, which is Miss Lawson, you have a good working relationship with most of the squad and they would surly follow you if you asked. You could also get information for the mission so when Shepard wakes up you could brief her on the mission." EDI said.

Ty still was uneasy on the idea, yeah he had been the leader of his own squad which gave him the knowledge of knowing that decisions like this needed to be made and information needed to be retrieved but he knew Miranda and her position on the mission of being the second in command which meant that she thought all decisions had to go through her if Shepard didn't make them and he knew that if he went ahead and did the mission it could have bad ramifications on the main mission and between him and Shepard. "I don't know you two." Ty said uneasily. "Just think about it Ty you still have ten hours before we get there and Shepard could still wake up between now and then but if she doesn't you're the next best one on here for collecting data and leading a team." Joker said.

Ty chuckled and said sarcastically "Last team I led all but two of us died." "Gah you are such a downer, Shepard trusted you with being the Haestorm over-watch instead of Miranda I'm sure she'd trust you with being the one in charge while she was out, besides the way she looks at you no doubt she'd trust you with it." _The way she looks at me? Oh fuck me my mind wasn't just playing tricks on me, _Ty thought. "If I may interject Ty I believe Mr. Moreau has a valid point though Cerberus protocols would make Miranda in charge." EDI said. "Plus its not like you answer to Cerberus right, you can do what you want as long as it doesn't compromise the mission, not to mention you already basically do what you want like leaving the ship without consent in all." Joker said. Ty chuckled despite the lingering unrest he suddenly felt with Joker's comment; if Shepard really held any interest in him…he really didn't want to think of all the bad things that could happen. "I had EDIs consent and my own, okay I see both of your points I'm still not sure about it but I'll think about it and if Shepard isn't up by the time we're only three hours away I'll make a decision, okay?" Ty asked. "That's all I was asking, we're about to undock from the fuel station and continue to the Citadel after we hit one last relay, I'll talk to you later Ty." Joker said. "Talk to you later Joker." Ty said as he got off the crate.

As Ty walked back to the gun he could feel his nervousness building, why would she hold any interest in him? She had to know it wouldn't work; she had to know it was way too dangerous for them both to even be thinking about that. Even if it was just a blow off steam kind of thought it was still a bad idea, if somehow someone ever found out all of her hard work would be ignored and she would be blacklisted faster than Ty and his family had been. He would speak to her about it when they had time to themselves if Joker's and Ty's suspicions were right. Ty let the thought leave him as he pulled up his omni-tool data on inferno ammo, as he read through the data and started making the adjustments he realized that one, it was going to be very time consuming and two after that talk with Joker and EDI he wasn't sure that he should be doing this right now since he might have to go onto Citadel and find information but he forced himself to keep working hoping Shepard would be up and going by then.

Six Hours Later

Ty was working on the ammo of the Avenger when it let off a tiny fire blast going across his left hand burning it slightly, "Ow shit what the fuck was that!" Ty yelled as he retracted his hand quickly. He got up and walked away from the gun to the crate he was originally sitting on, "Fuck that burned." Ty said. It had been six hours since he talked to Joker and so far he had made progress on the gun getting it seventy five percent complete but he couldn't get past the new direction because, well the gun let off some fire burning him.

Ty checked his omni-tool data in an attempt to figure out what he did wrong and when he saw it he felt stupid, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me? All because I forgot to turn the safety on and fold the gun back up. God damn that's stupid who makes these stupid rules." Ty said to himself as he shut his omni-tool off_. Fucking stupid I should've known to do that but no what did we say, "fold the gun up and turn the safety on? Why do I need to do that, not like it'll shoot while I'm working on it." Stupid, stupid, stupid you always put the safety on and fold a gun up when you work on it that's the number one rule like turning your space bike off when you decide you want to mess with the electronics_, Ty scolded himself. _Four hours till we reach the Citadel, no news on Shepard and in an hour I gotta start making a decision on what I'm going to do when we get there…Lets give Haley a call, we can have her meet us there or talk to her about it now and see what she thinks I should do, _Ty thought as he opened his omni-tool and dialed Haley's number.

It didn't take long for her to answer and when she did she answered "The answer was no." Ty was confused so he asked "Huh?" "Jessica and Darian haven't got past the species barrier yet but they say they are working on it, remember at the table on Illium Z accused Darian and Jessica of shacking up." Haley said. Ty saw and heard his brother yell and point at Darian and Jess again and laughed a little and said "Oh yea they got really uncomfortable about it, so they haven't made the bond yet?" Haley chuckled and said "No they haven't but they are working on it trying to get around the species difference, anyway what's up? Something going on?" "I need your advice." Ty said. "Hmm, who are you and what have you done with my Ty?" Haley asked in a joking manor. "Ha ha, I really need some advice Haley." Ty said. "Sorry, alright shoot." Haley answered. "I think the spirits have too much time on their hands but they decided to hand me another opportunity at a type of leadership close to what I had before and I'm conflicted on what to do." Ty said. "I think I know why, give me all the details." Haley said.

**A/N: Not really my favorite chapter, kind of another interludy chapter with a few good funny moments but that's just me critiquing myself. Just a quick heads up, well not really a heads up just a fun fact I guess but anyway Ty likes a lot of music from our time so expect to see "twenty first century music" any time he listens to music. Another fun fact is that though I didn't mention the actual group or groups that he listens to that way if you like a certain group of rock or instrumental music since that's all that been mentioned thus far you can just imagine it there but I figure him listening to something like Two Steps from Hell or Audiomachine this chapter who I thank and credit to making music that is just awesomely epic. I don't own Mass Effect, all copyrights and all that stuff goes to who actually owns it which I believe is Bioware/E/A. I also don't own those two musical companies those copyrights and stuff belong to their respective owners, I'm just a nerdy fan who enjoys both Mass Effect and the epic music of TSFH and AM. Whether or not those are actual abbreviations I don't know but if not they are now, anyway total sidetrack there ,gotta finish this up. A quick thank you to FORD B for the review, I really enjoyed writing that chapter between Miranda and Ty definitely when she was flung over his shoulder and threatening his life. I like how all the characters in Mass Effect evolve, Miranda from frigid bitch to how she was in the Citadel DLC and at the end of Mass Effect 2 or while you romance her, Jack from psycho who doesn't let anyone close to acutally being a friend and then a teacher of children, Garrus from pole up his ass to whacking people with it. Okay the last one was just in good fun but I'm sure I don't need to go through what I liked about each characters development for all of you. A quick thank you to all you readers, I know I say thank you a lot but when I decided to post this I didn't think I'd get anything close to what I have now in views, reviews, favs, follows and all the other stuff so I feel the need to thank you all for proving my self doubt wrong. Anyway initiatives will be taken next chapter and plans will be formed and [spoiler redacted] for Ty will be coming soon. I will see you next time.**


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Taking the Initiative

It took Ty near on ten minutes to lay down all the details from Shepard having headaches to where he was now including the gun he was customizing as Haley listened so she could give him some advice, as he finished she waited a few seconds making sure he was done than she said "Wow looks like you got a cluster fuck going on there." Ty chuckled and said "You're telling me." Cluster fuck was putting it mildly; it was by luck that Ty had come upon Wilson's memory wipe training before the actual memory wipe happened. What happened with Chakwas and Miranda up there Ty didn't know but it looked to have taxed them both mentally, emotionally and physically. "It sounds like you'd be stepping on some already stamped toes by taking charge since you gave big butt a reality check the night before." Ty couldn't help but laugh at Haley's nickname for Miranda, "Big butt; that's a cute nickname." "I thought so, anyway unless Shepard wakes up in the next three and a half hours something's gotta be done and you know that. Personally I say collect data on what she's gonna have to do and if big butt has a problem with it then its not like you have a problem with telling her to fuck off, Z might, but you don't. Not like collecting data is really taking over the mission its just getting something done, you know?"

She had a point but that left the problem of getting involved with Garrus's personal affairs, Ty was a fellow crew mate sure and Ty considered Garrus as a friend but personal affairs weren't something to just go in asking about. "I see your point on that part, but what about Garrus? I don't want to be rude and just get all up in his business because I'm not going to wait for Shepard to get up, that'll make me feel like an ass." "Well you are already a sarcastic ass." Haley joked. "Ha ha." Ty said dryly. "Well if you two are friends why not just go in there to talk to him and see if he brings it up otherwise you two will just be shooting the shit." Haley said.

That seemed about the only option he had with that route, he never forced his crew to talk about anything they didn't want to, he'd ask but he wouldn't push them. He had to do the same with Garrus just not ask so openly, Ty hadn't kept up with Omega gossip enough to know the full story of Archangel and his group but he had seen the bodies in the apartment back on Omega, _"I've learned that being a legend of Omega is a very prestigious title that comes with bullets, nightmares and dead friends."_ Garrus's voice played through Ty's head again, _we both learned that lesson and it seems we both had the same goal afterwards, revenge, _Ty thought. _Whoever is still alive and the reason for what happened to his squad has a target painted on their skull if Garrus is chasing him. This person would go to hiding, anyone smart would know Garrus would go hunting if he survived and if this person is smart then they know Garrus is alive and went even deeper into hiding. No one can stay hidden forever, that's a lesson they are about to learn. _ "I guess that might work otherwise I'll have to ask Chambers and see if she would be willing to give up the information." Ty said. "That could work too, anything else you need me for?" Haley asked. "No if you're busy I'll let you go." Ty said. "Well I'm redecorating a room for me and so is Jessica for herself and its not going to get done by itself." Haley said.

Ty smiled because he was happy they were making themselves at home which also meant they were going to end up training with Darian, Z and his dad, they needed to have some basic defense skills for personal safety plus with the Reapers coming they needed to be prepared in case they had to fight. "I'll talk to you later Haley and do yourself a favor and get laid while your at it." "Oh you have no idea how much I plan on it, there's a certain Asari I plan on hooking in for some fun times." Haley said. Ty chuckled and said "And here I thought you were gonna start fucking guys." "Didn't know you were still available since you're the only guy that I'll have sex with." Haley said seriously. "What gave you the idea I was taken?" Ty asked. "Shepard and the way she looked at you when we were leaving and the way you told her to look after herself. I may have been on medicinal drugs but I know when I see two people who have feelings for each other, you both want to do more than have sex." Haley said matter of factly.

Ty wasn't sure where that came from but he was surprised that Haley had caught onto Shepard before he had, sure he noticed slight things but the more he thought about what Joker said and now what Haley said the more he realized that they were right and he had been almost completely oblivious to it. He also wasn't sure what Haley meant by the way he told her to look after herself, hell he wasn't sure why he had said it in the first place but it wasn't out of the thought that they could be an item or that he wanted to be with her. "Haley." Ty said in a chastising tone. "Be in denial all you want but you both looked at each other the way we looked at each other once upon a time and how you looked at Ka'Reena." Haley said.

Had he really been looking at her like that? He cared about her sure but the look Haley was speaking of was an "in love" look not an "I care about you as a friend and leader" look. Ty couldn't deny that he did like her a little, he'd be foolish to outright deny that he didn't find her personality and looks attractive but to think they could be anything other than good friends was like thinking that his family would one day not be hunted by everyone. Neither were ever going to happen so maybe that was why he hadn't paid much mind to it, even if did happen it wouldn't end good, it would end in her career being over and her name blacklisted while he would be imprisoned or death sentenced because they would sting operation him while they were meeting without telling Shepard.

Maybe in another life where he wasn't a criminal and she wasn't with Kaiden but in this life any chance of them being anything more than friends was never going to happen and Ty wasn't going to let himself believe it could work. He enjoyed having Shepard as a friend anyway and he wasn't going to ruin that friendship by letting these thoughts get to him. "Haley it's not going to happen and if it was even possible it wouldn't end in happily ever after. I'm not going through that twice." Ty said sternly. "I know I know I was just saying. I'm sorry if I said something that pissed you off I was just telling you what I see." Haley said. The two of them sat in silence for a few seconds before Haley let out a sigh and said "I love you Ty and I want you to be happy even if being happy is with another woman."

Deep down part of Ty wished he hadn't made the choice of going separate ways with Haley, part of him wished that he had stayed with her and kept the happiness that she made him feel. He'd take her back in a heart beat if he could but he couldn't, once the war was over with the Reapers Haley and Jessica needed to leave the shelter of the Rhoddy home base so they could enjoy their lives and live it to the fullest. Ty would be an anchor and though Haley would never say he was, his way of life would anchor her to him and leave her heart broken in the end and he wasn't going to do that to her or Jessica, or Shepard for that matter. They all deserved someone better than him, someone who wouldn't disappear one day and then find out that he was killed in a gun fight or something of that sort. "I know Haley but that whole situation is a death sentence for me and something worse for her, she's a great friend and that's all it needs to be for her sake." Ty said. "Okay I understand, I'll talk to you later and Ty…good luck with everything okay, I love you." Haley said. "And I love you Haley, stay safe." "Will do." Haley said than ended the call. Ty turned off his omni-tool and decided to go check on Shepard's condition then talk to Garrus and hopefully find out why they were going to the Citadel.

The elevator ride was slow as usual but Ty was beginning to not hate them so much, it gave him time to think about whatever he needed to think about when he was in it. The only exception he'd make is that if it was going to be slow on a normal basis then it needed to have an accelerator for emergencies, the elevator ride with Haley in his arms was one of the emergencies that he wished the elevator could have been faster just for reassurance. Ty contemplated his conversation with Haley as the elevator ascended; the Reaper war was coming without a doubt, when was the only question there was for that. With the war right around the corner Ty couldn't spend his time looking for a relationship, a war had to be fought and others were going to be trying to make their final days good ones if the Reapers were going to win so someone had to be out there fighting.

Love could grant strength and resolve for a lot of warriors but Ty had his family to love and protect and that was what would drive him to win. He didn't want the worry of falling for someone who he wouldn't be able to fight along side because they were stationed somewhere else, he would hate to get a message letting him know that his lover was killed in action and if he fell for a civilian then they would be worrying constantly and if he happened to die in battle he didn't want to put his family or whoever would give her the news that he was dead. He had been the bearer of that type of news nine separate times, eight for all his squad who died and one for Ka'Reena and each time had been like seeing them all die again but this time he got to witness each death happening slowly.

Finding love wasn't on his agenda any time soon, he wasn't going to put someone on the hurting highway or fly back down it himself. The elevator brought him to the crew quarters and he walked out to the med-bay to see if there had been any progress on Shepard's condition, good news was something he wanted right now. He walked into the med-bay to see Chakwas with a data pad in her hand walking back to her desk, "Hey doc anything new?" Ty asked. She looked up from the data pad and gave Ty a warm smile than said "Hello Ty, there is some good news for once, come in and sit down."

Ty walked in and sat down on the bed he was on before and looked over at Shepard who was breathing steadily and moving her legs a little as she slept, that was a huge improvement from not moving a muscle aside from her chest moving up and down the night before. "Well I see she's moving a little now." Ty said looking back to the doctor. "Yes and she actually was awake for a little while and was able to recognize me and Miranda, she also asked about you." Chakwas said as she sat down.

A feeling of confusion flooded Ty as he tried to attempt to figure out how to respond to that, the confusion wore off as he raised an eyebrow and asked "Me?" He had been thinking to himself of all the reasons why it couldn't work between them since he got in the elevator and wasn't sure if because of those thoughts that he had become confused or that he was curious to know why she would ask about him. Chakwas nodded and said "Yes you, she saw that you weren't on your bed anymore and was worried something bad had happened. She is quite fond of you I think but I gave her another sedative to get her to go back to sleep, Shepard is great at many things but being a patient and following the rules is not one of them." Ty chose to ignore the mention of her being fond of him as he asked, "Will she be clear by the time we get to the Citadel?" "Not right away but she should be up when we get there then I'll have to do an evaluation to make sure everything is fine; we don't want this happening again."

Ty nodded to himself, Chakwas was right on that, the last thing they needed was Shepard getting taken out by something like this again but that meant he had to go talk to Garrus about what he and Shepard were going to do, "I need to talk to Garrus then. Do you need anything doc while we are on the Citadel?" Ty asked as he got off his butt. "Well if you have the time and credits I've been looking for a replacement bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy, me and Shepard drank the entire one she got me while we were reminiscing." Ty nodded in confirmation that he was going to do it but Chakwas continued, "Do you like her Ty?" Chakwas asked. "You mean as in more than a friend?" Ty asked though he knew what she meant. Chakwas caught that though but smiled as she said "Of course that's what I meant, I won't push you to say anything but back on the other Normandy she loved to read adventure novels so if you want to spare the time and credits I'd buy those for her. It could be a nice gift if you care for her like that otherwise it would be a nice friendly gift." Chakwas said.

There was no escaping this talk it seemed, Joker, Haley and now Chakwas all knew something that Ty hadn't only a day ago and now it seemed that everyone wanted to talk about it as impossible as it was. Ty walked over to Shepard's bedside and looked at her, _she looks almost peaceful without any kind of stress, no wars coming, no Collector threat, like she never had a worry in the world, must be a strong sedative. _"I'll keep an eye out for it while I'm on the Citadel but I sincerely hope she doesn't have strong feelings for me like you, Haley and Joker say and like I notice." Ty said as he walked away. "Whys that?" Chakwas asked. Ty continued to the door and said "Because I don't deserve someone like her and she can do a hell of a lot better than me."

_Time to talk to Garrus, Spirits if you're listening then please let this go well,_ Ty thought as he walked up towards the battery doors, the doors slid open and Ty walked in than stopped as he saw Garrus working away at his terminal, "Hey Garrus you busy doing calibrations?" Ty asked. Garrus turned around and said "No just finished them, well finished them for now until I start on them again, you need something?" "A couple things, first off Shepard woke up once and seems like things are going fine with her but Chakwas put her back to sleep since Shepard was being, well Shepard." Ty said as he walked over to the crate he sat on the last time he was in there. "Being stubborn as all hell and not wanting to take a break from work." Garrus said with the Turian equivalent of a smirk. Ty smiled as he sat down and said "You know her so well, anyway the second thing is I just wanted to talk so I can get my mind off some things."

It wasn't completely false, with all the recent talks about Shepard liking him he wanted to get his mind off it so he wouldn't let himself hope for something that wouldn't happen. "You seem to have that problem a lot, no offense." Garrus said. Ty waved him off and said "None taken; probably doesn't help that I can relive my past in full clarity and see everyone else's past if I want." Garrus nodded thoughtfully as he said "True but it could be worse, at least you were able to save your friend and avenge all of your friends who died." Garrus said. Garrus looked down away from Ty than back at him; Ty caught it and saw it as an opening to get the information he needed. "I gotta know Garrus it's been bothering me for a while now, why after everything you did with Shepard against Saren did you go to Omega and start fighting crime? You could've been like a hero or go back to C-Sec and be like the Executor. Why Omega? That pisshole that I spent most of my teenage years causing problems on probably will never turn around."

Garrus's mandibles moved a little to what was the Turian equivalent of a frown, "After Saren, Sovereign, and Shepard were taken out I tried going back to C-Sec but I wasn't exactly held in high regard, none of us associated with it were." Garrus said. Ty had almost forgotten about everyone getting swept under the rug and anyone who said Reaper became a loony. Having Darian as a second command gave Ty the knowledge of Turian body language and facial expressions, to say that Garrus was more than a little pissed as he began speaking was an understatement "I couldn't do a damn thing to help the Citadel repair and keep law and order because of all the red tape they put up for me. I finally got fed up with the Councils bureaucratic crap and hiding the true threat of the Reapers and headed to Omega to try and make a difference. Ditched my name for the name of Archangel after the locals gave it to me and recruited some men who wanted to make a change like I did." Garrus said starting to pace a little.

Ty was given many nicknames over the years by the people of Omega but he never had abandoned his own in hope they wouldn't continue with the over eccentric nicknames, unfortunately they never stopped calling him by the names. Ty felt bad for Garrus, Garrus did his best to make a difference in a good way but still got swept under the rug by the people he was fighting to protect. "What they did to you was a load of shit, they should've made you in charge of a Reaper task force or something so we can prepare for them, fucking politics hate them so much. Omega had to be a field day for you with all the criminals there, surprised we never ran into each other." Garrus chuckled slightly then said "We actually did once, well sort of." Ty raised an eyebrow then it suddenly hit him, "You! You were the targeting laser that nearly killed me!" Ty nearly yelled. "Well to be fair I had that shot perfectly lined up before you kicked him out that window and we did cover your escape with the slaves, damn Batarian slavers didn't know what hit him."

Memories of the day flashed through Ty's mind as he felt a chuckle coming on, _Ty had tracked the Blue Sun slaver to his apartment hideout and left the guards untouched as he climbed to the fourth story of the building and made his way into the window. The room he entered happened to be a bedroom of some sort but had a lot of sexual toys lying around, "Come on baby let's go have some fun." A woman voice said getting closer to the door. __**Oh fuck me I am not being busted after coming this far and I am not going to witness whatever this is going to be**__, Ty thought as he hit his cloak. Ty crouched down and began walking slowly to the wall next to the door so he could make a quick exit as they entered. As he walked he stepped on something which made him look down, as he looked down he saw a dildo that looked inexplicably real that also happened to squirt a white liquid out that almost landed on his shoe. __**What the fuck? They make those?**__ Ty thought as he attempted to retract his boot from the dildo without getting more of the stuff to spray out, whatever the stuff was. _

_The door knob began to turn when Ty heard another female voice that was sultrier then the first, "You wanna use the rack?" The voice asked. __**Rack?**__ Ty thought. Ty couldn't stop himself from looking to his right to see said rack and a wall of different whipping instruments; __**I am not getting trapped on that rack. Fuck that I am so getting out of here,**__ Ty thought as he neared the wall. The door opened letting Ty see the owners of the room that would no doubtly become a room of horrors if Ty was caught, __**one Asari and one human, not sure if I'm surprised or not but I gotta get out of here. There will be nothing fun about what will happen if I am caught**__, Ty thought. The two got in far enough that allowed Ty to sneak out with the door shutting almost immediately behind him._

_**Mission objective: Escape sexual fantasy room, check that off and never speak of it again, I'm all for people doing what they enjoy and exploring but if I had been caught I have a feeling I would have been forced to "explore" some things I don't personally enjoy.**__ Ty shook the feeling off and felt the need to wash his hands but continued on his way up the stairs to the twelfth floor where his target was, __**time for a little visit to the asshole who now leads the slave ring then free the slaves that are in the room near him.**__ Ty moved quickly up the stairs with his cloak still on, as soon as he saw the number twelve he made his way through the door that the number was near and began looking and listening for the Batarian he was searching for._

_Ty moved down the hall slowly listening for the slaves as well, the muffled screams would help him find the Batarian and then he would die for what he was doing. Ty heard a raised voice that was definitely a Batarian and muffled cries further down the hall making him quicken his pace, he had to rescue the slaves they were his primary objective, killing the slaver was only secondary but also something he planned on doing at some point. Three doors down from Ty a door opened and out came his mark wearing the Blue Sun armor like a badge of armor, or a painted target in Ty's eyes. The Batarian walked to the door on the other side of the hall and went inside closing the door behind him. Ty's goal was to hurt the Suns and despite not wanting to be back on Omega he found himself looking from door to door deciding which path he would take first, Ty heard muffled crying on his right from the slave door and muffled laughter from the slavers door. His decision had been made._

_After unlocking the door and opening it slowly and closing it as quietly as he could to not attract attention from the slaver Ty found himself with his anger rising as he approached the man, Ty nearly stopped in his tracks at the word man. This being wasn't a man, he was the worse kind of scum and he was about to take a very long fall to his death. The Batarian was speaking into his comm as he looked out his window and as Ty's cloak came off he said "Time to die." "Wha- ahhhhhhhhhh!" The Batarian screamed as he was kicked through the glass and down twelve stories. Ty didn't have a lot of time to enjoy his victory since a sniper laser had targeted on the Batarian right before he kicked him and then a round ended up impacting on the desk behind Ty. _

_Ty followed the laser to its origin and could make out a Turian shaped helmet crouched in a building across the street, Ty saw what looked like a nod before his laser began aiming on the guards that were down on ground level. There was a synchronous round of fire from multiple directions which broke Ty out of his gaze at the Turian head, whoever it was wanted the Batarian dead and was covering Ty's escape, he needed to get the hostages out now. Ty began to walk back to the door as he had one last thought,__** I can't believe he almost just shot me.**_

* * *

How Ty had never put two and two together on that was beyond him but as he let the thoughts fade from his mind he shook his head and said "Did you have any idea who I was at that time?" Ty asked. Garrus shook his head no and said "I thought you looked familiar but I didn't know until after we got back to our base, the crew asked me who kicked the guy out of the window and I gave them your description." "Handsome devil with tattoos that is armed to the teeth with oddly shaped weapons on his back and a hood up?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "Actually I said kind of short, looked to be a bit out his depth and way to many tattoos that gave me a headache." Garrus shot back with a grin. "Ouch that's a new one actually." Ty said with a smirk. "I told them you had purple eyes and two oddly shaped weapons and one of them told me who you were, I remembered hearing some of the stories about you and figured out why I noticed you and let you go." Garrus said.

That had always been one thing Ty didn't understand back then, he figured they were fighting slightly on the same side but anyone with that moment and knowledge of who he was would have pulled the trigger for the reputation. The reputation would be short lived due to his family hunting them down but it was good to get some closure on that moment. He had nearly forgotten about that one trip to Omega during is hiatus of hunting the Suns, "What happened to you and your crew that everyone on Omega wanted your hinds?" Ty asked.

Garrus mandibles started moving as he was pacing then his voice started to rise, "We were starting to make a difference when one of our own betrayed us. It was my own damn fault I should have seen it coming, the Turian bastard gave up my men to the Blue Suns and had me follow a goose chase while they were ambushed and killed. There were only two left when I got back to our base and they didn't last much longer." _Shit, me and my big mouth, now I feel like an ass_. Ty shook his head and started apologizing sincerely "I'm sorry Garrus if I had known I wouldn't have asked." "Its fine once Shepard's up we're going to find Sidonis and kill the bastard." Garrus said_. Bingo, I still feel like an ass but at least I got a name to go off_, Ty thought. "Is there anything I can do to help, I know how it is to lose your team and friends. Not to mention if the Suns are involved I wouldn't mind taking them down a notch some more." Ty said. "Its fine Ty, you can tag along if you want when Shepard gets up and going but otherwise there isn't much you can do." Garrus said. _We'll see about that_, Ty thought.

Ty nodded and Garrus's mood seemed to change a little, "So what's this I hear about you helping save Shepard's life?" _Joker and his big mouth no doubt,_ Ty thought. Ty shook his head and said "I'm gonna kick that cripples ass, can't keep nothing private." Garrus's mandibles moved a little as he smiled and he said "Don't worry he only told me and Tali in private and made us swear an oath of secrecy because he didn't want you to break any of his limbs." Ty personally never would do it, he wasn't sure if the fear Joker had of him was a good thing or a bad thing though. "She'd do the same thing for anyone of us, plus she already helped give me a second chance at life." Ty said. "Paying back a debt?" Garrus asked. Ty shrugged and said "Yea in a way but I owe her more than what I did, I was just trying to do what was right." Garrus nodded and said "Understandable but for some reason I have a feeling its more than that." There wasn't much else to it but Ty smirked and said "A lot of people do." "So it's true?" Garrus asked.

Ty tilted his head and gave Garrus a questioning look and asked "Is what true?" "You and Shepard are an item." Garrus said. _Oh Joker I think I'm about to reconsider not breaking any of your bones for spreading rumors like that,_ Ty thought. "That's it I'm gonna kick brittle boys ass for spreading rumors." Ty said with a little agitation. Garrus put his hands up in a slow down motion than said "I'm just messing with you, there isn't a rumor going around like that. Got Shepard good with that one too." Ty felt a little relieved but couldn't stop himself from asking, "How good did you get her with it?" "She got really flustered and said she was going to kick Jokers ass." Garrus said. Ty smirked and nodded absently, "You ever think about it?" Garrus asked.

This conversation wasn't heading in a direction Ty liked so he put his hands up in a slow down motion as he said "No offense to her but I don't want that from her, besides you two have a better chance of that." "I respect her immensely but I don't see how it could work, you should seriously think on it though even if it's just her wanting to blow off some steam I'm sure you could use a little of that too." Garrus said. Ty sighed and lowered his head in defeat, "This is a never ending story today, first Joker, then Haley, then Chakwas and now you, she talk about me a lot or something?" "No but I saw her and Kaiden and the way she was with him, I see a lot of similarities happening now." Garrus said with a smile.

Ty shook his head trying to understand why Shepard liked him like that, there was no way it was possible between them, she had to realize that. "She confuses me; anyway I gotta go talk to a certain cripple before we reach the Citadel." Ty said. "You should talk to her when she's not in the med-bay to fix your confusion." Garrus said. Ty stood up and said "I plan on it so I can figure everything out, see ya later Garrus." "See ya Ty." Garrus said as he turned back around to do some more calibrations. Ty walked to his room and grabbed all his weapons and put them on, he did his best not to think about the last part of his conversation with Garrus from the walk to the elevator to the CIC and for the most part succeeded. He just had to focus on working, that would keep his mind from even remotely thinking about Shepard as more than a friend.

The doors to the elevator opened letting him walk out and into CIC, Kelly turned around to see who had come out of the elevator and Ty saw the look of surprise she had. He didn't venture up here to often so it was understandable, "Well look who's exploring for once." Kelly said with a flirty smile. Ty gave her one back and said "Yeah just stretching my legs a little since I need to talk to Joker." "I see. I hear the Commander is coming around." Kelly said. Ty nodded and said "Yep she's starting to come back a little, she'll be fine when we get to the Citadel the doc said, how much longer do we have till we get there?"

Kelly turned back to her terminal then turned back around and answered "About two hours and thirty minutes." Ty nodded and said "Alright got some time to spare then." Kelly got a smile on her face as she asked "What are you planning?" Ty couldn't stop the innocent look he gave her as he said "Me? Planning something? I don't know what you are talking about Kelly." "Come on Ty you have to be more convincing then that, I'm trained to see through that stuff." Kelly said with a laugh coming on. "I'm being serious though." Ty said still keeping his innocent look. "Liar." Kelly responded with a smile. "Oh fine you caught me Ms. Chambers." Ty said as he put his hands out, and continued "You gonna clap me in cuffs and take me away." "It's very tempting but something tells me you aren't planning something that bad." Kelly said. "You caught me yet again; I'm just working on getting information on the guy Garrus is looking for before Shepard wakes up so we can get things rolling again."

How Kelly of all people fell for the Illusive Man's bullshit Ty wasn't sure but what he was sure about was that he hid more of their dark secrets from her then he did anyone else. "Sounds like a good plan, any idea where you will start?" Kelly asked. "Not sure yet, I still have some contacts on the Citadel who keep their ears out for mercenary activity from Omega and if this guy is still on the Citadel someone had to hear about him, or at least I hope someone did." "I'm sure it will all work out, good luck down there Ty." Kelly said. "Thanks, I'll talk to you later Kelly." "I hope so Ty." Kelly said with a smile as she turned around.

Ty walked around the galaxy map and up the stairs towards the cockpit where he could see Joker and EDI bickering, as he got behind them he heard the ending of it "I just wanted to put the Normandy through its paces you don't gotta go all rogue A.I. on me and start flashing that red light around, your going to make me think you're a Reaper." Joker said. "What you were trying to do is clearly against Cerberus regulations." EDI said. Ty couldn't stop his laugh from coming on as he said "Awwww, you two make a great couple." "Yea that's like saying Jack and Miranda would make a great couple." Joker said sarcastically. "Keep your fantasies to yourself Joker, mind if I stay up here until we get there?" Ty asked.

Joker motioned to the seat on his right and said "Go ahead but be warned the mute button can fracture your thumb, it's a pain in the ass, kinda like you." Ty smiled as he sat down and said "Hey EDI when we're arriving can you call Miranda and any other key squad members to the comm room, I need to talk to them." "I will. Do you plan on going onto the Citadel?" EDI asked. "You'll see when I talk to them 'cause I want you present there too." Ty said. "I will send the message when we are arriving." EDI said. "Thanks EDI." Ty said. "You are welcome Ty." EDI said. Joker shook his head a little as he said "Well we know who won't be attacked by the A.I. if it betrays us." Ty rolled his eyes and said "Give her a break Joker she's not as bad as you say." "Okay but when we're all computing pi I'll blame you for getting friendly with the A.I." Joker said.

Arriving at the Citadel

"Hey Ty wake up, we are approaching the Citadel, whatever you want to talk to Miranda and company about you should do it now." Joker said. Ty hadn't been asleep but he had been slightly meditating and slightly thinking to himself about a lot of different subjects. Mostly his thoughts were about seeing Darian again so soon and wondering how his brother and dad were holding up since they weren't going out every day to find some Blue Suns to kill. Ty let the thoughts go as he got up and said "EDI send the message but don't tell them why, meet me in the comm room when I get there." "I will Ty." EDI said.

Ty walked down the hall and back towards the comm room, he walked through Mordin's lab nodding at him and then through his door and finally through the comm room door. He sat down on the edge of the table then crossed his legs and started to meditate as he waited for whoever EDI thought was key squad members. Jacob was the first one to walk in, then Mordin, then finally Miranda and EDI who popped up behind Ty, Ty uncrossed his legs and jumped off the table and asked "EDI is this everyone?" "Yes Ty." EDI answered. "Thanks EDI, okay I don't know if you all know the reason for why we are going to the Citadel but short version is Garrus wants Shepard's help but as we all know she's sidelined probably for the next thirty minutes to an hour, if not more, so I came up with an idea to pass the time efficiently while we wait for Snow White to wake up for the ball." Ty said looking at all four.

Though Ty wasn't sure if Mordin knew who Snow White was he probably understood the concept of what he meant since they all nodded, Ty paced a little than stopped trying to deduce how they were going to react to his plan, "When we dock I'm going to go out and find all I can on this guy that Garrus is looking for using all my contacts on the Citadel." Mordin nodded and said "Good plan Shepard will need to be the one to do the mission." Miranda and Jacob both nodded in agreement with Mordin's statement, Miranda looked to Ty and asked "Who are we going to be talking too?" _And here comes the hard part,_ "Sorry Miranda but "we" aren't talking to anyone, I am. I'm going down alone." Ty said. "On who's authority." Miranda asked with a scowl. "Mine." Ty said crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. "You may have been recruited for this mission because we needed you but you have seemed to forget who's in charge of this mission." Miranda said. Ty smirked slightly at her response, he knew damn well who was in charge and it wasn't Cerberus, "Shepard is the last time I checked since she's the one leading us to hell and back. Listen Miranda we can sit here and argue about the fact your second in command and don't want me running off on some preconceived thought that the Illusive man put in your head about me betraying the mission or you can understand my side of it." Ty said. "What is your side of it?" Jacob asked with an agitated tone.

Ty smirked and pushed himself off the wall and said "Very astute question Mr. Taylor, Shepard is gonna need to be cleared for duty while I'm out because we don't need this happening again, now tell me who's the leader of the Lazarus project?" "I am." Miranda said glaring holes into him. "Exactly and who's the best Salarian scientist we have?" Ty asked. Mordin had a proud smile as he took a deep breath than said "Me." "Exactly again and who is good at finding information and being stealthy about it who also happened to be on a Cerberus facility for two months until he got caught." Ty said. "That was you Ty." EDI answered. "Yup it was which leaves Jacob who might get in my way, Grunt who is a Krogan and not very stealthy, Jack who'd rather beat the information out of people, Garrus who will want to act on the information once I get it and Tali who could actually be useful for me but probably wants to work on the engines still which leaves me with no medical expertise and no real reason to stay on board while we wait." Ty said.

Miranda sighed in defeat and Mordin said "He makes valid points." "Fine, alright you can go by yourself but I want constant communication." Miranda said. Ty put his hand up and said "Thief's honor." "That doesn't mean much." Jacob said. Ty fought the urge to reach over to him and grab him by his collar and punch his face multiple times, "Maybe honor means nothing to you but it does to me. I'll head out once we dock and I'll leave my bike here just so you know I'm coming back since it's obvious I wouldn't leave without it. EDI I'll meet you in the cockpit for one last request." Ty said.

He turned around and walked out and all the way back to the cockpit before more words could be exchanged, as he got to the cockpit Joker said "What's that Krogan saying, oh yeah you got a quad Ty talking like that to those two." "Thanks Joker, EDI you're still on my omni-tool right?" Ty asked. "Yes Ty but remaining in the Normandy's vicinity keeps the connection stronger." EDI answered. "But back on Illium before the Normandy got there you were okay…right?" Ty asked. "I cleared up the connection as best I could but it would have become more difficult if the Normandy did not arrive when it did." "Okay I'll keep that in mind for now on. When I'm down there I'll give you updates to give to them if I have any otherwise see if you can try to keep Miranda out of my comms without her knowing unless its absolutely necessary that she needs to talk to me like if Shepard's dying, Joker starts walking normally, or if C-Sec or the Alliance are checking the ship or coming after me, I don't want her hearing me and my contacts talking." Ty said. Ty heard Joker mumble ass under his breath as EDI said "I will see what I can do but I am still regulated by Cerberus programming." "Well that means rules must be broken, Joker we docked yet?" Ty asked.

The distinct sound of the magnetic docking tools connecting onto the Normandy sounded off as Joker turned around in his seat with a grin and said "Yes we are, thank you for flying air Normandy please get your shit and get out." Ty laughed a little than said "Fine I will! Give me a heads up if Shepard brings out anyone." "I will, don't get arrested." Joker said. Ty chuckled as he walked to the air lock and said "Can't promise that."

The first step was his contacts on the Citadel, they ranged from a couple store clerks he had helped out and they decided to keep an ear to the ground about Blue Sun shipments or anything Blue Suns related to Darian who was keener on all the details. The Turian that sold guns, upgrades for guns and some stuff on the side for people like Ty was his first stop. He gave Ty a good scoop on Blue Sun shipments that had been made and their destination and ships they left on, he also gave him a little information on a new Blue Suns activity that had started a year ago for getting new identities led by a guy code named "Fade". He didn't know much else except he was good at avoiding C-Sec like he knew their protocols or something, Ty kept it all in his head and left and headed down to the bottom part of the Zakera Ward to check with his Salarian tech informant.

He gave Ty some stuff on Blue Sun tech shipments like the other guy did for him than the Salarian was able to give Ty some more information on this "Fade" guy. Apparently the Blue Suns were using him to get new identities for their members to infiltrate other organizations or just regular people to make them disappear away from people who are looking for them, which was something Ty knew this Sidonis guy would want to do with Garrus on his ass. Ty thanked him for the help and walked back up to the Dark Star lounge, one funny thing he had learned from walking past or into the stores was Shepard gave one hell of an endorsement.

As he was walking towards the doors for the lounge he saw that reporter bitch, Khalisah blah blah Al-Jilani, he didn't care to know her name because it was way to many words like a Salarian name, all he knew was she smeared not only his family but tried with Shepard when she became a Spectre. He thought about just leaving her alone but the temptation to hit her was raging in his mind so he walked in through the Dark Star doors and hit his cloak then walked back out and over to her. Before she knew it she was face down on the floor with a bruised face and a concussion, Ty had made sure his cloak would stay on long enough for him to get through the doors of the Dark Star so he wouldn't get in trouble with C-Sec.

As he got to the last doors his cloak came off and he could already feel the sound waves pushing against his body, he opened the last doors and then the sound waves from the music was hitting him. He thought it might knock his hood off but he figured if Afterlife couldn't this place sure as hell couldn't. Ty made his way towards the bar as he saw Darian holding a human man by the collar of his throat "I'm warning you one last time, get the hell out of this bar or I'll toss you out with my biotics!" Darian yelled into the mans face. Ty strolled over as the man said "Screw you Turian. She was just asking for it." "You fucking pig I-" Ty cleared his throat interrupting Darian, "Problems?" Ty asked. "Ty?" Darian asked in shock.

The man looked back at Ty and as soon as they made eye contact with each other Ty knew who it was, "You." Ty growled. "Fuck! Let me go Turian!" The man panicked. The man who had tried to slide the glass into Kiara's head all those years ago was here drunk again and doing something to another woman, his fate was sealed. "Darian remember that big bar fight all those years ago me and Kar got into?" Ty asked. Darian nodded then the realization hit him and anger made its way across his face, "This is that little shit?! You want the honors or want me to call security; they'll give him a very thorough "search" if you get my meaning." Darian said. "Fuck fuck fuck!" The man continued to panic. "Ah the old don't get mad get sadistic motto huh? Alright where is this security?" Ty asked. "Unfortunately attending to our nice bartender who this man smashed his glass into, you remember Kiara right?" Darian asked.

To say Ty's blood began to boil under his skin would have been putting it lightly, "She works here now?" Ty asked as he began to seethe. "Didn't put the pieces together until just now but she just started working here a few months ago, I didn't work with her until today though. What did you say again sir, "she was just asking for it" that was it right?" Ty didn't let him answer as he grabbed him by the back of his neck signaling for Darian to let go as Ty slammed the man's face into the counter which also happened to have a glass right where his face hit.

The glass broke across the counter and blood began to spill onto the counter, Ty leaned to the mans ear as he kept his face pressed against the counter, "If you ever come back to this bar and I hear that you hurt or you bothered or if you even glanced at Kiara ever again, I swear to you that I will kill you right where you stand. Do you understand me?" Ty asked in a calm but murderous tone. The man whimpered in response, "I didn't hear you, want to repeat that?" Ty asked. "I understand." The man responded with the fear of god in his voice. "Good, you are going to walk out of here on your own, you are going to go to the hospital and say you were so drunk that you fell face flat into your glass and broke it. If you even think about mentioning me or the bartender here doing what we did." Ty let it hang for a moment then said "They won't find your body, understand?"

The man nodded so Ty let go of him and slapped him in the back and said "Glad we understand each other buddy, now you should go get that fixed up." The man scurried off and Ty sat down at the bar and looked at Darian who had began laughing slightly, Ty joined him in a light laugh before Darian wiped the counter off, "Damn I didn't think I'd be seeing you around here while you were on that mission against the Collectors, what happened? You get kicked off for sarcasm?" Ty shook his head and said "Nah I'm here for that mission actually. Kiara alright?" Ty asked. Darian shook his head no and said "She took a bad hit; she was walking over to ask me a question about something when the bastard grabbed the drink I had just poured him and threw it at her face. She instinctually put her hands up but froze up slightly so the glass collided with the side of her head and the side of her face became immediately bloodied."

Ty shook his head in disbelief and immediately regretted not killing the man, "I told security to grab her since I already had my hands on that bastard." "That guy comes back here again or you ever hear from her that he's bothering her you let me know immediately. He will regret it." Ty stated firmly. "I will don't worry but I'm pretty sure we won't hear from him ever again, I think you made him piss himself in fear." Darian said. Ty chuckled slightly with Darian before Darian's look got more serious, "What's going on?" Darian asked. "You still keep your ear and mandibles to the ground on anything Blue Suns." Darian nodded and said "You know it, what do you need to know?" "I've talked to some guys here already and they gave me the name of a guy I'm interested in finding, I was hoping you could help me out a little more." Ty said. "What's the name?" Darian asked. "Well more of a codename but its Fade." Ty said.

Darian's mandibles moved down as he started looking around, "Hey Gary could you fill in for me for a little while, I need to talk to an old friend in private." Darian said. Ty looked where Darian was looking and saw a human walking over, Darian got out from behind the bar and said "Come on we'll talk in the back." Ty followed him to a secluded area in the back and sat down in the booth, Darian sat in front of him and said "This Fade guy is dangerous." Based on the information Ty had found that was a monumental understatement, "I figured that out after everything the other two told me, they didn't use this guy when we were in." Ty said. "Yea but look how far they've fallen since our time." Darian said with a smile. Ty smiled and said "True we were classy criminals going around stealing women's hearts, how much you know on this guy?" "I hear a lot working here but this guy keeps to himself well enough that I can't give you a specific target to go shoot, but I can give you some information that the other two might not have known." Darian said. "What's that?" Ty asked. "Captain Bailey is looking for him." Darian said as his mandibles moved up and he smirked.

Ty smirked because he knew what Darian was thinking, "Bailey you say, hmm he could get me on Fades trail and since I'm not C-Sec I wouldn't alert Fade and I could fake getting a new identity to get him." "That's what I'm thinking." Darian said. Ty pulled up his omni-tool and said "EDI you hear me." EDI popped up and said "Yes Ty what can I do for you?" "Is Shepard up and going yet?" "Partially, she's getting Garrus and getting ready to meet you down there, would you like me to send a message to her?" EDI asked. "Yeah tell her you found nothing on Fade but the C-Sec officer Bailey might be able to point her in the right direction." "I will tell her, where would you like her to meet you?" EDI asked. "Dark Star, talk to you later EDI." Ty said. "Logging you out Ty." EDI said then disappeared.

Darian began chuckling slightly which got Ty's attention, "What?" Ty asked. "Just thinking about the coincidence of that guy and Kiara being here and then you showing up." Darian said. "No such thing as coincidence; spirits just have a twisted sense of humor." Ty responded. "Your fault." Darian retorted. "Eh…yeah I guess it is. A bar fight nine, going on ten, years ago still having repercussions today." Ty said. Darian said "Who'd figure I'd be the one to pull your asses out of there, big bad Kar and the young legend of Omega busted for a bar brawl." Darian said with a chuckle. "That's why you were my second in command; you had all the good ideas and I was the bull that just went in tomahawk throwing and guns blazing. It's amazing that the youngest member was the leader." Ty said with a laugh. Darian laughed than said "I blame it on your last name. That reminds me your dad wanted me to give you something, I have it behind the counter." They both got up and they walked over to the counter where Darian dismissed Gary, Darian walked to the end of the bar that made him face the doors to the entrance and exit while Ty's back was to it. Darian pulled out two carbon copy versions of his tomahawks and set them down on the counter, "Nice, but you lost me?" Ty said picking one up. Darian ignored him and went back down and came up with two holsters that looked to be for legs and set them onto the counter, "Okay you gotta explain this one to me Darian, why did my dad want me to have two more tomahawks? I know more fire power the better but still." Ty said.

Darian chuckled and he grabbed the tomahawk from Ty's hands and laid it flat on his hand and pointed to something Ty hadn't seen, "See these little sensors across the grip, there's sensors in the holsters as well so when you throw them after they hit your target they disappear into thin air." Darian made a disappearing noise than continued "Than it pops back up in your holder for next use, not the same at all as your bludgeoning weapons. Its for those out of reach targets that you can't get or for the final mission if its as suicidal as it sounds you wont have time to pick up your tomahawks, plus these babies can be thrown at arcs and come back down at an angle to hit someone hiding behind cover."

Now that sounded like something useful, "How?" Ty asked now excited. "Your dad gave me this really in depth explanation about mass effect fields and about how the sensors pick up on brain activity, all very interesting subjects but I'll dumb it down for you." Darian said with a toothy grin. "You're an asshole Darian." Ty said. "Your fault." Darian retorted. "Now that I take no responsibility for, you were like this when I met you." Ty said. "I'm blaming you; anyway you know how biotics can launch themselves at people. A biotic charge." Darian said. "I have seen a lot of that lately actually." Ty responded. "Well the tomahawks have a similar functionality, the sensors are coded to your nervous system and pick up on all of you-" Ty had to interrupt, "How the hell did he do that?" Darian swatted Ty along the head, not to hard but not softly either and said "Silence, this is important information. Besides you know your dad, he just knows these things and he won't tell you why. As a biotic there are several training techniques to mastering how to use them, from hand motions."

Darian raised his free hand towards the tomahawk on the counter and they both became surrounded in a blue aura as the tomahawk lifted off the counter then was set back down, "To being able to do certain moves with little body motion and more thought behind it." The holsters began to become surrounded in a biotic aura while Darian showed little body movement except for a lot more focus on what he was doing, "Now with a biotic charge you're basically wrapping yourself in a throw and throwing yourself at the enemy. Now it isn't that literally but, well dumbing it down for you." Darian said. "Asshole." Ty responded with a smirk. "So when you come out the other side, well you've seen it first hand, now think about that concept and apply it here. The sensors in this are only coded to your nervous system so that means it will only pick up on your neurotransmitters, or your electrochemical waves." "So like brain waves?" Ty asked. "Right I forgot big words confuse you. I'm a Turian explaining human physiology to a human, who knew? When you toss it, your "brain waves" since I lost you with my terminology wrap the tomahawk with its signal and send it at the enemy in the way you want. When it hits something, doesn't matter what the mass effect fields reverse biotic charge them to you but instead of them flying at you they appear in your holsters." "So like a biotic teleport instead of a charge then right?" Ty asked.

Darian brought his hand to his face in exasperation and said "Spirits I wonder how I let myself be led by you sometimes. How about this, think the angle and throw, no matter if you hit or miss it'll still comeback without impaling into you." Darian said. "Oh that actually sounds pretty cool, why didn't you say that before?" Ty asked. "I did." Darian said flatly. Ty chuckled at his second in command and picked up one of the tomahawks, as soon as his hand gripped the hilt of it he saw the sensor light up green, _well then these will prove to be interesting_, Ty thought.

**A/N: That was a fun chapter to write so I hope it ended up being a fun chapter to read. Thank you all and I will see you next time.**


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Fade Out

**A/N: Just a heads up, when I originally typed this chapter it had been a long time since I played this mission so I had forgotten a lot of the layout so some of this chapter is not the same as the mission. I hope I described the differences well enough if not just let me know and I'll fix it up.**

The tomahawks fit nice on his legs and wouldn't interfere with his running or free running, he had the hilts point up like the ones on his back so he could grab, lift and throw at moments notice. Satisfied with how they fit Ty sat back down as Darian came back over after serving a few people, Darian had entertained a few of the customers by doing tricks with the bottles and using his biotics to make it more entertaining before the people all went back to dancing or sitting in one of the booths.

As Darian approached Ty remembered his talk with Chakwas and getting her some Serrice Ice Brandy and he happened to be in a bar that his best friend happened to be the lead bartender at. "Hey Darian wanna do me a huge favor?" Ty asked. "Nothings to big of a favor between us." Darian said. _He so set himself up for this one,_ Ty thought before he asked "Mind finding out what a Turian-Human hybrid baby looks like?" Darian froze up for a few seconds in shock, the look on his face made Ty begin laughing his ass off and with Darian clearing his throat a little due to being uncomfortable it only made it that much better, or worse in his case.

As Ty got his laughter under control and Darian began to relax slightly Ty said "Oh Spirits you should have seen the look on your face Darian, it-hahaha it was priceless. I'm just fucking with you but if you do happen to find out let me know, I have to place bets on whose genes are more dominant, human or Turian. I'd be willing to bet it would be Human since we both know you Turians can be a bit of pushovers." The look Darian gave Ty would have been murderous but he began chuckling slightly ruining the look. "Sorry couldn't pass up that opportunity, but on a serious note can you deliver a few crates full of Serrice Ice Brandy to the Normandy?" "When did you start drinking?" Darian asked in confusion.

Personally Ty had never touched alcohol in his life though he did always figure he'd be an aggressive drunk or a very emotional one though he wasn't going to find out. He didn't like the idea of not being in full control of his mind which was more than likely stemmed from his demon taking control. "I didn't but I am surprised you thought I would pick up that habit. Someone on board the Normandy asked me to get her a bottle; can you get that much of the stuff?" Ty asked. Darian nodded and began punching in the order on his terminal, "That's easy to do but will they let it on?" _Hmm, didn't think that far ahead,_ Ty thought. "If you tell them I ordered it they probably will, we have someone who likes to drink that kind specifically so I figure get a few crates so she can have more than a bottle when she wants and maybe set up a lounge or something so the crew can have a few drinks when they want." Ty said. "I'll send some other alcohols as well then, some people like stronger stuff, like Batarian Ale or Ryncol." Darian said. "'Cause I need a drunken Krogan fighting with me?" Ty asked. "Kar did a great job at it." Darian responded. "Yea bu- eh alright good point." "Alright the orders been sent and will arrive within the next hour or two. Someone is gonna be pissed I bet but it'll be to late then." Darian said with a light laugh.

That made Ty smirk a little thinking of the look on Miranda's face when she figured out what it was, _"What in the bloody hell are you doing with all this liquor?" Uh nothing?_ Ty thought to himself. Ty then remembered the other thing Chakwas told him and asked "You go shopping for reading material other than Fornax Darian?" "I don't read Fornax." Darian stated. "You're right, you look at the pictures of Human Turian couples, am I right? Ow!" Ty yelled as he grabbed his left arm where Darian punched him. This time Darian's death glare stayed on his face, "Geez alright you don't read it, I was just kidding." Ty said. "I haven't shopped for a book in years, why are you asking?" Darian asked. "I was hoping you could order a random assortment of human adventure novels and send it to the Normandy, preferably good adventure novels." Ty asked. Darian gave Ty a bit of a confused look as he asked, "Bored?" Ty shook his head in response, he enjoyed reading as a kid but he hadn't had the time to read a book since he was thirteen. "Not for me, besides when was the last time you heard me mention being bored?" "Good point; I'll do that for you don't worry." Darian said.

Ty opened his omni-tool and scanned a thousand credits into Darian's terminal and said "Hey Darian open your omni-tool real quick." Darian opened it and Ty sent two hundred thousand more credits to him, Darian's mandibles fell slack and the shocked look Ty was expecting showed itself, "Ty I can't take that." Darian said. Ty closed his omni-tool, this was not going to be up for discussion, "There's a thousand in your terminal, I figure the Citadel steals a little for taxes which is why I sent it to you personally." Ty said.

One of the best things about being on the wrong side of the law Ty had found was not paying taxes, Ty knew Darian had spent a lot of the credits he earned back when they had to hide his past and though Darian was still well off he wasn't off as great as he was years back. The account Ty had sent the money to was a secured account that the Citadel could not track, if it had been Ty was sure C-Sec would drop in on Darian and ask him how he managed to make two hundred thousand credits in one day, not something Ty was sure even Darian could talk his way out of. Darian shook his head and said "Ty I can't take that from you that's-" Ty wasn't going to let him debate it anymore "That's some money so you can buy some stuff for yourself that you've been wanting and get something special for Jessica. I owe you for everything you do for me Darian and everything you've spent your own money on to help me and all the information you gathered through the years. I know you spent that huge chunk of credits you had, I'm no fool." "You can't just give me two hundred thousand credits Ty, you need some credits too." Darian said.

That wasn't true in the slightest; Ty had more credits than he knew what to do with and rarely ever spent. Ty shook his head at Darian again and said "Don't forget the credits I used to make working for Aria and then all the money I made thieving and hunting Blue Suns, each base we took down had at least seven hundred thousand credits after I hacked all their bank accounts. I would give you more but I don't want you to retire from your bartending job, C-Sec would investigate you and find a trail back to me and find out about your past that we hid so covertly." Darian shook his head and Ty said "It's me starting to pay back my debts Darian, think of it that way." Darian nodded a little and closed his omni-tool "Thank you." Darian said. "And thank you for still being a great friend." Ty said. Ty reached over the counter and grabbed two empty glasses and gave one to Darian. "Water for you?" Darian asked. "Of course." Ty said.

Darian filled Ty's glass up with water and filled himself a dextro drink, they tapped the glasses together and they both drank them down, as Ty put his glass down he had a quick memory of his whole squad raising glasses at one of their shore leaves. Darian seemed to share the same thought since they both had solemn looks on their faces, "I miss those bastards." Darian stated. "You and me both." Ty responded. They both held a moment of silence, _one day we'll all share a drink of some sort again but that day is still far in the future_, Ty thought. Ty heard the doors behind him open and he asked "A human and a Turian both armed to the teeth?" With their moment of silence over Darian looked up and said "Yea, are these your people?" "Yea, pour us one more, maybe the last one we have together for a while." Ty said. Darian poured the drinks again and Shepard and Garrus got next to Ty, "Hey guys what's taken you so long?" Ty asked. "Shepard took her time getting ready; you know how you humans are when it comes to spending time in front of a mirror." Garrus said. "You try being on a sedative and get your armor on right without messing up." Shepard retorted with a smile.

A light chuckle escaped both Ty and Darian, "Is that how we sound?" Ty asked with a smile. Darian got a toothy grin and said "Ty we are way worse than that, hell our whole squad was like that, remember Gallick and Carson and the shit that they always dragged us into." Ty started laughing, bar fights with normal people, bar fights with other mercenaries, gun battles between them and local law enforcement. There wasn't much that Gallick and Carson didn't drag Ty and Darian into, Gallick was usually the cause since Carson was a more nervous person and always trying to broker peace between fights but he always was there watching Gallick's back when he got in trouble. _"I'll die before I leave my comrades behind and I'll suffer all the torture that the Spirits can think of before I leave my friends behind." Carson said. Amen Carson,_ Ty thought. "Or Brad and Whitney and their arguments." Ty said getting out of his thoughts. Darian shook his head and said "Man those two were at each others throats all the time."

There wasn't a fight Ty hadn't seen them get into, whether it was over sports teams or something more serious the two always were at physical blows with each other. Ty could hardly believe that they would pound each others face in over a sports team but that somehow happened and he was still not quite sure how it ended in blows. They both liked the same team. "So you must be the famous Darian that Ty speaks so highly of." Shepard said with a smile. Ty pulled himself from his thoughts and said "Sorry where are my manors, Garrus, Shepard this is my second in command, oldest friend and bartender of the Citadel Darian Talin, Darian this is Garrus Vakarian. He worked with Shepard when she went after Saren and you probably know him better from Omega gossip as Archangel." Ty said. "How far did that spread?" Garrus asked. Darian chuckled and said "They really hated you but I keep tabs on all things Omega for Ty here which is how I know." Darian looked back at Ty and asked "Is he better than you at sniping? I heard some crazy stories on Archangel." Darian asked. "Well we haven't done a proper test but we'll call it a draw for now." Ty said. "We'll find out someday." Garrus said. Ty pointed to Shepard and said "And last but certainly not least Darian this is the one and only Commander Shepard, she saved your ass from Saren and Sovereign, saved the galaxy's ass from complete destruction, saved my ass from being dead, helped me save Haley, and gave me my round trip ticket to hell and back." Ty said.

Darian nodded at them in respect and said "Pleasure to meet you both; I hope you two can keep this bastard out of trouble, I did my best back in our day as mercenaries." Garrus shrugged slightly and said "We try our best but its not easy being his friend." Ty began laughing with Darian, that had to be the understatement of the decade, that and saying the Reapers were dangerous. "You're telling me; he dragged me all around the galaxy to cause trouble and make a difference but despite being the youngest of our bunch I did learn a thing or two from him. Never did I know that in one night you can be slapped seven times by seven different women just because of one woman."

_Now that wasn't entirely my fault…okay maybe it was slightly but that is beside the point, _Ty thought to himself. "There you go bringing that up again, it wasn't my fault. I didn't know how they all felt about me and the first was 'cause I hadn't called her for a week." Ty said. "A week, that's harsh Ty." Shepard said with a smirk. "Hey wait a minute don't jump to conclusions, I had an alibi. I was out with Darian and the crew working and I couldn't tell her where we were because we had gone silent all the way there and back but she didn't listen." Ty said defensively. Darian chuckled and said, "You had it coming, anyway I don't want to keep you from your business and I got business of my own to deal with so Ty." Darian lifted up his glass and Ty did the same and Darian said "Good luck my friend, sounds like your gonna need it where your headed." "And to having friends like you that get me into trouble and give me shit about it. Take good care of yourself Darian." Ty said.

They tapped their glasses and drank their drinks, Ty put the glass down and said "If I don't come back take good care of Jess and keep in contact with the family. You've been a great friend and after all the shit we've been through together since the beginning you've always had two things of mine, my trust and my respect, you were like a brother to me and always will be." Darian nodded and said "You're a great leader and friend Ty; you kept me from going down the wrong path and taught me a good sense of morals and code to live by. You were the human brother I never thought I'd have or want but never the less we'll share another drink when you get back. You've never been known to stay dead all it ever did was piss you off, see you when you get back." Darian said.

Ty nodded at him saying goodbye and got off his seat, the odds with the mission right now were low and if Ty wasn't going to come back he had to say what he hadn't to Darian back on Illium. Ty was confident in Shepard and knew they'd find a way to stop the Collectors but if Ty had to choose between sacrificing himself to save a crew member or letting them die, he'd chose sacrificing himself any day of the week. "Lead the way Shepard." Ty said. Shepard looked at him for a moment reading his facial features that were visible from under the hood, he knew that he probably had a slightly solemn look on his face but he was letting the feeling go so he could focus on the mission at hand. Shepard motioned to the exit and asked, "Wanna fill us in on what you found as we walk?"

Business was always a good way to get the mind off things, unless that business was a revenge mission then you were pretty much stuck in a quagmire of sadness and anger Ty had found out. As they began walking Ty said, "There is a guy named Fade here on the Citadel somewhere and he forges identification for the Blue Suns so they can infiltrate businesses or disappear like our dear friend Sidonis obviously was trying to do. No one really knows who he is so that makes him similar to the Shadow Broker in a way but he is a lot more sloppier then that asshole and has C-Sec stewing over what he does since he chose the side against the law. Now when I was in the Suns they didn't have this guy but the Blue Suns use it to infiltrate businesses and corporations hell probably even other merc groups and military shit because what is better than a spy?" Ty asked. "What?" Shepard asked. "A splinter group waiting to take you down from the inside. Captain Bailey is trying to find him and isn't doing so good since the guy knows C-Sec codes or something of that sort but I figure we set up a meeting and see who this guy is then make him squeal till we get the information we need on Sidonis. I did a search on this Sidonis guy and he showed up on the Citadel than disappeared off the map so I know for a fact this Fade guy has what we're looking for. Only one problem is the only way to get to him is setting up a meeting because he keeps himself so far down under that he probably has head up his own ass." Ty said.

They walked down the stairs to the next level and Shepard said "Bailey already got us the meeting now all we have to do is meet him and get the information." It always sounds easier than it turns out but Ty was hopeful that this Fade guy would be smart enough to just give them the information since Garrus looked like he would rip the person's spine out and beat them with it if he was given the chance. If the guy was a Blue Sun though then he would either know of Ty and plead mercy or try to cash in the reward. "Hopefully this guy aint a Blue Suns member because if he is he may know me and that means it'll either be, one, a gun fight or B the quickness interrogation you've ever seen." Ty said. "I wouldn't mind B." Garrus said dryly. They got down the next flight of stairs to the bottom part of the ward then they walked over to the warehouse where some guy was complaining about an omni-gel converter that he had spent two years trying to get the refund to. _Now that is what I call persistence,_ Ty thought. "Ty if it isn't a Blue Suns member let us do the talking, no offense but this is something I want to do personally." Garrus said.

Considering Ty had gone off on his own to extract revenge and save Haley Ty wasn't sure why Garrus thought that he would try to act like it was his mission but considering what they were trying to do Ty also understood why he would want to make sure Ty didn't interrupt. Revenge was a lot like sniping, patience was key and it couldn't be rushed. Ty nodded regardless and said "No problem Garrus, besides I know my interrogation skills aren't exactly safe for the person I'm interrogating. You two go right ahead and do your thing; I'm just here to look mysterious and armed to the teeth." They walked through the door and Shepard stopped, as she did two Krogan walked over with Avengers in their hands and than to Ty's surprise a Volus came out, "So you want to disappear?" The Volus asked. It took all of Ty's focus and will power to not fall to the floor laughing and even more will power to stifle the laugh. _That little guy is going to make someone disappear bull-haha bullshit. Oh what glorious bullshit this is, and he thinks he's so tough with those Krogans there, like he actually could make someone disappear. Congratulations Fade I'm shaking from trying to hold back my laughter instead of out of fear_, Ty thought.

With all his will power focused on not laughing his ass off he almost didn't notice everyone draw their guns, he immediately grabbed one tomahawk in his right hand and his pistol in his left hand and aimed the gun at the Krogans, "I dare you to try." Ty threatened. To his surprise they just shrugged and walked away so Ty put his weapons back and sat down on the counter between the Volus and Garrus, "So Harkin went completely bad." Shepard said. _Harkin where have I heard his name before? Wait wasn't he that washed up C-Sec agent that was corrupt and really made humans look like shit. He probably still has some access to C-Sec files and he knows their protocols_. "And if we don't find him there we'll be back to find you." Garrus said as Shepard aimed her gun at the Volus. "Oh..fun…" The Volus said. "Don't worry squirt the last guy that lied to me only ended up dead…after I beat his face in with my bare hands." Ty said cheerfully as he hopped off the counter and started following Shepard and Garrus.

The Volus muttered oh under his breath before Ty heard the distinct sound of him falling over, _haha oops_, Ty thought. The squad walked over to the taxi and got in with Ty taking the back seat and Garrus and Shepard taking the driver and passenger seat. With what Ty had heard of Shepard's driving from the unlucky bastards who got stuck in the Hammerhead with her and then the stories he had heard about the Mako he was more than happy that Garrus was in the driver seat of the skycar. As they started flying Ty began to remember more and more on Harkin, he remembered during the Geth attack on the Citadel the bastard had been arresting some "vandals" and beating the crap out of them.

The vandals happened to be civilians looking through the wreckage of their house for their belongings, more importantly a gun to fight the onslaught of Geth that were there and Harkin had a previous history with them where he had tried to frame them for a crime and did not succeed in it equaling a note in the file for him. Most of the information Ty knew now on the bastard he didn't know until after he and his brother knocked Harkin out and put omni-cuffs on him so C-Sec could do what they needed to do with him, which might have been one of the reasons he was fired. The civilians claimed citizen's arrest for them and brought him to the station while Ty and Z made sure the Geth didn't go after them. "Harkin huh, like I said he has his head way far up his own ass." Ty said in a joking manor. There was a muffled laugh from Shepard but Garrus remained quiet.

As they were getting closer Ty began to wonder what the protocol for this mission would be, was it a kill everyone in sight unless they were civilian mission or a talk our way through this kind of thing. Ty didn't really know what they were heading into, he wasn't sure if they knew either but he needed to know if he was going to keep himself at the ready or not, "So what's the deal? We kill anyone who gets in our way unless they're innocent or Harkin?" Shepard nodded as she looked back at Ty and said "Hopefully we get Harkin by himself but otherwise yeah, if there are Blue Suns in the way we kill them to get to Harkin." "And then after we get the information from Harkin then what?" Ty asked. "We kill Sidonis." Garrus said in a serious manor. Ty was sitting in the left seat so he could make eye contact with Shepard so he looked at her to see how she felt but the look she gave him was a leave it alone I'll handle it look. Ty was content with it because he didn't want to stand between Sidonis's head and Garrus's sniper rifle.

They landed in the industrial area and disembarked from the cab and Ty saw more than a few Blue Suns and the short balding man who he probably had ended up assisting in getting fired. Harkin looked at the group and squinted trying to see if his eyes were deceiving him than he realized who he was looking at, "Shepard but you were dead." Harkin said in astonishment. Harkin saw Ty and his astonishment grew more, "You!" Harkin yelled. "Beating civilians wasn't enough was it? You couldn't let go of the power could you, you bald prick." Ty said. Ty grabbed his tomahawks from his legs but waited for the order to kill, Harkin knew he was out matched Ty could see it in his eyes, "What are you waiting for shoot them!" Harkin yelled as he started running. "Oh no you don't!" Ty yelled as he threw his both of them at Harkins legs. They wanted him alive not dead but no one said anything about not wounding the man. The tomahawks flew across to him but as they reached Harkin the hydraulic doors closed saving his legs from being pierced, "RUN ALL YOU WANT HARKIN WE'LL FIND YOU!" Garrus yelled pulling out his Vindicator.

Everyone went for cover and Ty felt a sudden weight back on his legs, he looked down quickly and saw his tomahawks sitting nicely in his holsters once again,_ neurotransmitters, electrochemical waves he said, I might need to study up on that stuff,_ Ty thought as a smirk found its way to his face. "Damn that's cool." Ty said to himself while smirking. Ty was behind a waist high crate for cover while Shepard was at a taller one and Garrus was behind a waist high one as well, Ty pulled out his pistols than stood up and shot two of the Blue Suns in the head breaking through their low level shields and killing them, Shepard peeked out of her cover and fired four shots from her pistol blasting through ones shield and killing the other she shot the other two shots at.

Seeing the opportunity on the guy with no shields to either interrogate on how much forces they had or kill right away Ty took the opportunity and shot him in the foot making him drop his gun as he let out a scream and start hopping around on his other foot. Ty couldn't stop the smile or laugh that came out as he said "I kinda feel bad now, should I kill him or just let him hop around for a little while to interrogate him." "Do you think he would know anything?" Shepard asked with a smile. "I know tons of stuff!" The man yelled. "I doubt it." Ty said. "Yea me too, I think he is lying to us." Shepard said in a joking manor. "Wait!" The man yelled. "Do you think he realizes we don't care?" Ty asked. Shepard shook her head as a laugh was coming on, "I don't think he does." Shepard said. Before Ty could grab his tomahawk to kill the guy Garrus shot a burst of bullets that landed in-between the mercs eyes, Garrus lowered his weapon and said "One less to worry about."

Ty followed in behind the two with his pistols still gripped in his hands as they walked through the first set of doors, as they were walking Ty got a good look at the place, it was full of crates and machinery and more than likely crawling with Blue Suns and mechs just waiting for them. "Blue Suns incoming." Shepard said as she ran to a low crate. _Sometimes I hate being right_, Ty thought. Ty followed her to the crate and counted six Suns plus a few mechs before he got behind cover, "Shepard I got a cloak do you want me to scout ahead or just get into the group and start killing?" Ty asked. "Which would you prefer?" Shepard asked as she got out of cover and shot a few shots. Ty didn't like that they were blind to this place, now they usually didn't know a lot about the places they were going to but this place only had one pathway which screamed trap to Ty. The crates on his left though looked like a great perch to snipe from and if he could prevent them from walking into a trap he would happily oblige to climbing around like a monkey. "We might be walking straight into a trap for all we know, corners are too tight to get a good grasp on everything. If you and Garrus can handle it I'll get high and set up a perch for scouting and sniping." Ty said.

Shepard got out of cover again and shot more probably killing another guy than she got back in cover as Garrus started opening fire on the Suns, "Me and Garrus got this but do me a favor and don't get shot." Shepard said. Ty shook his head slightly and said "Why does everyone always tell me that, it's not like a make a habit of getting shot." Ty brought up his omni-tool to activate his cloak as Shepard said "But you do make a habit of getting yourself into trouble, get going and be careful." Shepard said. _Now that, that is true._ "There you go again always ordering me around and shit; see ya on the flip side." Ty said in a joking manor as he hit his cloak and started moving.

Now Ty was no mountain climber but he began to feel like one as he climbed up crate after crate trying to find the best place to get a grip and not slip and hurt himself. Thankfully that wasn't to hard since they were just crates and not un-even walls of rock so the climb only took two minutes to get up to the perch he had seen from the ground. Ty looked down at the ground so he could get a better read on the area and as he suspected there was only way forward or backward, less chance of ambush from behind but still a high chance of running into a trap ahead. Despite how good of a post the place would have been Shepard and Garrus had gotten further through so Ty began to find his way across all the crates so he could follow Shepard and Garrus.

It really wasn't that hard to find them with Ty's great eye sight and hearing, all he had to do was find the explosions and gunfire and that was right Shepard and Garrus would be so when he finally found them he sat himself on a crate and unfolded his rifle, his cloak was still on as he aimed down his sights and looked for Garrus and Shepard's exact location in the fray. They looked to be in the thick of it but as Ty scouted ahead he saw more Suns preparing for them, "Shepard you read me?" Ty asked as he moved back to their position and got a target in sight. "I read you Ty, are you set up?" Shepard asked. "Yup, you got about twenty Blue Suns and thirteen mechs between you and that building ahead, just give me the word when you want me to start raining hell." Ty said. Shepard gave an exasperated sigh as she said "I should've figured Harkin wasn't going to play fair, do you have eyes on our position?" "Yup, want me to fire a warning shot so you can see how well I can see you?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "I'll take your word for it." Shepard said with a chuckle. "Just say when." Ty said. Ty inhaled a deep breath and then Shepard said, "When."

Ty let out his breath then took another deep breath and held it, he had his targets in his head there was five of them all hiding behind cover from Shepard and Garrus but right in his line of sight. It was going to be a massacre, his reticle moved over the first targets head and his finger pushed down on the trigger letting off a distinctive thundering bang. Ty didn't wait to see the body fly he just moved to his next target and shot again, than to the next, and the next, than finally the last who just watched his four partners in front of him get picked off with ease. Bang, blood sprayed into the ground because of the angle and the guy fell to the ground hard. "Good shooting Ty." Shepard said. "See I can make it dance." Ty said. "Some of us can make it tango though." Garrus said. "…Good one." Ty responded. "Thanks." Garrus said. There wasn't much else Ty could do from his angle so he began to get up as he said "I gotta move to the next position, it'll be few minutes. Try to take some of these guys out; their numbers aren't thinning fast enough for my liking." Ty said as he put his gun onto the back of his waist and started climbing again. "I don't think their numbers are going to matter that much with our fire power." Shepard said.

That was a true statement but Ty didn't respond as he began his trek across the crates, he had to find another good perch that gave him sight on everyone with little to no obstructions so he could cover the pair better. Ty sized up his next perch and sat down as he started hearing repeated explosions and a mini-gun of some sort. As Ty looked down his scope he saw the source of all the noise_, a YMIR mech, I hate Harkin even more now,_ Ty thought. "Why is it always the YMIR mech? Why can't it just be the FENRIS mech?" Ty asked as he started setting up again. "You mind giving us a hand with this?" Garrus asked. There happened to be a few Blue Suns with the mech to and they were moving up with the mech getting closer and closer to Shepard and Garrus while Shepard charged up her Arc Projector. Ty took a deep breath and shot a Blue Sun member in the head sending him flying into his buddy but not killing the second guy, that would keep them at bay for a moment giving Ty time to adjust to the mechs mini-gun arm. "Ty?" Shepard asked as the mech aimed its gun at her. The wire holding it together had been moving more than Ty had liked, "Ty any day now!" Shepard yelled. As the gun began to wind up the wire stiffened and gave Ty the moment he needed.

The bang from his sniper rifle echoed across the industrial area and the round pierced through the wiring making it fall limp. His new moment had opened itself so he could take down the mech while it was malfunctioning, Ty pulled his trigger again but he was surprised to see the heat sink vent itself and begin beeping at him. "Son of a bitch." Ty said to himself. He had forgotten to reload his clip, he never forgot to reload but when he did it was always at the crappiest times. He ejected the thermal clip and loaded a new one in but by the time he got his eyes back on the battlefield the giant mech was shooting its missile…at him. "Ty move!" Shepard yelled. "Not this shit again." Ty said in disappointment.

He scrambled to his feet and jumped off the crates he was on down to the next set of crates that happened to be about fifteen feet down and six feet away, the missile struck his last position and as he picked himself up Shepard's voice came through his comm "Ty did you manage to dodge that missile?" Shepard asked. "Yea thankfully, I don't want to have to get my other side replaced." Ty said. "We're almost at the building are you coming down or is there a way across to the next area for you?" Shepard asked. "I'll stay up here and climb to the next area so you still have sniper support." Ty said. "Okay, be careful." Shepard said. "Yes dear." Ty said sarcastically.

Ty started climbing across the crates to the building which was in between the first section of the warehouse and the second, if it wasn't for the fact that he was well conditioned he would have been panting with everything he had climbed but he was doing fine with energy and was already set up waiting for Shepard and Garrus to come out of the building. The lay out of the area was intelligent for the Blue Suns with platforms lifted up giving the Suns the high ground and Shepard and Garrus one the ground with little visual on the higher up Suns. It would've been a good plan if it weren't for the fact Ty was on a high level and the fact that it was Commander Shepard and Garrus they were fighting, little advantages like this wouldn't do them any good even if Ty wasn't around.

Shepard and Garrus were still in the building doing whatever they were doing maybe talking maybe pressing buttons but they had a hell of a welcoming committee waiting for them and Ty was itching to start taking some out since waiting for orders was never one of his strong suits_. Come on you two what's taking you so long, I might just start the party without you. Harkin is waiting in the booth thing down there just watching like he has some ace up his sleeve._ Shepard and Garrus finally came out of the building with their guns drawn which to Ty was the signal to start shooting; he figured that Garrus and Shepard could handle the ground guys so he took aim on the guys on the platforms. The thundering crack of his sniper rifle resounded across the room; one by one they fell until the remaining mercenaries found his position and started opening fire. Feeling that he overstayed his welcome Ty got to his feet quickly and started running and jumping across all the crates dodging bullets hoping none would graze him since he didn't want to hear it from Shepard or Miranda.

He ran out of room, not a big surprise but it was unfortunate since he had two choices, jump down about fifty feet and probably break a leg or jump to a platform full of Blue Suns while Shepard and Garrus worked their way across the lower platforms. _Bones will heal but I don't want to be sidelined again, well time to tomahawk our way through the competition._ Ty put his sniper away quickly then jumped as far as he could from the crates to the closest platform and even with his big jump he was only able to grip the edge of the platform. As he started pulling himself up a Turian came over with an Avenger and aimed it down at him, thinking quickly and using what was left of his strength from climbing and then this fall Ty pulled himself up and grabbed the Turian by the arm moving the gun away from his face all the while pulling him off the platform. The Turian fell over Ty's head and let out a scream as he fell, "Have a nice fall asshole." Ty said as he pulled himself up completely.

The Suns were now fixated on Ty and did not seem very happy that Ty had made it onto their platform, Ty pulled his regular tomahawks out and threw one at one of the mercs and the other at another hitting them both in the heads killing them instantly. As the other three mercs tried to figure out what happened Ty pulled out his other tomahawks and threw them at two of the other mercs hitting one in the chest and the other in the throat. The last merc was in shock as Ty walked across the platform and his secondary tomahawks came back into his leg holsters, as Ty got to him the merc decided to try and fight back by throwing his gun down and throwing a punch that Ty actually didn't see coming.

The punch landed hard against his cheek and knocked him back a step, thankfully no teeth were dislodged but Ty happened to bite his tongue making the taste of blood fill his mouth along with the pain. Ty spat out the blood in his mouth then turned his head slowly back to the merc and let the merc throw another punch but this one he caught. He twisted the arm so his elbow was facing up at him and slammed his palm down into it breaking it. Ty kicked the guy in the chest as he let go of the arm making the man stand straight up then he kicked the mans knee out breaking it. The man fell to the ground and Ty stamped on the back of his neck breaking it, as Ty thought he was done something hit the back of his leg bringing him to his knees and then leaving him leveled on the ground from a hard punch to his face. _Not a good start,_ Ty thought as he saw the Turian he thought had taken a fall standing above him.

**A/N: Dun dun dun, I think I ended up splitting all loyalty missions that Ty goes on into two chapters like I did this one, so I'd expect cliffhangery endings like this though I wouldn't call this a cliffhanger since cliffhangers are like if I had it look like Ty died and then ended the chapter from Shepard's POV or someone else's POV without you knowing if he had actually died, though inference would prove he didn't since, well the prologue and the fact I said there is a sequel to this…or does he meet his fate in the sequel and introduce a new main character…hmm. Right anyway I'll see you all next time.**


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The Blur of Friend or Foe

Instinct had kicked in as Ty found himself on the ground staring up at the Turian who he had swore fell to his death. Ty ran through what he had done again trying to figure out how the Turian could have spared himself, he remembered a clanging noise and if it had been him falling to the ground they wouldn't be staring at each other as they were. _He must have grabbed onto the platform somewhere and pulled his way back up here_, Ty thought. The Turian went to stamp Ty into the ground but only met the ground; Ty rolled backwards onto his feet and punched the Turian in the side of his face making the Turian stumble putting distance between the two. Ty took up his fighting stance as he noticed the lack of markings on the Turians face; a smirk crept onto his face as he said "So Harkin and the Suns have a bare face among their ranks." "Ty that was pretty low." Garrus said over the comm.

Maybe it was maybe it wasn't but Ty ignored the comment as the Turian let out a yell as he came at Ty looking ready to rip Ty to shreds. _Hit a nerve,_ Ty thought, _good._ Ty dodged to the side and kicked the Turian in the back making him stumble to the ground and try to get back on his feet, "Bare faces can't be trusted I heard, all frowned upon by their own race. So did your parents disown you or were you all cast out for having no marks?" Ty asked goading the Turian. The Turian charged Ty again but this time he landed a punch to Ty's gut and followed it with three more after grabbing Ty by the back of the neck so he wouldn't go anywhere. _Might have deserved that,_ Ty thought.

The Turian opened his hand up as he brought his fist back again and Ty knew what he had in mind, _my face already has a scar I don't need a Turian talon marking my face let alone gouging my eyes._ As the hand came back at Ty he grabbed it at the wrist and then used his other arm to elbow the Turian in the gut and then as his grip loosened Ty fired off another elbow right into the Turians jaw. Ty followed the Turian and gave the Turian an uppercut elbow that he followed with rapid punches to the Turians gut and then punctuating with a kick to the groin. As the Turian bent over Shepard's voice chimed in Ty's ear, "Ty we got two giant mechs, can you assist us a little?" Shepard asked with the sound of gunfire echoing in the background. The Turian recovered forcing Ty to block a punch as he said "A little busy Shepard." Ty blocked another punch but grabbed it and twisted the arm and tried to snap it over his shoulder but the Turian read the move and stopped him from doing it by head butting Ty in the back of the head. "Yeah well we have two giant mechs tearing apart our cover and we need some help so finish up whatever you're doing and get your ass over here." Shepard said.

Ty fell forward but caught himself before he hit the ground and got himself back onto his feet before the Turian decided to finish him, "Ty Miss Lawson wants to talk to you." EDI said in his comm. "Oh for fucks sake, patch her through." Ty said as he punched the Turian in the face. Ty followed the Turian but ended up getting an uppercut that was followed by a big kick to his gut, "Would you like to explain why five crates full of Serrice Ice Brandy and other alcohols just got put onto the Normandy?" Miranda asked with irratance. As the Turian went for another punch Ty brought his left arm up deflecting the blow and moving his arm out of the way leaving him open for a punch which Ty took hitting the Turian with a hard right haymaker. Before the Turian could recover Ty grabbed his right arm and kicked the Turian in the knee making him drop down to his knees and then he began pounding the Turians face with his right hand as he said "Because I ordered it, why..wont..you..die!" "Excuse me?" Miranda asked. "Not you I'm kinda in the middle of something, just die already." Ty said as he continued pounding the Turians face but he was still conscious and trying to break free.

The Turian blocked Ty's punch and managed to break free and push Ty away but as he stood up Ty was back on him landing a knee to the Turian's gut making him lurch over than he followed it up with a knee to the face making him return to a standing position as he grabbed his face, "Did you also order these stories?" Miranda asked. _Spirits woman,_ Ty thought. "Can you give me a minute Miranda?" Ty asked as he grabbed the Turian again and punched him in the gut. This fight was taking to long it was time to put the Turian down once and for all, "Come on bare face fight back." Ty said. The Turian growled and managed to break out of Ty's hold by pushing him away onto the ground, Ty hit the ground but he rolled himself onto his back and had a pistol drawn with a smirk.

The Turian reached for his pistol but found nothing, "Misplace this did ya." Ty said as he motioned to the gun. Before the Turian could respond or attempt to flee Ty fired three shots into the Turians torso making him stumble backwards towards the edge. As he got to the edge Ty said "This time stay dead." Ty fired another shot into the Turians throat knocking him off the platform and down to the far ground below, Ty threw the pistol to the side and got up to go help Shepard and Garrus who were still under fire by both mechs after he grabbed his regular tomahawks that were still in the bodies of the two mercs he had killed. Ty pulled out his sniper and sat down on the edge of the platform as he took aim at one of the mechs. The mechs had both Garrus and Shepard pinned down and it looked like the only way they were going to be able to get out of the situation was a distraction or by Ty taking the mechs out. Ty fired hitting it the mech in the side of the head knocking its shields down and getting its attention.

Shepard moved around the side of her cover and began firing at the mech as Ty fired again hitting it in the face and fired off another since it still wasn't down. The mech was still standing but didn't have any armor protecting it anymore as Shepard and Ty fired kept up their fire making it finally blow up. "That's one now lets take care of asshole number two." Ty said to himself. "Can you talk now?" Miranda asked. _Persistent woman_, Ty thought. Before Ty could answer Shepard's voice came through his comm, "Ty move your ass that thing is about to fire a rocket." Ty looked down at the mech and saw it aiming at him, _not this shit again,_ Ty thought as he got to his feet and did a move that even he thought was stupidly insane.

There were a lot of things Ty had done that he shouldn't have done or shouldn't have been able to walk away from but this new stunt ranked near the top of that list. Ty soon figured out that there was nothing like a missile exploding right behind you as you are flying in the air to a platform ten feet away and about thirty feet down. Ty considered his options in the milliseconds that he had and he didn't even consider just diving back, he decided to jump forward as the missile flew at him. "SHIIIITTT!" Ty yelled as he flew through the air. He began to regret his decision as he felt gravity take hold but he soon began to regret it even more as the missile impacted on the platform he was just on and sent a shockwave knocking Ty out of his jump sending him flailing at the ground. The landing was hard and about as ungraceful as a Krogan dancer, Ty hit the platform with his back and then proceeded to roll even less gracefully across it until he came to a sliding stop on his chest at the edge of the platform.

Pain rumbled across Ty's body even through his cybernetics which told him that he did everything except stick the landing, "Ty are you alright?" Shepard asked frantically. "Uhhh fuck me. Do Krogans still have a quad?" Ty asked as he pushed himself onto his hands and knees. "Compared to you, no but if you mean in general than yea." Shepard said with a chuckle. "Then I'll be fine, you take care of that mech?" Ty asked getting to his feet. There was an explosion than Shepard said "It's gone."

Ty walked to the edge of his platform and hopped down to the ground where Shepard and Garrus were, he nodded at them and said "Harkins trapped up there but he has a way out in there I'm pretty sure but there is a way to block him off. I say two of us go in the way he expects while the other goes around the other side and cuts him off." "Solid plan, Garrus you want to block Harkin?" Shepard asked as she looked at Garrus. Garrus nodded firmly and said, "I'll cut him off, you two get the other side…Bare face Ty?" Ty gave a sheepish smile and said "Yea sorry but I honestly couldn't stop my mouth from pissing him off, sorry if you took any offence despite not having a bare face yourself since I know it's a really bad insult among your people." Garrus shook his head and said "Don't worry about it just weird hearing it from a human." Ty nodded and said "Well we still gotta climb so let's get to it."

As they were climbing Miranda's voice came into his comm again "Dammit Ty I want answers."_ She really is upset about this, huh maybe I should ask in the future…Nah, _Ty thought. "Yes and yes I ordered both for separate purposes it came out of my own money not Cerberus funds so calm your round ass down." Ty said as he climbed up the last ledge. "Why did you order crates of liquor? You don't even drink alcohol." Miranda stated. "Chakwas does it's a present from me to her, the rest of the alcohol is for the crew if they ever need to cut loose. I think there is some Ryncol in there for Grunt as well so watch out if you decide to drink some of it. Do you want me to get you something too so you don't feel left out, maybe a vibrator so you can blow off some steam or a night with my brother so you can blow off a lot of steam." Ty said in a joking manor. "You're unbelievable." Miranda said in a disbelieving tone.

Ty leaned over the edge and put his hand out for Shepard to grab, she grabbed his arm and he pulled her up the last ledge and helped her to her feet as Garrus went to the other side, "You've told me that before but it doesn't change the facts that you need to blow off steam and you were eye fucking my brother when he was on board." Ty said pulling out his pistols. "This conversation is over." Miranda said then shut the comm off. "You ready Ty?" Shepard asked with a smirk. "Ready, let's get this bastard." Ty said.

Shepard lead the way into the room and Harkin started running to the other set of doors like Ty expected, "You were close Shepard but not close enough." Harkin said as he got to the other doors. Ty smirked as Garrus came flying in using his rifle to smack Harkin in the face. Blood formed at Harkins nose but Garrus grabbed him and started dragging him back into the room, thus started the conversation between the three as Ty started fiddling around with his gear since he figured he should keep his mouth shut.

Garrus kneed Harkin in groin than Shepard followed it up with a smart ass remark about how it had to hurt which made Ty laugh a little but then things got serious as Garrus stamped onto Harkins chest and said "You know what else is bad for business, a broken neck!" "Alright." Harkin said as Garrus was crushing him. Shepard put a comforting hand on Garrus's shoulder and coaxed him to stop, there wasn't much Ty could say or do because he had spent the last eight years on a revenge mission and he knew what Garrus was going through and how the want to kill Sidonis was raging in him just like Ty's need to kill everyone involved with his friends and Ka'Reena's death, it was consuming.

Harkin set up a meeting between them and Sidonis and just as Ty thought things were going to go smoothly Garrus pulled his gun on Harkin but Shepard stopped him before he could fire and wound Harkin, "You don't need to shoot him Garrus, he's not worth the bullet." Garrus wrenched his arm free from Shepard then Shepard started to walk away as Garrus head-butted Harkin in the face breaking his face open, Ty smirked and made his way over to Harkin, Ty searched his pockets quickly and found a set of omni-cuffs and said "Looky here Harkin, just like last time." Ty hooked his arms behind his back then began following Shepard and Garrus "I didn't shoot him." Garrus said as they walked.

They got in their cab and were flying to the meeting spot apparently what Ty didn't want to do, stepping between Garrus's sniper and Sidonis's head, was coming true because he was going down with Shepard while Garrus got his shot ready. Ty wasn't very happy with the thought of Garrus's sniper reticule aimed near him only because they were going to between him and revenge, not that Ty thought Garrus would kill either of them but he wouldn't say that it wasn't possible for Garrus to just wound at least Ty and then get Sidonis. Garrus respected Shepard immensely so Ty was pretty sure Garrus wouldn't shoot her but he didn't fancy getting shot in the leg or shot in general by a sniper rifle. "I'd just like to say that I'm not okay with this." Ty said. "What revenge?" Garrus asked. "No, shit you two know that I spent eight years of my life on that. What I meant was stepping in someone's ridicule that almost killed me accidently. If your aiming is even off slightly I'll lose an ear or worse." Ty said. "When did you almost kill him?" Shepard asked as she looked at Garrus. "I didn't almost kill him he just happened to kick the target I was trying to kill out the window as I shot, it wasn't even close." Garrus said. "I heard the damn thing go past me Garrus and to answer your question Shepard it wasn't really that long ago, within the last year in a half I think." Ty said. "Kicked a guy out a window?" Shepard asked with a smirk. "Slaver to be exact and he even managed to save all the hostages, with my squads help." Garrus said with a smirk in his voice. "I had it under control." Ty stated. "Right. Don't worry though Ty, I won't miss." Garrus said.

Orders were orders and he had to follow them whether he liked it or not though Shepard looked even less than pleased than he did though that was for a different reason. Shepard wasn't fond on the idea of Garrus killing Sidonis she had been trying to talk him down the whole entire time which surprised Ty since he thought she was helping Garrus kill Sidonis not help him get all the information then stop him from killing Sidonis at the last minute. Maybe she didn't like the fact she didn't have a choice in Ty killing Scrum and wanted to make up for that, she didn't like Ty doing that in the slightest and it didn't seem her feeling on it changed since then.

They landed and Garrus and Shepard conversed more about not killing Sidonis until Garrus started scouting an area to snipe at, he found a spot and got out of the cab and it took off again flying down to the lower level. As they were landing Shepard turned back to Ty and asked "What do you think of all this Ty? "Honestly without Garrus hearing?" Ty asked. Shepard nodded and he continued "I spent eight years on revenge and all it did was drain the life out of me, I thought by killing them all I would find more closure and I guess in a way I did but not without cost." "What cost?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled and said "Think of everything you saw of me from when we first met to now and try to tell me I wasn't a broken vessel. The only reason I'm even getting close to becoming the person I once was is mostly due to you and what you have done for me since we met. Revenge had little to do with this, yeah I'm fucking happy they are dead but it didn't change a damn thing, my friends are still in unmarked graves and I still wish they were all alive."

Ty shook his head slightly trying to keep his feelings from swarming him only to feel Shepard rest a hand on his knee, "Don't forget the good things that happened and the things you did accomplish or the people you helped." Shepard said. Ty nodded slightly but then continued, "I remember Reena telling me that all the fighting has to end someday and if I spent all my life fighting I'd lose more than I'd ever gain…I guess she was right there." The pair sat in silence for a moment with Shepard keeping her reassuring hand on his knee, "I miss those bastards." Ty muttered under his breath. "Is that what you and Darian had been talking about before we got there?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled slightly and said "Nothing gets by you Shepard, yeah ran into a ghost from my past and he told me about another which got us talking about the good old days…Sorry Shepard I don't mean to be a downer so much, lets go deal with this."

Shepard nodded slightly as the top opened and as they got out she asked "Do you think I should let him kill Sidonis?" Ty chuckled trying to lighten his mood since reminding himself of Ka'Reena hurt, it worked for the most part as he asked "Do you still wish you stopped me?" "…Yea sometimes." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "Personally if I was you I would do what you believe is right Shepard because if you don't your always going to wonder if you could've done it differently and if you still wish you stopped me your always going to wish you stopped him." Shepard nodded silently and they walked towards all the stores, "Alright I have you two in sight…and there's Sidonis, the Turian in the suit wave him over to you." Shepard looked through the crowd and waved over a Turian wearing a blue suit and she started walking towards him so Ty followed in behind her.

They were now standing in a little triangle as Shepard said his name but he immediately freaked out and said "Don't say that name out loud." _Paranoid much, _Ty thought. "I'm here for a friend named Garrus Vakarian." Shepard said. _Ah straight into the meat of things, not a bad plan._ "Garrus? What are you talking about?" Sidonis asked. "I'm a friend of Garrus, he wants to kill you but I don't think it will be necessary." Shepard said. "You're not kidding are you? Listen tell Garrus that I had my own problems." Sidonis said. As he started to walk away Ty looked away expecting his head to turn into mush but instead he heard Shepard's voice "Don't move." Shepard warned. "Get off of me." Sidonis yelled wringing his arm from Shepard. Shepard grabbed his arm again and said "I'm the only thing standing between you and a bullet to your head." "Shepard if he moves I'm taking the shot." Garrus said over the comm.

_Great so now we're literally standing between Garrus and his kill and Shepard's gonna try and convince him otherwise, great plan Shepard let me just put a target right on our backs._ "Fuck." Sidonis said as he dropped his head. Sidonis started spilling all the details, every last bit of information about the whole set up and why he screwed his team over and Garrus was going off on the comm about how Sidonis was spineless and telling Shepard to get out of his shot which she wouldn't oblige too. Though Ty agreed with the no spine comment Ty didn't see the kill there. Sidonis was dead, not on the outside but on the inside it was more then obvious. It was all in the way he talked, how he said food and water tasted and even his posture gave it away. _There isn't a kill here not even I would kill him, he died with all of Garrus's guys…Geez almost like staring into a mirror._ "Just go, tell him to go." Garrus said.

Shepard gave Sidonis a stern talk about how he was given a second chance and not to screw it up then Sidonis told Garrus he'd try his best to make it up to him somehow, as they parted ways from Sidonis Ty looked at Shepard and said "Next time you want to stand between Garrus's sniper rifle and his target do me a favor and warn me so I can be back on the Normandy." "Aw come on you enjoyed it a little." Shepard said with a playful smile. "Not by a long shot, no pun intended." Ty said. They got in the cab and Ty sat in the back again and said "I am surprised he let him go, I guess the line of good and evil blur when we're looking at old friends even when we think the old friend is a foe." "Couldn't have said it better myself." Shepard said as the cab top closed and it lifted off.

They landed on the top floor and Shepard got out meeting Garrus outside the cab, Ty stayed in so they could talk alone about what happened and as they finished Shepard patted his arm and they got back in the cab to fly back to the Zakera Ward where they could get back to the Normandy. As they landed EDI came into their comms and said "According to C-Sec reports Harkin has been taken into custody and is awaiting charges." "That's the least that bastard deserves." Garrus said. "Maybe this time he'll stay behind bars otherwise I'll break his legs to make sure he doesn't go anywhere." Ty said as they got out. "So why were you talking to Miranda back there Ty?" Shepard asked. "I asked Darian to order Serrice Ice Brandy for Chakwas and he also added in other alcohol for the rest of the squad, including Ryncol for Grunt, so they arrived in crates and Miranda was not happy about it. You know she's been kinda bitchy today now that I think of it, ever since I ripped into her which is probably why." Ty said thoughtfully. "That's just Miranda on a bad day." Shepard said with a smirk. Ty raised an eyebrow and asked "You've seen her on a good day? What was it like?" Shepard and Garrus chuckled slightly and Ty continued "Anyway I told her that I'd buy her a vibrator or get her a night with my brother to blow off some steam, needless to say she's probably gonna be in a mood because of me, either that or wanting me to set her up." Ty said as Shepard got a taxi ready to go to the Normandy.

Shepard looked up from the terminal with a grin and then looked back down at the terminal and pressed a few more buttons, "How many crates did you get?" Garrus asked. "Five, will be stocked for a very long time I think." Ty said with a smile. "Damn Chakwas is going to be drunker than me on shore leave." Shepard said as the taxi came down. Ty laughed and said "Now that I'd pay to see." For all of Ty's imagination he couldn't really imagine Shepard drunk on shore leave, not that he thought her a goody two shoes who didn't like to have fun he just couldn't get the image of Shepard drunk to fit in his head.

The top of the cab opened and they all got in and started to fly to the docking bay where the Normandy was docked, they landed and walked into the Normandy's decontaminating chamber and as they waited to be decontaminated Ty looked at Garrus and asked "So Garrus while you guys were hunting Saren did you ever get a shore leave and the show of seeing Shepard drunk on some Batarian ale or some other alcohol?" "Well there was this one time we all got shore leave for a day and Shepard and Kaiden had a drinking contest and they ended up-" "Garrus!" Shepard yelled while smiling. "I was just answering his question and I was getting to the good part." Garrus said with a toothy grin. "Ah come on Shepard I wanna hear what happened." Ty said.

The doors opened to the Normandy and Shepard walked out with Ty and Garrus following behind her, as they got to the hall Joker turned in his seat and said "Hey Ty guess who wants to see you right now." "Is it my long lost Krogan sister twice removed from my mother's side?" Ty joked. "Nope The Illusive Man wants to talk to you." Joker said with a half smile. _What the FUCK did I do now?_

**A/N: Dun dun dun! I will see you next time.**


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Eluding the Illusive Bullet

The silence that filled the cockpit and hall would make silent as the grave sound like an understatement. If Ty's shoes could have screeched to a stop on the floor they would have as he felt his nerves begin to fire. _The Illusive Man wants to talk to me, there is only one reason he would want to talk to me and that won't bode well for any of us,_ Ty thought. Ty looked back at Joker in hope that he was joking as he asked "You fucking with me Joker?" Jokers smile left his face and that gave Ty all the answers he needed, _Fuck me,_ Ty thought. "Sorry Ty I guess I did curse you, Miranda's been trying to keep the conversation from happening but the Illusive Man really wants to talk to you. Wish I could tell you more but Miranda's been cussing up a storm after failing to smooth things out." Joker said. "Ty what is going on?" Shepard asked in a questioning and worried tone. He knew hacking those files would have backlash but he thought he would have had more time or at least the Illusive Man would put two and two together to figure out why he did it. "You guys do what you want I'll go talk to the asshole." Ty said as he started down the hall. "Ty wait up." Shepard called after him.

Ty didn't stop; he couldn't stop not when it was his own doing that caused this and something he wasn't going to tell Shepard if he didn't have to. The Illusive man wanted to talk he'd talk but he was going to make sure the Illusive man knew that he was here to stay and how much of a ignorant asshole he was, the sound of Garrus and Shepard's feet trailing behind him got Ty's attention before he felt his arm get grabbed stopping him fully. Ty looked back to see Shepard looking at him searching his eyes for what was going on, "Ty talk to me, why does he want to talk to you specifically?" Shepard asked. "I made a choice Shepard that I knew would have backlash but I didn't anticipate it to happen so soon and I hoped he'd be smart enough not to question me." Ty answered.

Shepard frowned in response, that was anything but the straight answer she was looking for. "Let me talk to him." Shepard said. Ty shook his head as he got his arm loose, "No Shepard, I'm not afraid of him or Cerberus." "Ty just tell her." Garrus said. Ty brought his gaze to Garrus as he said "Not unless I have to." Ty turned around and continued his walk to the comm room, he made it to the Tech lab doors and opened them and continued his stride as he passed Mordin and into the hallway going into CIC to be met by Miranda who was pacing back and forth and looked considerably pissed off and worried. Miranda saw him walk through the doors and she started talking "Ty we got a problem." Miranda said. _That's putting it lightly,_ "Illusive man wants to talk I know." Ty said. Ty tried to push past Miranda but she put her hands on his shoulders and asked "Did you hack into Cerberus files?"

Maybe he should have told her, he doubted even if she said it was a bad idea that he would have listened but he didn't have time to go around asking for permission, Shepard's life had been at stake and he did what was right. "He always make a fuss about stupid shit?" Ty asked rhetorically. "Ty this is serious you can't just blow this off like it doesn't matter." Miranda said. She had a look in her eyes, a conflicted look that Ty read instantly and made him regret ever beginning to befriend her. She was ordered to kill him if Illusive Man decided that he was expendable. Ty grabbed her hands and took them off his shoulders and said "I know what's at stake. If the Illusive man wants you to kill me by the end of this then, well I guess I'll just have to disarm you and bail off the ship." Miranda looked down and Ty knew why, she probably hadn't ever felt much guilt about her contracts before but this was different it seemed. Ty had royally screwed up by becoming close to the Cerberus squad and voicing his dislike for the group, now she was conflicted on an order that she would have felt no remorse about when they first met. Ty didn't regret that he had spoke the truth about Cerberus and tried showing her the error of being with them, he regretted putting her in this position, duty or a comrade? With a shake of his head Ty moved her to the side and said "Leave it to the one guy who hates and is hated by Cerberus to befriend their top agent then get a kill order on themselves by that agent, huh I think I've done it all now."

Ty walked through the doors but the table was already down so he just walked right on top of it and let the orange hologram surround him, as it did the Illusive Man came into his eye sight in a holographic manor. He had piercing blue eyes and was in an expensive suit sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette, "You know I expected the guy that set up my grandfather to look more…threatening." Ty said with a smirk. The Illusive Man dipped some of the ashes of his cigarette into the tray he had, Ty always figured he'd never meet anyone with weirder looking eyes then his or his brother but the Illusive Man brought the weird eye scale to a whole new level, "Ah Ty we finally meet, your grandfather was nothing personal he just got in our way and we had to put him in his place." The Illusive man said. Ty rolled his eyes and said "Whatever, call it what you want but killing my family is personal no matter how you want to sugar coat it."

The Illusive man took a drag of his cigarette and blew out the smoke which Ty figured was his way of blowing smoke in his face, he didn't like the look of the Illusive Man, he looked like a snake slithering about waiting for the opportunity to strike while his prey didn't know he was there. "You know if it weren't for the fact that Miranda had spent however long having to talk to you about me I would've just said "well he can go fuck himself I don't wanna talk to him" but I figure that since Miranda had been stuck talking to you I should at least make an appearance since it was obviously something important that Miranda had been trying to do. So do me a favor and save me the fucking theatrics and petty bullshit talk and ask your damn questions so I can get back to preparing for this mission."

The Illusive man put his cigarette out and stood up and said "Okay I have reason to believe that you not only hacked into Cerberus files but you also took a piece of EDIs memory core and unshackled that part of her onto your omni-tool and space bike is it true."_ Oh he figured that out, hmm guess that isn't much of a surprise but not like I set her loose on the crew or something,_ Ty thought. "Yes and yes, you gotta a problem with that?" Ty asked. "Yes I do so answer me one question, why shouldn't I have Miranda kill you right now." The Illusive man said.

Oh this was going to be good, the Illusive Man just opened the pathway to the ass ripping fiesta that Ty had always wished he would be able to give the man before killing him, killing him would still have to wait but at least he would get to give him a piece of his mind. Ty stifled his chuckle not wanting to cause the Illusive man to disconnect before he had the chance to speak, "Here's a few reasons, Shepard needing me as an expert on the mission, the squad morale being completely diminished by having someone kill a fellow squad member since I'm friends with almost everyone including Miranda, the fact that if you kill me my family will bring the fight so hard and fast to your front door step that you wont be able to even say "Cerberus is humanity and humans are the superior race" and then there's the fact not only will my family hunt you down but all my friends who I've made over the years that hate Cerberus will help. Aside from all of those reasons my last one and most important is my charming demeanor." Ty said with a sarcastic tone and smirk.

The Illusive man walked a little bit towards Ty's hologram and said "Maybe you're right but why would you hack into Cerberus files? Despite the grievances between you and Cerberus I know you are not a fool, you knew this would come back to you." Ty shrugged and said "I had good reason to." "Would you care to share or should I just have you killed?" The Illusive man asked.

There was the moment Ty had been waiting for, he knew that he was going to have to spill the beans on helping Shepard but at least he would be able to deflect the whole EDI thing, Ty put his finger to his chin acting as if he was thinking hard as he said "Hmm let me think you see there was this problem that was happening, oh right SHEPARD WAS DIEING!" Ty's sudden raised voice made the Illusive Man recoil a little, Ty continued with a slightly raised voice "And since I figured that your traitor Wilson would do more then just try and kill her without planting a back up plan I decided to hack into your files since you blocked Miranda out claiming that there wasn't anything useful in there you lying piece of shit. So I did a little snooping on him found out that he was not only trained in memory rebuilding but in memory wiping as well. Oh what a great guy to hire onto your team when he was a greedy fucker, I mean did you intentionally not throw enough credits his direction to get Shepard killed or did you assume that while you were on your high and mighty chair that he would never betray you."

The Illusive Man looked ready to spill out an excuse but Ty cut him off, he wasn't done yet, "Training in memory wiping should have given you the biggest reason not to put him in charge but no you still did and when Miranda asked for your help on trying to figure out what he could've done what did you do? You blocked her and told her that there was nothing important in his file. Tell me did you just see memory building and then stopped reading or was it your back up plan if Shepard wouldn't cooperate?" Before the Illusive Man answered Ty waved him off and continued "Anyway though moving away from your blatant ignorance at leading an organization and risking Shepard's life by locking away your secrets from Miranda because you are afraid of what she might say about some of your other projects, so I had EDI start researching everything on how to stop memory wiping and by the time I found out more data on him it started happening so I got EDI to get Chakwas and Miranda's asses up there so the only fucking woman who can save this galaxy would be, you know, saved."

Ty started pacing, it always happened when he started getting on a roll of ripping someone a new ass "Now if it weren't for the fact that me and EDI are friends and work great together and the fact that I hacked your shitty ass files on this Wilson asshole, and so you know the files could've been hacked by someone with minimal expertise. I mean seriously your passwords were all human dominance related or based on Greek or Roman mythology. Anyway as I was saying so if it weren't for the fact I hacked your shitty ass files Shepard, the only person that can lead a group of miscreants like us to defeat the Collectors and Reapers, would be fucking dead and the galaxy with it." The Illusive man lit another cigarette and took a drag of his and said "Oka-" Ty interrupted him and said "Shut it I'm not finished, before you start chastising me on how I go about my business on helping the crew members, no no no better yet, helping my friends think about this Einstein if it weren't for me and EDI, who almost everyone look at sideways with distrust, this "suicide mission" would've been a failure because of your stupid fucking protocols."

Ty stopped his pacing for a second and looked at the Illusive man with an uncaring smile and continued "Now go ahead tell Miranda to kill me and see what the fuck happens, you want this mission to get fucked sideways because of the friends I made on this mission who will either quit or be pissed off enough to start killing everyone Cerberus on the ship and then have my friends and family come hunt you down go right fucking ahead I got a clear conscious now I got my vengeance, I avenged my friends, I had one last good laugh with my living friends and family, got to head-but with a Krogan again, saved my friend, started taking the ice off of the so called ice queen, hell I got to meet Commander Shepard and fight along side her and all these great guys and girls on this ship. "

The Illusive man looked pissed but Ty continued his pacing and his rant as he drew a circle in the air "My life if you ask me has come full circle from being shitty for years to being a great time and I got to meet the man who ordered the hit on my grandfather and tell him to fuck himself. My conscious is so clear right now, so take that cigarette and shove it up your ass while its lit if you want me dead and if you don't want me dead go fuck yourself anyway because unlike most of the galaxy." Ty stared a hole through the Illusive Mans head as he continued, "I don't fear you. Got that all, you ready to make your decision so I can either get on with my life or meet my friends in the next world 'cause honestly I'm done wasting my breath on you."

Ty stopped pacing and crossed his arms and let the Illusive man sit down in his chair, "You got a lot of guts kid I'll give you that even after I saved your life yo-" _Wait a fucking minute, _Ty thought as he put his hand ups and said "Whoa whoa whoa "after you saved my life" Miranda, Chakwas, Mordin, and Shepard saved my life asshole all you did was nod your head and smoke that shit cigarette." "Call it what you want but it was my call to bring you back." The Illusive man stated. "Maybe but people who hand out orders aren't the ones saving lives, the ones down in the shit up to their necks are the ones doing it." Ty said. "That may be but it doesn't matter now, you can stay on the mission but know this, after its over you are an enemy of Cerberus and you better warn your friends and family too because they'll be targets as well after this is over."

Normally Ty would have gotten pissed and had a list of threats ranging from cutting his head off to torturing him for even speaking it but Ty found himself chuckling ever so slightly, he didn't feel threatened by him in the slightest, "Please your threats aren't even real except against me because my friends and family are so well hidden that not even your connections can find them, I know that for a fact because not even the Shadow Broker knows where we are and he has better connections then you." Ty said. "Don't underestimate Cerberus." The Illusive man said.

Ty couldn't help but laugh again as he said "Don't underestimate me and the rest of RBZ, you may have killed my grandfather but that was before we knew who you were but now, now you can't possibly imagine how hard of a fight that we can bring." "We'll continue this fight after this mission is over and then you will learn the power of Cerberus." The Illusive man said. Ty flipped him off and said "Yeah go fuck yourself to you too, see ya around but next time it'll be in person, Joker close this channel." Ty kept giving the Illusive man the bird and blew him a kiss as the hologram closed around him, "Ah he's gotta be throwing a tantrum now." Joker said over the intercom.

Ty felt good about what he had just done and his spirits felt high even if the Illusive Man attempted to threaten him and his family but he couldn't find them and Darian was more resourceful then the Illusive Man knew. The bar was an armory behind the counter and only Darian knew about it not to mention he was a powerful biotic, Ty found himself laughing ever so slightly to himself as he looked up at the intercom and said, "No shit right, so on a scale from one to ten how well was that ass ripping one being the worst and ten being badass." "Ten just because it was the Illusive Man and it was funnier than hell the way you shut him up." Joker said. "Thanks for the support Joker." Ty said. "You got it." Joker said as he shut off the intercom.

Ty turned around while smiling to himself and saw Miranda, Shepard and Garrus standing there waiting for him, "I give you an eight in a half." Garrus said with a toothy grin. Ty gave him the bird with a smile and said "Bitter." Ty saw Miranda looking at the ground and Shepard shaking her head with a smile so he said "Hey princess cheer up we get to still work together until this is over, how about we go down to the cargo hold grab a Serrice Ice Brandy go back to the crew quarters and we all sit down with Chakwas and have a drink, me and Garrus excluded of course." "What no dextro drinks?" Garrus asked. "No there are but I wasn't sure if you wanted any." Ty responded. "You…I can't…unbelievable." Miranda said as she stormed out. "So it was you?" Shepard asked.

He didn't want any recognition for the whole thing that happen but now she knew, her stare was one of thankfulness and something Ty wasn't sure of but it looked like a new found fondness for him. He began to rub the back of his neck as a slight uncomfortable feeling swarmed him, "Yea." Ty said. Shepard seemed to notice his uncomfortableness since she only responded with a nod before she said "I'll go calm her down you go get the bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy and tell Chakwas about the crates, Garrus you going to go back down to the battery?" "I need to do more calibrations on the Thanix cannons I installed so I can get them at full potential." Garrus said. "Alright you two go get that stuff done I'll go find Miranda." Shepard said as she walked out. "Thanix cannons?" Ty asked. "A lot goes on outside of your room you know." Garrus joked.

That got a chuckle out of Ty as they walked out and to the elevator which was still on their level so Ty figured that neither Shepard nor Miranda went down since the elevator was not that fast, they stepped in and hit the crew quarters button for Garrus and the cargo hold for Ty. The doors closed and the descent started, the elevator came to a slow halt and the doors opened letting Garrus step out but before the doors closed Garrus looked back at Ty and said "Thank you for your help Ty." Ty nodded and said "No problem it's what I do."

Garrus nodded and left so Ty let the doors close and let the elevator descend to the cargo hold, the doors opened and Ty walked out towards the newest looking five crates labeled with the Darian special. The crates were all marked with a tomahawk and sniper crossing over each other exactly how their crew symbol had been. Though Ty had just got it tattooed himself Darian had been using the symbol for marking crates and other things for Ty when he came to the Citadel, Ty smirked as he walked up to one of the crates and cracked it open. Cold air came flying out of the crate like a dust cloud just less dirty and colder revealing that it was stacked from the bottom to the top with seventy bottles just in the one crate so Ty looked at all the labels until he found Serrice Ice Brandy and grabbed one then closed the crate. He walked over to the Avenger he still had to finish and found three data pads sitting next to it, he wasn't sure if getting the stories was a good idea due to not wanting to evoke any type of feelings from Shepard but it seemed she had them regardless of what he did so he shrugged off the thought as he approached the table.

Ty set the bottle down on the table next to the data pads and put the safety on the Avenger then folded it up so when he came down next he could get straight to work on it when he heard his favorite bald tattooed biotic behind him, "Figured I'd find you down here." Ty smirked to himself and said "Well it has become like my work area, what you doin' down here Jack? Thought you'd be reading those data pads still." "I know where to go just waiting for Shepard to plot a course there, nice going with telling the Illusive Man to go fuck himself." Jack said. Ty turned around, he was unsure how she would know already, either gossip traveled fast or Joker made it possible to let the whole crew hear the conversation, "Someone tell you or did Joker play both sides of the conversation for everyone?" Ty asked. "Joker." Jack said with a smirk.

Jack walked over to the table and looked down at the gun, "Damn you do that?" Jack asked. Ty nodded and said "Yea took some time but I was able to do it, you like it?" "Hell yeah who'd you make this for?" Jack asked. "Grunt, I haven't finished it yet I still have to install inferno rounds but after I do that then I get to work on some of the other guns for the rest of the crew." Ty said. Jack looked over at him and asked "You making them for everyone?" "Not going to have the same designs or paint but yeah each will have their own type of special rounds too, I'll probably give you warp ammo to match your biotics." Ty said.

Jack nodded absently and stayed quiet which made Ty feel a little awkward since it wasn't like her at all to stare absently like she was thinking really hard on what she was about to say, "You okay Jack?" Ty asked breaking up the awkward silence. "Forget it." Jack said as she stopped leaning against the table. Ty nodded and Jack looked at the Brandy and asked "You gonna hog that to yourself?" Ty shook his head and said "No it's for Chakwas plus I don't drink alcohol I don't like not being able to control myself." "You'd probably be an angry drunk." Jack said with a smirk. Ty laughed and said "Probably true either that or really emotionally whacked, I'd be happy one second then pissed off the next, you want a bottle we got five crates full but be careful there is some dextro alcohol and Ryncol in there."

Before Jack could answer Shepard's voice came over the intercom, "Ty you down there?" "Yeah what's up?" Ty asked. "I'm taking Miranda and Mordin out to recruit a thief named Kasumi Goto to get Miranda out of her mood, have you given Chakwas her Brandy yet?" Shepard asked. "Nope about to head back up to do that now, do you need me to talk to the princess?" Ty asked. "I don't think she wants you to tell her to blow off some steam with your brother or by herself again, she'll be fine, still pissed at you but fine otherwise. After I'm done recruiting this thief we're headed for Pragia to help Jack blow up the place. You wanna tag along with us on that?" Shepard asked. "I'll ask Jack if she wants me around for it if she doesn't then you'll have to take someone else." Ty said.

Shepard's voice became distant because she was talking to Joker then she came back into the intercom, "Find out before you go to Chakwas and when you do get to Chakwas stay with her as she drinks Brandy, it goes straight to her head and she'll want to talk to you or someone before she passes out. I gotta go so I'll talk to you when I get back." "I'll probably still be with Chakwas then unless she doesn't drink it." Ty said. "Chakwas enjoys Brandy no matter what time of the day it is, see you later Ty." Shepard said then shut off the intercom.

Ty looked over to Jack and asked "So can I tag along with you to Pragia?" "I was hoping you'd ask that way you can help me turn that into a fucking crater." Jack said. Ty nodded and said "Sounds like fun, I gotta give Chakwas the Brandy you going up?" "Yeah let's go dick." Jack said. Ty felt the smirk tug at his face as Jack turned around to go to the elevator, she really liked those nicknames. Ty grabbed the bottle in one hand and the three data pads in his other and followed behind Jack into the elevator. The elevator stopped at Engineering and the doors opened letting Jack get off as she walked away Ty said "Whenever you're ready to ask your question I'll be waiting to hear it and answer the best I can."

Jack stayed quiet and walked out of sight as the doors closed behind her, Ty hit Shepard's quarters first so he could drop the data pads off while she was gone so she'd just find them in there. The elevator went up and the doors opened to Shepard's cabin, Ty walked out and to the doors that opened to her cabin but they didn't open and EDIs voice came over the intercom, "Ty you are not allowed into her cabin without permission." Ty sighed and said "EDI I'm just dropping off these stories Chakwas had me get for Shepard I'll be in and out." The doors opened and Ty walked in but stopped as he saw the room "Holy shit." Ty said. The room had a huge fish tank full of fish, a display case filled with model ships but not full, a big bed, a lounge area, a hamster, a bathroom, and a desk with a lot of stuff on it. Ty walked over to the desk and put the data pads on the edge of the table where it was noticeable and as he was about to walk out he noticed a picture frame on the desk, he walked over to it and a picture of Kaiden's face popped up. He wasn't sure what he was expecting it to be of and he wasn't sure why he felt slightly deflated but he let it go as he turned around to leave, _should have figured_, Ty thought.

**A/N: Well I think it will be hard for the Illusive Man to sit down for a little while now. Any questions or comments don't be afraid to ask or say. Thank you to readers new and old for the two thousand views in one month two months in a row now and thank you for the five thousand five hundred something views in all. Anywho I will see you all next time.**


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Brandy Thieves

"Ty watch out!" Whitney yelled from behind him. _A trap, it had to be a trap didn't it._ The Eclipse were just waiting for them to get there and now they were trapped like a Varren in a cage, at the sound of Whitney's voice Ty spun around and saw an Asari with a three foot blade about to stab him. Ty didn't have enough time to grab his tomahawk and hit it away but as he began to attempt blocking it away a flash of movement made his heart stop momentarily. A wordless yell echoed across the room as Ty saw the end of the blade out the back of Whitney who was standing in front of him, everything seemed to become silent as Ty witnessed Whitney drop her gun in shock as she stared down at the blade.

The voices of Grissom, Carson, and Gallick became muffled as Ty felt needles begin to prick at his skin and anger rise in his being, Ty felt an amassed energy explode inside his body as the needles turned to knives and pierced his body, as he began to get ready to shoot the Asari Whitney brought her gaze up at the Asari and with her gaze she brought a strong straight right that knocked her back a few steps making her release the sword but leaving it stuck inside of Whitney. Ty moved around Whitney and fired off his pistol rapidly taking down the Asari's shields and landing a shot at her shoulder but she quickly threw herself out the window and back down to her comrades. Anger spurred Ty to chase her but he heard a staggered breath from behind him, "Get…back here…I'm not through yet." Whitney mumbled as she attempted to brace herself on a wall. Whitney grabbed the hilt of the blade and pulled it out of her gut with a wordless cry before she collapsed down onto her chest on the ground with a pool of blood beginning to form.

Anger had filled Ty's being but now worry for a person he considered to be like his sister began to take hold, he had to act and not get lost in the shock. If he got lost in the shock he would lose Whitney and that was not going to happen. They were stuck on the second floor of an apartment on Illium on a mission that was supposed to be an assassination mission that quickly escalated into a get your ass shot off in a trap mission. Tarak was going to have a lot to explain to them for not letting them know that these Eclipse bastards were just waiting for them. Ty turned away from Whitney and began issuing his orders, "Carson get Valera on the comm and get the shuttle here right now! Gallick take cover at the wall and don't let any of those fuckers through, Carson get his back after you're done! Grissom I need you here right now!" Ty ordered.

The squad began to move as Ty turned back to Whitney and knelt down next to her and turned her over, they had to stop the bleeding and get her to the Med-bay, the mission had already gone past FUBAR now it was about getting his friends out safely and if Tarak didn't like it he could kill that bitch Enyala himself. Ty felt his anger rise substantially just thinking the bitch's name; she was not going to cost him his friend. Grissom came sliding down next to Ty on his knees with his Omni-tool already at the ready, Ty looked at his Drell friend as he asked in a commanding but calm tone, "Grissom you're my chief medical officer what the fuck do we need to do?" "Do you have any medi-gel left? I ran out after patching up Gallick." Grissom stated calmly.

Ty checked all his pockets for any remaining tubes of Medi-gel finding nothing but his leg to pat against, "Fuck, no I'm out. Carson took that hit and I used most on him and then used the rest on my graze wounds." Ty said. "Carson! Do you have any Medi-gel left?" Grissom called out. "No I'm out! Valera said ETA is five minutes!" Carson yelled clearly stressed out beyond normal Turian standards. "I'm out too! Die you Eclipse bastards!" Gallick low Batarian voice yelled as a roar from his M-76 Revenant echoed around the room.

Grissom began unclasping Whitney's armor chest plate without any other words spared but Whitney began to gasp in pain making Ty have to hold her down, "Hold on Whitney we're going to fix you up." Ty reassured. "I'm sorry Ty ahhh!" Whitney gasped in pain as Grissom got the chest plate off leaving her only in her loose T-shirt and her greaves. Ty went to look at the wound but only saw the huge amount of blood that now covered the whole bottom half of the white shirt, "Don't apologize for saving me from getting stabbed, just stay with us okay?" Ty said as he looked back to Grissom. Grissom was analyzing that much Ty could tell but he didn't know how they were going to heal the wound since none of them had Medi-gel, "If Valera gets here in five minutes I think I'll kiss her!" Gallick yelled. "Not before me you won't!" Carson yelled back as Ty noticed the distinct sound of his Phaeston going off.

After a few more painful seconds of waiting Grissom looked back up at Ty with his decision now ready to be heard, "We must cauterize the wound or she will bleed out before she makes it to the Med-bay for proper treatment, I will need your blade." Grissom stated. Without second thought Ty grabbed his tomahawk off his back and handed it to him, this was going to be a very old school way of healing but they were out of options. "I will need to heat the blade up and you will have to hold her down, it will be very painful." Grissom said. "I can…I can take it." Whitney mumbled. "Carson!" Ty yelled. Carson looked over at Ty grabbed Whitney's sniper off the ground, "How's your aim with a sniper?" Ty asked. "Not that great but I'll give it a shot." Carson answered. Ty slid the sniper across the ground all the way to him and turned back to Grissom, "Tell me when you are ready." Ty said.

Grissom activated his Omni-tool and used one of his tech upgrades to begin heating up the blade which only took a few seconds, "Now you're just stealing my kills Carson!" Gallick yelled. "Is now really the time?" Carson yelled back. Grissom deactivated his Omni-tool and Ty saw that his blade was now red hot, "I am ready." Grissom said as he moved Whitney's shirt up so he could see the wound better. Ty put his hands on Whitney's shoulders and said "Whitney this is going to hurt but we have to do it." Whitney nodded and said "I know…just do it." Ty looked back to Grissom and said "On three." Grissom nodded though he read Ty's intention, "One." Ty announced. Whitney took a deep breath, "Two." Ty said.

On two Grissom pressed the blade down on Whitney and an earth shattering yell filled the room, Whitney was a strong woman and it took a lot of Ty's strength to hold her in place as pain etched across her features and she thrashed about while she screamed. Her eyes were completely open and tears were beginning to form in her eyes as Grissom took the blade away, "Carson where's Valera?" Ty asked over the screams and cries of pain from Whitney. "Another minute!" Carson yelled back. "We must do the other side." Grissom stated. "I know." Ty responded. Ty turned Whitney onto her side much to her discontent, "What happened to three?" Whitney asked in a pained tone. Ty looked up at Grissom and said "Three." Ty had a good grip on her as Grissom put the heated blade to her skin again and the cries of agony filled the room again along with profanities thrown at Ty, Grissom took the blade away and said "That will keep her alive momentarily but if we do not get her real medical aid the wounds will open again and she will likely bleed out unless her blood is able to replenish itself."

Ty put his tomahawk back in its holder hoping that it wouldn't burn him, Grissom looked up suddenly and Ty's hearing suddenly caught what he was looking at, "Shuttles here! Ty you and Grissom first!" Carson yelled. Ty picked up Whitney in his arms and with Grissom at his side they ran over to the shuttle, "Guys shuttle is beginning to take fire, if one of these Eclipse shits has a missile launcher I'm going to be pissed so get your asses moving." Valera said over the group comm. "Eclipse are almost getting through, Carson lets go!" Gallick yelled as Ty heard their footsteps begin to run towards them. Grissom was the first in the shuttle and grabbed Whitney from Ty so he could make sure the rest of the squad made it in, Ty turned and pulled out his pistols as he made his way back to Gallick and Carson who were running and shooting behind them as they ran, Ty aimed around them and began firing at the few Eclipse soldiers on their tails piercing through their shields and killing them. "I'm not carrying your asses like I did Whitney!" Ty yelled at them in a joking manor.

Carson ran past Ty first give him a good punch in the shoulder as he did before jumping into the shuttle, Gallick was next smacking Ty in the back of the head as he ran past and jumped into the shuttle. Ty hopped in himself and the doors closed behind him, "Gun it Valera." Ty ordered. "Aye aye, everybody hold on this is going to be fun." Valera announced from the cockpit. "Oh Spirits this is going to be terrible." Carson said. The shuttle lurched forward making everyone shift slightly, "Spirits did you take the inertial dampeners off too?" Carson nearly yelled. "Of course, that's what makes it fun." Valera said from the cockpit. Ty motioned Carson with his head to the cockpit and said "Go have fun Carson and make sure we get there in one piece and as quick as possible." "I heard that Ty." Valera said.

Carson moved quickly to the cockpit before Valera pulled another stunt that would cause them to shift, as Ty was about to sit down next to Whitney the shuttle jolted upwards making him nearly fall on his ass only barely managing to save himself by catching himself on a wall. "Ty we got bogeys on our six, you and someone else need to get in the turrets and take them out." Valera stated. "Grissom you watch over her, Gallick lets go show these fuckers our new guns. And put those inertial dampeners on if your going to pull crazy shit like that, we got a wounded back here." Ty said. "I've been waiting to use these." Gallick said as he stood up. Ty went to the back left wall and Gallick went to the right, they sat down in the seats that were facing towards the back but before they hit the buttons to activate the guns Ty said "Put your comm on permanent on so we don't have to yell back and forth at each other. And try to hit some of them I don't want to have all the fun." Gallick's four eyes showed excitement as he barked out a laugh, "Ha! Try to keep up Ty."

The pair hit the buttons in front of them and the sounds of their guns on the outside activating became apparent as their seats and their walls moved further out as the guns control screens became live and their view screen in front of them showed them the view of the shuttles that were chasing them. The had two guns they installed on top of the shuttle that were similar to the gun on top of a Mako just without the cannon, "Spool those guns up boys, I don't know about you but I don't want to be on the news for a shuttle crash. I don't think I could ever live that down." Valera said. "As you wish my mono-gender pilot." Ty responded. "If they aren't female I don't have four fucking eyes." Gallick said with a chuckle. "Ha ha." Valera faked a laugh.

There were four shuttles on their tail as Ty began lining up his first target, Ty began spooling up the gun and Gallick's soon followed, "May the best human win." Ty said. His gun roared to life and the bullets began punching through the shuttle until it veered downwards with a fire beginning to start, another shuttle went down from Gallick's fire as Ty lined up the next shuttle and opened fire once again. The shuttle got taken down but suddenly their own shuttle lurched downwards and with the inertial dampeners still off Ty and Gallick ended up smacking their heads on the wall in front of them, the shuttle began to ascend again making them push back into their seats, "Bogey gunship! Ty, Gallick focus on him!" Valera yelled. "Turn those damn inertial dampeners back on Valera!" "Ow! God damn it woman turn those dampeners back on!" Ty and Gallick yelled simultaneously. "Stop bitching and start shooting." Valera said.

Ty saw the gunship pop up in the display and aimed his gun at it but before he was able to fire the shuttle alarm started going off, "He has a lock, hold on!" Valera yelled. "Valera wait don't do tha-" Carson was interrupted by the shuttle ascending and beginning to do a loop, "Hold on everybody!" Valera yelled. "Spirits Valera the shuttle isn't tested for this and the inertial dampeners are still off!" Carson yelled. Ty pushed himself as far into his seat as he tried to line up the shot on the gunship as it began flying under them, Ty's gun roared to life as he lit up the gunships cockpit. The shuttle thrusters sounded like they were working into over time as it came around from the loop that Valera just put the shuttle into, "Carson get ready to hit that button." Valera said with struggle in her voice. "This isn't meant to be flown like this." Carson responded back with equal the struggle in his voice. "I've done it before, just trust me." Valera barked back. "Uh I think I'm going to be sick." Gallick moaned. "Grissom you alright?" Ty asked as he tried to keep himself from leaving his seat. "I strapped myself and Whitney in, I'm entertained actually." Grissom said.

The shuttle came out of the loop and Ty heard Valera yell something to Carson as Ty got his controls ready again, "Guys are going to be in front of the main gun, Ty I need you up here for that." Valera said. "On it." Ty said as he hit the button to disengage the gun. Ty got out of his seat and did his best to get up to the cockpit without stumbling passing Grissom and an unconscious Whitney, Ty reached the cockpit and hopped into the middle seat between his two pilots and pulled the main gun up, "Darian we're almost there, get Brad to get the Med-bay ready and then I need you and Tara to get The Setting Suns drive core fired up." Valera said. "On it Val." Darian's voice came over the comm. "Never do that again with the dampeners off or me inside this damn thing." Ty said. Valera looked at him with a smile and said "Oh come on Ty you liked it." "I'll admit I'd enjoy it a lot more without having Whitney wounded and the Eclipse on our asses." Ty said.

The main gun of their shuttle was another mini-gun but this one also had two cannons like the Mako's on both sides of the shuttle, Ty brought up the guns controls as he heard Gallick unleash a flurry of shots at a target that was behind them. Ty began aiming on his first target waiting for the target to lock while the shuttle was trying a poor attempt to evade his targeting reticule, his reticule gave him the target locked message and he fired both cannons taking out the thrusters on the back end and making it plummet from the sky, "That's one down, two to go." Valera said. Ty began locking the next target and fired again when it locked taking out the back end once again and making it plummet from the sky, "I hope no innocents are getting hurt." Carson said solemnly. "If they are it's because of the Eclipse not us." Valera said. "Maybe, hold on let me get us closer to this last target." Carson said as his hands dashed across his board. The shuttle began to speed forward making Ty reset his targeting, "We are getting close to The Setting Sun, take that bastard out Gallick." Valera ordered. "Ah come on I was just starting to have fun with him." Gallick said. "Now Gallick." Valera said. "Fine." Gallick said.

Ty locked his target and fired again taking out the thrusters again and making the Eclipse plummet from the sky and the roar of the mini-gun told Ty that Gallick was finishing his target off as well, "Get us in the shuttle bay safely and get the elevator down there, wait for us all to get on but after that I want you two at the helm as quick as possible and get us the hell off this planet." Ty ordered. "Aye aye." Valera said. "Aye aye Captain." Carson said. Ty chuckled slightly as he began to get up and said "Stop calling me Captain Carson just call me Ty." "I'll see to making the change when I'm not being shot at or having to fly the ship." Carson responded.

As Ty entered the back of the shuttle he saw Gallick making his way back to the normal seats after shutting down the gun, "Good shooting there Gallick." Ty congratulated. Gallick waved him off and said "Don't start with that crap again; I enjoy good fights I don't do it for pats on the back." "Just saying, alright when we get on board I'll take Whitney but I want you to grab the boys and go to the guns, if the Eclipse follow us attempt to disable them without crashing them into the planets surface and causing huge civilian casualties." Ty said to Gallick. "I'll make sure the boys shoot straight." Gallick said with a nod of his head. "Good, Grissom you and I are going to the Med-bay." Ty said.

Grissom nodded quietly, Ty activated his comm that would project his voice on the ship, "Darian when we get there your in charge until I'm sure Whitney is fine, Tara do what you do best and if you can leave the engines head up to the Med-bay, an extra set of hands is never bad." Ty said. "On it." "Will do Ty." Darian and Tara responded. The shuttle didn't take much longer to reach The Setting Sun and as soon as it landed in the docking bay Ty unstrapped the unconscious form of Whitney and got her in his arms as his friends began carrying out their orders, Ty and Grissom were the last ones to disembark and they got to the elevator shortly after that with all six of them getting in the elevator, _come on Whitney hold on,_ Ty thought.

* * *

The elevator slowing to a stop brought Ty from his mind and out of the old memory, he felt himself smiling as the doors opened letting him leave and head to the Med-bay to get to Doctor Chakwas. What a crew he had and what a day that had been, it had been before the Thresher Maw fight but boy did it stick out in his list of bad days mixed with a fun memory of the crew. Whitney had been injured and if it wasn't for Grissom and his quick work in the apartment she would have likely died before even getting halfway to the ship, after reaching t he Med-bay the two were able to get her more stabilized and Tara joined them soon after to lend a hand while they got off the planet without anymore chase from the Eclipse, much to the disappointment of Kar and Brad who missed out on the fight completely.

They never got Enyala but Ty had no desire to go back after the ambush and had told Tarak to "Shove the mission up your ass" for not letting them know that the Eclipse were waiting for someone like them. Ty shook the memory off and made his way into the Med-bay where Chakwas was sitting typing away on her terminal, "Doc I got something for you." Ty said. Chakwas turned around and her eyes lit up as she saw the Serrice Ice Brandy in his hand that he was displaying for her, "Is that Serrice Ice Brandy?" Chakwas asked as she stood up. "Want me to open it up and pour you a drink so you can find out?" Ty asked with a smirk. "No I trust you, so care to share a few drinks with me?" Chakwas asked. Ty shook his head in response, "I don't drink alcohol doc but if you want to drink and talk to me I'll stay around for you, if you ever need another bottle there's about five crates full down in the cargo hold, just watch out not all are Serrice and some are Dextro or Ryncol." Ty said as he pulled out a chair. "You didn't have to get that much Ty." Chakwas said.

Ty shrugged a little and Chakwas grabbed a glass for herself and started pouring herself a drink, "That had to cost you a fortune Ty Serrice Ice Brandy is not a cheap drink." Chakwas scolded. Ty smiled at the motherly tone she had as he said "It didn't cost me anything doc don't worry about it, Darian set me up with it and I already paid him for it. You don't need to fret about it." Chakwas nodded for a moment but then stopped as she asked, "Did you get Shepard any books?" Though he wasn't sure if it was a good idea still Ty nodded and said "Yeah they're in her room already." "Are you going to tell her it was you that got them?" Chakwas asked then drank out of her glass. "Maybe, I might let you take the credit for it or play dumb." Ty said.

Chakwas poured herself another and shook her head with a hearty laugh; Ty wasn't sure what was so funny since he was being serious about playing dumb. That was an easy thing to do and he made it really believable when he wanted, he wasn't sure if that meant he was good at acting or it was natural, he hoped for the first one. "What?" Ty asked. Chakwas gave him another shake of her head as she said "You." That got a laugh out of Ty, that was something that he had heard many times and he had a feeling it would never stop. "You have no idea how much I've heard that." Ty said with a smile. Chakwas got a bit of her motherly scolding look on as she said "Why not just be honest with her and tell her you got them for her she'd really appreciate it." He had a very good reason now despite knowing that she had some sort of feelings towards him, the picture of Kaiden still being in her room was reason enough to not even think about taking credit for it. Chakwas drank another shot glass full of Brandy and as she finished he said "Doc I could be stepping into enemy territory doing something like that." "What do you mean enemy territory?" Chakwas asked.

Ty took his hoodie off tired of wearing it at the moment and so he could take the crown of his hair out of the ponytail it was in, as his hair fell he rubbed the back of his head and said "You were on her original squad Chakwas, you know she was involved with that Kaiden guy and they were very close." Ty remembered how Garrus had told him about how the two got close after Virmire, he wasn't surprised in the slightest by it and it made sense for her to do that. After a tragedy you need someone to be close to, someone who will be there with you through it all no matter what and Kaiden had been that guy, what changed Ty wasn't sure but he continued nonetheless, "I mean how could they not be after Shepard had to choose between him and Ashley Williams, they could only grow closer after something like that. After the Normandy got blown up he obviously tried to move on, after being told she is dead by everyone, everyone telling you that you've mourned enough its time to move on and then after a while you do." Ty said.

He hadn't been a victim of being told to move on but he knew some people that were and it always irritated him, _let the person mourn as long as they need to_, Ty thought. Ty did know what it was like to mourn though, he mourned his friends, he mourned Ka'Reena, he still missed them but if one of them or all of them all of the sudden were alive again and the same people he knew he wouldn't shun them, he'd get them tested to make sure they were them and they didn't have a bomb in them or a tracker but he would be ecstatic to see them that's for sure. Chakwas looked attentive as he continued again, "And then after all your mourning after you finally move on and tell yourself that your done mourning and things will be different all of the sudden she shows up again and those feelings that you thought you moved on from are brought back because you never really did move on but now you see her as foreign to you because of who she is using to defeat an enemy and there happens to be an Alliance most wanted criminal at her side. Now she is different in your eyes but despite all that you still have feelings for her but that criminal is standing there blocking the thoughts from your mind, I mean when you first learned who I was what was your reaction?" Ty asked.

Ty hadn't put much thought into being in Kaiden's shoes back on Horizon but as he was talking he was imagining his point of view or at least what he assumed it would be, Chakwas let out a laugh though at his question before she said "I thought Shepard was crazy for wanting to bring you onto the squad and then wanting to bring you back to life. I reminded her of everything your grandfather had done what you had been reported of doing. I thought you were a monster quite honestly but it seems I was quite wrong." That was the common reaction of people that were in the Alliance or C-Sec so Ty wasn't surprised, "Exactly you thought I was this terrible person so put yourself in Kaiden's shoes, he sees his long lost love with me and Garrus with reports of working with Cerberus so he's obviously pissed off and you got me and my mouth making it worse so he just walks away leaving her there and she feels betrayed. She hasn't changed but everyone around her moved on because in those two years she was gone shit happened but she is the same as she was two years ago." Ty said.

Chakwas nodded in agreement or at least Ty thought it was agreement though he was unsure, Ty moved his hand through the air to show time moving forward as he said "Now fast forward time to now, she probably still has feelings for him, he may have apologized and I'm not going to stick a knife in it. If there are any feelings still there I don't want to step into the territory and screw stuff up, you know?"

Chakwas seemed to ponder it for a minute either that or she was becoming to drunk to articulate well so Ty just stayed quiet and waited for either Chakwas to continue the conversation or pass out, Chakwas looked at her empty glass like there was something missing other than it being empty then she looked up and said "I understand, I wish I could tell you if Kaiden and Shepard reconciled but I do not know." Ty waved her off and said, "Don't worry about it 'cause I'm not going to worry about it. It wouldn't work anyway." Chakwas frowned slightly as she asked "Why not?" "She is apart of the Alliance and I'm on their wanted list, there isn't any way to do anything with it without me screwing up her life and I'm not going to do that." Ty said. "Because working with Cerberus isn't a huge risk either?" Chakwas asked. "That is different and easy for her to get out of by saying she was using them or something." Ty said. "And you two aren't stubborn enough to find a way to make it work?" Chakwas asked with a smile. Ty attempted to retort but stopped, she had him there with the stubbornness stuff, "I don't want to screw up her life." Ty responded lamely.

The doors opened behind Ty so he looked back but saw no one there so he just turned back to Chakwas who was pouring herself another drink, "Remind me if I ever start drinking that I shouldn't try and go drink for drink against you." Ty said with a smile. "Shepard's the only one that can hold up against me and beat me, she doesn't drink that often but when she does she can take a lot." Chakwas said. The doctor drank what was in her cup then went for the bottle again but wasn't able to grab it since it was floating, Ty and Chakwas both looked at the bottle weirdly and Chakwas asked "Is that bottle floating or am I just plastered?" Ty stared for a second longer but then noticed the shimmer of a tactical cloak that had a feminine figure, he smiled since he almost forgot that Shepard had left to go recruit Kasumi, "Hey Kasumi I didn't know you were stealing Brandy now, did I put you out of business?" Ty asked.

Ty heard a light chuckle then Kasumi un-cloaked, she looked the same as the last time he saw her and still wore her hood up which wasn't that much of a surprise since he had only ever seen it off of her once and that was by complete accident. Keiji and Kasumi never forgave him for that, something about "ruining their moment" before the heist they went on since he made a comment about Kasumi liking it on top or Keiji preferring it on bottom, they chased him out after that since they were still fully clothed. "Please not even you could do that, mind if I have a drink?" Kasumi asked Chakwas. Before she answered Kasumi put the bottles to her lips and took a few swigs of it before she put it down next to Chakwas and asked "So what brought the most famous thief here, credits or the chance to steal someone else's loot?" Ty smirked; she really never got over that one either. "Are you still pissed off about that, it was three years ago Kasumi." "Yea I am, it was a score of a lifetime and you took it from me." Kasumi said crossing her arms. Ty shook his head and said "You started it." "I did not." Kasumi retorted childishly. "Yes you did, I was minding my own business trying to steal from that Blue Suns cash cow but as I got to the safe you locked me out and took my score so all I did was return the favor." Ty said. "Yeah but my score was bigger, it was three times the amount of yours." Kasumi said putting three fingers up.

Ty shrugged to himself, she had a valid point but all is fair in love and war and she made it a war, not a violent war but a war of another sort. Ty stood up and Kasumi shook her head at him as he said, "Details details either way you started it." Ty said. They stared each other down for a second then they broke into laughter and gave each other a hug, "Its good to see you alive and in one piece, news was that you got taken out by the Blue Suns on Omega." Kasumi said as they let go of each other.

That was Arias way of keeping everyone off his ass while he was on the mission, he liked it and that meant that anyone who knew him would either friend or foe would have a great reaction when they saw him walking about. "Tyler Rhoddy has died many times" was one of the stories on Omega that it would add to unfortunately but Ty didn't really care at the moment, "No doubt that was Aria after she found out I was alive, how you been last time we saw each other you were with Keiji and you two were shacking up." Kasumi got really quiet which told Ty all he needed to know, he felt really bad for her and felt like an asshole for just saying it without considering him being dead. They were lovers and he was gone now, Ty hoped it wasn't in front of her at least, that kind of wound never healed. "Shit I'm sorry Kasumi, hey Chakwas mind if I go talk to Kasumi?" Ty asked. "Go ahead Ty I'm going to take a nap." Chakwas said as she started forcing herself to her feet.

Ty put his hand on Kasumi's shoulder and ushered her towards the door, they got out and Kasumi started, "So why is it I hear that you are not dead from someone I just met minutes ago and not from you?" Kasumi asked. Ty chuckled and said "Didn't really think that my friends would believe that I was actually dead and haven't really taken the time to make sure the remaining friends I have know." "You could've at least sent a message stating that you got injured or recruited and you were going to be out of contact, I had my own personal ceremony for you." Kasumi said. After a few long in depth talks Kasumi and Ty came to an agreement about a what if scenario about their deaths and Ty asked her to put a candle in a bowl and have a moment of prayer or silence which ever she preferred but he never expected her to remember the talk since it was just a what if thing, "Candle in the bowl?" Ty asked. "Yeah…I went to the same place I had Keiji's…It's been hard." Kasumi said with a tinge of sadness. "I'm sorry." Ty apologized. "I'm going to have to steal your candle back now." Kasumi joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

An image of Kasumi using a fishing pole to try and get the bowl without knocking the candle into the water went through Ty's head making him chuckle, "Don't forget to wear a bathing suit." Ty said. Ty looked around and asked, "Where you staying, we can talk there." "The A.I. said it was on the same side as your room just on the other side of the bathroom, I checked it out it has a nice lounge in it and a bar." Kasumi said. "Sounds like it suits you just fine then, to answer your question I came on board because Shepard offered to help me find a friend who was kidnapped and I promised to see the mission through without charge…not that I've really been known for charging any time recently." Ty said as they got to her door. "Yeah you're about as cheap as they come." Kasumi joked. Ty chuckled and said "Ouch." "Did you find your friend?" Kasumi asked.

The door opened and they walked into her room, which was on the other side of the wall next to Ty's room facing out into the stars like his, Kasumi sat on the couch and Ty grabbed a bar stool and walked it over to her and sat down on it, "Yea it all worked out, everything was finished that was started eight years ago." Ty said. Kasumi smiled and said "So you finally came full circle, took you long enough." "Hunting and killing isn't as easy as planning a heist, so what you here for?" Ty asked. "Hock." Kasumi said. _The infamous Hock, why the hell is she going after him, _Ty thought. He went over all the reasons he could fathom going after that asshole for but came up mostly blank until he hit one thought that he was certain was spot on, "What did he take from Keiji?" Ty asked. Kasumi fidgeted slightly before she said, "His graybox holding all of his memories, there's something important on it that I need to see and Hocks got it." Kasumi said. Ty hmmed to himself as he thought about what she said, the Spirits had a funny way of bringing people together. "Sounds like we're all bound by our pasts, Shepard promise to help?" Ty asked.

Kasumi nodded and as she did the doors to her room opened, Ty looked over and Shepard was standing there in her casual clothes. The Normandy began to hum and Ty nodded at Shepard and said "Hey Shepard." "Shep I was impressed with the ship and the A.I. and my room but managing to get him." Kasumi pointed at Ty and then continued, "Is a huge feat even for you. Definitely considering the sides of the world you both come from." Kasumi said. "What are you saying? That I don't know how to play nice?" Ty asked. "You did point a gun in my face when we first talked." Shepard said with a smile. "I was pissed off." Ty retorted. "And you knocked Keiji out." Kasumi responded. Ty put his hands up as he said "Wait a minute that was actually for a good cause." "Good cause? You mean jumping out of an exploding building?" Kasumi asked. "Saved his ass didn't I?" Ty asked. "Yea bu-" Ty interrupted Kasumi "Case closed Kasumi." Shepard chuckled at the two as she asked, "You two know each other well?" Ty nodded and said "After I got payback for her stealing my loot by stealing hers she decided to pop a visit with me while I was on Omega and after that we became quick friends and began thieving together for a while, she's the thief with kleptomania that said "I needed to cheer up."" "Because you did Mr. Dark and Scary." Kasumi retorted with a smile. "Anyway we worked together until I started picking up the pace on finding Suns." Ty said.

Shepard nodded but Kasumi laughed and said "More like you disappeared on me before one of my biggest heist that was successful; you could've taken a third if you helped out." Ty shook his head in response and said "I had enough cash already I was thieving for sport, we leaving the Citadel Shepard?" "Yea heading for Pragia now, it'll be four days before we get there, mind if I borrow Ty from you Kasumi?" Shepard asked. Kasumi shook her head but Ty saw the mischievous smile cross her lips, that usually meant something bad for him, "Not at all, I don't know if you were given the warning yet but spending alone time with him can be dangerous." Kasumi said with a smile. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ty asked as he put the bar stool back. "I'm just saying that almost all women who have spent alone time with you end up falling in love with you except for yours truly, that other Quarian Tali, or at least I don't think she did, there was that Asari dancer who you are friends with and all but one of the girls in your squad and a few others. The rest have fallen for him so be careful Shepard." The smile that crossed Shepard's lips didn't make Ty feel any better as she said "I'll keep that in mind."

**A/N: Hey SharpRevan thanks for the review! I have a feeling that scene would have the most Renegade/Paragon interrupts than all the other scenes that had a multitude of interrupts if it were real but alas I agree completely about wanting to give that argument to the Illusive man, it would be fun doing that. A quick note, I doubt the shuttle is capable of that stuff but it just seemed like to good of an idea to pass up so I put it in here, also Ty and Whitney see each other as siblings though they are not, I don't know if I conveyed that very well but just in case there is any confusion I put this here. I hope this chapter is enjoyable for all of you and I will see you next time.**


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

More Than Friends

After putting the bar stool down back where he found it Ty turned back towards Shepard and began to walk over to her, despite his better intentions telling him it was a bad idea he was going to ask to go back to his room to talk so he could get all his gear off since he hadn't taken the time to take all of it off after helping out Garrus. He did get to rip the Illusive Man a new one and then talk a little with Jack, Chakwas and Kasumi but he wanted to take all the weight off of him so his body could have a slight break. That was something that he still wasn't used to, or at least something he was trying to work himself back into. After Ka'Reena was killed he hadn't allowed himself to relax, the weight of his guns and tomahawks had become a normal to have on all day and all night until the few hours he slept but even then he had a pistol right under his pillow just in case.

The luxury of the Normandy and being apart of a squad with little to no duties aside from the ground team was something Ty was acclimatizing to, Ty reached Shepard and said "Mind if we talk in my room, I gotta get my gear off still." A light giggle came from Kasumi which was one of the things his gut warned him about, "See there it is, that's how he gets you. He makes it sound like an innocent offer and then you're head over heels for him before you even realize it." Kasumi joked. Ty would have attempted an argument but he considered how he and Jessica met and then what happened after, she wasn't head over heels for him but he didn't have much room to argue. Shepard had a big smirk on her face as Ty found himself shaking his head in response to Kasumi, "No argument Ty?" Shepard asked with her smirk. "That…hasn't happened." Ty responded lamely. "It has hasn't it?" Shepard asked with a big stupid grin coming to her face.

Of all his bad responses that one was one of his worst ones, he turned himself into cannon fodder for jokes and there wasn't anything he could say to retort. _Damn you Kasumi,_ Ty thought. "I told you Haley had a sister right?" Ty asked. "You did now regardless." Shepard stated. Ty glanced over at Kasumi who was attempting to contain herself from laughing hard, he was heavily considering stealing more of her loot in the future, "She and I met for the first time when she told me Haley was kidnapped, we were on Omega and there were some Blue Suns in the area and I didn't want her to become the next target so I brought her to my family's home base and after discussing the details of what she knew about Haley…" Ty trailed off and Kasumi began laughing. "It wasn't my intention." Ty responded.

As Kasumi's laughing began to die down both Ty and Shepard shook their heads for separate reasons, Ty did because of Kasumi getting him stuck with a joke she hadn't thought she would have got him with and Shepard was shaking hers in humor as she too laughed with Kasumi. "It seems my warning is justified." Kasumi said. After mentally kicking his own ass for allowing himself to get stuck like that and planning to steal Kasumi's next big score Ty finally found some words though it was already to late to save himself, "Ha ha Kasumi you're hilarious." Ty said. "Thank you." Kasumi said with a smile. Ty looked back to Shepard and nodded at the door and asked "Can we go now?" Shepard nodded and after both said their goodbyes to Kasumi they left her room and headed around the corner back to his room, they walked through the door and Ty said "Make yourself at home." Shepard headed towards his bed as Ty went to his table and started putting his gear onto it starting with his sniper, "How you holding up Shepard?" Ty asked. "Honestly?" Shepard asked.

Ty pulled his tomahawks off his back and twirled them in his hands as he did then put them down and took off all the holsters on his upper body and put them down, he was a little caught off guard by her response. He knew she was human and had just almost had her whole memory wiped but he half expected her to say that she was fine with some witty remark, "If you don't want to answer honestly then no but I'd prefer to hear the truth since I know despite the great façade you put up of being invincible your still human, you've shown me that much." Ty said as he pulled his new tomahawk holders off with the tomahawks still inside. Shepard stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating honesty or to lie Ty assumed but he remained quiet while he waited for her answer.

Shepard was a warrior on the battlefield as was Ty but off the battlefield she wasn't an emotionless person, she looked after her crew more than most people Ty knew of would but she rarely talked about her own self and how she felt. Ty had been granted a few moments where she did and maybe that was just because she felt she owed him something for saving her life on Omega or maybe, like everyone had been pointing out recently, she held some type of feelings for him and felt comfortable talking about it with him the few times she did though he hoped it was just her being friendly. "I haven't had any problems controlling my biotics and no headaches so in that aspect I'm fine but…" Shepard trailed off. "But shit just isn't getting any easier?" Ty asked. Shepard chuckled slightly as Ty turned around from his desk; Shepard was lying down on his bed looking up at the stars, "That's the short version." Shepard said. "And you don't wanna talk about the long version." Ty stated.

After a few brief moments Shepard nodded slightly, that was the end of that conversation and Ty wasn't going to push it so he looked out to the stars and asked, "Great view huh?" Hind sight he knew it was a bad choice of words but it was to late at that point as Shepard shook her head slightly and seemed to have a smirk on her face as she said "Men." Ty didn't realize what she meant at first as he looked from the stars back to her, "What? Oh you thought…Wow I should have really worded that better, I was asking about the stars." Ty said as he walked towards the plush chair looking out at the stars. Shepard looked up with an even bigger smirk than she had before and Ty knew he set himself up once again, "So you don't think I'm a good view? That hurts my feelings Ty." _Add another mental kick to the ass,_ Ty thought. Ty attempted to back peddle, "I never said that you weren't a good view I was just talking about this time in particular I was asking about the stars." Ty said. "So you have checked me out?" Shepard teased. _Son of a bitch,_ Ty thought. "I…can we move on please?" Ty asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

Shepard had a smile of victory on her face as she laid back down, she had gotten either satisfaction or some question she had answered out of that brief conversation or she got both Ty wasn't sure but he was hoping they wouldn't go back to that line of questioning. Shepard stayed quiet for a while as Ty sat down in the plush chair in front of his bed, "I used to have a room like this back when I was kid going from ship to ship, huh hard to believe how long ago that was. You know as a military kid I always dreamed of being able to be the person you saw in the vids, I'd be helping people out, stopping the bad guys and maybe even saving the galaxy from some threat and meeting someone and falling in love with them, it was my dream." Shepard said.

Ty chuckled slightly, that was one hell of a dream but that was what all kids did, dream the impossible and never allowing anything to stop it. He wasn't sure why a kid would believe military life or any type of fighting life style would be romantic but then again as kids you didn't know any better. "Military life isn't as romantic as it seems I take it." Ty said with a smirk. Shepard let out a short laugh and said "Not even a little bit, Kaiden was the second person I ever stepped out with in the military and both relationships I had were against regs, I guess I was to hard headed to let that get in the way." That wasn't a surprise, saying Shepard was hard headed was like saying water was wet, Ty also understood slightly why the military had regulations against relationship but Ty didn't understand why they tried to stop it, the soldiers could hide it and if you banned relationships you might as well ban friendships, both would make you second guess orders if it meant saving your friend or leaving them behind for some objective.

That's how Ty saw it at least it and that was one of the many reasons why he couldn't join the military, friends always came before the mission for him, Ty couldn't stop himself from making a joke though, "You must've had a great time by yourself." Ty said waiting for her response. Shepard seemed to roll her eyes with a smile as she said "Shut up." Ty chuckled slightly but then stopped as he said, "If they didn't make military life seem so glamorous then no one would sign up, I'm just surprised you dreamed of being that person with all the weight of the Universe on your shoulders." Ty said.

Shepard shrugged and she seemed to relax more on the bed as she got herself more comfortable, "I didn't want all the weight but as crazy as it sounds I don't think I was cut out for much else, I'm not your stay at home woman working a nine to five job, even when I was a teen I thrived at causing trouble my mom would get reports all the time about it." They had only spoken about her family briefly and that was because Ty decided to change the subject from his mother that he hadn't really known the truth about to her family, "You still in contact with her?" Ty asked. Shepard shook her head and said "No after I was…rebuilt I got a message from her about having to hear it third hand from Alliance Brass that her daughter was alive, she thinks I'm on some top secret mission which is why I can't contact her." "Not technically false." Ty responded. Shepard shook her head again and said "Not true either." Shepard stated. "You should contact her." Ty said. Shepard let out a sigh, "I don't think I should face her until we're done with Cerberus." Shepard said.

Maybe she was right about not talking to her mother until she was done with Cerberus but Ty didn't like the idea that this mission could end in all of their deaths and she didn't talk to her mother at least for a little while, Ty sighed and got out of his seat and sat down on the bed next to Shepard, Shepard looked over at him and said "We haven't talked a lot since Scrum and the Suns, I notice you have a new necklace, tattoo, picture, holo, and I've also heard that you found out about your mother." All true statements but Ty knew that she was trying to change the subject just like he had done before but unlike her he wasn't going to let that slide, Ty nodded and said "Yea I did but don't switch the conversation, its not my business but I think you should talk to your mom. You don't have to tell her that you're working with Cerberus, you don't need to tell her I'm on board this ship either but you should at least talk to her." Shepard huffed a little and said "My mom hates Cerberus and she'd probably want to disown me for even considering using them to help me take out the Collectors." Ty shook his head and asked in an unbelieving tone, "Disown you?" "Okay maybe not that bad." Shepard responded. "I won't talk to you about it anymore since it's not my business but you're trying to get everyone clear headed for the mission but you need to be cleared as well. The Reapers could come tomorrow and kill everything we know and you might regret not talking to your mom one last time that's all I'm saying."

Shepard stayed quiet and Ty got off the bed, she wanted to know some of the things that had changed since Scrum and the Blue Sun base so he decided that he'd start with the necklace, holo and picture, Ty grabbed the picture off and the holo off the nightstand and as he walked back over he said "I'm going to hazard a guess and say Jack gave you the really short Jack version of me and Ka'Reena." Shepard chuckled and said "You'd be guessing correctly." Ty sat down crossed legged next to her again and put the holo on her belly and said "The message in there is from Ka'Reena before she died and this picture is of all of us together, its been edited since the original was just me, my dad, my brother, Darian and Ka'Reena but they did a good job of it."

Shepard sat up and held the holo in her hand staring at it intently before looking back up at Ty with a cautious look, "Are you sure you want me to hear this? This is personal." Shepard asked. "Yeah it is but…You're a great friend Shepard and if this helps you understand me more than I'm willing to share, I'd do the whole mind joining thing but I go unconscious afterwards which leaves me very un-conversational." Ty said. Shepard smiled slightly but then looked back at the holo for a few seconds until she opened it and Ka'Reena popped up again starting the message, "Ty if you have found this than I am probably dead because of my pilgrimage or because the Suns came for me. Please if it's the second do not blame yourself for it you Bosh'tet you gave me probably the best two years of my life that I would ever live."

Ty laughed a little again at her calling him a Bosh'tet then she continued "I know life without me is going to be hard for you with what you have already lost but know I will always be watching over you and making sure you are okay. Tell Tali to be safe and that I loved her like a sister, she was a great friend. Until we see each other again I want you to always feel my love and take my soul into yours and continue to live your life. Don't mourn me forever and try to find love again and be sure to love that person like you did me it'll make that person very lucky." Ty had control of his emotions so he wouldn't start balling like he did last time as the message got to the hard part, "I love you Ty forever and always, I will be as free as dust in the solar wind until you find me in the next life. Goodbye my Bosh'tet bondmate, keelah 'se lai."

The message closed and Shepard looked over at Ty who was undoing the star necklace and showing it to her, "Este es su estrella guia, this is her guiding star. Tali gave it to her for her pilgrimage so she could find her way back home, figuratively speaking. Aria had found it on Jentha, the bitch who kicked my ass on Omega and sliced my pretty face up with my own tomahawk when you saved me before I died…that sounds weird." Ty said. "Yeah I can attest to that." Shepard responded. Shepard put the holo down and Ty put the necklace in her hand so she could examine it, "Was that Spanish?" Shepard asked as she examined the star. "Yea I learned it when I was a kid for shits and my brother learned Portuguese for some strange reason, I taught Reena a few things like the guiding star and a few other things." Ty said.

Shepard ran her finger along all nine sides of the star; she looked up at Ty as she handed it back to him and asked "Is bondmate as serious as it sounds?" Ty nodded and put the necklace back on and said "A year into being together, I was sixteen at the time we first started dating but seventeen at this point, we started talking about being together forever, she'd have had her duty on the flotilla after her pilgrimage and I wouldn't be allowed on so we would only see each other once in a while…I was seriously in love with her Shepard. We loved each other so much that she was willing to give up going back to the flotilla for me though I was entirely against it since she had family there and I'd be fine with once in a while because one I don't cheat and two she was well worth it. We never had some official thing like a marriage but we made it official to ourselves, bonded for life and after is what told each other…I didn't know this message existed till after I came back from Illium after visiting with my family but I knew she was still watching over me guiding me on my road."

Shepard stared at the picture for along time then she handed it back to him and said "She was beautiful." "Yeah she was, now when you see Tali you have an idea of what she looks like under the mask." Shepard smiled and Ty put the holo on top of the picture frame and set it to the side, "She's one of the people I have been fighting for these past years along with my fallen friends. She was everything to me and still is in a way. I figure I should hold onto that since I got to experience true love once in my life and it probably was a one time thing." Ty said. "You really believe that?" Shepard asked.

Ty shrugged as his dads words rang through his head, he knew it was true that it was a choice to find love or not a second time and maybe he would but with the war it seemed unlikely for a while, Shepard laid back down and stared at the stars for a moment than said "Do you believe in destiny?" "Normally no but that changed recently." Ty said. "Why?" Shepard asked. Ty smirked a little to himself and said "I met you." Shepard looked up with a questioning look and asked "What do you mean?" "I like to think sometimes that things happen for a reason and that the spirits of the fallen are watching over us all. Destiny I didn't believe because it meant I wasn't in control of me and what I do it meant something else was controlling it but I think you have a destiny or you were the right person at the right place and right time." Ty said as he stood up and walked to the window looking out at the stars. "What makes you say that?" Shepard asked as she sat up.

He wasn't sure if he really believed it was a destiny of a sort but the way everything played out for her made him wonder if the Spirits of all the fallen and all the races the Reapers killed moving things into motion so the cycle of death would stop, that or someone was just having way to much fun giving Shepard a story to tell to her kids in the future and decided to throw all the people of the Galaxy into the mix and pull a certain group of individuals into her squad to help her succeed_. It is probably the Spirits trying to help us while having fun with it_, Ty thought. Ty paced a little and said "You were born a spacer, joined the alliance when you were old enough, lost your squad to the maws, got N7 ranked at some point, Eden Prime, first human Spectre, you and your squad took down Saren and learned of the Reaper threat and our maybe imminent destruction. You got spaced and then you get revived to fight the Collectors and Reapers again, either that's one hell of a luck and karma wheel you got there or the Spirits have some sort of plan." "Do you think I'm the universes savior?" Shepard asked. "Well if the Spirits aint saving us then it might as well be you." Ty said with a laugh.

Shepard stood up and asked "You believe in a higher power stopping this?" Ty shook his head, that was one thing he had learned, the Spirits didn't involve themselves no matter what they just guided the best they could. The Spirits wouldn't stop it but he believed with all his being that Shepard would find a way, "No but I believe in you completely." Ty said. Shepard got to Ty's side and said, "Thank you for the vote of confidence." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "I have more than confidence in you Shepard." Ty said. The pair stood in silence looking out into space, Ty enjoyed the comfortable silence between them while both of them were lost in their own thoughts, it reminded him of when his brother and him used to meditate with one another.

The pair stood for a little bit longer in silence until Shepard broke it, "Do you really think we can pull this off, Collectors and Reapers?" Ty looked over at her with a bit of shock and asked "Don't you?" Shepard grabbed her left arm at the bicep with her right hand as she said, "I'm trying to take it day by day hoping that we'll find something to even the odds but as it stands now with no one united, no. Not the Reapers at least." Shepard said. She made a valid point and Ty had to agree slightly despite his loyalty and belief in her, the way the Galaxy was right now the Reapers would wipe them all out. Together they could fight them but if they tried to fight them individually each race would end up dying, there was still hope in Ty's eyes with Shepard spearheading the effort, "We still have time Shepard, we can still prepare and be ready for them. We have the advantage of knowing they are coming and that sure as shit is a better start than the Prothean's had." Ty said. Shepard looked him in the eyes and searched his eyes for something as she asked, "Will you be ready when the time comes to fight?"

He was ready for the fight and he wasn't going to sit by and let the Reapers kill everyone he cared about, Ty nodded with a smile and said "I'll be ready and at your side fighting for everything we hold dear." Shepard smiled in return and Ty couldn't help but notice that she had a beautiful smile even if she didn't show any teeth that time, "I couldn't wish for anyone else to be with me going to battle with them." Shepard said. Ty shrugged and said jokingly, "Sure you could but none would make you smile like me." Shepard smiled again and Ty said "See." They stood in silence for a few seconds staring at the stars until Shepard finally said "Thank you for being here for me." "No problem." Ty said. "Were you always like this back before you lost your crew and Ka'Reena?" Shepard asked. Ty raised an eyebrow in response and asked, "Like what?" "Always there for your friends when they were down or needing to talk to someone?" Shepard asked.

It was an odd question which caught Ty a little off guard, the answer was simple it was yes but it was either his mind playing tricks on him or Shepard was leading him to a question she wanted to ask, "Yea I've always tried to be there for them but sometimes I wasn't there for them like they wanted, some of them wanted more than I could be for them but sometimes I couldn't be that guy. I learned a while back that I can't be everyone's boyfriend or really close guy friend because of the problems that come along with it, back when I got slapped seven times was because I tried to be that for them all, I thought I could work it out because I liked them all a lot but, well I got slapped seven times for it."

Shepard chuckled a little and smiled but she stopped herself and asked "Why did you get together with one of your squad mates?" Another odd question and Ty was sensing more and more that she was leading him to a question, "Normally I don't believe in sticking my pen in the squads ink it just makes things messy between the crew definitely when you're the leader, but I found Tara attractive and she was a lot of fun and she was attracted to me for some strange reason. She was near on eighty so really young by Asari standards and after getting to know one another better I decided to make the exception to my rule and it worked out to my surprise. We had an on and off again relationship though, we never fought I just…we just never had the courage to make that commitment for more than a few months so we'd just separate and do what we wanted still the best of friends and then we'd start becoming more flirty with each other and we'd end up back in a committed relationship until we stopped again." Ty said. "Would you make any exceptions in this crew?" Shepard asked.

Ty smirked to himself as she made it clear that she not only was indeed guiding him to a question but also trying to subtly ask if he was interested in her. He wasn't sure how this conversation would play out and he felt slightly worried about it but he didn't let it show as he walked back to his bed and sat on it, "It's okay just to ask whatever it is you wanna ask Shepard instead of playing this question game until you get to the one you want." Ty said as he laid back to look at the stars. He hoped their friendship would still be intact after this.

* * *

It was now or never for Shepard, she closed her eyes as Ty laid down on his bed, she intertwined her fingers feeling her nervousness starting to get to her. She had summoned up enough courage to get him going to this question now it was time to ask. Ever since he woke up and they started talking she had steadily started liking him more and more to this point which was more than a friend and comrade, she didn't know at first if it was just because she wanted to blow off steam or because she liked him but now she was more than certain that it was more than a blow off steam feeling.

He was more than what the Alliance had ever said, he was better than the lies they told and she knew it, she had seen it and even had been saved by the man. His pleading eyes were still in her mind but the smile he'd give her and the look in his eyes when he did blocked it out on most occasions. He was always sincere to her, never faked his smile and always meant what he said, he cared genuinely about everyone on the ship, or at least everyone he knew on a personal level. Shepard couldn't stop the feelings she was starting to have for him because the more time they spent together the more she wanted to spend with him on an even more personal level though seeing Haley give him a peck on the lips deflated her balloon a little but it didn't seem like they were together it was just how their friendship was. Haley seemed like the type of girl that Ty would want to stay with but he stopped himself before he did, just like he didn't pursue Shepard or anyone else on the ship.

The feelings she was having for this man that she first thought was just an asshole who didn't care about anyone but himself were puzzling, _if he does accept me how would it work? We are from opposite worlds and the Alliance and Citadel want him dead along with his family, and Kaiden…that relationship is already turning into permanent nothingness and if Ty reciprocated my feelings and we got together that friendship I had with him would be destroyed. Not that it matters now anyway he already broke up with me but he was my friend and I still care about him…even if he did stomp my heart flat._ Shepard shook off the thought, if she was ever going to be able to sleep at night she was going to have to ask him, she needed to get her feelings out. If he denied her fine she wasn't going to force it on him but at least she made it known that she wanted more than to flirt with him.

Put her up against a suicide mission she'd go in head first, try to get her feelings out without pissing off the guy who always said "I don't want a relationship" and she became nervous. Come on girl you can do this just speak your mind and don't let your courage waver, _if anything he'll just keep up with his usual saying and we can deal with that we deal with harder odds than this._ Shepard opened her eyes and un-intertwined her fingers as her courage built up, she nodded to her reflection and thought, _It's now or never._

* * *

Ty heard Shepard walk towards the bed and then she laid on her back next to him, "I like you Ty, you intrigue me and I don't know why that is but I've learned that those feelings can never be understood and can't be explained. Do you…have any feelings for me?" Shepard asked. Truth was Ty found Shepard attractive on more than a physical level, her personality had always been attractive to him and her eyes were almost hypnotizing. He felt something for her though he wasn't sure what set of hormones thought it was a good idea since they were on opposite sides and there was no way of it working without him screwing up her life. Ty didn't know how to respond to her question in the slightest, "Shepard I…" Ty stopped himself trying to figure out what words to say, Shepard leaned up onto her elbow as she looked at him with her sapphire eyes, his first words were not his best, "This is crazy." Ty said.

Shepard smiled to Ty's surprise and said "I know, I won't lie Ty it scares the hell out of me thinking that if you do have these types of feelings for me what will happen to you." "Shepard forget about that for a second, if anyone ever caught wind that you were with me in any way aside from being a squad mate than everything you've worked for, Spectre, N7, Commander, all of your accomplishments are taken away." Ty said. Shepard nodded in response, she obviously had thought about this all before but it didn't make sense why she would still want to consider him an option. "I know that, I've thought about all the negative possibilities many times the last few nights but you still haven't given me an answer." Shepard stated.

Ty contemplated his answer, it was madness that he was even considering it but it wasn't like he hadn't done something insane before. "I…I do but the consequences are to great Shepard, I don't want to ruin your life and what you've worked for because of some set of hormones that chose a ridiculous time to think it would be a good idea. There's a war to be fought and you need your status to get everyone to come together and you don't need to be worrying about me dying or something." Ty said.

Shepard looked hopeful still as she examined Ty for a few seconds, none of this made sense but here he was finally admitting to himself that he had feelings for her and actually wondering if they could actually work. Shepard grabbed his hand which made him look over from his thoughts, her deep flawless sapphire eyes held his as she said in a tone that was mixed with comfort and care, "Ty I care about you and no matter if we took this path or not I would always think of you and worry if you were still alive or not while I was fighting. I understand where you're coming from, I know it could be dangerous for us both but I'd be willing to try if you were but I can see that you are still uncertain and I don't want you feeling forced into it or saying no because of you feel forced…I want you to decide on your own, I told myself I wouldn't force any of the crew to do anything or say anything any of you weren't comfortable with and I guess I forgot that included what I've been trying to do." "I need to know Shepard why me? Why are you so fixated on me? Are you just trying to fix the broken pieces?" Ty asked.

Shepard gave him a warm smile and said "No it's more than that but I'll give you some time to think about it and make your decision." "How long has it been more than a blow off steam or fix something thought?" Ty asked. "I don't know but I know it is more than that, thank you for the books." Shepard said with a smile. "Who told you Chakwas or EDI?" Ty asked. "You just did." Shepard said with a sly grin. Ty smirked and Shepard looked him in the eyes and asked "Will you give this, us, some thought Ty?" Ty looked down at their hands intertwined, there was something he liked about the way it looked but he then looked back into Shepard's eyes and said "Yeah I'll start thinking about it."


	33. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Bound to the Past

They were an hour or so away from Pragia now as Ty made his way down to engineering to look into how to install the upgrades he had mentioned to Shepard, after talking about giving the relationship between them a try Shepard and Ty talked for another two hours talking about different subjects like his new tattoo and some of the symbols and why he hadn't got a new hoodie to replace his burnt and ripped up one that he still wore. Ty's reason aside from not having a spare handy and being to lazy to have someone from his family drop a crate off at the next port they stopped at was that, like his scars, the tank top had become apart of him and he wasn't very willing to part from it. Ty had wondered how Garrus was holding up with how the whole thing with Sidonis went so he asked her about it, Garrus, though he hated Sidonis, said he could still see the good in him and if Shepard had moved he didn't think he could've pulled the trigger.

The time between the Citadel and Pragia usually wouldn't have taken the few days it had so far but Shepard decided to finish up the Project Firewalker mission that she was doing, Ty and Grunt bowed out of the squad for her last two missions with Grunt not wanting to puke all over the Hammerhead again and Ty not wanting to get in the vehicle with Shepard since she had made Grunt puke. After a few jokes about her driving from the squad that had been in the Hammerhead and those who hadn't Shepard picked Kasumi and Tali to go down to the planet Karumto in the Yakawa System inside the Caleston Rift. Ty and Garrus had a good laugh, after they were sure that the ground squad was okay after the volcanic activity started, with jokes about the mission being an explosive and fiery which then led to more jokes about Shepard's driving coming from Ty, Garrus, Tali and Kasumi. Tali said it wasn't as bad as the Mako but Kasumi did not like the Hammerhead in the slightest saying that "I am going to steal all the credits from whoever invented that stupid piece of machinery. I don't care if it allowed us to escape that volcano no one should ever be subjected to that thing."

After that the Normandy headed to the final area for Project Firewalker which was the planet Kopis in the Hoplos system in the Hades Nexus, Ty worked more on Grunts gun getting it finished while he waited for the crew to get back, Shepard brought down Garrus because of his jokes and Jacob who volunteered so he could stretch his legs and "get my adrenaline pumping and attempt to hold down my lunch" as he put it. Shepard offered to Ty to go saying "It'll be a ride you won't forget" but Ty decided that even with all the stunts he pulled on his bike and all the crap Valera put him through when she was on shuttle evac duty that Shepard's driving would probably be the first time his stomach couldn't handle the ride and he wasn't going to give Shepard or anyone else ammunition for giving him shit about not being able to hold his lunch.

The squad came back in one piece thankfully and Shepard had some strange orb with her, it was apparently bigger than it was when Ty saw it but it wasn't the first Shepard had encountered, something about the planet Eletania and a vision of something she wasn't sure about though she was sure both orbs were of Prothean make or maybe before them. Ty shrugged in response and said "As long as we all don't start hearing voices in our head." Shepard chuckled in response and they talked shortly about the finished Avenger in front of him and he told her it was for Grunt but she told him to wait on giving it to him since Grunt was acting strange. Ty asked what she had meant by that and after she told him what was wrong Ty responded by saying "Sounds like he's just being a Krogan" Shepard didn't seem to understand what he meant but she moved on from it, Ty had Kar in his squad and though he was still over a hundred years he was still had some of the same love for fighting that Grunt did, then again all Krogans like fighting but some like Wrex seemed more at ease than others. Maybe it was an age thing or maybe Kar and Grunt were just trigger happy, both scenarios were possible.

After the squad left and Ty finished up with the gun he headed up to the Crew Quarters and reminisced with Kasumi while both had a bowl of ramen. The pair were soon joined by Garrus and Jack with both coming out for food which led to all four made conversation with one another having a few laughs and Jack, Ty and Garrus trading sarcasm with one another while Kasumi jumped in here and there to egg on whoever was on the receiving end. Jack and Ty held a conversation with one another after Kasumi and Garrus left talking a little more about her past and then talking a little more about him telling the Illusive Man off, she seemed very…happy? Maybe not the right word but close to it.

On the ride to Pragia from the Hades Nexus Ty met with Miranda who was coming around from being pissed at him and Ty was attempting to figure out why she had been extremely pissed at him, in his eyes it couldn't have just been about him telling the Illusive Man off. So far from what she had told him it got down to Cerberus holding out on her and then that he was being so brash against the Illusive Man which could have led to her having to shoot him, to Ty's surprise she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to shoot him. She was impressed that he told the Illusive Man off though since there weren't many people who could say what he said and not be scared out of their mind of the reprisal but she also mentioned that he may have shortened his life span by doing that.

Ty even managed to talk to Mordin a little about his past with STG and the Genophage upgrade, Ty didn't voice his disagreement with it since the time he spent with Kar he grew to dislike the Genophage nearly as much as he disliked Cerberus and the Alliance. Ty just told Mordin he obviously did what he thought was right at the time and he hoped it didn't come back to bite him in his Salarian ass. Mordin was thankful for him not judging his decision and also talked to Ty about his infiltrating skills and how they could've used someone with his skills in STG if he was a Salarian but his standing in the galaxy and being human wouldn't allow him, he also added that telling off the leader of an organization, the Illusive Man, wouldn't be very good for STGs reputation.

All in all everything remained normal on the ship while they were going to Pragia the only thing that changed was that now Ty was thinking about two things the first being Shepard as more than a friend and the other was how he was going to upgrade the Normandy. Apparently Shepard liked his idea and got it all set up so when they docked next at a hub they'd get all the parts they needed to install his upgrades for propulsion and maneuverability.

The first thought of Shepard more than a friend was what Ty was mostly thinking about since upgrading the Normandy wasn't important at this moment in time since he didn't have the parts. He was still coming around to the idea of it all, he cared a lot for Shepard as a friend but a potential lover? He didn't know for certain. He had feelings for her and she had feelings for him that much he knew but were they both being motivated by a set of hormones that were looking for sexual desire or were the feelings actually real feelings? Could anything besides a great friendship be possible for them? What of her career and his life? They would have to put everything they held dear on the line for something they weren't sure was even possible. There was a possibility of it working, there was always a chance for anything to work but aside from the questions he was asking himself he still had that little voice in the back of his mind telling him not to get close with anyone since the last time he did she died. Shepard was a great person and the fact she had some interest in him was still shocking but he was doing his best to consider the two becoming more, _maybe it could work._

The sound of the elevator doors opening brought Ty from his thoughts and allowed him to step out and onto the Engineering deck and head to the engine room where he would be able to figure out more about getting his upgrades into the Normandy. As he walked in he began to examine the entirety of the engine room making a mental note of all the different aspects of it and locating the areas he was likely going to be working in. The hum of the drive core reminded Ty of his visits to Tara while she was working and of the first few flirty conversations they had, some led to an awkward silence between the two but it led to a great relationship and friendship and one spontaneous night in the engine room. Ty smirked slightly to himself as he approached the terminal in front of him while taking note that Tali was missing and only Donnelly and Daniels were working across from him.

One of Ty's biggest worries was getting zapped while working, normally getting zapped by his bike just shocked him, pun not intended, and scare him slightly but getting zapped was a bigger issue now since the ship was bigger than his bike which meant it could have enough power to "make him nothing but a pile of ash" as Tara and Ka'Reena warned him, being a pile of ash was not something he wanted. The other issue was how he'd convince the other three engineers to let him do it himself, Donnelly, Daniels might be easy but Tali? That was going to be extremely difficult if not impossible. If he'd mess something up it'd be like stealing a Krogan baby from its mother or father, he'd be dead before he knew what he did wrong and knowing that Tali had a shotgun and had shoved a pistol in his face which wasn't something he wanted to see twice in one life.

As he was looking at everything Donnelly started whispering to Daniels but thanks to Ty's great hearing Ty could hear him clearly, "What is he doing down here looking around at the equipment? If he breaks something I'll kill him." Donnelly whispered. Ty smirked to himself, he either didn't realize who Ty was or he had a set bigger than most people on the ship. _Or he brings a whole new meaning to "the fighting Irish." _Ty thought. Ty left the terminal and began looking more in depth at the room looking for the areas he was going to have to install the equipment into as Daniels snapped at Donnelly, "Shut up Ken he can probably hear you, besides do you know who that is?" Daniels asked. _Smart girl,_ Ty thought. "No not really I mean his hood kind of covers his face but his tattoos are familiar." Donnelly said. "That's Tyler Rhoddy, grandson of Franklin Rhoddy, son of Timothy Rhoddy and a killer in his own right, if you haven't noticed he is armed with tomahawks something he's fond of throwing into peoples faces. He saved Miranda and Shepard's life back on Omega by getting blown up twice and he still walked away." Ty wouldn't have said he "walked" away more like limped and then died and then got brought back. "That can't be him Gabby, Tyler Rhoddy wouldn't join with Cerberus, his family hates them." Donnelly said.

Well at least he knew that much but Donnelly was lucky that Ty wasn't his reputation, if he was Ty would have likely shot him in the leg and stepped on it just for fun for wearing a Cerberus symbol. Ty walked back over to the terminal and started looking through some of the schematics for the propulsion and FTL systems and then into the maneuverability when he heard Donnelly again, "See Gabby, Tyler Rhoddy doesn't know how to work on this stuff." Donnelly said. "When he comes over here and kills us I'm blaming you." Daniels said. Ty shook his head with a smile; the two made an interesting pair and Ty assume Daniels probably wore the pants in the friendship as well. As he read up on the systems in already he heard the doors open behind him and then footsteps that came to a stop, "Ty! This is a surprise what are you doing down here?" Tali asked. _There she is, this will either go really well or she'll kick me out and tell me to let her handle it all, Ty_ thought. Ty turned around and said "Checking on some things, Shepard's getting some upgrades for the ship and needs me to put them in since I've done it before on a much smaller scale." "What are the upgrades? Maybe I can help." Tali said walking up to the terminal.

Ty moved to the side and motioned over to the terminal where he had all the information pulled up, Tali was a hands on kind of person and probably would want to help him when he did it all, "Getting propulsion into FTL speeds quicker which is something I've perfected on my space bike." Ty started as Tali began reading over the information, "You're not going to start boasting about Relay hopping are you?" Tali asked with a tone dripping with sarcasm. Ty chuckled slightly knowing that it likely bothered her that he hadn't told her how he figured it out usually retorting with, "I'm a genius what can I say." Ty shook his head and said "Nope just saying that I figured it out all by myself. The other upgrade I had in mind was increasing maneuverability since the last Normandy didn't do very well avoiding the Collector cannon. I figure if I can get this big rig maneuvering better we may be able defeat that ship if we ever run into it again." Ty said. Tali nodded to herself as she began pushing buttons on the terminal as she said "I thought about that but I didn't have the parts and Shepard already used some of her resources on one of my upgrades already so I was waiting."

The Cyclonic Barrier Technology had been installed while Shepard, Ty and Garrus were chasing down Harkin and Ty was hoping it would give them a more protective edge against the Collectors along with the Silaris heavy ship armor that Shepard learned about from Jacob and had installed while Shepard, Ty and Miranda had been trying to reach Archangel. While Tali was looking at what he had pulled up she began hmming to herself acknowledging what Ty had been looking at was correct until she finally looked up and said, "Looks like you know what your doing, Ka'Reena taught you well." Tali said. _Her and Tara, though Tara's lessons usually involved a bunch of sexual innuendos, not sure if me learning a lot from that is good or bad_, Ty thought. "Yeah, she's who gave me the idea of the space bike and gave me my start on it, so you gonna be okay with me working down here?" Ty asked.

Tali leaned on her side against the terminal and if Ty's knowledge of Quarian body language was still good she was going to allow him, after a warning or two, "Now that depends on you, if you mess up the Normandy I will probably lock you up again in the nearest airlock and decide if I should open it this time." Tali said with a hint of sarcasm. Ty slammed his right hand into his chest where his heart is and said "You're breaking my heart Tali that hurts." Tali chuckled slightly but continued, "Oh I didn't know you were so sensitive Ty, maybe I should tell Garrus and Shepard about this side of you." Ty grabbed Tali's hand and said "Shove the stake in the rest of the way." Tali hit his hand and Ty acted out a dramatic death, Tali started laughing as Ty fell onto the ground, "You're such a Bosh'tet Ty." Tali said while laughing.

He enjoyed hearing the word come from Tali, even if the actual meaning of the word was an insult. It reminded him of Ka'Reena for obvious reasons but in this case it reminded him of the necklace around his neck and his intention to ask Tali if she wanted it, it was her gift to Ka'Reena so she deserved to have the choice of having it back as a reminder. Ty stood up and unhooked the necklace and held it out letting Tali take it into her hands as he said "Yeah I know, she told me all the time." Tali held it for a second and said in a saddened tone "I miss her." Ty nodded slightly in agreement and said "I know I do too, if you want it back you can have it since it is yours." Tali held it for a few more seconds then handed it back to him and said "It's yours now, I gave it to her and she'd want you to have it." Ty grabbed it and put it back on and said "My brother found an old holo she left of herself for me to find if the worst happened. She wanted me to let you know that you were her best friend and she loved you like a sister." Tali gave a slight nod and said "I know she did, thank you for telling me though."

Ty nodded and looked over to Donnelly and Daniels who were working again so he looked back over to Tali and asked "How are Donnelly and Daniels over there treating you?" Ty asked. "They are nice enough and they know what they are doing. You should go introduce yourself so they know why you're down here." Tali said. Ty shrugged a little remembering what Donnelly had been whispering and said "I dunno it may not be a good idea." Despite his protest Tali grabbed his hand and began dragging him over to Ken and Gabby as she said, "Come on I'll introduce you to them." "Tali wait." Ty said but she ignored him.

They stopped behind them and Tali said "Kenneth, Gabby this is Tyler Rhoddy but he likes to be called Ty, he's going to be down here working soon on some of the systems to get us upgraded for the Collectors." "Told you." Gabby said to Ken. Ty couldn't stop himself, "You should work on your whispering Ken it needs some work. I may have to take a finger or two for what you said." Ty joked. Ken paled instantly to much of Daniels and Ty's delight, "Oh shite, you wouldn't actually do that would you?" Ken asked nervously. "I wouldn't put it past him." Tali said with sarcasm.

Ty laughed at the oh shit look on Donnelly's face but instead of making him continue to be fearful Ty decided to end the joke as he said "Don't worry about it Donnelly if I wanted you dead or a few of your fingers I would have taken them already but I don't hurt innocents anyway so as long as you don't turn into that symbol." Ty pointed at the Cerberus insignia then continued "You won't be dead by my hands. Daniels you know a lot about propulsions systems right?" Ty asked. Daniels nodded and said "That's right." "Good at least we'll have an expert." Ty said. "Ehem." Tali cleared her throat. Ty chuckled and said "Don't get jealous Tali you're the chief engineer as far as I'm concerned so you'll be helping to, besides your more of a master not an expert." "What does that make Ken?" Tali asked. "He's like the sticky glue that holds it all together but he's the stuff that gets stuck on your fingers and makes you want to wash your hands. Or just the man with the accent that you need around." Ty joked. Ken nodded and said "It's the last one." "I'd say the first." Daniels stated.

Before anyone could say anything Jokers voice came over the intercom "Ty you still down there?" Ty looked up at the ceiling and asked, "Yeah what's up?" "Shepard wants you to head down to the shuttle we are a few minutes out from Pragia." Joker said. If there luck was good they'd be going in putting the bomb down and leaving without much trouble but if there usual luck held they were going to find trouble in some form or another, Ty wasn't entirely excited to go to the place anyway after what he had seen in Jack's memories of the place. The sound of Jack as a child screaming as she banged her hands against the glass echoed through Ty's mind momentarily but he brushed it off and said, "Okay I'll be down there waiting." "Roger that." Joker said. Ty looked over to Tali and said "That's my cue, I'll see you later." "Bye Ty don't do anything unusually crazy." Tali said. "No promises." Ty said with a smirk.

Ty took the elevator down and began waiting by the shuttle for Shepard and Jack to show up which was taking longer than he expected, he knew they were a few minutes out but he expected to at least be joined by the two before hand. As time continued to pass Ty decided to walk over to his pile of weapons and look for which he was going to work on next. After a few seconds of thought he ended up picking a Carnifix hand cannon and Viper sniper rife. Being able to figure out how to do everything on the Avenger bolstered his confidence to think it would be easier this time around and able to finish at two around the same time, painting would take long either way but fixing the ammo and giving it something extra hopefully wouldn't. He disassembled the guns so he could clean them later and as he did the elevator opened with both Jack and Shepard walking out both ready to go.

The two walked over to the shuttle as he put the last piece of the sniper down, he had an idea of who they were going to be for but at the moment he was more focused on getting onto the shuttle so they could head down to Pragia before Jack tore out a bulkhead. He reached the shuttle at the same time as them and Ty hopped in quickly with Shepard getting in behind him, Ty sat down near the window, Shepard sat down directly across from him looking to be in a Commander mindset while Jack sat down next to her looking ready to tear apart at any moment all the while looking ready to break down in tears, due to his usual stunts always risking his life he decided against asking why she had that look in her eyes since she more than likely would kill him.

As the shuttle started up Shepard looked up at Ty and asked "You ready Ty?" "To more than likely run into trouble and then nuke a Cerberus facility, hell yea." Ty responded. Shepard smirked and asked "What you think our luck isn't going to turn for the better? I'm sure it'll just be a get in and get out with no trouble mission." Ty shook his head and said "You just tempted fate; the Spirits are now going to just throw some shit at us just because they'll think it is funny." "It doesn't matter; we're blowing the place to hell either way." Jack stated. "Come on Ty it won't be that bad, last time we went out-" Ty interrupted Shepard "I almost got blown up by another missile, I had a death fight with a Turian and you put me between Garrus and his target." Ty stated. "You enjoyed it." Shepard retorted with a smirk.

The shuttle approached the Teltin Facility and as Ty looked out the window Jack started talking about it with Shepard with a little panic in her tone, the vegetation was overgrown and the facility looked barren and desolate. It might have been Ty's mind playing tricks on him but the energy from the place was stronger than anything he had ever felt before because he felt a heavy weight on his mind and his stomach felt like it was twisting. It reeked of evil and the memories of all the tortured souls felt like they were rebounding off of Ty's mind and seeping into his very soul, this place needed to burn. "Ty are you okay?" Shepard asked.

Ty didn't realize it but he had been gripping the tomahawks on his leg to the point his knuckles were turning white, his voice came out but he sounded like he did after he released his demon on Scrum, "This place burns today." Ty said his voice tinged with malice and anger. He felt his body relax and he felt surprised at the way his voice had changed, he felt something off about himself and it wasn't comforting in the slightest, Ty felt a hand on his shoulder making him realize Shepard was in front of him, "Ty?" Shepard asked tenderly. She and Jack looked worried about him in that moment; maybe they were worried his anger was getting a hold on him and didn't want it to be on them but Ty shook his head and said "This place feels wrong for more than the obvious reasons." Shepard raised an eyebrow, "How so?" Shepard asked. Ty felt the lingering weight still on his mind, this place hadn't been active for years but the memories were still stronger than anything he had ever encountered, and they hadn't touched down yet. "You girls can't feel the energy of memories as I do but normally I can't feel anything unless I really focus on it, my mind feels weighted down by a Krogan and my stomach feels like its twisting." Ty said as he rubbed his arms and continued "I feel cold but its warm in here, the memories of this place are powerful."

There was a look of genuine worry cross Shepard's face but it was Jack that spoke up first, "Could joining minds with me have done anything?" Jack asked. Ty looked at Jack and noticed a look of worry on her face as well, Ty wasn't sure if that had any effect in this. "I don't know...I've never experienced anything like this." The shuttle landed on the landing pad and Shepard looked out the window then back at Ty, "Do you want to sit this out Ty?" Shepard asked. Whatever this new feeling was Ty wasn't about to let it stop him from helping Shepard help Jack, Ty shook his head in response and said "No I'll be fine, come on lets get this done." "If you begin to feel any worse you let me know." Shepard said in her Commander tone. "Yes mother." Ty replied with a smirk.

Shepard got up with Jack getting up as well as Shepard hit the button to open the shuttle door, they both jumped out and into the downpour that was happening outside, _I already feel cold but now I'm gonna be cold and wet, lovely,_ Ty thought as he got up and followed them into the rain with his hood up. Within seconds Ty's clothes and body were completely soaked with his hair becoming soaked as well under his hood but Ty wasn't alone since Jack and Shepard both were drenched as well with the rain making Shepard's hair as wet as Ty's and the rain running down Jacks bald head and making her pants soaked. "Stairs over here, come on lets get out of this rain." Shepard said as she led the way down the stairs.

They walked quickly down the stairs and into the facility, Shepard squeezed her hair making water come pouring off as Ty took his hood off and did the same to both his hood and his own hair which had the ponytail holding the crown of his hair. Despite the even stronger lingering weight in his mind Ty looked at Shepard and said sarcastically "You always bring us to the nicest places Shepard, one day it's a place that burns through your shields the next its down pouring rain then there was the ice planet that was freezing the Hammerheads engines, what's next? Natural disasters or a swamp?" Shepard let out a laugh and to Ty's surprise Jack chuckled ever so slightly, "I think the next time I have a choice it'll be a beach and a warm sun with no one there trying to kill me." Shepard said.

After Ty and Shepard did their best to stop their hair from dripping Ty began looking around at the place, dried blood was smeared on some of the walls and there were open containers scattered across the first room, _probably how they brought the kids in fucking Cerberus bastards. _The energy of the room reeked of evil and death and it wasn't sitting well with Ty at all, he felt his mind slip momentarily making him hear screaming children and see mirages of them being dragged out of containers, Ty shook his head getting out of whatever he had been sucked into and focused on Jack's voice as she began talking, "I don't remember this room, I think its where they brought in all the new kids, they beaten and broken but alive…mostly." Jack said as she walked with Shepard. "This is so fucked up. There's a lingering evil in this place that I can feel, it's like a bunch of un-resting spirits forced to live the hell this place caused over and over." Ty said walking behind them. "Just stay with us Ty we'll be done in no time." Shepard reassured.

The cold feeling Ty had that the place was giving him turned into chills as they walked room to room with Jack remembering things as they went along, his stomach continued to feel more and more twisted and he continued to see mirages of different kids getting hurt by adults wearing Cerberus gear sometimes with screams sometimes with no noise at all. This place was going to leave a mark on him that was for sure. There was a recording that was still playing even after all these years, Shepard and Jack walked up to it as Ty walked down the stairs at a slower pace than usual, he gripped the hand rail tightly as he took each step individually on legs that he knew were firm but felt weak and bruised. He caught some of what the recording said talking about it being a Cerberus facility but they were hiding something from the Illusive Man. Maybe it was Jack or maybe the facility itself, hell maybe the Illusive Man didn't believe in experimenting on kids so the program was hidden but Ty found it unlikely that the Illusive Man would care about kids, _as long as it advanced the human race he was and is probably up for it_, Ty thought.

After getting to the bottom stair Shepard shut off the recording, "Sounds like Cerberus is more like a three headed dog then they thought, one head doesn't know what the other is doing or thinking." Ty said. "That's the norm but they didn't say what they were hiding from the Illusive Man." Jack stated. "I ran into a lot of failed Cerberus experiments back when I chased Saren and I ended up cleaning up the messes that ended in all of their deaths, and those were all sanctioned by glowy eyes himself. I can't imagine the fall out of the ones that aren't sanctioned." Shepard said. It sickened him to know kids were brought here and tortured all for biotic advancement in humans, it was severely wrong and he was happy they were going to blow it to hell even if it wasn't for him at least it would wipe this disgusting place off the map completely. "Burn it down." He heard himself whisper. Ty shook his head,_ I have to stay focused and keep my mind on a tight leash, this place is evil and if I fully slip into one of these memories…I'd probably be fucked up beyond all reasoning mentally_, Ty thought.

They walked down a set of stairs as Jack started remembering again, "I saw a light through the cracks and all that stood between me and it was a half dead guard…he was begging for his life." Jack said. _That guy is dead for sure,_ Ty thought. Suddenly the ghostly outline of the half dead guard and the young Jack using her immense biotic power to grab him and toss him into the wall cracking it and killing him after slamming him a few more times into it. Ty felt himself brace his hand against the cracked wall as the overbearing weight of the memories began to swarm his mind, "Get out of my head." Ty whispered to himself. "Ty?" Shepard asked in a worried tone. "I just saw Jack kill the guard, the memories of this place are overwhelmingly strong to the point I've begun to hear the screams of kids and see the ghostly mirages of the memories of this place. This place feels like the deepest circle of hell right now." Ty said as he dropped his hand from the wall.

Shepard stared at him inquisitively but he caught back up to them and motioned her to go forward, he knew the further they went the more he would begin to hear, feel and see but he was hoping they would find trouble, that would keep his mind away from this place and focused on the now. They walked down the stairs with Jack casting a worried glance at Ty as he grabbed his head as he heard an earth shattering yell coming from further up and biotic explosions following it. Shepard ever the adventurer looked around the room they were in and found some credits or upgrades for weapons, Ty wasn't sure which but she seemed pleased with herself as she hacked whatever it was but her pleased look disappeared when the growls of several Varren sounded off. Ty pulled out his pistols and started looking for the Varren, "Guess we stepped into the Varrens territory." Ty said. "Looks like captain obvious is on the scene again." Jack said sarcastically.

Part of Ty cursed himself for wishing for trouble and Shepard for tempting fate but before Ty could respond to Jack a Varren stalked around the corner in front of them and then began running towards them with a gross amount of drool coming out of its mouth, and as it charged about six others followed behind. A hail of bullets erupted towards the Varren from the squad trying to stop them before they got in biting range since their bite was like an alligator with great white teeth and Ty wasn't fond of bite marks unless they happened to be from a woman. Ty shot two in the head and another non-lethally in the body but that one was finished by Shepard with several shots in the head from her predator pistol; overkill had no meaning in this day and age of Reapers and Collectors. "I'LL THROW YOU LIKE A TOY!" Jack yelled. Two more were floating from Jacks pull field which she shot with her Carnifix hand cannon basically blowing their heads up. Five Varren were taken down leaving one of the last ones in lunging range of Jack who was busy shooting the other Varren in the head to realize, Ty aimed to shoot it but felt one of his tomahawks being pulled out of its holder which distracted him but then he felt a major force of biotic energy zoom past him almost knocking him over.

Shepard, the thief, had grabbed a tomahawk from Ty and biotic charged the Varren knocking it into the air backwards as she hit it. As she came out she threw the tomahawk piercing the Varren in the neck, a pretty well aimed shot for her first time throwing his tomahawk, it was a good plan of hers since his bullets may not have stopped it quick enough to stop it from getting Jack but he also knew she could have just biotic charged it and shot it so she obviously had been waiting to use his tomahawk for some time now. Ty walked over towards Shepard who was pulling the tomahawk out of the Varren after making sure it was dead by shooting it in the head so it wouldn't snap her arm off, she stood up and gave the tomahawk back to Ty with a smirk as she said "Couldn't resist." "Most can't once they meet me." Ty fired back as he put his tomahawk away.

She rolled her eyes at him and motioned them to keep moving forward and they did but not for very long since there was an arena set up that Jack started talking to Shepard about. They used to place Jack against the other kids and they'd hurt her for hesitating but fill her with drugs when she attacked, "I still get a warm feeling in fights." Jack said with a smile. The earth shattering yell sounded off again but it felt like it was right in front of him and sure enough the ghostly form of young Jack getting electrocuted for holding back appeared to Ty and then followed by her charging someone else with a fist of biotic energy. "Another memory?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded and said "Jack getting electrocuted then charging another kid with a fist of biotic fury." "This was a bad idea." Jack said to Shepard.

Ty knew she meant bringing him and he knew she meant it in a nicer way then it sounded but Shepard shook her head and said "It's going to be fine, we'll plant the bomb and get out of here then blow this hell hole to kingdom come." "I'll be fine." Ty stated. Both women nodded and lead on with Ty following behind trying to keep his mind out of all the memories around them. _Like a fucking house of horrors_, Ty thought. There wasn't one word that could describe how Ty felt about this place, disgusted, disturbed, and angered were only barely touching the surface of it.

Thankfully they moved on and up a set of stairs into another room that had recordings of people from the facility, Ty listened from a distance watching out for more Varren or worse. He heard them talking about how they were experimenting on the other children for Subject Zeros, Jacks, safety something that contradicted what Jack had said but she was a kid being tortured and held away from all the kids by herself so how would she know that.

Jack wasn't happy about that but Shepard gave her some insightful words that seemed to help a little then they listened to another one about how the other kids started the riot another thing against Jacks memory but it made sense from her perspective that she'd remember it differently since it wasn't a happy time of her life she'd want to remember everyone being an enemy and being the one to start the riot that got her free. Ty was able to revisit memories but the painful ones like Ka'Reena being killed he remembered differently up to the point that Scrum reminded him of how it actually happened. He wanted Scrum to have agreed to it to make that taste of revenge much sweeter but he was wrong, Scrum had tried to stop them and so did Jason, did that make them good people? Not in the slightest since they helped capture her but some details should not be forgotten.

After hearing that they were going to piggy back on an Alliance project Jack and Shepard talked a bit longer and then they all moved forward down the set of stairs to find a fresh Varren kill, which was troubling since it had no bite marks and a bullet hole was leaking out blood. "Who the fuck shot that Varren, that's a fresh kill?" Jack asked in a bit of shock. Shepard looked over to Ty and asked "Ty you think you can see who did this without slipping into something worse?" Ty looked down at the Varren and tried to find the memory of it but the room behind it held memories that were stronger and it became harder to sense where each belonged, said "That room behind it holds memories." Ty stopped as he heard a feint cry from behind it, it wasn't real now but it still sent chills down his spine, "Dark memories…the one of the Varren is fresh but the energy behind it is somehow weaker than all the other memories here. Something isn't right." Ty said.

He could feel the energy of the memories but fresh ones were always stronger and even if what happened here had been evil the memories should have been faded, _the energies shouldn't be this strong,_ Ty thought. "This whole place is wrong." Shepard said with disgust. Ty shook his head and said "It's not just that…it's hard to explain because I still don't fully understand my abilities but it's like the memories were being reawakened by something recently." "Reawakened?" Jack asked. Ty nodded as he knelt down next to the Varren to examine it slightly, "Think of this in a more spiritual way, regardless of what you believe just attempt to follow along because I'm trying to figure out a good way to explain it. Think of all the kids who died, their memories lived on in this place and that kept their spirits stuck here but the memories became weaker and their spirits began to rest but then something happened bringing the spirits from their rest and awakening them all which in turn made the memories "wake up."" Ty said. "Like being haunted by ghosts?" Jack asked.

Ty shook his head as he stood up, he didn't intend for them her to take the spirit part in a literal sense, "No not like that, I'm just using the spiritual terms as a way to explain but I didn't mean it literally, think of it this way. You had a really shitty day ten years ago but ten years later the memory fades and you don't really think about it then one day someone brings it up and all those memories of that day flood your mind and it feels like just yesterday that it all happened." Ty explained.

Shepard looked at him thoughtfully then asked "So you're saying something or someone happened here recently and the memories, which you say have an imprint or energy, are "waking up" as you put it making them fresh again?" Ty nodded in response, "And if this thing got shot that someone is still here then." Jack stated. Ty nodded again, "Whoever it is has a history here and has been making the memories fresh somehow, I don't completely understand it myself or how it is possible but that's what it is like, or at least that is my deduction on it." Ty explained. "Do you still feel cold?" Shepard asked. "I feel like I'm freezing." Ty said. "Then let's get this over with." Shepard said.

The squad moved down the stairs and Ty suddenly smelt death, old decayed death but death nonetheless and sure enough he found the source as they entered a morgue. It was a big morgue with child sized gurneys and child sized spaces in the walls, some of the doors were open with the reek of death coming from them which was worse than a Krogan who hadn't bathed for days even after fighting in the muck, something Ty had smelt before from Kar and that was one of the worst smelling things he had ever smelt but this gave him an all time new terrible smell.

Even though the reek of death was terrible that wasn't the issue, the issue was all the Vorcha shooting at them from the sides and in front of them with some having flame throwers which wasn't good but also made for an easy target since they were slow and could only get you at short range. "Ty take cover behind that low wall and take out the flame throwers and anyone else who gets in your target reticule, Jack with me!" Shepard ordered. "Got it." "Yeah yeah." Ty and Jack responded. Ty got behind the low wall as he pulled out one pistol in his left hand and his special tomahawk in his right, he peeked over the cover looking for the tanks of the flamethrower and found it the Vorcha was standing behind a wall trying to not get shot by Shepard or Jack who were taking out the other Vorcha easily. Ty gripped the tomahawk tightly in his hand, it wasn't a clear shot but it didn't need to be with this tomahawk, "think the angle and throw" Darian had said so that's what Ty did he thought of the angle he would need it to fly and he threw it. Only one word came to mind after it left his hands and he saw what it did, "DAMN!" Ty exclaimed.

**Disclaimer: Probably should do this again since its been a while, I don't own the Mass Effect universe, I don't make profit from writing this and I only stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual universe. I'm just a nerdy fan. Thanks for reading, faving, following, reviewing, and sticking around this long, still far off from the end and if you liked Firewalker sorry for skipping out of being apart of it but all the other DLCs will have more substance to them. Thanks for reading, I'll see you next time!**


	34. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Crater of Freedom

The tomahawk sailed through the air and as it looked like it was going to keep flying straight it torqued and flew straight at the Vorcha with the flame thrower and hit his tanks setting off an explosion. The tomahawk went back into the holder and Ty pulled out his other pistol and started shooting the Vorcha's and though his mind was focused on killing Vorcha, which he had killed four more already, he couldn't help but still think about his tomahawk. It was like a boomerang but deadly and cooler not to mention that the kill would've been impossible to do if it weren't for the tomahawk being able to do what it did, his dad had a way of getting all the cool toys but this was his favorite of all the weapons his dad had ever gotten. "Did that thing just change direction in mid flight?" Shepard asked with a shocked but impressed tone.

After sliding into the new cover that was near the windows on the opposite side of the wall full of open and closed doors that were meant for dead bodies Ty ejected his thermal clips and loaded two new ones into his pistols before holstering them and grabbing his sniper rifle. Being the smartass he was he couldn't pass up the chance to act like he knew what he was talking about, "Yeah they did, you see they are coded to my nervous system and they pick up on my neurotransmitters. The grip holds the sensors for those and when I think the angle it picks up on that and when I toss it they follow that path I thought of and after they hit they basically biotic teleport themselves back into my holders." Ty answered. Ty popped out of cover and shot a new flamethrowers tank making it start to flame before exploding the unfortunate Vorcha that had the tanks, why anyone thought it a good idea to strap the tanks on their backs for a fight was beyond Ty, they just made easier targets.

Glass began shattering on Ty's side signaling enemies inside the room above him, "You have no idea what you just said do you?" Shepard asked with humor in her tone. "Nope not a clue." Ty responded as he put his sniper away and grabbed his pistols with his sights set on the balcony above. Both Jack and Shepard chuckled slightly with Jack being the first to comment, "So where'd you learn all those big words, I'm impressed you actually knew how to pronounce them." Jack snarked. Ty chuckled as he jumped up to a window and said "I'm just reiterating what Darian told me, not sure if I even got it all right but admit, you both thought I knew what I was talking about for a second." "Nah." "Nope." Jack and Shepard responded. "Bitter." Ty retorted as he pulled himself over and into the new room.

Ty was met by a Vorcha screaming at him but Ty shut him up quickly with a bullet to the face, he took cover behind the very small wall that he had as bullets impacted on the other side of the wall. Unfortunately for the Vorcha that thought it could catch him by surprise by moving up and popping around the corner with a scream Ty had been ready and met his screaming face with a bug uppercut slamming his mouth shut before he grabbed his shoulder and twisted him so his chest was facing forward and made him into an impromptu Vorcha-shield. "Let's see how well your friends like you." Ty snarked. "They kill you human!" The Vorcha yelled at him. Ty's grip on the Vorcha was strong and he made sure he had him by a pressure point as he pushed him forward and brought his pistol up, Ty fired a few rounds at the Vorcha who were in cover getting one in the back of the head and another in the shoulder.

With the new one dead that left four including the one Ty had as a shield and as he moved up further they began shooting at him and his shield, Ty pushed up quicker shooting over the Vorcha's shoulder hitting the one he got in the shoulder with a few shots to his chest as he came out of cover. A round pierced the Vorcha-shield and made the Vorcha stumble slightly but Ty kept his grip strong and forced him forward, as they passed one of the other Vorcha Ty shot him multiple times in the head and chest making sure he couldn't regenerate from it. The final Vorcha was only feet away when he shot the Vorcha-shield Ty had multiple times killing him and making him nearly fall down but Ty being in range and quick on his toes kicked the now dead Vorcha-shield into the Vorcha that had just shot him knocking both to the ground. Ty holstered his right pistol quickly and pulled out one of his regular tomahawks as he approached the downed Vorcha that was trying to get the dead weight of his comrade off of him, Ty impaled his tomahawk in-between the eyes of the Vorcha killing what he assumed was the last one up where he was_, why the hell are there Vorcha here they aren't that smart of a species in the first place and the only time they are organized are when they are with…the Bloodpack…Shit_.

Rounds began impacting around Ty bringing his attention from his thoughts to the actual final Vorcha that had been hiding well in the corner near the next window up from Ty. Ty pulled his tomahawk out of the Vorcha and he rolled forward closer to the Vorcha and in an attempt to dodge more rounds that the Vorcha fired as he thanked the Spirits that none of the Vorcha he had run into were great shots except the elite ones in the Bloodpack and these ones were far from elite. _"Like two legged Varren that didn't crap all over the place…usually" _was how Kar had described them to Ty when he asked about them being apart of the Bloodpack. Ty came out of his roll and the heat sink of the Predator pistol the Vorcha had been firing began to vent due to the lack of a thermal clip, luck seemed to be on Ty's side at the moment.

Ty made it quickly over the Vorcha jamming his tomahawk twice into its chest before swiping it upwards from its waist to its neck sending it stumbling back before Ty kicked him out the opening that led back to where Jack and Shepard were fighting. Seeing no more threat on the upper level Ty jumped through the window himself and as he landed he threw his tomahawk at the last Vorcha impaling it in the back of its head making it fall to the ground with a thud.

Ty walked over and grabbed his tomahawk as Shepard and Jack joined him, "Vorcha aren't this organized or smart in general so there's no way there here on their own since no matter what they'd find it wouldn't matter since they don't live long. They're just Varren with two legs and can kinda talk. We got Krogan here somewhere and that means Bloodpack but I don't understand why they would come here or know of this place, it doesn't add up." Ty stated. Shepard nodded slightly and said "Which supports your theory of someone who had been here when it was operational coming back." Ty nodded as he looked around slowly, Ty walked slowly towards the wall coffins as he tried to put the pieces of a puzzle together that he couldn't see, "Why come back?" Ty asked himself. Ty heard Jack snort slightly as she said "To blow this place to hell, if you've got a problem you can leave." Ty shook his head in response to Jack choosing to ignore the bitchy tone she had used, "I wasn't asking about you Jack." Ty said but stopped as he himself stopped a few feet from the wall.

There was no sensible reason for someone to come here with the Bloodpack, there was no salvage worth note which would be the only bargaining tool for them since a personal quest wouldn't cut it. Besides not knowing why someone would come back ghostly mirages of people loading children into the wall coffins appeared to Ty, _"More subjects from the failed tests?" One man asked. "Yeah, we're so close to finding out and Subject Zero's power is becoming immense." The other said. "It'll all be worth it in the end." The first said_. Ty wasn't sure which part pushed him over the edge between them talking like they weren't loading innocent children into the wall coffins and saying it was all worth it Ty felt knives plunge into his whole body and his hand grab his pistol as he began shooting the ghostly mirages of the Cerberus scientists.

The echo of the rounds he shot rang for a few more moments after Ty lowered his gun, Ty felt a hand rest on his shoulder making him look down and see the blue of his veins beginning to disappear from their bluer state, "It's okay Ty, they aren't hurting kids anymore." Shepard soothed. "They fucking were talking like they weren't loading kids into those god damned wall coffins." Ty seethed but felt himself calming down. "They're dead and we're here to blow this place to hell, will that grant you peace?" Jack asked with less of a bitchy tone but still in a snarking tone. Ty shook his head in response and said, "This isn't for my peace, it's for yours so make sure you're sure ask yourself that question." Ty turned toward Shepard to leave but Shepard stopped him by grabbing his arm, "You just changed like you did on Illium." Shepard stated as a question. "I felt it but I'm still me. That memory pissed me off but I didn't lose control." Ty responded. Shepard nodded and turned around to lead the squad out of the room.

They walked out of the morgue and killed two Vorcha that were guarding a downward stairwell, they went down and saw a bunch of rooms all the way down to the end on the left and right walls that usually would have been securely locked with kids in but now were completely opened up and wrecked with dried blood everywhere, muffled screams echoed in Ty's ears as they walked making him wish he had ear plugs despite it probably not doing anything to deafen the sound since they were all mental. "They kept kids in these rooms…what fucking scum and I don't say that about everybody." Ty said with an angered tone. "This is Cerberus at its finest for you." Shepard said in disgust. "I hate these fuckers so much; torturing children for the "betterment of humanity" is a bunch of fucking bullshit." Ty said. "Try living it everyday." Jack said flatly.

The conversation ended with that and they walked the rest of the way through the corridor and into a large room at first glance Ty didn't see anything mostly because he was trying to not slip into anymore memories or see more mirages. As he looked around again he saw three Krogans, the leader was talking to someone over a comm, and a bunch of Vorcha spread across a wide area. Ty pulled out his sniper rifle and asked "Want me to shoot?" Shepard motioned him to lower his gun slightly as she said, "Let me try talking first so we can find out what they are doing here."

Ty got a Vorcha in his sight as Shepard asked the lead Krogan what they were doing there but as Ty expected the Krogan didn't want to talk he wanted to fight and Ty fired the first shot headshotting a Vorcha. "Ty provide sniper cover, Jack with me." Shepard ordered. "Have fun." Jack said to Ty. Ty smirked but started counting all his enemies, three Krogan and seven Vorcha not including the one he killed already, Shepard and Jack had taken up cover in the middle between Ty's post and the other Krogan who was issuing orders to his troops. Ty mentally lined up three shots, two Vorcha in cover and a Krogan that was starting to advance, he took a deep breath and aimed at the first Vorcha whose head was barely visible behind a low wall, Ty shot and blood squirted into the air. He readjusted and shot the next Vorcha in the chest sending it flying backwards from the force of the bullet, he aimed at the Krogan and lined up his shot and smiled as he pulled the trigger.

The bullet impacted on the Krogan and it let out a scream, "Ouch right in the quad, sack tapping is bad news kids." Ty said as he looked up from his scope. "That isn't very nice Ty." Shepard shouted out. "They don't work anyway." Ty shouted back. The Krogan dropped the gun and fell onto his knees and Ty looked back into his scope and aimed at its head and shot, the Krogan made a thump on the ground as Ty aimed at the next targets seeing three Vorcha left and two Krogans still so he lined his shot up with a Vorcha but before he pulled the trigger Shepard shot it in the head with her pistol, "Kill stealer!" Ty yelled. "Sorry." Shepard laughed.

Seeing that the two Krogans were mobilizing now and the two Vorcha had disappeared Ty figured it was time to start pounding the Krogans with his sniper since Krogans were a pain to kill, Ty hit the side of his sniper ejecting the thermal clip and put another in so he had a full twelve shots to take out the Krogans. Before he could start shooting though he heard a distinctive sound, it was the sound of sneaking mixed with a Vorcha breathing heavily. Ty had enough time to look back and see the Vorcha trying to pounce him, as the Vorcha moved at him Ty put his sniper horizontally across his chest and pushed the Vorcha back as it tried grabbing him. "We kill you AHH!" The Vorcha yelled.

Apparently the Vorcha was able to sneak away as his fellow Vorcha's were decimated and sneak up on him, if it wasn't for a keen sense of hearing it could've ended before it started but now Ty was trying again to push the Vorcha back enough so he could be able to defend himself better. The Vorcha had his sniper gripped in its fingers and was in Ty's face again making an effort, while hissing and growling, to strip his gun from him and kill Ty, Ty struggled with the Vorcha and got slammed into the wall behind him by it. For a Vorcha he had some strength but the element of surprise is why he had so much leverage, that and the constant knees to the stomach that the Vorcha was dishing out wasn't helping. Ty took three knees to the gut in a row and then the Vorcha pushed him harder against the wall. Ty looked past the Vorcha and saw the lead Krogan on his perch shooting at Shepard and Jack since his brethren were all dead, feeling his inner Krogan come on Ty head-butted the Vorcha then followed it with a kick to the gut knocking it back far enough for him to start dishing out what he was receiving.

The Vorcha came back at him but it was met by the butt of Ty's sniper rifle clocking it in the right side of the head making the Vorcha stumble sideways, wielding his sniper like a bat with the barrel in his hands Ty followed the Vorcha and swung again clocking it in the left side of the head making it stumble back where it was originally. Ty nailed the Vorcha again in the center of the face knocking it back to the low barricade and as he wound up he said "The batter winds up for the hit annnnnd…" Ty smacked it as hard as he could in the face killing it and sending it flying over the barricade and down to the bottom area, "Home run!" Ty yelled as he raised his arms in victory. "Seriously Ty?" Shepard asked with a laugh.

The Krogan was still living as Ty hit his home run so he flipped the sniper in his hands and aimed the sniper down at the Krogan who was harassing Jack and Shepard who were both unloading their shotgun clips into it along with shockwaves and the tough bastard still wasn't going down. Ty got the shot lined up with the Krogans side and arm and shot hoping to get a heart or some important organ and its back up, the shot hit and knocked the Krogan off balance but also made it let out a scream that shook the room, "Nice job Ty its in a blood rage now." Jack said sarcastically. "Yeah 'cause it's totally my fault has nothing to do with your shotguns tearing him apart." Ty fired back. "Less talk more shooting you two." Shepard said as she unloaded two shots into the Krogan. "Fine." Ty and Jack said in unison which made both of them glance at each other with a smirk.

A pull field and a few rounds from all three of them later left the Krogan dead on the ground covered in its own blood, they left the room and as they headed out Jack told Shepard that whoever hired the Bloodpack was going to be in her room which was fine since she wanted to plant it there anyways so she was going to put it in his body. They walked onto a grated path and walked past a one way window with a mirror on their side, Ty instantly saw the young Jack beating her fists against the mirror and inwardly cringed at the memory, Jack seemed stunned as she looked at the mirror, "This side is a mirror, I used to bang and scream at the other kids…I always thought they were ignoring me." Jack said with what seemed to be shock.

It was screwed up that they let Jack see all the other kids, probably some sort of psychological torture to make her hate the other kids since they didn't know she was there and couldn't hear her. Ty shook his head as they continued walking and as they walked down the final hall Ty saw another blood smear on the wall and he saw another ghostly mirage get smeared by biotics against the wall, "First Cerberus kill?" Ty asked. Shepard and Jack looked back at him but Ty continued to examine the blood stain where the mirage had been, "Your powers are freaky sometimes Ty." Jack said. "Try living with them." Ty muttered only for himself to hear. He apparently succeeded in it since Jack was still looking for a response but Shepard seemed to have heard him judging on the sympathetic look, "Trust me I know." Ty said for Jack.

Jack nodded and Shepard turned reluctantly looking like she wanted to say something but choosing against it proceeding to the final doors where Jack's room had been. The hydraulic doors opened and all three walked in and Shepard called out to the person behind it all, Ty saw a balding guy stand up that he clearly could tell had some personal issues. A feeling of light headedness swooped over Ty as they stood there as ghostly mirages of Jack as a kid began appearing all around him, one hiding under the desk crying, another at the mirror banging her hands and screaming and another on the bed laying on her side curled in a ball.

Ty felt his feet stumble him towards a wall as he braced himself against it trying not to fall over or let the crying and screams from young Jack take up his entire mind, _get out!_ Ty yelled mentally to himself but it didn't stop, Ty felt the cold knives plunge into his already cold body as he felt his strength return in the form of a scream, "Get out of my fucking head!" Ty screamed out. He felt the explosions of energy inside of his body signaling his change but he felt in full control of himself, more so than he did on a regular basis, the screams and cries stopped and the mirages disappeared as he looked around the room.

As Ty scanned his surroundings he saw Jack pointing a gun at the guy which told Ty that he obviously had missed some important stuff, all three were staring at Ty, the man and Jack with confusion and Shepard with a mixture of concern and confusion, Ty looked down at his hands and saw that his veins were bluer than normal and bulged out along with his muscles. The palms of his hands had blue lines all across them which Ty had never seen since he usually either had blood covering his hands or a weapon of some sort in them, "It all had to be for something!" The man said as he waved his hand down with each word. _No there isn't an excuse in the universe for this_, Ty thought.

His thoughts seemed so clear and not clouded by anger as they usually would be or weighted down as they had been since arriving at this place, Ty continued to stare in awe at his arms and veins taking in for the first time what the change really looked like to him, he had seen it in mirrors and heard it described by those who had seen him in the state but his thoughts were so clouded that he never really took in what happened. He saw past his arms at a puddle of water on the ground so he knelt down next to it and looked at his reflection, "You lived it how can you think this was worth anything! Okay maybe some of the other kids had it worse then me but what you're trying to do is messed!" Jack stated angrily. "Nothing like this is worth repeating, all it does is destroy lives and in your case you let them succeed." Ty said out loud but really was more interested with his own reflection.

He brought a hand to his face as he saw his eyes more clearly, they were fully purple like everyone said but seeing it himself with a clear head was astonishing, he could still see where his pupils would be looking and the emotion behind his eyes despite them being only purple with no pupils. He was thankful there weren't bulging blue veins popping out of his forehead or cheeks but he could see a few light blue lines at the base of his neck leading down to his shoulders. _No wonder people always look at me and Z like we're the devil when they see us like this, _Ty thought. Despite being in awe at really noticing his transformation for the first time he was happy it was blocking out all the mirages and memories but he was brought from his astonishment when he heard the man's voice. The man seemed pissed at Ty's comment judging on the tone in his voice as he said, "I didn't let them do anything; they forced me just like the other kids!"

Ty looked up and when he spoke it was in the same tone as it was on Illium but calmer, "True I wont deny that but your using it as a crutch and a reason to inflict pain on others so you let them succeed, if you would focus the negative energy that they gave you into something positive like a program to help kids with biotics instead of forcing it then you would be giving those guys who did this a final fuck you." Ty said calmly. "You have no idea what pain that it caused us." The man spat. Ty chuckled slightly at the man's defense, "True I don't but I do know pain and I do know how it is to be so destroyed and torn apart on the inside that all you want to do is kill everything and force the pain that your feeling onto everyone else until you just want to kill yourself, I do know that much. If you become the evil you had to deal with your no better or different than them." Ty said.

Shepard had a bit of a stunned look on her face as she looked at Ty, Ty figured it was at his transformation and how calm he was since he himself was stunned about it but he was actually enjoying it slightly, his senses felt like they were in overdrive picking up the slightest sounds, body language movements, and smells in the room and slightly beyond for noises. Ty looked back down at the water swirled it around with his finger messing up the reflection of himself as Shepard got back in the conversation and started talking to Jack about what they were going to do which Jack answered to by walking over to the guy and hitting him with a biotic field then aiming her gun at him. Even though he wasn't one for stopping people from killing Ty decided he'd make the exception this once as he said "Jack I know I can't say much for not killing but killing him isn't going to be worth it in the end, all its going to do is make you cling onto the past." "He wants to start this place back up, he needs to die." Jack seethed. Shepard stepped forward and said, "He's never going to start this place back up, he's stuck in the past and will never change or do anything like this. You need to let go of your own past."

Jack stalled for as Ty awaited a gun shot but he was surprised by hearing her voice instead, "Fuck." Jack said in conflict. She lowered her gun and the guy stood up, she chased him off as she told him to go and he ran out of the room and out of sight, Ty listened for a few seconds making sure his footsteps continued to run and after a few moments of silence between the crew he said "He's gone." "It's not worth holding onto, none of it is." Jack said. "Ty why are you…like that?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled and said "Beats me I was hearing and seeing Jack bang against the mirror and under the desk here and it became overwhelming which is when I screamed, and this happened." Ty said as he motioned to himself then continued "It blocked it all out and I don't feel angry at all as I normally would, I guess it's good for something." "So you're not going to go chase Aresh down and kill him?" Shepard asked. Ty shook his head and said "Nope, don't know how I'm going to change back to normal yet but until we are out of here I don't want to." Jack looked around the room for a second then said "This was my room as a kid can you just give me a minute to look around at it all one last time?" Jack asked. "Take all the time you need Jack." Shepard said. Shepard and Jack started walking around the room talking about everything in the room as Ty followed behind a few steps and waited silently for them to finish and set the bomb.

Minutes Later

The sound of Jack opening and closing the detonator had filled the shuttle as they flew away from the Teltin facility, Ty was sitting on her left relaxing while Shepard had her arms crossed and looked a little stressed and Jack had emotional written on her face though Ty wasn't going to say anything about it. Ty's body suddenly began to relax as his body changed back to normal, the weight of all the memories on his mind did not return though making him wonder if they put all the memories to rest before leaving and blowing it up. _Hopefully they found peace_, Ty thought. Click, Clack, Click, Clack, Click, Clack, Click, Click. Ty looked up and Shepard slammed her hand against the shuttle door so the pilot would speed it up, Ty could hear the explosion in the distance but soon the shuttle started shaking and everyone lost their balance in their seats. Jack landed into Ty and sent him sliding across the seat and into the wall, Shepard was able to brace herself enough to not fall out of her seat but she did slide a bit.

The shuttle stopped shaking and Ty had sat himself up again and said "Damn that had to be one hell of an explosion." Shepard nodded and Jack stayed silent for the rest of the trip back onto the Normandy and for Ty it was weird to see Jack in such a sensitive emotional state and he hoped it would pass soon and she'd be back to her usual self because if she got all sensitive now he might as well start digging his own grave but it was Jack right, she'd be back to her usual calling him a dick self again, the crater wouldn't change her…right?


	35. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Tuchanka Bound

"Hey Mordin can we talk a minute?" Shepard asked as she walked into the tech lab. Mordin looked up from his terminal with a distressed look, "Shepard hoped you would stop by, I know mission is important but have personal favor to ask." Mordin answered her. Shepard walked in further so she was on the opposite side of the desk, she had heard from Kelly that Mordin wished to speak with her when she returned from Pragia with Ty and Jack but she had taken a shower and then took care of her fish and hamster that she named Vic which was her short version of Invictus. That had taken her a good thirty minutes but it had been six hours since they arrived and she was upset with herself that she had let the thought of Mordin needing help slip her mind but she had become engrossed in attempting to research anything on Ty's condition. All the things that she had witnessed inside the Teltin facility sent chills down her spine but seeing Ty looking like he was going to lose his sanity in that place had spurred her to try and find something about his powers.

She searched all across the extranet about Drell physiology and Asari physiology, she even dabbled into some research papers about the abilities of the human mind but aside from granting her new knowledge on theories on the mind and information about the Drell and Asari physiology she found nothing even close to Ty's abilities other than the similarities in the Drell and Asari that they all knew about. He and his brother weren't just rare cases, they were the only cases. It was at this realization that Shepard remembered her conversation with Miranda and Mordin hours before getting to Pragia, they were both hundred percent positive Ty was genetically built with Ty actually finding out about it and telling it to Miranda the day Shepard had been out cold from the memory wipe.

In her stubbornness to try and find more data she had forgotten that all three doctors were doing their best to research Ty's condition from the scans they had which led her down to the Tech Lab after reading a short dissertation about being able to access the full use of ones mind and what could be possible but it was all just theories and no one had any new answers on it, or none that had anything to do with Ty's abilities. "What's going on Mordin?" Shepard asked. "Know we are heading to Tuchanka to help Grunt but have received troubling news. Remember when we spoke about my work on Genophage modification project?" Mordin asked.

Shepard nodded in remembrance; she hadn't been to happy to learn that he had modified the Genophage after the Krogans begun to become more or less immune to the original Genophage. She had never agreed with the Genophage in general but her talks with Wrex hadn't done much to improve her opinion on it, "You aren't bringing this up for a history lesson, what's wrong Mordin?" Shepard asked. "Received word from STG contacts that Krogan Bloodpack have captured former colleague and protégé, Maelon and have him on Tuchanka." Mordin answered. That didn't sound good in the slightest, Shepard didn't agree with the Genophage but she knew if those Krogans knew or found out about the modification then Maelon would be more than likely tortured as gruesomely as possible before being stuck inside a Varren pit or a Thresher nest.

A shudder found its way across Shepard at the thought of a Thresher Maw but she didn't allow the thoughts of Akuze to cloud her mind by focusing on Mordin, "Do they know about him helping on the Genophage modification?" Shepard asked. "Unsure, STG very good at covering its tracks but very possible if they kidnapped Maelon." Mordin answered. Shepard nodded and said "Then we'll make this a priority and we'll ask the Krogan clan leader if he knows anything about this." Mordin nodded in thanks and said "Thank you Shepard, wish to see Maelon unharmed. You wished to speak about something else?" Mordin asked. "Have you found anything else on Ty and his abilities?" Shepard asked. "No, know that his main nervous system is human and one of the sub systems is Drell and another is Asari but cannot find any relevant data on fourth system. To find that system would answer all questions but have cross checked many species and have found no correlation with his." Mordin answered. Shepard shook her head in exasperation, "I understand how the Drell and Asari fit into his with seeing his own past in perfect clarity and being able to join his mind to others but to see all memories around him and feel their energy…I can't wrap my head around it, it still just doesn't seem possible." Shepard said.

Mordin nodded slightly as Shepard brought her hand to her head and ran her fingers through the top of her hair, another thought crossed Shepard's mind that she had been wondering since finding out that Ty had the Asari nervous system in him, "If he has the Asari nervous system, why doesn't he have biotics? All Asari have biotics." Shepard asked. "Wondered this myself, it could be possible that he has yet to awaken them and they might manifest in the years to come or because his human nervous system is the main control point they might not manifest unless he is exposed to Element Zero." Mordin explained.

Mordin pressed a few buttons on his terminal pulling up the diagram of Ty's nervous system again with his four alternating colors of green, red, yellow and blue starting alternate until Mordin stopped it on the red one, the unknown. "Another theory is that his "transformation" is the only state in which he could use them but, as I said, they have not manifested or he has yet to figure out how to use them. Or his transformation is a new form of abilities that have yet to form in any race except for Ty and his brother. Maybe they aren't even human, could be new race formed from the experiment and become a new ascendance of evolution where biotics have been surpassed by the normal senses becoming stronger and the reactions and movements of the body becoming faster than a normal reflex, like all his normal movements using the reflex arc."

Shepard nodded slightly since she was understanding what he meant but still feeling a little lost, a reflex arc is a neural pathway that controls an action reflex like looking over to your side to see a ball flying at your head and dodging it miraculously, the sensory neurons don't even use the brain to go through all this, they bypass it and synapse in the spinal cord activating spinal motor neurons without having to think about actually dodging it just making you do it. Shepard had learned some of this when learning about her biotics and studying more in-depth on human nervous systems the six hours before and in a way what Mordin was saying made a bit of sense with how Ty was when he was transformed.

Though Shepard had only seen it a few times the way he moved when he was transformed, the quickness, the way he seemed to be a few steps ahead mentally then he was physically all made it seem like everything he did was going through the reflex arc. "If under his…"transformation" all his natural movements are going through the reflex arc would he even be able to think straight, would he even have thoughts?" Shepard asked. Mordin nodded and began pacing, _here comes the science lesson_, Shepard thought. "Yes, it wouldn't disable thought pattern he would just be able to react quicker. His movements on Illium for instance, when the men surrounded him all of his attacks might not have been thought through, his attacks and movements might have felt like instinct to him like the human theory of the sixth sense." Mordin said.

Ty's abilities pushed the envelope of normalcy as it was but saying he had the sixth sense, Ty would likely call that bullshit. Shepard shook her head slightly at Mordin as she said "But Mordin-" Mordin raised a hand in interruption and said "These are theories Shepard, he is a scientific anomaly and I have thought of many theories but have found none that I fully believe are correct. If we ever find what this." Mordin pointed at the still red nervous system outline, "Is I may be able to find out why but until then theories continue to prove to be endless." Mordin stated.

That was slightly deflating but also contented Shepard, some of the theories were interesting and gave her something to research in her spare time when she wasn't reading one of her novels or planning one of the next missions. "You've given me some things to think about Mordin, I'll let you work." Shepard said. "Will be here if you need me." Mordin replied before going back to his terminal. Shepard left the Tech Lab and got into the elevator to go back to her room, as the elevator ascended Shepard looked up at the ceiling and asked "EDI can you hear me?" "Of course Shepard, my connection to the elevator has not been disabled since the last time you asked." EDI answered. Shepard chuckled at EDI's response and asked "What is Ty doing?" "He is in the process of working on a sniper rifle that I assume is for Garrus based on the designs he has painted onto it." EDI said. "He put a scarred mandible on it?" Shepard asked in a joking manor. "…That is not inaccurate." EDI answered. Shepard stifled her laugh and said "Okay, let me know when we're only a few hours away from Tuchanka." "Do you wish for me to direct all vital mission data to you and "let the rest of the crap wait until further notice" Shepard?" EDI asked. The doors of the elevator opened allowing Shepard to exit as she let out a laugh and said "You got it EDI."

* * *

After getting back on the Normandy from Pragia Ty decided to work on the guns he had set out while Shepard and Jack went to do whatever they were going to do, instead of making more than one trip up and down the slow elevator Ty took off all his gear and set them to the side while he worked. The Teltin facility did a number on his mind and all he wanted to do was relax and forget about the stuff that had gone on down there, he wasn't sure why his demon just faded as they were leaving the facility but he wasn't entirely complaining since that meant he wasn't stuck looking like a blue veined freak with purple eyes.

He took the time to clean the guns while he was attempting to clear his mind of all the things he saw and heard inside the Teltin facility, seeing the memories play out and hearing the screams wasn't something he ever wanted to hear or see again. It was all just a reminder of how screwed up Cerberus was and gave him another reason to see the organization burn eventually, it was an ideal so that was going to be impossible to get rid of since other groups like Terra Firma held similar if not the same beliefs and were likely working together behind the scenes but having the Illusive Man's glowy eyed head on a platter would be good enough for Ty and would send Cerberus into a huge disarray until a new leader showed up.

The plans for killing the Illusive Man were on the back burner for now until they were done with the Collectors and possibly the Reapers, Ty hated himself for thinking it but Cerberus could be a huge ally for the war if the Illusive Man kept his shit straight and worked with Shepard. Even if they gave him the finger when they were done he'd have to be stupid not to want to kill the Reapers and help Shepard do it, but then again it was the Illusive Man and he was a egomaniacal psychopath who would likely find some way to screw them all. Ty put those thoughts to the side and picked the Viper rifle to work on first and at the moment he had on the breather part of mask as he was painting the Viper sniper. The barrel was going to be an iridescent black with a blue shine and the base area of the gun which would usually be white was going to be Garrus's markings giving it a more personal touch but the base color was a metallic black and the markings were a dark blue. On the left side for the engraving he put Reaper Killer and on the right Garrus "Archangel" Vakarian. On the front before the metal barrel Ty added two pieces of metal which he was now painting over that looked like mandibles to add to the look of it being like a Turians face with Ty coloring it the same iridescent black with blue that the barrel had but the mandible on the right Ty scraped it a little to give it the look of scarring. The good things about the mandibles were they didn't add too much weight, they didn't get in the way of it folding up, they looked cool, and lastly it could work as a bipod which would be handy. For ammo he was going to put in armor piercing rounds to add an extra punch since the Scions and some of the other people they were fighting had some major armor that made it a pain to deal with but he hadn't reached that yet his painting was taking time.

As he was doing the blue markings there was a beep on the terminal next to him informing him someone was trying to contact him, Ty pressed the button to let it come through and said "This is Ty's suicide hotline if you have any complaints please do us a favor and pull the trigger." "Geez never putting you in charge of that." Joker said sarcastically. Ty chuckled to himself; he bet it was a hard job. "Hey Joker, why you calling on the private line? Something going on?" Ty asked. "Not really just giving you some heads ups that you're just going to love." Joker said with more sarcasm. Ty stopped spraying and let his breather mask retract as he asked "The Illusive dick want another ass ripping?" "No, at least not that I know of, first off that holo and recording you had EDI take of you, me and Miranda is waiting for you up here." Joker said. Ty had actually forgotten about that but was wondering how it turned out, "Well that's probably the best news out of it all I guess, what's the rest?" Ty asked. "We're headed to Tuchanka in the Krogan DMZ to help out our resident Krogan and Salarian by talking to the Urdnot clan leader who I'm sure is a swell guy, we'll probably be there in three days so you'll have plenty of time to work on more guns and prepare yourself for the head-butting contest of all time." Joker said.

Ty smiled at the joke and thought, _I guess he doesn't know its Wrex, I'm sure he'll be happy to see me…maybe._ "The last thing I'll let the talking toaster tell you, I gotta start flying." Joker said. "See ya Joker." Ty said. "See ya." Joker responded. As the terminal shut down EDIs blue hologram popped up in front of him, "Hey EDI how you doing?" Ty asked. If she could nod Ty assumed she would have, "I'm well, how is the sniper for Garrus coming along?" EDI asked. "How'd you know it was for him?" Ty asked with a smirk wondering if it was the markings or the scar. "I scanned the blue markings on the rifle and compared it to Garrus's and it was almost a complete match, well done. Plus the extra parts you added to look like a Turians mandibles made it easy to figure out since we do only have one Turian and he is the only one with scars on the right side of his face that you or I know." EDI answered.

Ty smiled and gave a slight nod at her to acknowledge the compliment in her words, though he was surprised that she assumed correctly that he only knew one person with the bad scars Garrus had but not many people got blasted by a gunship missile, or impaled on walls. "How are you? You were distressed on Pragia multiple times and Shepard explained in short what had happened." EDI asked. He had been able to lock most of the memories away and he hoped none would ever resurface for his own sake of not wanting to remember the things Cerberus had done, the cold feeling had left a few minutes after the nuke had gone off and for that Ty was thankful. "I'm good right now gonna finish this up then head back to my room for the night I think and either catch some rest or be visited by Shepard again if she decides to visit." Ty said. "How are you two?" EDI asked.

EDI was the only person on the ship that actually knew about Shepard and Ty talking to one another and what they discussed due to her being apart of the ship so Ty nodded in response and answered, "Good, never thought I'd actually say that about me and someone in the Alliance but Shepard has a way of making the impossible happen. She's a great friend and I trust her fully, the only difference between now and if you asked a few days ago would be that me and her talked about us being more than friends." "Do you question her judgment?" EDI asked. Ty couldn't help but chuckle before he said "I question both of our sanity daily with the usual shit we do but now I'm questioning it even more. Maybe it's because we're both stubborn enough not to let anything get in our way but she seems to think that something is possible between us other than friendship…and I'm starting to think it might be as well but I still think we are both bat shit crazy for even considering it, then again no one ever fell in love without taking a chance or a risk of some sort but…I don't know we'll see, anyway what's the news you got for me?" Ty asked. "Jack would like to talk to you when you have the chance." EDI answered.

_That is…odd. Never thought she'd take me up on my offer of being someone to talk to,_ Ty thought. Ty raised an eyebrow and asked "Any idea what about or if it's in person or not?" "I do not know, she seemed fine when she talked to Shepard but she seems…different." EDI said. That they both could agree on, Jack was a tough woman that was a definite but every tough façade fell eventually. "I don't doubt that I mean look at what happened to me after I saved Haley and killed Scrum, got more of a lock on my bad temper and I'm actually having more fun." Ty said. "Yes you did change but you changed back towards your normal self based on what you have said and what I heard from your family while they were on board. Jacks emotional state has seemed to change drastically with what happened on Pragia. I do not wish to incite anger but organic emotional states seem very…fragile." EDI said. Ty started putting his gear on and said "They are on most; there are some people though who don't feel anything like the Illusive man." _And some people who just fed off of agony and pain, _Ty thought remembering Tarak for a moment. "Do artificial intelligences fall under that category?" EDI asked. Ty smiled to himself and said "No not in the least bit, well except for the Reapers they do. I believe your race can get past the organic non-organic barrier if we organics would try to understand your race like you try to understand ours, look at you and me and how far we've come. The time will come when become apart of the galactic society and there will be peace without any of us losing something for it to happen."

EDI was quiet for a few seconds as Ty finished putting his gear on then she said "You are a very positive person Ty, thank you for having faith in me." "You're welcome, though Ka'Reena was a Quarian she actually believed peace could be achieved between the Quarians and the Geth and they could live peacefully together and achieve much more working together so it kinda rubbed off on me even though I never was racist towards ." "Thank you." EDI said. "And to you as well EDI, I'm going to call Jack so I don't just go barging down there without permission, be sure to continue giving Joker a hard time for me." "Logging you out Ty." EDI said then disappeared.

Ty popped up the terminal and called Jacks room, "Who the fuck is it." Jack answered. "The sarcastic asshole downstairs." Ty answered back. "Oh the fucker was able to stop playing with his toys and talk." Jack said sarcastically. Ty chuckled and retorted, "As I was designing the toys I was thinking of all the ways they could be used to kill people then I thought "oh hey maybe the psychotic biotic upstairs wants to talk."" Ty heard Jack laugh a little then her side went dead, Ty waited a few seconds waiting to see if it actually went dead or she was waiting for him to continue talking, Jack was still silent so Ty asked curiously "Hey Jack you alright? EDI mentioned you wanted to talk." "You mind coming up here to talk just in case the cheerleader or someone else is listening?" Jack asked. "Sure see ya in a minute." Ty said. "Yea." Jack said.

The line went dead and Ty walked over to the elevator and took it up to the Engineering deck, as it ascended he couldn't help but notice the difference in Jacks voice when she asked him to come up there, it was probably true about Miranda and anyone else listening to them but her voice didn't have the usual toughness to it or hostility towards Cerberus which confirmed what EDI had said and made him very cautious. It could just be a little paranoia but he was preparing himself for whatever she wanted to talk about.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened letting him get out and walk through the door and down the stairs to Jacks hidey hole, as he got to the bottom he saw Jack sitting on the table she had in there with a look of contemplation and an emotion Ty couldn't place. "Hey Jack what's up." Ty said. "Hey." Jack said. Ty got further in the room and said "You look deep in thought about something, trying to think of ways to kill the princess?" Jack barked out a laugh and said "Nah I already thought that through." Ty chuckled in response but figured the conversation wasn't going to go anywhere without him asking questions so he said "You know I never thought I'd see you show someone mercy, especially that Aresh guy." "You and Shepard showed me how he could be me and I'm not going to be carrying that crater around with me." Jack said confidently.

Ty nodded and paced a little, it was good she wasn't going to be carrying that place with her anymore, the nightmares that place caused needed and were wiped from the Universe and they would remain that way if Ty, Jack and Shepard never thought about it. Ty stopped pacing and said "That's good carrying the past sucks and is a waste of good energy, the sooner you can understand what happened in the past and use it to make yourself stronger as you move on through life without holding onto it, the sooner you'll live life happily…Not that I've been a good example of that." Jack smiled and said "Listen to you get all fucking philosophical." Ty shrugged and said "Hey what can I say; I've learned how things can scar someone and how it is to carry your past with you every moment of your life non-stop. I'm just trying to help you understand what I'm learning. The past is the past you can't change it and pissing and moaning about it just drains the life out of you, you gotta remember what good you had and use the bad to make you a stronger person." Ty said.

Jack gave a slight nod, Ty would never forget what the Suns took from him but he couldn't continue down the path he had treaded, life had become miserable and a self inflicted hell day in and day out. His time on the Normandy was becoming a good reminder of a motto he tried teaching his squad, _live every day like it is your last god damn moment on this side of the Universe, create memories with your loved ones and never be dragged down by the past._ He hadn't lived by the motto for eight years but he wasn't going to continue like that, it was far past time of moving forward. "Yea maybe but some shit fucks with you for a long time like losing something important, shit you know what that's like." Jack said solemnly. Ty nodded and said "True I do and I lived my own hell for eight years straight with a few good moments but after killing Scrum…I guess you can say I've done some soul searching and decided I can't keep down the path I was. I won't ever forget my friends or Ka'Reena but…I'm only twenty three Jack and though life expectancy is low for this mission and afterwards if I have a long life I want to make sure it's a damn good life not one where I'm sulking in my sorrows for the rest of my days thinking that my early teenage years were my glory days and the rest of life will suck." Jack chuckled slightly and said "Yea that would be pretty lame of you to do."

That made Ty smirk, he couldn't imagine now spending the rest of his days staring at a picture or looking at the memories of his friends or Ka'Reena wishing his own life to end so he could join them, he had to live on for them and make his life memorable like they would have wanted, they didn't want him to off himself, they'd probably kick his ass in the Spirit realm for that. Ty looked at Jack thoughtfully, he felt that he knew her well but he still felt that he was missing something, the Teltin facility was an eye opener and so was the mind joining they had when they visited her past but there was more to her arms distance approach to people. "Aside from everything at Pragia you must've had more shit happen to you to shut yourself out to people, feel like sharing?" Ty asked. "What Cerberus fucking with me couldn't have been enough?" Jack asked with some agitation.

Ty shrugged and walked towards her cot, maybe he crossed a line but they had talk about some very personal things of his past so he figured fair was fair, "Sure it could've been I was just saying that maybe there was more to it but if I'm stepping past my boundaries I wont bother you with my thoughts I was just making some conversation trying to get to know you better." Ty said. Jack looked at him with bewilderment, "Why do you try being friendly but you don't try getting in my pants?" Jack asked getting off the table and walking over to him. _Oh well fuck me didn't think this through, I guess that's a norm,_ Ty thought. "Does that bother you?" Ty asked. _Not the best response dumbass,_ Ty thought. "Why if I say yes you'll fuck me so you don't hurt my feelings well I got news for you I don't nee-" Ty put his hand over her mouth stopping her from talking and trying to stop digging his own grave though he figured it was a poor attempt.

The two stared daggers into one another though Ty was unsure why he was having to take on her deadly glare with his own, it was just a question that she could've deflected. Ty stood there with his hand covering her mouth for a few seconds looking at her with a stern look and said "Jack you need to calm the fuck down. I don't know what the fuck happened to you all through the years after being stuck in that prison but you obviously think that everyone is trying to use you for something so I got news for you, I'm trying to be a good friend not get in your pants. I don't know why you wanted to talk maybe you just wanted to bitch at someone or punch me or whatever but if you want to talk then talk to me about what is bothering you or whatever you wanted to talk about. I'm not here to use you and I'm not here to fuck you so take your strap on off and tell me what you wanted to talk about."

Ty removed his hand and crossed his arms and waited for Jacks recoil good or bad, "Fuck you." Jack said. Ty shrugged and waited for her to start talking, she walked away and leaned forward against the table she had originally been sitting on, "Just fucking leave." Jack said. _Like that'll happen,_ Ty thought. "No that's what you want and expect me to do and I aint going anywhere, even if I can't actually help I'm still going to try." Ty said. "You can't fucking change what happened you're just wasting your time until you find out that everything you're doing won't change a fucking thing and you'll leave like every other motherfucker." Jack said with what sounded like sadness.

Jack stood facing away from him with her head bowed down looking at the table until Ty walked over to her side and said "I might not be able to change your past or fix anything with conversation but that's not going to stop me from being your friend. You need a friend Jack and not one who's going to try to use you." There was silence after Ty said that and he did what he said he was going to do, he sat himself on the table and waited until she'd realize he really wasn't going anywhere.

There was ten minutes of silence and the two just staying where they were at a stalemate, if there was one thing in Ty's favor it was that he could out stubborn anyone except his brother and dad, and likely Shepard depending on the subject. He was one of the most stubborn people he knew and Jack, like others, would figure that out the hard way, when you can visit your own past or just enjoy the silence of the room allowing you to think about anything and everything there wasn't much the other person could do to beat you in stubbornness. Jack finally spoke up, "Fine I'll fucking talk you fucking stubborn persistent shit. There was this guy who was with me for a while and we got separated on a mission and he had a choice either leave with the loot or stay behind to give me time to escape, the idiot stayed behind to let me escape." Jack started. _Maybe this wasn't a good idea, is there a rewind button to stop myself from doing this, Spirits any help here? No? Fine I'll deal with it but next time stop me, better yet just show up and warn me…right you don't intervene with us unless you feel like it,_ Ty thought. "He had a recording on the ship in case he didn't check in and it told me that he was sorry and told me that he loved me and wanted to settle down with me get a house and have kids." Jack looked away from Ty still staring a hole into the table as she said in a choked up voice "Fucking idiot should've just taken the loot and left me." _Fuck me and my stubbornness_, Ty thought.

The cat was officially out of the bag, survivor's guilt mixed with everything else that ever happened to her. To say he understood would be half false, he did feel survivor's guilt for his friends who were killed in the explosion but he couldn't say that his loved one stayed behind to let him escape and died for him, Ka'Reena was murdered because of him not died for him, and his guys were just plainly murdered. So with no advice coming to mind and the only thought of _fuck me_ constantly replaying over and over in his own mind and with no words of comfort that could make it any better he did what he figured was either a really bad or really good idea. He got on his feet, not a good start to which Jack said "I told you that you'd leave fucking prick." Ty grabbed her arm and turned her to face him as he said, "Who said I was leaving."

She tried to look away but Ty saw the tears rolling down her face and said "Bring it in Jack." Ty pulled her into a hug which she tried to resist not knowing what he was doing at first but after more than a few seconds of resisting she gave in letting herself be hugged until she finally gave in completely and gave him a hug back and not a half ass hug an actual full hug. They stood there for a little while holding each other, he was right once in that whole conversation, she really needed a friend who wasn't looking to use her. After a few more moments of silence Ty let go of her and she did the same, she wiped her tears away starting to put her toughness back on and Ty said "Feel a little better now." Jacks voice had a choked and a caring tone as she said "You're a fucking asshole." A smile found its way to her face and Ty smiled and said "I know I've heard that a lot, I know you don't like letting anyone get close to you but I'm not going to stop trying until either you stop fighting the fact that I'm going to be someone you refer to as your good friend or until you kill me for trying."

Jack nodded a little still showing her softer side and said "I know…sorry for snapping on you…it's just…I'm not used to someone being…" Jack stopped having trouble trying to find the words to say. Ty knowing which words would fit interjected "There for you or a using piece of shit." Jack nodded and Ty said "Don't worry about it; I wouldn't have let you fuck it up." "You could've ended up dead by doing that." Jack said. Ty smirked and said "You may be a biotic god but I'm an escape artist. Its late I need to go get a little sleep and you should do the same but remember if you need to talk to me-" Jack punched him in his left arm hard and said "I know where to find you dick, I'll be fine and we'll talk more another time."

Ty nodded at her and as she walked to her cot and as he neared the stairs she said "And remember if you tell anyone about me having a weak moment I'll rip your spine out your ass with my biotics, got it." Ty smiled to himself and said "Got it Jack, see ya later." He got up the stairs and into the elevator and pressed the crew quarters button, it ascended slowly and when it arrived he stepped out and walked to his room to un-arm himself and call it a night since it was late already.

He walked into his room and immediately he knew someone had been fishing around which only meant one person, Kasumi. His picture and holo had shifted on the nightstand a little and one of his drawers was slightly open which he was one hundred percent positive was closed when he left earlier, "So much for being a stealthy thief even a child could notice someone was snooping around, she must be out of practice or something." Ty tested. "I most certainly am not." Kasumi's voice chimed. Ty smirked and Kasumi's cloak came off revealing her sitting on the edge of his bed, Ty shook his head and rolled his eyes at her, "You're looking in the wrong places if you're looking for credits or guns." "If I wanted a gun I'd look under your pillow where you keep your extra pistol with a heat sink that allows you to discharge twenty one shots in three round bursts before you have to unload the thermal clip and is never folded up so you can shoot as you pull it out." Kasumi said in a cheery manor with a smile. "Um stalker much." Ty joked.

Kasumi rolled her eyes with a smile and said "Please I have better things to do then stalk you, besides I'm already looking at Jacob." Ty shook his head as he gave a slight laugh and said "Like I said stalker, why you looking around in my room Kasumi it's not exactly a cash cow." "Well I was checking out that picture and holo because Shepard told me about it and I wanted to see for myself then I was looking around to see if you had anything else hidden." Kasumi said in a care free tone. "You ever here of privacy Kasumi, oh wait thief almost forgot." Ty joked. Kasumi smiled and stood up then said "Only if you would so I could steal your stash of money, I'm going to borrow a few of those Serrice Ice Brandy's and some of the other alcohol that's down there to stock up my lounge, some of the guys look like they could use a drink from time to time. Your doing good with Jack Ty keep it up and date Shepard already for gods sake you two would be good for each other."

Kasumi took her exit leaving Ty surprised with her knowledge at first and then leaving him smiling and shaking his head at her spying as he started taking his gear off. She probably used the tunnels that led through the Normandy to move around quickly. He got all his weapons off and adjusted the picture and holo back to their original place and shut the drawer completely, after a long day of dealing with the memories of a nightmare factory down on Pragia Ty was happy to finally lay down on his bed since he decided he'd go grab the holo and picture of Joker and Miranda in the morning or at some point in time tomorrow. Despite all the bad stuff that had happened he considered the day a good day, not only did they blow up a Cerberus facility that needed to be wiped out but he had Tali's support for the upgrades on the Normandy, he was getting closer to being done with Garrus's new rifle and Jack didn't rip his head off. It was all the makings of a good day.

The Next Day

Ty had gotten up early and showered but left his room without his gear since he figured he wouldn't be on any mission today, he headed up to the CIC first and greeted Kelly as he walked by, "Hey there." Kelly greeted. Ty nodded in greeting and said "Hey Kelly, how are you doing?" "I'm good just a little worried about Grunt in the Port Cargo. Shepard keeps assuring me he won't rip out a bulkhead but I'm just a little worried about him." Kelly answered. Ty chuckled and said "Sounds like more than a little, don't worry about him he's just being a Krogan. Once we reach Tuchanka he'll be fine…still Grunt but not how he's acting." Kelly smile and said in a joking tone, "Not all of us have the expertise that you do with Krogans." Ty chuckled in response and said "Yeah no one I know is stupid enough to do two head-butting contests in one life and still want to do a third for shits and giggles." "Sometimes I worry about you Ty." Kelly said with a smile. "Hell I worry about me sometimes Kelly; I prefer not to think about what I'm going to do next so I can be just as surprised as all of you when I do the next crazy thing. Maybe I'll be riding a Kakliosaur into battle next." Ty joked.

Kelly raised an eyebrow in question obviously having no idea what a Kakliosaur was so Ty let out a sigh and said "They were ridden by Krogans a long time ago, extinct now. I forgot that no one really knows much about them." "I see, I take it your Krogan friend told you about them?" Kelly asked. Ty nodded and said "Yeah, he was drunk off his ass one time…well actually he did that often but I always supplied him with Ryncol so I guess it is my own fault. Anyway he attempted to make up this story and joke about the Krogans riding a bunch of Kakliosaur's on the Salarian homeworld, I say attempted because from there it was a lot of gibberish and he often forgot the things he already talked about until finally he ended it by saying "I really wished I cooked that Salarian liver, I had indigestion for weeks after that." Not sure why but we all laughed pretty hard at that, I think it was because of how drunk he was that made it funny."

To Ty's surprise Kelly began smiling as he was actually trying to remember why they all ended up laughing, "You sure make interesting friends Ty." Kelly said with a smile. "What does that say about all of you on the Normandy?" Ty joked. Kelly smiled bigger and said "I'm not sure but as soon as I find out I'll let you know." Ty nodded with a smirk and said "I'll see you later Kelly." "Take care." Kelly responded. Ty headed to the cockpit to get the holo and recording and hang out with Joker for a little while. As he approached the cockpit he heard Joker and EDI as usual bantering with each other, "What do you mean we have to stop in the next system for probes? I thought we stocked up after we left Pragia?" Joker asked in exasperation. "We were supposed to but you insisted on getting them later because you said "the Commander could live without probing a bunch of planets for a day" which is how she gets resources to upgrade the Normandy and the crew for the Collectors Mr. Moreau." EDI answered in a scolding mother tone. "Arghhh damn her and her probing, every time she does that you have to always repeat that the probe is launched, why couldn't they have put another Mako on so I could relax in peace." Joker said in an agitated tone. "If you would have just gotten them yesterday you wouldn't have to stop the Normandy today." EDI stated.

The banter was funny from Ty's perspective but as he got behind them he did his best impersonation of a commanding officer as he said "Commander on deck!" "You know if it was an Alliance ship and if Shepard was a hard ass about that stuff I'd actually be worried but since no one seems to tell me when Shepard's standing behind me just spying on me and no one has ever done that for her due to her asking them not to I know you're full of crap." Joker said. "Geez you seem like such a downer today." Ty fired back. Joker looked back with a disbelieving look as he responded with slight agitation, "Really." "Yeah really, be happy you get to make a quick stop and relax for a little while before we head to the Krogan DMZ and hit Tuchanka." Ty said. "As long as Mr. Moreau does his job correctly we won't have to "hit" Tuchanka." EDI stated. Ty sensed the sarcasm from her and couldn't help but smile, "Oh I swear I'm going to cut its circuits today so it is on permanent mute." Joker said. "Don't get to upset Joker you might get a stress fracture or something and then we'll be stranded for a while or worse your rival will get to fly the ship." Ty said motioning to EDI. "Oh hell no it's not going to take control of my baby." Joker said in a protective manor.

Ty sat himself down in the seat next to Joker as he smiled at his protectiveness, as he looked at the controls he reached to touch a button as he said "Hey what does this one do." Joker looked over and slapped him in the hand and said "Don't touch that button; actually don't touch any of the buttons unless you want to be flying inverted over a Batarian planet trying to keep up foreign relations." Ty retracted his hand quickly and rubbed it and said "Geez you could've just said that instead of slapping me." "If your going to hang out up here the rules are don't touch the controls and don't backseat drive, flying this isn't like flying that little thing you call a space bike, there's a lot more to it then press a button here and have the A.I. do the rest." Joker said. "Isn't that what you do?" Ty asked with a smile. "Shut up." Joker said flatly.

_Victory once again ah it never gets old_, Ty thought as he smirked to himself. A few minutes of just listening to the hum of the Normandy went by then Ty asked "So how'd that holo and recording turn out?" Joker laughed a little and EDI said "The quality of both the holo and recording are very good but I do not think Miss Lawson will approve of making copies of it." "Yeah but since when has Ty listened to what "Miss Lawson" approves of." Joker said. "I hear that." Ty said as he reached over to Joker for a high five which Joker gave him. "I already have a holo of it yours are somewhere over by the ship cancer and I don't know if Miranda wants a copy of it but if she does your giving it to her because that wont be good for my already fragile life expectancy." Joker said. "Let's find out, EDI can you set up a comm between up here and Miranda for me?" Ty asked. "Yes Ty setting it up now." EDI answered.

Joker looked at Ty with a knowing smirk and said "You're going to ruin her whole day." Ty shrugged with a smile and said "Come on would I do that." "Yeah you would." Joker said as he looked back at the ships controls. "This is Miranda what do you need Joker?" Miranda's voice came over the comm. Ty smirked and projected his voice loud enough so she could hear him as he said "Not Joker princess its little ol me, you busy 'cause I got a question for you?"

There was a sigh and then Miranda said "Great. What is it?" "You remember when you were being stubborn about working on Shepard since she went out like a light and I had thrown you over my shoulder and I had EDI take a holo and recording of it?" Ty asked. She seemed to whisper some curses that sounded like they were aimed at him then she said "I was really hoping you had forgotten about that." "To be honest I kinda did but anyways so we got an extra holo up here and I wanted to know if you wanted it, Joker has his and I got mine do you want a copy?" Ty asked. "No." Miranda said flatly.

_Well she's no fun, might as well try to have some fun with her though,_ "Come on Miranda you know you want a copy, it's a great picture of us all and there won't be another time where that happens." "No." Miranda said again. "Come on Miranda if you don't take who am I to give it too, Garrus? Jacob? Mordin? Shepard? Donnelly? It just doesn't seem right to leave a perfectly good holo just sitting arou-" Miranda's Australian voice came over loud and agitated as she said "If you give that to anyone I swear I will rip you in half with my biotics, you are pushing your luck Ty and if you keep pushing I will kill you!"

_Uh…shit did I seriously just piss her off with a joke?_ Ty thought. Looks of surprise crossed both Ty's and Joker's face, Ty was surprised at how quick she snapped and how serious she sounded not like the night they took the picture where he knew she wouldn't, she seemed determined that she would this time, "Whoa calm down Miranda I was just joking no need to get pissed off at a joke. I'll drop it off to your room so you can destroy it with your biotics or what ever you plan on doing to it." Ty said. "Whatever." Miranda said. "Sorry for pissing you off and probably ruining your day I was just trying to have a little fun with you Miranda, trying to keep the mood light with everyone you know but sorry for causing an issue." Ty said sincerely. Miranda groaned a little at herself as she said "I know." There was silence then she said in a less agitated voice "…Listen I'm dealing with some issues right now and I just don't need the extra bullshit alright." "Okay I'll try not to cause you more bullshit so you don't try to rip my head off since that just doesn't sound like fun right now." Ty said jokingly.

There was a slight chuckle and Ty knew she was cooling off then she said "Thanks…and sorry for snapping." "Sorry for causing bullshit, see ya later Miranda." Ty said. "See ya Ty." Miranda said. EDI shut the comm off and Joker gave a critical whistle then he said "If that was anyone else they would've been dead." Ty nodded and EDI asked "Do you think she would've actually tried to kill you Ty?" Ty nodded again and said "Yea she definitely would've reached through that comm and killed me if she could have. Those words were a promise not a threat, there was venom in each word but thankfully I was able to calm her down a little 'cause if I kept pushing yours truly would be dead or trying to get off the Normandy." "I see." EDI said. "Shepard would've saved your ass from her wrath she has a habit of jumping into a suicide mission for her friends." Joker said. Ty nodded absently and thought, _Not even Shepard could've stopped that wrath, I hope we get to Tuchanka and get out quickly before Miranda explodes on someone and if I don't step lightly around her it's going to be on me._

**A/N: Invictus means unconquered in Latin in case you didn't know, thought it made sense for Shepard and was kind of funny for a hamster to be called that. Also the reflex arc is real, not sure if everyone knows about it so thought I'd make sure I let you all know I'm not pulling this crap out of my ass. Thanks for reading I'll see you next time.**


	36. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

People Skills

Two days had gone by since Miranda nearly ripped Ty's head off through the comm, he had hung out that day with Joker a little longer then took the two holos and recording with him downstairs where he delivered one holo to Miranda, who looked very stressed, and left quickly then dropped his off in his room and set them next to his other picture and set the holo on permanent on mode so anyone could see it all times. He took the rest of that day to meditate in his room and relax since he didn't feel like working on the guns and there wasn't much to do for him aside from talk to others. It was a very uneventful remaining of the day but that wasn't a bad thing he needed a few uneventful days to rest and recover some of his energy he used on the missions, that and to relax from the stunts he pulled. He liked to balance his own craziness with a little normalcy here and there.

The next day was uneventful again for him but for Jacob, Kasumi and Shepard it was an eventful day since after finally stopping in a near system to get probes there was an anomaly found and Shepard took them down to a Blue Suns mining base which Ty gave them a little more information on since he knew of it. He finished off Garrus's sniper rifle and was waiting to give it to him for when he saw him next and started working on Jacks Carnifix hand cannon along with putting aside a Scimitar assault shotgun to customize for Jacob. They rarely saw each other and even more rarely spoke to each other but it didn't feel right to outfit everyone else and leave him excluded even if Ty thought he was sort of weird and sometimes casted distrustful glances at him, _probably because of the Illusive Man,_ Ty thought.

He hadn't gotten very far on Jacks gun when she somehow miraculously snuck up on him and slugged him hard in the back of his left shoulder, Ty couldn't figure out how she accomplished sneaking up on him but he had been in deep thought about the gun and what to do with it so that was likely the reason, or at least that was his excuse. She had a good laugh about it and they talked some more about random subjects mostly him and his crew and some of the stupid stuff they got into and then some serious talk about the Collectors and Shepard being able to pull through, they both agreed the Collectors were going to die by their hands and that they were both going to be loyal to Shepard to the end.

Hearing Jack talk about her loyalty to Shepard was odd, it wasn't a surprise that she was loyal but as far as Ty could tell through all their talks about the people she had been around through her life up until now she wasn't one to cast her loyalty card to anyone but herself but here she was ready to go into the Collectors pit of hell with the squad. It hadn't seemed likely she'd ever come to believe in Shepard as some of the crew had due to her past but then again it hadn't seemed likely for Ty to become as loyal as he was to Shepard. Hell they both had made it clear when they joined saying that they were in for the ride and were cutting loose afterwards and neither had planned to get attached to any of the crew aside from fighting along side them. Maybe Ty should have thought harder on it or maybe he was just to stubborn to realize it back when he joined but there was no such thing as fighting along someone and not forming some kind of bond with them, friendship or rivalry.

Shepard was a leader at heart and no matter if Jack and Ty attempted to not form bonds with the squad they would have bonded with Shepard the way they had no matter what. Ty wasn't sure what it was about the woman that made it that way, maybe her good heart created a sort of indoctrination effect on all those she considered friends to make them to want to follow her into the deepest pits of hell and back, Ty doubted that she could control minds otherwise the Council and the Alliance would have their heads out of their asses but he figured a more likely conclusion. People like Shepard were rare and those that existed in time were followed to the ends of the Universe by their allies regardless of the odds or how big the threat was.

Maybe she was the Universes savior, maybe the Spirits of all the races that fell chose her as their warrior to bring an end to the Reapers or maybe she was just the right person at the right time with the right charisma and right attitude in the right job. There was no certainty with any of that and there would never be a correct answer only an answer to those who decided to interpret it in their own ways and that was fine but all Ty knew was that she was a damned good friend and no matter what happened he'd follow her to the end, unless she somehow became the exact opposite of who she was, joined Cerberus fully and then decided to try to kill him or his family, that would put a sour note on it all. That conversation ended and lead to Jack talking a little more about her history and some of the fun stuff she got into before this mission but it soon ended when the shuttle came flying back in and Jack put her barriers back up.

Shepard stopped by and shared a few words with the both of them then headed up top to get Joker back on track to Tuchanka, as Shepard, Jacob and Kasumi left in the elevator back to their quarters Jack asked Ty if he thought Shepard was a girls club girl because she seemed to like to talk to Jack a lot which Ty smirked and asked her if she was a girls club girl which earned him a punch in the left arm and a fuck you from Jack. Ty told her no eventually after milking the joke a little longer saying that Shepard was just a friendly person and thought of her crew as a family, a dysfunctional family who liked to give each other hard times and liked to fight on battlefields for some reason but a family nonetheless, Jack called them both weird, Shepard for being as she was and Ty for describing the squad the way he did which made Ty chuckle.

They talked a little longer with Jack bringing up Ty showing her his past and he answered some of her questions about it like the locations of some of the memories since some were in different colonies and she jokingly asked about the sex which Ty couldn't pass up for shock value and a good laugh so he made his own joke by going deep into fake details about whips and chains and other kinky things until Jack hit him to stop since she was laughing so hard about it and calling him a sick kinky fucker.

She eventually left and Ty had lost all desire to continue work on the gun for the night so he headed back up and stopped in by Chakwas to talk a little more with her just to be friendly then he headed back to his room for the night and meditated for a while then went to sleep. It was the next day now though and he had woken up early since he wasn't tired and got ready after a shower then headed down to the cargo hold again to continue on Jacks pistol hoping to get some work done this time. He had a great idea for her pistol before he fell asleep but had lacked the desire to go back down and work on it at the time so he was making up for it now. Ty used his ability to see the past to see her tattoos and picked the most colorful parts and was going to paint it onto the gun which was going to take a long time for him to do to get it perfect.

He decided on the engravings, The Psychotic Biotic, on the left side and, "I"LL THROW YOU LIKE A TOY!" –Jack, on the right side which he thought was good and hoped she didn't end up throwing him like a toy for it in an attempt to be funny but he figured she'd be fine with it. He had switched the music back to his 21st century rock station and let it run with it blasting out the Cargo Hold and likely the Engineering Deck and Jack which might have made him smirk slightly. He had been painting the first layer of the design for two hours when his omni-tool popped up randomly signaling he had a call, he turned his music off and took his mask off as he answered "This is Ty's porno palace we got your best selection of alien porn may I recommend the Asari porno Matriarchs Gone Wild." "No thanks do you have any suggestions for a Turian and human porno?" Z asked. Ty chuckled and responded, "Well I suggest you go down the hall and ask Jessica for some private tapes but otherwise we don't sell that here." "Damn this store blows." Z said. "If you would like to learn more about the blowing section of our store I suggest you go out and actually get laid and stop wasting your money." Ty joked. "Touché." Z responded with a chuckle.

Ty sat himself down on a crate and asked "So what's up?" "Figured I'd check in with you see what was up with you since I don't see you to often anymore because of this mission." Z answered. Ty felt the same pang of home sickness that his brother was feeling in wishing Ty wasn't on this mission, he missed his family and seeing them every day and he hadn't spent much time with them in the last few years with the whole Blue Suns hunting and now he was on a suicide mission. He needed to keep in touch with them if this was truly going to be the end, "Touché back at you, just working on a new gun for Jack designing it after her tattoos and putting some engravings on it. Finished Garrus's Viper yesterday and Grunts Avenger a while back otherwise went on a mission with Shepard a few days ago for Jack to help her blow up the facility Cerberus kept her in as a kid then just hanging around trying to keep everyone on the bright side." Ty said.

Z chuckled in response to which Ty assumed was because they blew up a Cerberus facility which likely reminded him of that space station he had accidently dropped on top of a different Cerberus facility, _good times,_ Ty thought. "Sounds like you've taken up the responsibilities of having friends in a crew by trying to keep them less stressed." Z said. Ty chuckled and responded, "I can't help it, with how this mission is laid out the crew doesn't need to be at each others throats going into hell." "Yeah I know, you're a natural leader Ty whether you like to admit it or not, still trying to figure where you got that from 'cause it sure wasn't me and my lonerness." Z stated. Ty shook his head and rolled his eyes as he said "And it's your fault whether you like to admit it or not, you were a leader to me and I took after you." "Eh details…So how you like your new tomahawks?" Z asked.

To say he was completely stoked out of his mind was an utter understatement and Ty didn't like using the word stoked to describe anything unless he happened to think it was the grooviest thing on the planet. "Bad fucking ass Z, you should give up that Katana for something like these." Ty said with a smile. "Fuck no my Katana is more bad ass than those besides I researching new tech for it." Z retorted. "No way, I'd take these over that any day, what are you going to do if your out of ammo and the people are at a distance? You can't throw it like a javelin without them seeing you do it." Ty argued. "No Ty." Z stated. "Come on you know you want to talk about this." Ty retorted with a smirk. Z let out an exasperated sigh, "We are not having the "You're gonna talk about the shotgun" conversation again but have it be about our choice of weapons. I saw those guys the other day still fucking debating about what weapons they want, and he still is talking about the shotgun" Z scolded shooting him down. "Damn you." Ty joked.

Z laughed on the other side but then he stopped and said "I know Shepard is, well Shepard I guess." Ty chuckled and jumped in, "Oh you mean top of the Alliance N7, first human Spectre and reaper killer in her spare time." Ty stated. "Yeah that, anyway you're still watching out for everyone including her and yourself right?" "Got my eyes on everyone's back and my own, oh by the way the Illusive Man has weirder eyes then us." Ty said. It was quiet for a few seconds but then Z came back, "You met that bastard?" Z asked. Ty snorted and said "Please if I did I would have added "and he's dead" onto that, the Normandy has a QEC and I had to talk to the Illusive Man since I may or may not have hacked Cerberus files since he was stonewalling Miranda and I may or may not have transferred part of EDI to my space bike and omni-tool." "So she's stalking us right now?" Z asked. "Incorrect I cannot "stalk" as the word is intended but I could listen in if I felt the need." EDI answered over the comm. "EDI." Ty chided. "I felt obligated to answer." EDI said. "By stalking." Z responded with a chuckle. "You make the assumption that I was not invited into this conversation." EDI said with what Ty could swear was a humorous tone.

Z began laughing slightly as Ty shook his head, "My name was mentioned Ty." EDI said. "Yes it was, can you let us believe we have a sense of privacy for the remaining conversation EDI?" Ty asked. "As you wish Ty." EDI answered. "I like her." Z said with a chuckle. "Thank you." EDI responded. "EDI." Ty chided again. "Sorry, false sense of privacy mode activated." EDI responded in what Ty knew was a sarcastic tone. "Your fault." Z said before Ty could respond. "I take full blame for her becoming funny. Anyway the Illusive Man threated our lives after the mission is over and wants Miranda to kill me then he's going after home base." Ty said.

Silence ensued for a few moments with Z obviously thinking over what Ty said, Z didn't like Cerberus in general, well he actually hated them but the threat not only against Ty but their home base was sure to get him thinking of ways to find secret Cerberus bases and blow them up on purpose. "No shit and how does he expect to find us when the fucking Shadow Broker has no idea where we are and he's been trying to find us for years." Z said. Ty chuckled, the Shadow Broker agents never got very far and Ty and Z had a fair share of messages sent back to the Shadow Broker in the form of dead agents with data-pads on them or with the words "Fuck off" carved into them depending on the viciousness either brother was feeling at the moment.

The Shadow Broker was even more pissed at Ty right now though after helping Liara and Feron with their mission and he still hadn't found them. "I know that's what I said but he was all "don't underestimate Cerberus" and some other bullshit, got to rip him a new ass though that was fun." Ty said with a smirk. Z chuckled and said "Damn nice job, you think we should move home base?" Ty sighed and said "I don't know, we've been fine there but if we move we might be moving into a place that can be found easier you know. Run it by daddy the best plan of action is something he'll think of. We got the home field advantage if they come knocking and that things got more guns then a Krogan army but still we gotta be careful we aren't untouchable, we do go out in the open all the time." Ty said.

His brother was silent for a few seconds thinking about what he had said then he finally said "I'll run it by daddy but the Illusive ass is stupid if he thinks he's untouchable. You think Miranda would actually kill you?" Z asked. Ty shrugged to himself and said "Dunno depends on the day, the original day when I ripped him a new ass he wanted her to kill me but he withdrew the order and later on she told me she didn't think she could do it but she could've just been lying you never know. Then two days ago she nearly ripped my head off through a comm link about a joke so like I said depends on the day." "Well if she tries or does I will personally kill her." Z said. "Aw and here I thought you had a crush on her." Ty joked.

Z barked out a laugh which Ty immediately read as a cover but was going to let his brother think he had him fooled, the two rarely lied to each other and only did when they were trying to protect the other or if it was something extremely personal that they didn't want to talk about it but being as close as they were to one another they couldn't lie without the other knowing that it was a lie, it was as helpful as a hint to not talk about it as it was a pain in the ass when you knew they knew you were lying. "Crush, fuck no not how she is now all Cerberus bitch an all but she is great eye candy, one of those you should look and never touch kind of women you know." _Lies,_ Ty thought. "Maybe she'll change and see that she's working for a bunch of fucked up assholes but if she doesn't then like you said look don't touch." Ty said going along with it. "You gonna get any action on that ship, honestly you got some women on their right?" Z asked in an attempt to change the subject. "I'm not starving for sex Z but as for women there are more than a few but only seven I know by name and eight including Doctor Chakwas." Ty said.

Z chuckled and Ty sensed the joke before it came, "You and her should totally hook up, older women need loving to you know." Z joked. Ty chuckled and said, "Not it. Anyway there's Shepard, Jack, Miranda, Tali, Kasumi, an engineer named Daniels and a woman named Kelly Chambers are the women I know to a degree." Ty said. "Well you gonna try to get with one of them?" Z asked. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Ty joked. "Yea that's why I'm asking." Z said. "Well take Miranda off she's more interested in you and I'm just trying to get her to be who she is under all that Cerberus bullshit, Tali's like a sister and I doubt she has those feelings for me, Kasumi had Keiji but he died and now she's mourning him and having her eyes set on a guy named Jacob on this ship and I wouldn't consider it anyways just because I enjoy our friendship. Daniels no, Chambers no." Ty said.

There was a whistle from his brother then he said "So you either gonna get with Jack who you'd be with for life unless you want to die or ruin the friendship or Shepard who is part of the people who hunt us, not bad not bad." "Well Shepard has feelings for me, don't really know how strong but she wants me to think about giving her a chance and Jack I think might have feelings but hasn't said anything about it but I'm trying to be her friend because of all the shit she's been through. She needs a good friend and not one who wants to use her for sex and if I did I would be, like you said, with her for life which isn't bad." Ty said. "But isn't who you want to spend the rest of your life with because eventually it would end up either being just about sex, being friends or hating each other." Z finished. "Yea that." Ty responded. "What do you think of Shepard?" Z asked.

Ty let out a deep sigh then said "Difficult to even think about because if I do date her and it somehow got public her Alliance career is over because of me, otherwise though she's fun to be around has a certain spunk to her and is a very caring person. We get along great and she wants to try it but not only does the different side of the law thing weigh on my mind but her old flame Kaiden might still be in this." "If he's in the game why she flirting with you?" Z asked. "Because I'm great eye candy." Ty joked. Z laughed a little then said "Right anyway maybe he's not in the game anymore if that's what's holding you back then ask unless Ka'Reena is still weighing on you as well." Z said. _Yea….that_, Ty thought. "You know me so well." Ty said forcing a smile. "I should I'm your brother…she wanted you to move on Ty and I know its hard for you because of what it was but she's gone Ty you can't hold onto the past forever you've gotta move forward." Z said. "I know I'm trying to but there are so many memories with her and those never leave me and I don't doubt that me and Shepard might be able to make it work but I really don't like the idea of traveling the hurting highway twice since she wants more than blowing off steam." Ty said. "The memories of Ka'Reena shouldn't leave you, Ty moving forward doesn't mean you have to forget everything that you felt with her, that was true love at its finest so take what you felt from it and put it into another relationship. You'll never know if Shepard is the right woman until you give her a chance and if you never do you'll regret it just as much as Ka'Reena."

He was right about the last part, maybe it was time to give Shepard a shot and if it didn't work then it didn't work, the elevator doors opened and Z said "That or go to Aria or that one Turian you were with, both really dig you, well the Turian did I don't know about anymore since neither of us have seen her since you two were together which was Spirits know how long ago." Ty chuckled and said "Shut up." "Hey I'm just sayin'." Z said with a laugh. Shepard, Mordin, and Garrus walked out and Ty said "Hey Shepard just came down with Garrus and Mordin armed to the teeth and I gotta give Garrus his new gun so I'll talk to you later alright." Ty said. "Yea that's fine I'll tell everyone you love them, love you Ty stay safe." Z said. "You stay safe, love you bye." Ty said.

Ty shut the comm and hopped off the crate and said "Hey Garrus I got you a present." All three looked over at him and Ty grabbed the sniper off the ground in its folded state and Garrus said "Aw you got me a new sniper, you are so thoughtful." Ty smirked and got over to them and said "I know, give me your old one and try this one out real quick." Garrus handed Ty his sniper and Ty gave Garrus the new one, Garrus unfolded it and started checking it out, "Paint job is after your face, scarred up the right mandible just for you but the mandibles can be used as a bipod for those good sniping times. The dial on the right side can switch between regular ammo and Tungsten ammo that can pound through just about any armor even a Goliath Geth if you ever end up going against one of those on foot, which I hope you don't."

Garrus looked across the room through the scope and Ty said "Scope can adjust to see a very long distance, a lot further then your previous one but I can't give you a specific length just know that any target you can see will always most likely be in the kill zone. And a little thing I added myself if you press the button below the dial it gives you the amount of kills and misses you have from anytime you pull the trigger so try to have more kills then misses Garrus."

Garrus's mandibles adjusted as he smiled and said "I never miss." "That's not what Shepard told me." Ty said with a smirk. Shepard was surprised to be dragged into the conversation judging on the look on her face and the tone in her voice as she asked "What?" "You told him about that." Garrus said going with the joke. Shepard put her hands up a little and said "Whoa back up I didn't say anything about anything you did Garrus." "She also told me you and her had a one night stand." Ty joked. "What!" Shepard yelped in shocked. "I thought that was our little secret Shepard." Garrus said with a toothy grin.

Shepard blushed a deep red even though they all knew it was a joke since it never happened but she still seemed embarrassed so Ty took the attention off her and back to the gun as he said "Oh and one more thing about the sniper Garrus I hope you never have to use it but the bipod is not dull, I sharpened them to be as sharp as my tomahawks and it can be used as a bayonet or a slashing weapon to fend off enemies like the Husks or anything that rush you." Garrus folded it up and put it on the magnetic holder on his back and said "Thanks Ty." Ty looked at Mordin and asked "Hey Mordin what would you prefer a pistol or a sub machine gun?"

Mordin grabbed his chin and said "Hmm interesting question, my Carnifix is very useful and doesn't need any new adjustments aside from the ones I have given it already but my Tempest argh that needs some work. Would appreciate it if you were able to get me a better one otherwise make do with what I have." Ty nodded and said "You got it." Shepard had recovered from the previous conversation and said "Okay you two go load up on the shuttle we're heading down to the surface of Tuchanka."

Garrus and Mordin walked away but Shepard stayed behind and Ty asked "You need me to do something Shepard?" "Two things, first off I want you ready to go when I get back you're coming down with me and Grunt to help him out since he asked to bring you along. Second see if you can get Miranda to release some frustration." That was an odd request but Ty nodded slightly, Shepard shook her slightly as she said "She's nearly about to blow on someone." "Yeah she already threatened to rip me in half with her biotics." Ty stated. Shepard ran a hand through her hair and said "Well that might complicate you helping her. We're handling two missions today so we can get her to Illium." Shepard said. "Why not bring her down to Tuchanka to release frustration?" Ty asked. "Because I need your help for whatever we have to do with Grunt to make it as quick as possible since we need to get back to Illium to help Miranda." Shepard said.

Ty nodded and Shepard put a hand on his shoulder and said "I know it's a big favor since she's on edge but it's either you or no one since she won't go talk to Chambers. I need your unique…people skills for the lack of a better word to get her a little more level headed so she doesn't kill one of the crew. Will you be fine with her and going on another mission so soon?" Shepard asked. Ty smirked and said "Please Shepard think of who you're talking to I used to hunt and fight for days at time with less luxury than this. I'll think of something that doesn't end in my death or damage to the ship." Shepard smiled and said "Thanks Ty…have you been thinking about-" Ty cut her off and said "Yeah we'll talk after the missions are done, you need to go help Mordin out get his head straight and I'll handle the princess." Shepard nodded and said "Good luck." She let her hand drop and Ty said "You're gonna need it more than I do, see ya later." She jogged to the shuttle and Ty walked to the elevator so he could go grab his gear and Miranda to help her release frustration, he had an idea to help but he didn't know if she would be up for it or if he would be able to walk away from it with both his halves intact.

**A/N: Hey just popping in to let all you readers know that I'll likely not be posting anything else this week since I'll be with family for thanksgiving weekend but if I get the chance I will attempt to post another chapter. Have a great week and I'll see you next time.**


	37. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Frustration Release

The elevator ascended to the crew quarters and the doors opened letting Ty get out and walk to his room to get his gear real quick so he'd be ready when Shepard got back. As he got in his room and to his counter of gear he called out to EDI "Hey EDI I need a quick favor." Ty didn't see if EDIs hologram popped up but he did hear her synthesized voice "Yes Ty what can I do for you." "Can you get me a comm link to Jack and tell her it's me?" Ty asked. "One moment." EDI answered. Ty heard the distinct sound of her hologram disappearing then as he finished getting his pistol holders and all his tomahawk holders on Jacks voice echoed in his room "What do you need dick?" Jack asked. "Nice to hear from you too sugar plum." Ty said with a lot of sarcasm. "Are you fucking serious! Sugar plum?!" Jack shouted. "I thought it matched, you don't like it?" Ty asked while trying not to laugh. "Oh you are so lucky I'm actually beginning to like having you around." Jack said. "Actually beginning? Come on Jack I thought we had something going here, anyway on a serious note you mind doing me a big favor?" Ty asked. "No way in hell am I helping you do those guns, you're on your own for that one dick." Jack answered. Ty smiled and said "Wasn't going to ask you to help with that, the favor actually requires really nothing from you except to stay out of the cargo hold until I give you an all clear." "You working on some explosives?" Jack asked.

_I wish I need to get my hands on some boom booms I miss being the one shooting the explosives,_ Ty thought. "I wish but no, Shepard wants me to get the princess out of her bitch mood so I'm going to try and get her down there." Ty said. "Did you tell Shepard that's just her permanent attitude and it's never going to change on the cheerleader." Jack stated. _Wonder how that would've worked, actually that probably wouldn't have been good to do_, Ty thought. "No didn't have much of a choice since I guess my unique "people skills" as Shepard put it are the only thing that will ease her up a bit until we got off Tuchanka, so you mind staying away until the princess is gone so I don't have a death fight between you two while Shepard's gone?" Ty asked. "Yeah sure fine I'll stay away so I don't biotically rip her in half on your watch." Jack said.

Ty put the remainder or his gear on and sarcastically said "Thanks Jack you're such a sweetheart." "Shut up dick, later." Jack said then shut the comm off. Ty turned around as EDI popped up and said "The comm was shut off." "I know, thanks for the help EDI I'll talk to you later." Ty said. "Logging you out Ty." EDI said then disappeared. Ty left his room and walked around the corner and down the hall to Miranda's office, he got to the doors and they opened revealing Miranda with an extremely frustrated look on her face as she was rubbing her temples as she looked at her table. She glanced up and saw Ty then shook her head and looked back down at the table still rubbing her temples as she asked in a flat tone, "What can I do for you Ty?" _Geez she really needs to lighten up some,_ Ty thought. "Thought we'd hang out." Ty jokingly said. Miranda scowled but still didn't look at him and said "I'm busy." "I can tell you missed that joke completely, you seriously need to get off that terminal and come with me down to the cargo hold to release frustration." Ty said. "I've got other ways to vent then going down there with you." Miranda said. _Apparently you need new ones,_ Ty thought. "Yeah and those seem to be working so well." Ty said with heavy sarcasm.

That got Miranda's gaze to fixate on him, to a weaker willed person they might have caved at the knees and attempted to back out but it really didn't faze Ty, "You know Miranda I thought you would have remember what I said when we first met through interrogation but I'll repeat it for you, I've dealt with murderers and psychopaths, your stare doesn't intimidate me." Ty restated. Miranda shook her head and began shuffling data-pads on her desk, Ty put his hand on the next data-pad she was going to grab stopping her momentarily as he said, "Come on Miranda I'm not that bad, I mean honestly you can say that I'm good at helping people release their frustration." Ty said. Miranda tugged the data-pad from under his hand with a glare as she said in an agitated tone, "Yeah you usually just screwed them to do that, I'll pass." _I most certainly have no- wait no that did happen once but it was just once that shouldn't count and not like she would know of that one time. I guess I should've just seen that dig coming,_ Ty thought. "Ouch that hurt Miranda. Do you seriously think that's what I was going to try? I would've picked a classier place then the cargo hold to try that since I got standards I hold up to. I've got the perfect plan and I know you'll enjoy it and feel a little better afterwards." Ty said. Miranda gave him a really look through her death stare, Ty rolled his eyes and used his most fake professional tone as he said, "I promise it won't put you in any predicament that would compromise your job as the XO for Shepard or complicate anything between us or the crew and I also promise you'll feel less stressed afterwards. You know I don't break promises."

Miranda stared at him a little longer then let out an exasperated sigh and said "Fine but you better be right." _Mission accomplished,_ Ty thought. He smirked and couldn't resist mimicking her as he said "I'm always right aren't I, oh if you don't want to get physical on the Normandy in that cat suit then you should change and no we aren't lifting stuff I'll explain when we get down there." "I'll be fine in this unless you have a problem with that." Miranda said but Ty could hear the underlying fuck you behind it. Ty shrugged as he began walking and said "Just offering I mean you seem to wear that all day and all night and its spandex so its obviously tight I was just saying maybe you wanted to wear something loose and let you hair down a little bit, figuratively speaking."

Miranda didn't say anything to him after that they just walked to the elevator and got in, Ty hit the cargo hold button and the elevator started to descend. "Why are you armed?" Miranda asked to break the silence since the elevator was going slow as usual. "Grunt wants me to go for whatever it is he has to do when Shepard takes him down to Tuchanka so Shepard wants me armed and ready to go when they get back with Mordin." Ty said. "Any idea what is causing his erratic behavior?" Miranda asked. "He's just being Krogan." Ty responded. Miranda gave him the look that everyone he had said that to so far had given him, it was the look of "what does that mean?" but there was no answer aside from that as far as Ty knew it was just what it was, a Krogan being a Krogan. The elevator stopped and the doors opened letting them both get out and walk out into the large room, Ty took all his gear off and set it on the table where he usually worked then started pushing some of the crates across the room to get some open space and create an arena of a sort. As he finished Miranda was looking around at the make shift arena with an uncertain look on her face as she asked "What was your plan now?" "You ever spar hand to hand with someone without protective gear?" Ty asked. Miranda nodded slightly and Ty continued "Good 'cause that's what we are doing."

It seemed to catch Miranda off guard but she began to shake her head no and said "That's a bad idea." "How do you know we haven't even tried to do it yet, only rules are no extreme full contact hits to the face and for you no biotics except for pushes, I can take those." Ty said. "We don't need fighting in the crew." Miranda said flatly. Ty rolled his eyes, _what a lame excuse,_ Ty thought. "Really that's the best excuse you got? If it gets to rough we'll stop or if I hurt you we'll stop." "What if I hurt you?" Miranda asked. _There's the opening I needed, when in doubt attack the ego, _Ty thought. "I doubt that will happen, come on Cerberus had to teach you some hand to hand combat and we all know I'm good at close quarters fighting so lets see what you got." Ty said.

Miranda contemplated her decision for a moment but then she began to walk into the arena Ty made but she didn't look like she was getting ready to fight though Ty was prepared for any strike coming since that was the easiest feint to do. Ty watched her body language and waited for the foot plant or something of that manner to show her attack but instead of a physical identifier to tell him she was about to attack he saw a blue hue begin to form around her hand and if he hadn't begun to sidestep he was sure he would've been sent flying with a broken jaw or a concussion. Miranda sprung her attack nearly hitting him in the face with a biotic fueled punch but as it came at him Ty dodged around her and made her swing at thin air.

She recovered at inhuman speeds but seeing as they were both genetically created they were going to be faster than most with reaction times, she went for another strike since Ty wasn't ready for her quick reaction time so she closed the short gap between them and attempted to strike with her knee but Ty swiftly dodged it and got around her giving her a slight push making her stumble forward as he taunted "Is that it, is that all the Illusive mans prize possession can conjure up? Two strikes then get ambushed from behind? I'm nearly positive you trained better; you forced yourself to be better right? Daddy's little science experiment doesn't seem to be doing very well." Miranda snarled at the taunt and closed the distance between them even quicker than before and went for three more quick strikes but even though they were quick her frustration level was getting in the way of her actual fighting ability and Ty blocked and dodged them easily and had to fight back a sigh of boredom.

Ty was able to get behind her again and give her a slight push again as she caught herself he put up his index finger as a one and said "Okay first off if we are going to spar correctly you gotta focus because at this rate I'll be bored before you get pissed off so badly that you'll want to kill me." Ty raised his middle finger making a two and continued "Secondly to my firstly, the only person aside from me that can gain focus from anger is my brother and since you lack his neon green eyes and you don't have either of our sparkling personalities that means you don't focus when you are angry so getting angry is counterproductive for you. You gotta relax and let your training come natural and thirdly and I can't stress it enough try to have some fun." "You are such a bloody asshole!" Miranda said her accent really coming out in her anger. Ty scratched the back of head as he said "Why does everyone seem to think I need the reminder of that, I really don't need the reminder. Come on stop trying to hit me and hit me."

Instead of waiting for her to attack he went on the attack to put her on enough defense so her instincts would take over, he wasn't full force punching or kicking but he was able to get her a few times before her instincts started to take over against his simple strikes. She blocked a few then got his arms out of the way for a second letting her nail him in the chest with both her palms knocking him back a few steps, before he could remark on it she was on the attack now making him actually have to try and dodge it all, as he dodged punches and blocked them he said "There you go now its coming back and here I thought I was going to be fighting with myself between pissing you off to want to attack me or just saying fuck it and punching you as hard as I could to make you fight me." "Shut up." Miranda growled.

Ty was met with the heel of her boot hitting him in the chest making him stumble back and grab at his stomach where it hit, _that's why she wears those damn things,_ Ty thought, _fuck that actually hurt_. Ty found himself smirking as he said "Good good you actually made me feel pain but it's my turn." Miranda had closed the distance while he was talking which was unfortunate for her, Ty feinted a punch making her attempt to dodge the punch that was never coming allowing him to sweep her legs out from under her and plant a boot on her stomach, "Why did that happen?" Ty asked with a smirk. "I am going to kick your ass!" Miranda yelled as she attempted to get his boot off of her which wasn't working at all. "Wrong, that happened because, well I'll spare you the technical explanation since I'm just agitating you at this point, that happened because I'm damn good and you thought for some crazy reason you had me on the defense permanently and that you actually had a chance. Crazy right?" Ty asked goading her.

What came next he had coming but he didn't see it coming, Miranda growled as she hit him with a biotic orb that suddenly lifted him up and then slammed him down into the ground. Instead of questioning how he ended up on his chest face down Ty rolled himself onto his back and kipped up just as Miranda was attempting to stamp on his back and likely rub his own comment in his face. "Good one but don't go one hundred percent yet save that for later this is just the beginning." Ty said. She retorted by hitting him in the stomach with a strong right but then she followed by grabbing and twist his right arm back towards him wrenching it a little but it didn't last long because Ty flipped himself in the direction his arm was facing making her lose her grip and opening her up for an attack which he took continuing what was to be a long battle.

An Hour in a Half later

The sparring had gotten intense but in a good way, or as good as beating on each other can be. It became like an actual fight except they weren't trying to kill each other or hurt each other or at least Ty wasn't Miranda had used her biotics more than a few times to throw a crate at him which he'd have to dodge very quickly. Through the intensity though Ty's eyes had turned completely purple and his veins did their usual transformation though he hadn't realized it until Miranda asked him during the fight about it worried that she had severely pissed him off. He wasn't even near being angry he was actually enjoying himself being nearly reminiscent of his days with his brother when they were younger and training and pushing each other to be better fighters just without the biotics Miranda had so a bit of a mixture between his brother and him training and Darian and Ty sparring. He assumed it was just his mind being at a peak of focus that he normally didn't attain unless he was extremely pissed or meditating but the fight seemed to get his mind going so he didn't mind it.

He wasn't sure why his body transformed now and back on Pragia without taking his mind to the point of no return like it used to but maybe this new occurrence was a good thing or just a warning of a big blow out about to happen, he couldn't be certain. This was good training for him as much as it was a stress release for Miranda so he couldn't complain but he'd have to ask his brother about this new occurrence, he'd know since he had more experience with it all.

They were both huffing and puffing and balls of sweat with soaked heads of hair which was an abnormal look for Miranda always having her hair perfect. Whether it being perfect was natural or her spending hours in front of a mirror he didn't know but it didn't matter at the moment since he had to roll on the ground as another crate came flying at him. He narrowly dodged it and got himself ready for her strikes that she was sure to throw right after, he was on his toes and hands as she came at him quickly going for a kick at first which Ty used his left arm to block not wanting to hurt her leg with whatever made hitting his right arm more painful, her kick seemed to be coming at full force, he then pushed her away with his right arm and got on his feet again she came again with punches that Ty dodged and blocked until he got the chance to give her a slight kick to the gut pushing her back again so he could get back on the offensive though offense was the last thing he was going to be on.

It all happened quickly but Ty was able to see the blue field appear on her arm as he felt like a train hit him and sent him flying "Whoaaaa!" Ty yelled. The sudden weightlessness felt funny but it ended quickly as he crash landed into some of the crates Miranda had tossed earlier, the boom echoed across the room and all that could be seen of Ty was his legs laying on top of a crate, he had crates on all other sides of him and his torso was wedged in the little space his body made when he landed against the crate moving it very little. There was haste from Miranda Ty could hear only based on the sound of her heels clicking across the room signaling her approach, "Ty are you alright?" Miranda asked as she approached. "Owwwwww." Ty managed to get out. Miranda's head popped into view with her arm extended to help him so he grabbed it and she pulled him out of the hole, Ty got himself off the crate and sat down on the floor with the help of Miranda and put his back against the crate.

He wasn't injured badly mostly out of breath from the fight and the landing but otherwise he had very little bruising, Miranda knelt down next to him and said "Sorry about that I didn't mean to use that much force." Ty nodded and Miranda continued "You're lucky that fall didn't break anything you hit those crates hard." Ty nodded again and said "You don't have to tell me I hit hard I know I did, feel a little better now?" Miranda nodded slightly and said "Yeah it was a good release, do you want me to get Doctor Chakwas for you?" Ty shook his head no and said "I'll be fine just gotta catch my breath, how close is he?" "What?" Miranda asked. "Your father, is he getting close to your sister?"

Miranda looked shocked at Ty's question but it made sense because no one knew about her past though he had alluded to knowing some of it to her, "Did you hack Cerberus files again Ty?" Miranda asked in a serious tone. Ty shook his head and said "No, well not again that is. When I was on that Cerberus facility getting information I came across yours and Jacobs personal files and I hacked my way into finding out more about you since you had some locked stuff and I found out about your father and the genetic tailoring and your sister Oriana. Don't perceive me as a threat I don't go after innocents especially my friends family and I'll take most of that information I found out to my grave unless you tell more people."

Miranda nodded and Ty shook his head and said "Your father is fucked up, if it gives you any comfort I might hunt him after we're done with the Collectors and Reapers and if you need more help with your sister I'll do what I can." Miranda gave a slight smile and said "Don't worry about it I'll handle him when I get the chance, I don't like asking for help but you know a lot already if you wanted to come you could I guess." Ty nodded and said "Sounds like a blasty blast, I'm going to go take a quick shower before Shepard gets back so I'm not a ball of sweat before I go on a mission you gonna head up as well?" "Yeah I need a shower as well, you want help up?" Miranda asked.

Ty shook his head and pushed himself against the box and onto his feet, Miranda stood up completely and they both walked over to the elevator, well Ty wasn't walking as straight as he usually did but he was walking. The elevator took them up and they walked out as they reached their destination but before they parted ways Miranda stopped Ty and said "Thank you for helping me release some frustration." Ty gave a slight nod and said "You're welcome but that's what I'm here for aside from my charming personality and dashing good looks. Oh and thank you for biotically tossing my ass across the room into some crates." Miranda rolled her eyes with a smirk and said "You are such an arse." "You're an arse." Ty mimicked.

Miranda shook her head with a smirk and walked away so Ty walked to his room but before he jumped in the shower he walked over to EDIs terminal and said "EDI you there." EDI popped up and said "Yes Ty I am here." "Can you tell Jack me and the princess aren't in the cargo hold anymore so she can travel about freely if she feels spontaneous enough." Ty said. "Would you like me to use those words?" EDI asked. "Yea but make sure you tell her that's what I said." Ty said. "I will." EDI said. "Thanks EDI also if anyone comes looking for me let them know I'm in the shower and will come find them when I'm done." Ty said. "Would you like me to make sure Kasumi doesn't sneak in your room while you shower?" EDI asked.

Ty nodded with a smile, he wasn't sure that she actually would but it was a good precautionary plan so he said "Yea that would be nice, thanks EDI." "You are welcome Ty." EDI said then disappeared. Ty hit the shower and cleaned himself up then got out and got dressed and brushed his hair again, ten minutes had passed while he showered and got ready again so he decided to head back down to the cargo hold and get all his gear back on that he left down there then wait for Shepard to return. He took the elevator down and when he arrived at the cargo hold he was met by Shepard, Mordin, and Garrus with dirt and some blood smears on their faces and on Mordin's outfit, "Wow you guys look like you had fun." Ty said with a smirk. "You missed out on a real party down there Ty almost everyone came except you, the Bloodpack were there and they brought their pet Varren, some fire spitting creatures and Vorcha showed up and even got to fight through a hospital." Garrus said in a joking tone. "Hospitals aren't that fun to fight through though." Ty said. "What is fun to fight through?" Shepard asked. "Well some electronic stores are." Ty said. "Antique shops but only if they are classy." Garrus said.

Shepard looked at them both with a smile and said "You guys are one of a kind. Mordin, Garrus head on up I need Grunt down here so we can finish up on Tuchanka, Garrus make sure Miranda knows to let on the supplies I bought." Garrus nodded and he and Mordin got in the elevator as Ty walked out to his table where his gear sat. Shepard called on EDI to get Grunt armed and on his way down to the cargo hold so they could get going as Ty was arming himself again putting all his weapons in their specific holders and making sure they were secured tightly. As he finished he saw Grunts new gun he customized lying on the ground folded up, _I'll bring it just in case we need it and so I can test it out before I give it to him_, Ty thought.

Ty strapped it to the middle of his back between his regular tomahawks and his sniper then put his hood up since he hadn't yet, now he was completely ready but he was hit by a sudden memory from a few days before he and his crew hit the Thresher Nest.

* * *

"_We'll be there in a few days Ty as long as Valera doesn't crash us." Carson said with humor in his tone. "Cute Carson." Valera responded and then stuck out her tongue. Ty chuckled at the two and patted Carson on the shoulder and said "Play nice you two." "Fine." Valera replied childishly. "Ty if we make it out of this are you going to take Brad up on his party idea?" Carson asked. Ty nodded to himself and said "Yeah, we would've done it before just in case but my family matters mixed with all the other stuff kind of took all the time I had planned for a longer shore leave." "Hey sooner we're there the sooner we'll be back right?" Carson stated. "Damn right, I'm going to head up to my room and sort out the rest of the mess from that shit on the Citadel." Ty said. "C-Sec should thank you for solving their own damn problems, "Ah yes lets sit on our asses while a known group of murderers are planning to murder one of our officers families you know just because we are a bunch of incompetent idiots who can't stop someone from preaching on the Presidium let alone stop a real crime." Fucking idiots." Valera spat. "Is that how you feel?" Carson asked. "No I was keeping it censored for your tender sensibilities." Valera retorted._

_Ty smirked as he walked away hearing the two begin to bicker with one another as Ty passed through the CIC Ty saw Darian leaning against where the Galaxy map was staring at the Galaxy hologram in deep thought. As Ty neared him Darian looked over to him and asked "Are you sure about this? And don't give me the crap you give Gallick." "I'm sure I'm going down onto a planet where there is a Thresher Maw that apparently has useful resources around it." Ty responded. Darian shook his head and said "Fuck Tarak and this mission Ty we don't need to do this." "It'll be fine Darian." Ty reassured. "This is such bullshit." Darian spat. "Darian we've been fighting along side another for a while now, have I ever picked a mission that I thought was going to kill all of us?" Ty asked. _

_Darian chuckled and said "I don't think you've ever thought a mission was going to kill us let alone ever thought through a mission plan." Ty chuckled and shook his head, "No you never have, I'm just worried this might be a suicide run." Darian said. "It might be but working yourself up about it isn't going to make it better, if the worse happens you know what to do but I doubt the worse will happen." Ty said. Darian nodded then snapped into a salute and said "It's been an honor to serve with you Ty." "And it's been an honor to know you my friend, now go cause some trouble with the guys but try not to break the Setting Sun; Valera will rip your mandibles off for that." Ty joked. Darian chuckled as he let his hand fall, "She hasn't let me forget yet." Darian said. "Nor will I Talin, you break my baby and I'll break your face." Valera said over the comm. "Our baby." Carson chided. "Carson don't sa-" Valera was cut off by both Ty and Darian, she was too late, "Darian did you know they had a baby?" Ty asked. "No I had no idea I mean I always knew they had a thing for each other but never had I suspected…Spirits what did you name her Carson I hope she has more of you then her mother." Darian responded. "Crap, Darian run she's coming for you!" Carson said._

_Much to Ty's surprise Darian actually did run back to the elevator and began pushing the button frantically as Ty began to laugh hard and stroll to the elevator calmly since he needed to use it, "DARIAN TALIN YOUR ASS IS MINE!" Valera yelled as she came running up from the cockpit. Ty got in next to Darian who was frantically still pressing the button, "Why the hell isn't this working?" Darian asked. "Oh I left the safety lock on." Ty said with a smirk. "You what?" Darian asked as he looked back. A blue glow surrounded Darian, "Good luck buddy." Ty said with a smirk as hit the unlock button. "Wha-" Darian was pulled out of the elevator right before the doors closed, Ty fell to the floor…laughing his ass off._

* * *

The memory faded as suddenly as it came and Ty shook his head slightly in an attempt to get his thoughts straight. Ty looked around the cargo hold to see that Shepard had finished doing a check on her gear, mere seconds had passed but the memory always made it feel longer, Ty got his wits about him and walked over to where she was standing, she looked up at him and gave a slight smile then finished checking her shotgun over, "You always check your guns then recheck them before you do a mission?" Ty asked pointing out she had looked at each weapon twice. Shepard nodded and said "Yeah its like second nature, Alliance drills it into your head to always check your weapons twice to make sure the safety is on or off and that your heat sink was still good, at least back before thermal clips the heat sink was a big deal now though you check to make sure you have ammo in your clip." Ty chuckled a little which she smiled and asked "What's so funny?"

Ty shook his head and said "Nothing just you and your Alliance habits." Shepard put her shotgun back and asked "Did you get Miranda cooled off?" Ty nodded and said "Yea she'll be fine until we get to Illium unless she gets bad news about her sister." Shepard gave him a questioning look and asked "She told you about that?" "No I knew of her sister from reading her file and I put the pieces together, not that hard to figure out once you put her sudden mood swing with a sibling she's protective over."

Shepard gave a slight nod and Ty heard the slight sound of the elevator coming down, "Have you given it any thought?" Shepard asked suddenly. "Geez didn't figure you for the impatient type." Ty joked. "I'm usually not but its something important to me and patience with something like this is hard. Have you thought about it?" Shepard asked. Before Ty could answer the elevator doors opened and Grunt came stomping out, "I'll answer you later when we don't have crew members around." Ty said. Shepard sighed and said "Always when it's something serious to me someone has to interrupt."

Ty smirked and looked back over to Grunt who he could tell was very tense, "Grunt you ready to go find out why you're so tense and probably kill some things while we do it." Grunt seemed to perk up at kill some things but he nodded and Shepard motioned them to the shuttle which they all boarded. The shuttle left the Normandy and headed down into Tuchanka's atmosphere and as it did Ty couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen.

**A/N: Probably should do the whole disclaiming thing since its been awhile, I don't own the creation of the Mass Effect universe or the characters since that belongs to Bioware. I stake claim in the personailites of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual universe. Got that out of the way now I got no new news other than that I'm back and will be on my usual schedule if you can call my schedule usual but expect two chapters out a week like I've been doing. Thank you to all new and original readers and for the eight thousand views and the two thousand seven hundred something views last month, that number keeps increasing each month much to my surprise so thank you all who contribute to it. Any questions or comments just ask or comment away, Until next time when we'll all be under the Tuchanka sun, I can smell the Nuclear pile of rubble already.**


	38. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Rite to Battle

It had been two years since Ty had stepped foot on Tuchanka, two years since he forced himself to finally go tell the Urdnot clan leader that Kar was assassinated even if they didn't care, two years since he stood before Wrex and two other Krogans and explained everything leading up to Kars death and all the things Kar had done for the Krogan people while he traveled with him. Two years since he dared talk back to one of the other clan leaders for insulting both Kars memory and Ty and two years since Ty head-butted that clan leader for continuing the insults, needless to say the place hadn't changed much and the hospitality he expected would be worse than usual for him.

Tuchanka still was the bombed out home world it had been the last time he was there though he didn't expect it to change in two years but he allowed himself to think that maybe they'd get a clean up crew and start cleaning some of it up, not that the nuclear winter look wasn't good he just thought maybe a Krogan would be an interior decorator and start cleaning it up. _A Krogan interior decorator who the hell am I kidding that'll never happen, still a funny thought though,_ Ty thought.

The shuttle landed and the doors opened letting Shepard and Grunt out first and a slightly reluctant Ty after them, as soon as his feet hit the ground he sensed the sudden eyes on them, a lot towards Grunt and some towards Shepard and a lot towards him. Krogans had good memory since they lived so long and the last time he was here the only good impression he made was on Wrex, everyone else either hated him or disliked his alien presence on their home world. He doubted Wrex remembered the little head-butting incident but he hoped the other clan leader was dead or somewhere else because he was sure he remembered the incident.

They got to the first guard who was as swell as the last guy they had there when Ty showed up, he ordered them all to the clan leader then let them through after calling Grunt a rutting pet which made Ty and Grunt growl slightly in response for their own separate reasons. As they walked down the stairs Ty said "You know this place hasn't changed much except for the new guard back there, wonder how many they go through each year." "A lot I'd wager, when were you here?" Shepard asked. "Two years ago soon after you were spaced, I hadn't told the Urdnot clan leader about Kar yet and I finally summoned enough balls to come here and tell them whether they cared or not. Wrex was the leader and he seemed to tolerate me but some other clan leader and I didn't see eye to eye so I ended up head-butting him, Wrex thought it was funny but that other Krogan wanted to rip my spine out." "A lot of people seem to want to do that to you." Shepard said with a slight smile. "You got a quad Ty doing that on the Krogan home world." Grunt said. Ty nodded in an I know manor towards Shepard then in a thanking manor towards Grunt and said "Thanks."

As they got to the main opening Ty saw a Pyjak move quickly out of sight as it saw them walking towards it,_ little things are still running loose around here, wonder if they still use those defense cannons on them, ah nothing like seeing a Pyjak get incinerated_, Ty thought. In the distance Ty saw Wrex sitting on his throne in talks with none other than the ambassador Ty had head-butted, "Shit." Ty said under his breath. "Ty?" Shepard asked clearly hearing him. "That guy is the one I head-butted…we're going up there aren't we?" Ty asked reluctantly. Shepard nodded and Ty rubbed his forehead slightly, "This is gonna suck." Ty said. Not only was the guy more than likely still pissed at Ty he was also a traditionalist or something of the sort and bringing a tank bred Krogan wasn't going to improve on his mood. The only thing Ty had going for him at the moment was Shepard and her history with Wrex, hopefully it would be enough.

Grunts voice brought Ty's attention back into the present, "This rock is barely worth me standing on it." Grunt said. I guess he thought the Krogan home world was going to be more pretty, _he'll get used to it everyone does_, Ty thought. Shepard walked up to the stairs to the throne first but was stopped by a guard "The clan leader is in talks you must wait to be called on." Wrex glanced over and saw Shepard and Grunt standing there but Ty caught his glance and Wrex smiled a little and said "Well well your quad must be bigger than I thought Ty showing up here again." "Good enough?" Shepard asked as she pushed past the guard. Wrex got out of his throne and walked over to the group; Wrex shook Shepard's hand and said "Shepard." Shepard nodded and said "Wrex."

Ty was behind Shepard as Wrex looked back at him and said "Garrus wasn't kidding when he said you recruited a human with a big enough quad to put most Krogan to shame. How'd you meet the kid Shepard?" "Oh you know just a normal chat with me facing down the barrel of his gun." Shepard said with a smirk. Wrex smile as he looked at Ty and said "I'm impressed." "That he's alive or that he didn't kill me?" Shepard asked. "Honestly both, most the Galaxy wants him dead including your Alliance and he and his family aren't known for liking the Alliance." Wrex answered. _Yeah and now we're considering the impossible,_ Ty thought.

Ty gave a slight smirk and said "Hey Wrex how's it going." "Well enough." Wrex said. Ty looked around him and saw the other clan leader glaring at him so he said loud enough for him to hear "You still dealing with his bullshit I thought you'd have killed him already." Wrex smiled and motioned them to follow him back towards his throne, Wrex sat back down and said "Uvenk hasn't changed much and you seem to have not changed too much either except your looks, new tattoos." Ty chuckled and said, "You know how it is, you put enough war paint on to scare the opponent or make them doubt that you're a challenge then you either scare them into submission or surprise and kill them. Mine is just permanent."

Wrex gave a grunt of approval and said "True enough, I recall you saying something about making others believe you're the devil." To Ty's surprise he heard Shepard chuckle as she looked to him, "So you're the devil now?" Shepard asked. "Does she know?" Wrex asked. Shepard raised an eyebrow in question at first but than realized what Wrex meant as Ty nodded to Wrex and said, "Yea she does and yes Shepard I can play the devil pretty damn well. You'd be surprised how many have cowered in fear when I was…out of control. Fear isn't my favorite tool but I can't deny that it isn't fucking gratifying to see someone who has thrived off of the power of fear cowering before you begging for mercy in front of those they instilled fear into."

The look Shepard gave him looked like they were going to talk about that story another time but the four of them were interrupted by the sound of a Krogan clearing their throat, all four of them looked over to see Uvenk staring at them but mostly at Ty, "Why are you here human?" Uvenk snarled. "Two reasons." Ty answered. "Which are?" Uvenk snarled again. "One none of your business and two none of your fucking business unless your name is Urdnot Wrex, get it, got it, good." Ty said.

Uvenk growled under his breath as Wrex and Grunt laughed, "Hahaha, you haven't changed one bit Ty, so what brings you here to Tuchanka?" Wrex asked. "Two reasons one to inform you that every last person responsible for Urdnot Kars death have been killed." Ty said. "Except you." Uvenk said. "Fuck off." Ty responded without missing a beat. Wrex nodded in approval as he said, "Good to hear even though I didn't know him, so what's your second reason?" "That's Shepard, she recruited me for her mission so she brought me down here but I'll let her do the explaining for that. You mind if I go shoot some Pyjaks while you deal with figuring out Grunts adolescence?" Ty asked both towards Shepard and Wrex. Shepard raised an eyebrow in sudden question but nodded and said "Go ahead." "Hunt well Ty." Wrex said. Ty bowed his head a little and said "Thanks Wrex, Shepard come get me when your done talking with them."

Ty walked away to go get some Pyjaks and to get away from Uvenk before he head-butted him again for being an ass, Ty walked past the Varren fighting pits and down to the Pyjak shooting ground, "Human I take it you're here for the Pyjaks." The forward scout stated. "Yup let's see if I can put a dent into their population." Ty said walking up to a console. "It would sure make things easier, you might earn some respect from the others but I doubt it." The forward scout said.

Ten Minutes Later

The smell of burning Pyjaks filled the air as Ty blasted another one when he felt a tap on his shoulder so he glanced back and saw Shepard and Grunt standing there, "Time to go we have to do something called the Rite of Passage." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "Alright let's go." "I think you killed more than fifty human if you come back go talk to Ratch up there for a discount." The forward scout said. "I will." Ty said. As they walked towards a tomkah Grunt chuckled a little and said "I think Ty has rubbed off on you Shepard." Shepard looked at him with a questioning look and asked "What makes you say that?" Grunt chuckled again and said "Well the scents that come off you sometimes when he's around smell like you want to mate with him. Other than that though, he head-butted Uvenk and me and you head-butted Uvenk, I think you both have a little Krogan in you." Ty looked at Shepard with a smile but she was blushing a deep red at what Grunt said apparently very embarrassed about it being brought up so openly, "Least we addressed the elephant in the room." Ty joked. Shepard's blush got even redder then she glared at him and said "Don't even start."

Ty put his hands up in an I surrender motion and said "Alright just sayin, so what got Uvenk's quad in a twist." "He doesn't like me to much, doesn't think I'm Krogan." Grunt said. "You're Krogan alright I had the head injury to prove it." Ty said. Grunt chuckled and said "We should do that again, that was fun." Ty gave a light laugh and said "We survive the final push and we'll have another head-butting contest for fun." Grunt slammed his hands and said "It'll be glorious even better than the first time." "I'd do it before but I don't think I need to get injured anymore before the final push otherwise we'd do it after this mission." Ty said. Grunt nodded and said "I understand." _Why I want to do that again is beyond me but hell I can't say I didn't enjoy myself, even if it hurt like hell,_ Ty thought.

They reached the tomkah and hopped in with a few other Krogans, the rite of passage was something that Krogans took seriously Ty remembered Kar explaining it to him once after the Thresher maw incident where Kar blasted its face apart as it tried to eat him. Kar was psyched after that and it took him a while to cool off but Ty had wondered back then why the thresher maw incident brought up that memory he didn't believe in coincidence but he still figured just this once it was a coincidence of some sort.

The drive took a little while but when they arrived they all got out and walked up while one of the Krogans explained to Shepard and Grunt what was to happen, Ty already knew that it was fight a bunch of enemies or die, it made sense Krogans didn't do complicated reasons. They got to the top and the Krogan said "Activate the keystone to begin, good luck." The Krogan walked away and back down with the door closing behind him, Ty looked at the two and said "Well I guess we should get our guns ready and hit the keystone."

Shepard pulled out her heavy pistol, Grunt pulled out his Avenger and Ty pulled out his heavy pistols as Shepard walked over to a green light to activate the keystone, she hit the button and there was a Krogan voice recording over the intercom as the keystone was lifted up into the air, Ty watched it as it got to the top then suddenly it dropped and the dirt on the ground flew up into the air and the tremor went through everyone's body.

There were several growls which told Ty that there was Varren approaching their position, "Take up strategic points don't let them get close and watch each others backs." Shepard ordered. "I'm ready." Grunt said. Ty took the pillar and stairwell on the right side of the field with the key stone behind him, Varren started swarming the area from every direction. It was a huge pack so Ty took the initiative to start the killing as he got out of cover and started unloading both thermal clips into two Varren discharging half of each clips into both killing them, he aimed at two more and shot the rest of his clips into them. He got back into cover and said loud enough for Shepard to hear "I was wondering do you think I should just use one pistol at a time just in case there is a shit load of enemies and there are only so many thermal clips lying around." "That's probably a good idea." Shepard answered.

Ty holstered his left pistol and started shooting more Varren with his right killing two with head shots and another with a few shots to the body, Shepard sent a pull field at a group of six Varren temporarily suspending them in air as she unloaded her clip into them killing them all, Grunt was enjoying the killing as he unloaded his Avenger in at least ten Varren and charging three others and then unloading bullets into them. The first wave had been taken out but soon more Varren joined the fight and were met by bullets, biotics and sheer Krogan power, it was an overwhelming force between the three with Ty's marksmanship, Shepard's pulls, shockwaves and her N7 training mixed with her Spectre hardened training and then just the sheer will of Grunt and his shooting capabilities.

They were an unstoppable force to be reckoned with as wave after wave of Varren kept coming, some got close and were either met by Ty's tomahawks or Grunt stamping on their necks after dodging their bite then unloading some bullets into them. Blood and dirt had been smeared onto Ty's face, arms and clothing same with Grunt and his armor and face, Shepard had managed to stay fresh blood free but had more dirt on her from the wind blowing it around and from a few combat rolls dodging the Varren. Shepard shot another Varren in the face killing it as Ty rolled out of the way of a Varren's bite and slammed his tomahawk into the back of its neck twice just to be sure. Grunt on the other hand was wrestling with a Varren with his bare hands holding both its upper and bottom jaw trying to pull it apart, Ty noticed the lack of more Varren coming so he threw his tomahawk at what he assumed to be the last Varren hitting in the hind leg giving Grunt the opportunity to pull its jaws far enough away from each other to break it and kill it with a loud crunch.

Ty cringed at the sound because of how loud it was, Grunt had the look of victory on his face along with a smile as he pulled Ty's tomahawk out of it and handed it back to him as he walked over to him, "This has gotten my blood pumping all this fighting, surviving and killing is great, I'm ready for what's next lets hit that keystone and continue this." Grunt said. It was adrenaline pumping but not something Ty was going to start doing on his weekends, going against hordes of Varren and whatever else was next just wasn't as fun, in his opinion, as relaxing with friends and family and joking around.

Shepard reloaded her pistol and Ty looked at her and said "Did I ever mention you have an interesting way of making friends." "What does that say about you?" Shepard joked. "That you also have an interesting choice of who you like to associate yourself with." Ty joked back. "At least this is better than fighting through a hospital." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "True, now come on lets continue this while my adrenalines pumping." Shepard walked over to the keystone and activated it again activating a recording again and lifting the keystone once more then dropping it. As the ground and everyone had tremors through them Ty saw something flying in the distance that looked like a flying maggot with long legs, wings and a long neck. He was grossed out beyond all reasoning by it, "That shit is FUCKED up." Ty emphasized.

The creature started making noises as it landed and moving its head around, Ty couldn't take it anymore he took aim and fired three shots at it hitting it in the head, the bug lifted off and flew away but what Ty soon noticed was that it left behind new creatures, _more bug looking things what the fuck man, _Ty thought. "Those things spit fire and explode when you kill them do not engage at close quarters." Shepard ordered. "Those things are disgusting and were just hatched by that ugly looking fucking thing, the Collectors aren't even that ugly looking and they reached a new level of ugly but that thing just elevated it even further." Ty said as he shot a few of the new creatures blowing them up.

Grunt unloaded a few burst shots into five of the new creatures then launched a concussive shot into another sending it flying into another, "Yeah right on your ass" Grunt said. "Why don't you like bugs?" Shepard asked with a bit of a laugh. "Childhood trauma." Ty joked. "Really?" Shepard asked as she created a shockwave that bulldozed four of the creatures. Ty shot six more since they were getting close then he said "No, I don't know they just are gross, I hate bugs." "If that thing comes back lets kill it Ty it'll make a great trophy." Grunt said. "I hope it doesn't come back but if it does I'm going to find some way to blow it up and wipe its ugliness off the face of the universe." Ty said.

Grunt let out a laugh and said "Now that sounds like fun, let's go hunt that thing when we're done and blow it up with the Normandy's main gun." "Sounds good to me." Ty said seriously. "I don't think so you two once we finish up here we're leaving." Shepard interjected. "Well that's no fun." Ty said. "Come on Shepard let us hunt that thing; it won't take long once when those guns line up with it." Grunt said as he shot a few more creatures. "How about we focus on the mission at hand and we forget about the giant bug." Shepard responded sarcastically as she pulled out her shotgun.

The sound of flapping wings broke everyone out of their conversation and Ty said "That's why we can't forget about it, lets kill the fucker." Ty pulled out his sniper rifle and aimed at the giant bugs head then shot it twice with no fatal damage, the head seemed to be a hard part of it since it didn't seem to be incredibly fazed by the two shots. As he looked away from his scope to see the damage he saw more of the creatures coming out from under the giant bug but what really surprised him was the loud thundering boom that came from behind him.

Ty snapped around and saw what had caused the noise, it had enough force to dislocate a shoulder and or break an arm, it was longer than his forearm and almost half a foot wide with Grunt on the other end of it. It was what Ty liked to call the Threshillator extermawlator but was more commonly called a Claymore shotgun; the round hit the bug and took a chunk out of it. The bug let out an eardrum piercing scream as it started to lift off; Grunt ejected the thermal clip then fired another booming shot hitting it in the head taking a huge chunk out of it again. The bug let out screeches of pain as it tried to flap its wings and stay in air but continued to lose altitude until finally it slammed into the ground and let out one last shriek before it died.

Grunt had a giant grin on his face as he put his shotgun away and pulled out his Avenger, Ty looked back at him and nodded in approval with a smile and said "Yea that's what I'm talking about I owe you some Ryncol when we're done for killing that thing, there's a few bottles down in the Cargo Hold I believe." Grunt let out a laugh and said "Ha I have a better idea you and me have a drinking battle." As funny as that would end up being Ty didn't drink alcohol and knew he was going to have to decline and find a way to make it up to Grunt, "Sorry Grunt as fun as that would be I don't drink liquor." Ty had a sudden thought and couldn't stop the evil smirk from coming to his face as he continued "But Shepard does, I hear she can out drink Doctor Chakwas and that's a huge feat." Ty said as he put his sniper away and pulled out his pistol since the creatures were getting closer.

At first Grunt seemed upset about Ty not drinking with him but when he heard that Shepard drank his interest was sparked you could tell by the look on his face as he mowed down more creatures, "Shepard I challenge you to a drink off!" Grunt said in a cheery manor. Shepard blasted a few of the creatures with her shotgun then asked "You want to do what?" "Ty says you can out drink Doctor Chakwas, I want to see if you can out drink a Krogan." Grunt said. Shepard blasted a few more then looked to Ty who was taking down three of the creatures as he threw one of his special tomahawks at one and shot the other two, Ty felt a hole being bored into his head so he looked behind him at the pillar on the left side of the field that Shepard was using as a quick cover to reload her shotgun and he saw her giving him a slight really look mixed with a tired look. "What I don't drink I figure you can handle it, you've taken on worse odds right." Ty said with a laugh.

Shepard rolled her eyes with a slight smile then said "Just focus on the mission you two we'll talk about that type of stuff later." "That's a yes." Ty said to Grunt. Grunt nodded and they all got focused back on the killing at hand, the battle seemed to be taking a toll on Shepard's energy since she hadn't rested at all after going down with Mordin, her biotics were becoming less frequent and you could tell in her movements she was running abnormally low on energy. Ty had never seen her so tired even after some really physically exerting missions she'd still have a ton of energy to spare but now she was breathing heavily and killing less giving Grunt the courtesy to kill more.

They finished the last wave of creatures killing the last one with a barrage of bullets from Grunt and Ty blowing it up like the rest of the creatures, Shepard got off the wall and the keystone lit up again "Well looks like we got more things to fight." Ty said. "Let them keep coming I will destroy them all." Grunt said. Shepard stayed silent as she pressed the keystone and backed away letting the recording play as the keystone lifted into the air, Ty walked up to Shepard and asked "You okay Shep you look like you've used your biotics to much." Shepard nodded and said "I'm fine just need to give my biotics a break and I'll be fine." Ty nodded cautiously as the keystone slammed down sending the shockwave through them all again, the ground started to tremor more afterwards like an earthquake of some sort, "Do you feel that, it's something big." Grunt said with a smile.

Nothing in the area felt right as the tremors stopped, an ominous force surrounded the area giving Ty chills as a few blue tentacles popped out of the ground, "I don't like this." Ty said looking at all the tentacles swaying about. Shepard nodded in agreement as she aimed her pistol at one of the tentacles, memories began flashing through Ty's mind to the point of causing a nausea feeling because of how much his mind felt like it was swirling around in repeated circles until two words in the memory that had been shouted at him brought his mind to a sudden halt as he saw the gigantic creature facing down himself and his crew in a still frame, "Wait don-" Ty was to late as Shepard fired off a round hitting the tentacle directly. The ground began to rumble under their feet as Ty felt dread cover his whole body.


	39. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Passage of Terror

_Ty paced slightly in his cabin on The Setting Sun as he read over all the mission details he had received from Tarak weeks ago. Ty summoned his best Tarak impression as he began reading aloud to himself the brief, "Ty I have a tough one for you that I'm not sure even you and your squad should risk. My agents say that the Bloodpack found a cache of valuable minerals and formed a crew to go get them but none survived. According to Jentha the minerals happened to be inside of a Thresher Maw nest, we think there is only one there but we are unsure. The Bloodpack are attempting to figure out how to get those minerals without losing more of their lieutenants, Garm is pretty pissed off about the men he lost. Taking the supplies out from under them is my plan but taking on this mission is entirely up to you, let me know if you are going to do this otherwise we'll say fuck it and find some other way to fuck with Garm. Keep me posted, Tarak."_

_ The council of his friends played through Ty's head as he tossed the data-pad to his desk and began walking towards his bed, __**I'm risking their lives for some bullshit plan aren't I,**__ Ty thought to himself. __**They'll follow me regardless of the plan and mission being stupid but should I really go through with this? A bunch of fucking Krogans got wiped out by this Maw and I'm just putting their lives at risk for some pay out we'll never see. What the fuck am I doing?**__ Ty sat down on the edge of his bed and rested his face into his hands, __**none of us have anything left to prove to the Suns, we've done enough for them. Ty forced a chuckle, right when is enough ever enough, they'd never say we did enough, that we helped the Suns spread their influence even further and took out key rings of the Eclipse and Bloodpack. One last mission and I'll cut ties and we'll all get out of this bullshit life of listening to some jackass who has a power drive.**_

_ Another thought began to form in Ty's mind and it made his stomach flop__**, this actually may be literally our last mission, if we all fucking die down there because of my stupid decision I'm leaving Darian and the others with the loss of Grissom, Kar, Gallick, Brad, Carson, and myself. If I died I'm leaving my family to deal with the loss of a brother and son. Fuck that we are going down there we are kicking this Thresher Maws ass and we're walking the fuck out of there with our heads high and with our middle fingers up…shit I don't think Grissom can do that and Kar and Carson only have three fingers, well Kar would be laughing madly I'm sure and…Fuck it middle fingers is just an easier metaphor.**__ "Hey." A quiet voice outside of Ty's thoughts called._

_ Ty looked up from his hands as he saw Tara walking towards him with a worried look etched on her face, "Hey Tara what's up?" Ty asked letting his own thoughts go. Their relationship had resumed back to a friendship a few weeks back due to their differences on the Thresher Maw mission, there was no fight about it they both just realized the distance between the two of them which had felt like light years and respectfully moved a little further away from each other. Ty knew her reasons for wanting the space between them and if he was honest he wanted the space as well, he didn't want the two to start fighting with each other over his decision and if it was his final days he wanted their friendship to be as great as it always was so she had good memories of their last moments together and so far it had worked out between them._

_ At the moment though Ty felt those light years of distance turn into feet and yards as she moved ever closer, "I…wanted to talk." Tara answered slowly with an unsteady voice. Ty chuckled slightly and said in a joking manor "Well well Tara T'Vana unsure of herself, now I've seen it all." "We're getting closer to the system and then from there it'll be a matter of hours before we…before you guys go down for the mission, the others tied up all their loose ends and so did me and Valera but…" Tara stopped herself verbally and physically within arms distance of Ty. "But there's something else?" Ty asked. "No…well yes but not like that or I don't think in the way you are asking." Tara answered as she wrapped her arms around her belly by her waist in slight nervousness._

_ Maybe Ty was oblivious and he just wasn't catching what she was saying and listening to what she wasn't saying but he himself was unsure of what she was trying to say. He credited not being able to read her right now to the fact that she was never so unsure of herself and what she wanted to say in all the time the two knew one another. She always had an air of self confidence and always said what she wanted to say and asked what she wanted instead of dodging around the real question so Ty was really uncertain of what to say and what she was trying to say. "Tara you know I'm an open book and have an open door policy, you don't need to make yourself nervous about asking anything." Ty attempted to reassure. Tara took a deep breath to recompose herself Ty figured or to start from the beginning, "I wanted to talk about us." Tara restated. Ty nodded and said "Okay."_

_ Tara sat down on the bed next to him and rested her hands on her knees as she bent over slightly looking at the floor instead of Ty, "I don't want to be Captain Obvious but you're worried aren't you?" Ty asked. Tara nodded slightly, "I've had these nightmares for the last few weeks of me and the others waiting for you and the ground team to call an all clear and for Kar's mad laughter to fill the comms only to hear you tell them to retreat while you stay behind. It continues all the way until we hold your memorial and then I wake up in a cold sweat." Tara explained slowly with an unsteady voice. "So the accident in engineering wasn't you multi-tasking with your biotics and causing a biotic explosion?" Ty asked in a knowing manor. Tara nodded again but this time she looked up to slightly to Ty and said "I don't want to lose you Ty." "I'm going to die before you eventually Tara there's no way around my short life span." Ty said._

_ Tara let out a defeated sigh as she looked back down at the floor and said "I know but I don't want to lose you so soon. There's a lot of time in one hundred years and I'd like to share that hundred years with you as a friend." Ty wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him, "I'll always be with you no matter what happens you know that." Ty said softly. "And I'll be with you to the end of time." Tara responded. "That's a long time Tara to spend with one person." Ty said in a joking manor. Tara had been resting her head on his shoulder and Ty had been resting his slightly on her head but she moved slightly and gave him a peck on his lips, "Not if you care for them deeply." Tara responded tenderly. "You say that to all your friends and leaders don't you." Ty joked. Tara smiled and said "Only the cute ones with long hair and purple eyes."_

_ The distance between them had shrunk to inches and centimeters in a matter of moments and soon there was no longer any distance left between them as Tara ran her right hand through the side of Ty's hair moving it behind him, "If…When you guys make it out of that nest and back here I want us to talk more and maybe be more. I've got all these feelings that are running through my head and heart but now isn't the time for that kind of talk, now all I want is to be with you tonight and make it memorable." Tara said. Ty nodded slightly and said "We will." Ty felt the warmth of Tara's lips meet his as all other thoughts faded from his mind, everything would be okay._

* * *

The ground exploded and a Thresher Maw came flying out with a screech snapping Ty out of his momentary daze, "A fucking Thresher Maw! Are they fucking serious!" Ty yelled as he ran to the closest cover to him. "It's a Maw take cover!" Shepard ordered at Grunt as she took cover at the left column which was opposite of Ty and Grunt. "This is great! This is worthy to battle and kill more than that giant bug!" Grunt roared as he began following Ty. Ty slammed himself behind the right column that he had been using before and said "I'm going to fucking kill Wrex or whoever the fuck told you this is what had to be done and then I'm going to bring them back to life some how and fucking kill them again for having us face a Thresher Maw."

Grunt took cover with Ty and started shooting the Thresher Maw with his Avenger, Ty pulled out his other pistol and got out of the other side of the cover and started opening fire on the Maw with both pistols discharging both clips into it making it recoil back underground, the ground shook as it moved its position closer to Ty and Grunt popping out of the ground when it reached it. _Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK! Motherfucking son of a bitch! A god damned Thresher Maw! Fucking cock sucking shit stains!_ Ty cursed inwardly. Ty saw it begin to hurl back which signaled him that it was about to spit at them which made him start up another string of curses sent as he pushed Grunt around the corner of the cement column, "Move your ass!" Ty yelled.

The acid spit landed against the wall where they were just in cover and the sound of the acid eating away at the column made Ty remember the screams of Gallick as a drop of it landed on his arm while they were in cover together. _Fuck me, think think think! Fuuuuuuck me brain think of some way to beat this damn thing! _Grunt and Ty got out of cover again and began unloading their clips into it until Ty had to get back into cover to reload with Grunt soon following. Ty noticed the huge grin on Grunts face but recognized now as not the best time to ask a stupid question. _We need bigger fucking guns_, Ty thought, _Shepard! She always has a heavy weapon but what the hell did she bring this time because the Arc Projector or Collector Beam would be useful, a Cain would be a fucking miracle if she had that._ Ty looked across the field to Shepard's position to find out what gun she had and ask her if she had a plan but was treated to a sight he never thought he'd see which started up another string of mental curses as his brain started thinking of a plan.

Ty dropped his pistols next to him and pulled out the Grunts gift Avenger and said "Grunt this is the gun I made you, if you switch this dial on it away from you it will use inferno ammo, for regular ammo use switch it back towards you though that's not going to be useful right now. I made it the hottest heat you could make it which is illegal but who gives a fuck about that, any thermal clip can be used as ammo and the gun will convert it by itself. Shoot the Maw in the eyes and mouth it's the easiest way to kill it the armor everywhere else is thick but this ammo should burn through it, and watch out for that acid it will burn right through you." Ty took Grunts Avenger from him and put the new one in his hands and said "I'm going to borrow this and what ever you do don't get hurt." Grunt nodded and said "You got it."

Grunt switched the ammo to inferno ammo before he started shooting again and Ty put his old Avenger on his back and picked his two pistols up, "I'm going over to Shepard keep up the fire until I get back." Grunt gave a grunt of approval then stepped out of cover and held the trigger down shooting the Thresher Maw in the face with a full clip of inferno rounds. Ty stood himself up and ran across the field at full sprint until he reached the column Shepard was using as cover, Ty slid across the ground to a stop in front of her which in hind sight was a bad idea since he felt his skin rip slightly but he was so high on his adrenaline he didn't really feel it. Ty got on his knees and grabbed Shepard's shoulders and said "Shepard what the fuck is going on?! We got a Maw to fight!" She looked like he did when he got lost in a memory, blank stare and judging on the look of fear in her eyes it wasn't a good memory.

* * *

_**We're screwed,**__ Shepard thought as the squad of fifty Marines and her were running and gunning. The whole squad was running for their lives, full retreat to the landing zone was the plan but this plan, like the mission was likely to end the lives of every one of them. Shepard sprinted hard looking back to shoot here and there while also seeing how close the Maw was and how many Marines she had left, it seemed like they had been running all day as the squad made it to the halfway point to the landing zone. _

_Halfway there had taken their numbers from fifty to twenty five, half for half. Shepherd turned and started shooting at the Maw that was out of the ground trying to buy some of the squad some more time, "This is Private First Class Elizabeth Armstrong we need an evac right now, do you read me?" Lizzy asked into her comm stopping with Shepherd to shoot one handed while talking on her comm. "This is Flight Lieutenant Ricardo Gonzalez I read you Private, what's the situation?" The Flight lieutenant asked. Toombs rushed past Shepherd and Lizzy as the Maw retracted underground, "Come on Shepard we've gotta keep moving." Lizzy said. Shepard nodded and they both followed Toombs at full sprint, "We're on the run trying to escape Thresher Maws that attacked this Colony, we need an immediate evac at the LZ that was designated Prom Night." Lizzy answered. "Affirmative Private we'll be at Prom Night just stay alive, Ricardo out." Ricardo answered. _

_Shepard and Lizzy continued sprinting catching up to the crew that passed and soon out running them, they were the quickest of the group, Lizzy wore medium armor though and Shepard wore a light armor that made her quicker. Shepard turned and looked back as she ran hearing more screams that their gunfire couldn't drown out, as she looked back she saw her friend Toombs being dragged while he was screaming, "It's got Toombs!" Shepard yelled to Lizzy. Shepard went to hit her skids but Lizzy grabbed her arm and kept her running as she yelled back "Don't you dare try to pull some heroic bullshit and get killed, Toombs will be pulled under long before you get to him and then you'll be killed. Honor his memory by getting the hell off this planet with me." "Liz!" Shepard yelled back. Lizzy gave her a stern look and yelled "Don't Liz me Shepard he's my friend too and so were the other marines that have gotten pulled under!" Shepard stayed quiet as she continued running and gunning with Lizzy at her side _

_The LZ was so close now only a thirty more yards to go and there were maybe four members of the squad left including Lizzy and Shepard but now no one was shooting just focusing on getting the hell out as quick as possible. As they were running though the ground began to quake under them getting more intense with each running step they took. Two screams could be heard behind them until the noise disappeared; the quaking started again and was closer than before. The LZ was getting closer now, only a few more yards to go but Shepard couldn't see the shuttle, the LZ was the only safe place that the Maws couldn't get them at and she planned on surviving now and getting Lizzy out with her. _

_Before Shepard knew it though she was on the ground rolling trying to stop and start running again, she thought she was being dragged but when she stopped and was able to get on her feet again she saw the maw had exploded out of the ground and was looking at Lizzy. The way the Maw had separated them left Shepard closer to the LZ and Lizzy further away with the Maw in her way, Lizzy was shooting her Avenger at it getting its attention, "Run Shepard go, I'll cover your escape!" Shepard went to reach for her Avenger but felt a sudden shock of pain; her left elbow had a big rock shard piercing through one side and out the other of her armor and elbow stopping her from bending her arm at all. "Elizabeth I'm not leaving you behind!" Shepard yelled back. "Don't argue Shepard, the LZ is right there you can make it back. Thank you for everything Nessa." Lizzy said. "Lizzy." Shepard pleaded as tears formed in her eyes. _

_Nessa was Lizzy's nickname for Shepard's first name shortening it from Vanessa since she shortened hers from Elizabeth to Liz and then eventually Lizzy. Lizzy smiled as she was shooting and said "Take care of yourself and tell my sister I loved her Nessa." "Lizzy I-" Shepard was interrupted by the wail of the Thresher maw and it sent chills down her spine, Lizzy nodded and said "I know, now go!" Before she cold argue the maw retracted under ground and Lizzy started running in the opposite direction of the shuttle and the maw started to follow. Shepard got to her feet and tried running but there was another shard of rock that had pierced her armor at her right thigh, she pushed forward though as fast as she could until she finally reached the LZ as the shuttle was landing. She was met by a young lieutenant at the door as he helped her in and sat her down in the seat, "Get us out of here Rico." The lieutenant said. _

_The lieutenant turned away from Shepard but she grabbed his arm with her right hand in a vice grip and said sternly "Not yet we need to see if Private Elizabeth is still out there and if she is we're going to save her, got it." "I'm sorry ma'am she was taken under by the maws after she ran; we saw it on the scanner." The lieutenant said. Shepard didn't relinquish her vice grip as the sheer thought of losing all her friends on one mission and being the sole survivor of the incident hit her, "No she has to be out there somewhere." Shepard said in shock but still as stern as before. "Ma'am she's-" _

_The lieutenant was interrupted by Shepard who lashed out "She's not dead!" The lieutenant recoiled but Shepard's vice grip held him in place as a blue aura surrounded her body, "She can't be dead." Shepard said sternly. "Ma'am you're the only survivor, I'm sorry but there isn't anyone left." After a few seconds of giving the lieutenant a death stare Shepard relinquished her grip and her biotics died down as she stared out the small window and stayed quiet, the maw took her friends from Toombs to Lizzy but anger didn't cloud her thoughts fear did. If it wasn't for Lizzy doing what she did Shepard wouldn't have survived, not that she wanted to now with Lizzy gone. She had known Lizzy since she enlisted and she met Toombs two years ago and they became the best of friends and now they were gone, and not just them, fifty Marines died today. The wail of a thresher maw clouded her thoughts and it never left her, and the fear that it caused never did either._

* * *

The look on Shepard's face was of fear and the look of fear was frozen stiff on her face but her body trembled as she sat on the ground with her pistol in her hand, the ground shook as the Maw retracted under ground and started moving again "Ty it's moving to your left get behind cover!" Grunt yelled as he came thumping over and got into cover behind a metal column. Ty heard him but didn't move he was too focused on Shepard to care about the Maw being close to him, "Akuze?" Grunt asked over his gunfire. "Yeah." Ty answered. Ty wasn't sure how he knew whether through research or talking to Shepard but he nodded a bit respectfully for why she was in this state which told Ty this was his chance to get her out of it and when it was finally over they'd never speak of it again, "Shepard snap the fuck out of it we need your help with this fucking thing!" Ty yelled as he shook her a little. Shepard seemed to cower a little at being shook and he knew why, he considered joining their conscious but that would only leave Grunt to take the thing on if it didn't work since Ty would pass out which axed that plan as it began to form. "Shepard you can't just quit now and let the fear rule you; you didn't quit at Akuze and you can't quit now. Don't let your fear control you, get back in control your friends need you!" Ty said.

Grunt had unloaded two more full clips into the Maw tearing it apart but not killing it, "Ty I can't take this thing on by myself I need some help." Grunt said as the Maw retracted underground. "I know I'm working on it." Ty said as he looked up from Shepard. She had the Collector beam and if he could figure out how to work the damn thing they might have a chance but she needed to snap out of it for her own sake and so Grunt wouldn't ever question her leadership.

* * *

_Shepard took it upon herself to tell each of the soldier's mothers, fathers, girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters or who ever their closest relative was of what happened that day. She got through all of them each becoming harder and harder to do seeing parents, lovers, siblings all crying but Shepard tried staying strong for them but it was getting harder and this last stop would be the true test. Elizabeth's sister's house, she was single but had one daughter from a previous relationship. Shepard had met her once and her and Elizabeth shared the some of the same features like their smiles and laughs but they had different eye color and hair color, Liz was a brunette with round green eyes and her sister Taylor was a blonde with round hazel eyes. _

_Shepard was dressed in a black loose hoodie, dark blue jeans and had her hair ponytailed at the back of her head. Her hair was damp and so were her clothes thanks to the rain and it was chilly out as well in Vancouver but that's the way it was during this time of year where both Shepard and Liz were born before they grew up on ships, Shepard walked up to the door and knocked on it. She heard Taylors voice ask for just a minute. _

_Each time hadn't made it easier for Shepard to tell, the truth wasn't easy to tell that they were sent into a thresher maw nest and everyone except her died while running for their lives. When they would ask for her to tell them they died painlessly she would because that's what they wanted to hear not because it was the truth. What would Taylor want to know though that her sister gave her life to give Shepard time, would Taylor want to know that Liz was killed by thresher maws._

_There were footsteps that closed in on the door until it opened with a smiling Taylor on the other end, as it was with all the other people she had told but the smiles never lasted much longer. "Hey Shepard how are you? What are you doing here I thought you were with Liz on a mission?" Taylor asked. "Is your daughter home?" Shepard asked. "No she's at a friend's house, why?" Taylor asked. Shepard looked down trying to control her emotions, it didn't work as tears rolled down her face, Taylor started to understand and the shock started to hit her "No no no it can't be, not Lizzy." Taylor said tears starting to well in her eyes. "Taylor she-" Shepard was interrupted by Taylor grabbing her hand and pulling her into the house. _

As they got in the house Shepard's body shook and she heard a male voice yelling at her "Shepard snap the fuck out of it we need your help with this fucking thing!" The house began to crumble around Taylor and Shepard and the sounds of gunfire and a thresher maw filled Shepard's ears. A blurry depiction of Ty kneeling in front of her came into sight as he was yelling at her again "Don't let your fear control you, get back in control your friends need you!" She wasn't back in Vancouver she was in a battle with another Maw; the wail was terrifying and sent chills down her spine.

Shepard could finally see Ty and she grabbed his forearm with her free trembling hand and held his arm tightly as she tried to find words to say. The Maw came out of the ground again and Ty looked up from her at it then back down to her and said "Shepard you have to shake your fear and face this thing if you don't help kill it Grunt might not be fully loyal and then we're screwed against the Collectors and Reapers after them. This thing is nothing compared to those other threats but we need you to focus right now."

_She tried to fight herself from falling back into her memory but it was to no avail as she found herself back in Vancouver after she had finished explaining what really happened on Akuze to Taylor since she asked for her to tell her everything, it wasn't easy but she made it through it. Taylor held her hand and rubbed her thumb on the top of it as she did trying to comfort her though Shepard knew that she needed to be the one comforting Taylor. She lost her sister and that was more important than what Lizzy and her were…but Taylor still continued to comfort her, she knew what they were and didn't judge, she was actually quite happy for them but now…now neither of them could be happy with her gone. They sat in silence for a little while until Taylor said "What ever you need Shepard just ask, anything at all and I will happily oblige." _

_Taylor couldn't give Shepard what she wanted and Shepard couldn't give Taylor what she wanted and that was Lizzy back but Shepard nodded and said "Thank you Taylor." Taylor nodded and said "Your welcome, will you be at her precession?" Shepard nodded a little and said "I'm off active duty for a little while so I'll be there to pay my respects." Taylor nodded again and continued rubbing Shepard's hand. It was comforting but it didn't seem right, she needed to go but she didn't know why it was bugging her so bad. Seeing Taylor wasn't right she wasn't supposed to be where she was she was needed somewhere else, the house started collapsing around them again and as it did she remembered where she was supposed to be, there was a fight and Ty was trying to get her back into it. She stared at Ty again but he suddenly disappeared and when she looked for him she saw something that snapped her out of her fear. The Maw was not going to take someone close to her like it took Lizzy from her._

* * *

Before Ty knew it he felt something muscular wrap around his ankle and pull hard as he began to be dragged across the ground with something wrapped around his left leg, "Ty chop off the tentacle!" Grunt yelled as he tried shooting it as the Maw went back underground. The Maw had used a tentacle to grab Ty by the leg and now it was dragging Ty with it trying to get him underground, Ty pulled his tomahawks out and slammed one into the ground trying to slow himself as he used the other to start chopping at the tentacle. Ty swung at the blue tentacle continuously but it wasn't cutting completely or loosening its grip, _shit shit shit shit fuck_, Ty thought as he continued chopping at it. The hole the Maw had just gone down in was getting closer and Ty didn't want to be food for it but Grunts bullets and his tomahawk weren't getting it to let him go, "Grunt use your shotgun or something!" Ty yelled still swinging his hardest trying to cut the tentacle off his leg without chopping his foot off which is what he was starting to consider.

As Ty reached the edge of the platform they were on which led to the solid ground below them and then to where the Thresher Maw hole was Ty let go of the tomahawk he had been using to slow himself down to no avail and grabbed onto the railing that was about to pass over him. He felt himself come to an abrupt stop that yanked his arm hard and made the tentacle start to squeeze his ankle even harder as it pulled, Ty heard Brads screams as he himself was dragged towards the Thresher Maw and as it crushed his ankle when he miraculously grabbed hold of a small boulder that stopped him long enough for Ty and Grissom to save him. He felt his ankle begin to crunch slowly under the pressure, it hurt extremely but Ty had to focus himself on chopping at the tentacle and not losing his already loosening grip on the railing. "If I get any closer I'm chopping my fucking foot off!" Ty yelled.

Ty chopped and chopped while the rounds that Grunt were firing were hitting further down the tentacle so they didn't kill Ty but it just wasn't doing anything and he was almost holding on just by his finger tips and his ankle felt like it had been shattered and that pain was making tears begin to form in his eyes, _fuck me I always liked my left foot, this is gonna fucking hurt more than anything I've ever felt and it's going to be weird until they are able to flash clone a foot for me, guess a peg leg would always work and be kind of funny,_ Ty thought. It was going to suck but getting eaten by a Thresher Maw would be much worse so he started his back swing for his foot_, sorry lefty I'm gonna miss you,_ Ty thought.

As he began his swing forward he was shocked for his arm to be stopped by Shepard, she grabbed the tomahawk from his hand and with her shotgun in her other hand she shot the tentacle ripping it apart then she biotically charged the tomahawk as she swung down with it and cut the tentacle off and got Ty's foot free. The tentacle went squirming away as Ty fell to the ground and the pain in his shoulder and ankle became more apparent and then the major road rash on his back and the back of his arms and legs began burning as well.

Shepard grabbed Ty's arm and lifted him off the ground then dragged him by it back to a column for cover as the Thresher came back out again. "I've never been so fucking happy to see you shoot something and steal my tomahawk Shepard, you fucking saved me from losing my foot thank you." Ty said with a relieved look and a smile. "Save it we aren't done yet, how did you take out that Maw with you crew?" Shepard asked seriously. "Kar had a Claymore shotgun and as it tried to eat him he shot the gun and it blew its face apart, that shotgun has a huge slug that can blow apart nearly anything though the Spike Thrower is much more efficient against Maws." Ty said.

Shepard looked to Grunts shotgun and said "Well we aren't going to try and get eaten that was luck and you only get one of those, any other ideas on how to use it without getting killed." Ty looked at the shotgun and said "It would dislocate a regular human shoulder or break it but I think I can wield it and mine is already dislocated I think, if I can get close enough I could blow it apart but its staying a good distance away." "Yeah and the only way for you to get to it would be for Grunt to throw you." Shepard said sarcastically. "I doubt that would work but a good jump and some biotics from that metal tower and…fuck me that's a great idea, Grunt get over here!" Ty yelled.

Grunt came thumping over quickly and crouched down behind the column with them and said "Yeah." "We finally have a strategy." Ty said. "Good this one isn't working out so well." Grunt said. Shepard shook her head and said "No way in hell Ty I didn't just save your ass to let you get killed." "I'll be fine trust me, Grunt give me your shotgun you and Shepard need to keep its attention while I climb that big metal column." Ty said. "And from there?" Grunt asked as he gave Ty his Claymore. "Shepard uses her biotics to get me more distance in my jump and then pulls me back so I don't get eaten or have the thing land on me." Ty answered. Grunt chuckled and said "You got a quad Ty, this is going to go be the greatest Thresher Maw kill ever." Ty started to move but soon Shepard's vice grip was on his arm, Ty looked at her and said "I know what I'm doing trust me just make sure you grab me with your biotics and use that Collector Beam to soften it up while I climb." "With a broken ankle?" Shepard asked motioning to his left ankle which he was thankful was covered by his boot since it was probably holding it together better. "I've got a good foot to use for climbing, as for the running and jumping I'm sure I'll think of something." Ty said. Shepard stared at him intensely until she said in a very serious tone, "Don't you die Ty, don't you fucking dare die on me."

The look on her face mixed with hearing her use profanity, especially the word fucking which she had never really used around him told him how serious she was so he nodded and she let go of his arm letting Ty limp his way over to the giant metal column as he put the Claymore in his open back holster since he hadn't grabbed his other tomahawk yet. As he got to the metal column he realized how crappy his idea of climbing was since his ankle could barely take the pressure of him walking but this was the only way they were going to finish this thing off so he began climbing regardless of how bad his ankle was going to hurt after today.

The roar of gunfire and the distinctive sound of the Collector beam echoed across the area as he worked his way up to the top of the column until he finally reached the top and pulled himself up onto the platform, "Shepard made it to the top are you ready to use your biotics?" Ty asked as he stood up. "As I'll ever be, I just want you to know that if you die I'm going to bring you back again and kick your ass." "I love you too sweetie." Ty said sarcastically. The Maw came roaring out of the ground in the center of the field and it looked more bloody and ripped up than it had when it was just Grunt shooting at it which was an improvement so Ty looked at the distance between him and the Maw, _this was a shitty idea_, Ty thought. "Ready Shepard?" Ty asked. "I'm ready." Shepard responded. "Just so you know I really didn't think this through." Ty said. Ty took a quick step back and then did his best to run across the platform and jump towards the monster.

* * *

Shepard saw Ty jump and gathered up her remaining reserves of biotic energy as she grabbed Ty with her biotics and brought him into shooting range of the Maw, "DIE!" Ty yelled. The shot rang out and the slug ripped apart the Thresher Maws face but as Shepard was about to pull Ty back one of the Thresher Maws arms swung up and hit Ty with the elbow part of the arm. Shepard attempted to slow Ty down but her energy was to low and Ty went crashing into the metal column. He knocked out one of the platforms making him continue onto the inside of it, the metal column was barely holding together as it was but taking out one of the links in the old tower started the chain reaction of it collapsing on itself as Ty came falling out the other side with another platform under him as he crashed to the ground.

Shepard was torn between checking on Ty and making sure the Maw was dead but duty won out as she looked over to Grunt as she began moving slowly towards Ty, "Is that thing dead?" Shepard asked. Grunt looked around and the silence that ensued spoke volumes, the silence was ended with Grunts laughter which made Shepard begin to smile as she allowed her feet to carry her faster towards Ty. Thankfully none of the other pieces of the column landed on Ty but that didn't mean that he was okay since he had a broken ankle, his shoulder was likely dislocated and now he was hit by a Thresher Maw arm and was sent flying through a metal column.

As Shepard approached Ty he began attempting to sit himself up but with little success, "Lie still for a moment Ty let me apply some medi-gel." Shepard said as she knelt down next to him. "What the fuck happened? Did we kill it?" Ty asked in a pained voice. Shepard began apply medi-gel to the areas that she knew he had injuries as she said "Yea we did, you have a new tale to tell now though. You got hit by a Thresher Maw arm and lived, the legend grows bigger it seems." "No one will ever believe it anyway- ah gentle Shepard I'm very tender right now." Ty said in pain. "Sorry." Shepard apologized. Shepard finished applying the medi-gel and Ty sat up slowly with the help of Shepard and began looking around until he nodded at Grunt Shepard assumed by the slight thumps coming towards her, "Never do that again." Shepard stated firmly. "I don't think even I will consider it, I hope that's the last Maw I ever fight." "You and me both Ty." Shepard said.

* * *

Grunt came walking over to Ty and held his arm out for Ty to grab, with slight reluctance and a reluctant Shepard not noticing that she had a grip on his wrist until he began to lift his arm up Ty grabbed it and Grunt lifted him off the ground and followed it up with a quick head-butt catching Ty off guard but it was a respect head-butt if there was such a thing so Ty gave him one back which gave Grunt an even bigger smile as he said "We should do this more often you, me and Shepard are unstoppable." "Lets take this one step at a time Grunt first we get you settled with Wrex then we will take out the Collectors and Reapers and then maybe we'll start doing this once a year." Ty said patting him on the shoulder. "That's a deal." Grunt said.

Ty looked down to Shepard as a shuttle began flying overhead and helped her up, "Maybe that's our ticket out of here." Ty said. "Way things usually go, I doubt it." Shepard responded. "Oh I agree but nothing wrong with a little positivity now and then." Ty said with a smirk. They all began walking over to where the shuttle landed with Ty being able to walk very slightly with the pain reduction that the medi-gel granted but he was still slightly hunched over from the arm hitting him. Thankfully Grunt had grabbed his other tomahawk for him and they traded back to their original weapons except for Ty keeping the old Avenger. His cybernetics felt like they were on fire still but that beat the feeling of his shattered ankle and likely cracked ribs. As they reached the area where the shuttle had landed they were met with the surprise of several Krogan armed with shotguns waiting for them with the head of it all, Uvenk. "Great look who decided to rear his ugly hump." Ty said loudly. Grunt gave a slight laugh then Uvenk started talking with Shepard about Grunt and being apart of the clan with no breeding rights and a few other stipulations.

The whole reason Uvenk was out there was to use Grunt, give him a crappy easy job and to have him always considered as a fake Krogan...That just wasn't going to happen. "Grunt it sounds like an easy living but honestly you're more of a Krogan then he'll ever be." Ty said. "I know that's the problem, you're the pretender Uvenk not me." Grunt said. "Your head is worth something on your shoulders or not it doesn't matter which I bring." Uvenk said. Grunt whipped out his Claymore shotgun and said "Try and take it then." "Guards." Uvenk said. All the Krogans aimed their guns at the three and all three traded looks then ran for the closest cover that they could find.

Ty pulled out his pistols and got out of cover to open fire on the Krogan blasting through the armor on two and killing one. With his adrenaline starting back up again the pain he had been feeling evaporated and he felt like he had never been injured at all, that was a great feeling at the moment. Ty got back into cover and ejected his thermal clips then said "Neither one of you are ever handling my vacation planning…Evvvvver." "You just don't know how to have a good time on vacation." Grunt said. "Bullshit I don't next shore leave we get I'm going to show you all how to enjoy it without having to get shot at, its going to be the biggest party you've ever seen." Ty said. "I'll pay to see that." Shepard said with a slight laugh. "Be ready to cough up some creds then." Ty retorted. "My kin charging." Grunt said. Ty got back out of cover and opened fire on more of the Krogans taking down the two he had weakened before and shot Uvenk's barrier a few times weakening it before having to eject his thermal clips again.

The last few Krogan before Uvenk were more difficult then the others being smart about cover and recovering their barriers making the three have to out flank them to get the kills but they didn't last very long and now it was finally down to Uvenk and he had strong barriers, strong armor and thick skin but he was going against Shepard, Grunt and Ty who each had their own unique skills. Uvenk took cover again and Shepard started giving orders, "Ty get up close and personal with stealth then let him have it with your tomahawks then get away, Grunt light him up with a clip from your Avenger then get back in cover." "On it." Ty said as he hit his cloak. "I AM KROGAN!" Grunt yelled. Uvenk got out of cover again and was met by a barrage of inferno rounds that burned straight through his remaining barriers and through all of his armor, Grunt got back in cover and as he did Ty couldn't resist the temptation as he leaned against the cover next to Uvenk. Ty disengaged his cloak right next to him and said "Hey fucker." Uvenk's shocked looked was great but so was the look of pain as Ty head-butted him once again.

Uvenk grabbed his head Ty grabbed his tomahawks and waited a moment for Uvenk to recover slightly, "You little!" Uvenk growled. Ty smirked and said "This is for insulting Kar, me, Shepard and Grunt." With lightening speed Ty swung his tomahawks and struck Uvenk several times in the chest and face cutting him up without killing him until he heard Shepard order "Ty get out of there." Ty hit his cloak and moved away from Uvenk as Shepard started glowing blue with a purple hew, it swarmed her body and a vein bulged on Shepard's forehead as she focused all her energy to what she was about to do. "Arrrgh!" Shepard yelled as she let loose her biotics in a charge going forward with a lot of force that Ty could feel from a few yards away. It was the most powerful biotic display he had ever seen from her thus far and the thundering boom as she hit Uvenk sounded like the keystone falling down. The huge amount of power she had used knocked Uvenk back making him start to stumble but Shepard blasted him twice as he did with her shotgun killing him almost instantly.

Ty uncloaked and walked over to Grunt who was walking up to Shepard to make sure he was dead, they both reached her at the same time and Ty saw Uvenk's corpse laying there with two huge holes in him, "Well that takes care of that, Wrex will be happy to know that bastard is dead." Ty said. "You sure about that?" Shepard asked in a strained voice as she put her shotgun back. Ty nodded and said "Yea he won't be too bothered, Uvenk was a pain in the ass to deal and with him dead the next guy in line will likely be more supporting of Wrex. Trust me we did Wrex a favor and if not I'll take the fall for it but trust me if Wrex wasn't such a badass he'd do cartwheels when he finds out." Shepard gave a slight smile and said "I'd love to see that, come on you two let's get out of here."

Twenty Minutes later

They all got back and Ty went to the merchant on Tuchanka while Shepard and Grunt talked to the Shaman and Wrex, Ty used the discount he had gotten to by Pyjak meat and fed it to Urz who was the coolest Varren he had ever seen and the nicest when it came to not trying to kill him but he soon started following Ty around which wasn't all bad but when a Krogan by the pits noticed he said "You human I bet one hundred thousand credits my Varren can beat Urz in a fight." Ty knew of Urz's history being the king of the pits so he called Urz over to the opposite end of the pit and knelt down next to him and pulled out some Pyjak meat and said "There's more of this waiting for you if you win, wait for the other to strike first and evade then chomp down on its neck can you do that for me." Ty moved the meat up and down so it looked like Urz nodded then he pet him on the head and said "Good boy, hers some meat now eat that up and go get that Varren."

Urz ate the meat then Ty grabbed him by the back of his neck to stop him from jumping down right away, the Krogan released his Varren and Ty let go of Urz. The two Varren stared each other down until the other went to strike; Urz dodged to the right and pounced on the other Varren then bit its neck killing it. The fight was over quickly and Ty was shocked and happy at the result, "You go Urz you still got it come on boy get up here for your reward." Urz jumped back up to him and Ty said "Damn maybe you do understand me." Ty pulled out most of the Pyjak meat and fed it to Urz who seemed very happy, the Krogan walked over and gave him the hundred thousand credits then stomped away in anger at his major deficit and loss of his Varren but it was his own fault for taking the chance. Ty wasn't really for pit fights; he didn't like forcing animals to fight each other so this was likely the only exception he'd make.

Ty sent the money to his private un-hackable account and patted Urz on the head and said "You're a good Varren Urz come on lets go see if Shepard's done." Urz followed close behind until they got to the throne where Shepard, Grunt and Wrex were talking, Ty turned to Urz as he got to the stairs and said "Sit." Urz sat, "Stay I'll be right back." Urz stayed and Ty walked over to the group, "Making new friends everywhere you go I see." Wrex said. Ty nodded and said "Yup he seems to understand commands and not want to kill me so he's good by my book." "If you didn't have friends who wanted to kill you I bet you would be pretty lonely I bet hahaha." Wrex said with a smile. Ty chuckled and Shepard said "It's been nice seeing you Wrex you sure you can't come." "I wish I could but I've gotta keep these short sighted fools in line, hunt well Shepard." Shepard nodded at him and she started to leave with Grunt, Ty bowed his head a little to Wrex to be respectful then followed after them.

As he got to Urz Ty snapped his fingers and Urz started following him to the doors, Shepard and Grunt were waiting for him there and as he got to them Shepard said "I don't think Miranda will approve of bringing Urz." Ty looked down at Urz feeling sad about leaving him behind even though they had only been together for a short time, "Probably right." Ty sighed in defeat. Ty knelt down to Urz and patted him on his head then gave him the remainder of the Pyjak meat and said "You gotta stay Urz go back and guard your post."

Urz let out a light whimper then Ty pet him a little and said "I'll be back when I finish with the Collectors to bring you home you just stay out of those pits while I'm gone, now go on and try not to get hurt." Urz rubbed his head against Ty's knee then walked away back to where he had found him, "Alright lets go before I shed a man tear." Ty said jokingly. Shepard started walking again and as Ty and Grunt followed EDIs voice came over the comm, "Since you completed the rite Grunt has received many mating request and Shepard has received one as well." "I feel left out." Ty joked. Grunt punched Ty in his left shoulder hard and said "Ha!"

They embarked onto the shuttle and flew back up to the Normandy, as they landed in the cargo hold they all got off the shuttle and headed to the elevator and pressed their respective buttons first stopping at engineering letting Grunt get off and then ascending to the crew quarters, as Ty walked out Shepard grabbed his arm to stop him and asked "What are you going to do for the rest of the night?" "Get checked on by Chakwas for my lovely set of injuries that I'm sure I'll get a speech about then probably head back to my room, why?" Ty asked in return. "I'm going to call it a day after I get changed, set coordinates for Illium and get something to eat." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "Alright if you want to talk you know where I'll be." Shepard let go of his arm and looked down as she said "Back on Tuchanka when I froze up, I'm sorry it's just-"

Ty grabbed her hand stopping her from talking, as she looked up to his eyes he said "You don't have anything to be sorry for last time I checked you saved me from losing a foot and dying." Shepard nodded slightly and Ty said "Get changed get something to eat and get some rest Shepard you need it, I'll get EDI to get Joker going." "I have already informed him Ty." EDIs synthesized voice came from his omni-tool. "Spying on me EDI?" Ty asked jokingly. "No just checking in." EDI said then disappeared. Ty chuckled and said "Well I guess I don't have to tell Joker, get some rest Shepard you need it." Ty let go of her hand and as he walked out the door he heard her quiet voice, "Thank you."

**A/N: Back to the Med-Bay from whence he came I suppose, maybe I should have just made that his room yeah? To late now but still hind sight is a bitch, a lot of point of view changes and past memories relived in such a short time span in this chapter so I hope it wasn't to hard to read or hard to see where the switches happened but the kind of chaotic flow of the chapter I think matched the moment but I'm likely wrong. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and sorry for the slight delay. I'll see you next time.**


	40. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

A Quad and a Half

After stopping by his room to take off his gear Ty began what was becoming like a weekly pilgrimage to the med-bay, as he passed through the mess hall he noticed how empty it all was, hell the deck was basically empty except two crew members Ty didn't know who took graveyard shift. The two nodded to him in a respectful manner to which he nodded back. As he got closer to the med-bay he saw that Doctor Chakwas was working on her terminal with a half filled glass of Serrice Ice Brandy and the bottle an arm reach away through the glass window it had, Ty chuckled to himself seeing the Brandy there with her as he made his way to the doors and into the room.

Chakwas was still turned around as he approached her from behind so he made his presence known as he said, "Hey doc I see you're enjoying the new supply of Brandy." Chakwas turned her chair around to face him with the glass in her hand, "Ty how- oh I see you're injured yet again." Chakwas said with a bit of shock while still matter of factly. Ty shrugged and said "I don't ask for this trouble it just sort of finds me." Chakwas chuckled slightly as she motioned him to sit on his usual bed, "You sound like the Commander." "Difference is I make a shattered ankle, road rash, a dislocated shoulder and likely cracked ribs look damn good." Ty joked as he carefully made his way to the bed and sat down. "I take it those are what you think your injuries are and you also wish to be able to walk straight after leaving this room?" Chakwas asked as she began running her scan. "You know me doc; I like to push the boundaries of possibility." Ty said with a smirk. "That you do Ty that you do." Chakwas said.

Chakwas ran her scans and began treating all of the numerous injuries Ty had starting with his ankle which was, as he felt and thought, shattered by the Thresher Maw tentacle. If it weren't for modern medications it would have been likely Ty wouldn't have walked straight for the rest of his life but thanks to Doctor Chakwas and a supreme set of luck of an unknown kind so far the damage was fixable albeit he was going to have to have a few treatments between Tuchanka and Illium so he would be at full capacity but for now he wouldn't walk so crookedly. The left shoulder dislocation from grabbing the railing and getting pulled was a quicker fix and wouldn't be a problem as long as he didn't re-dislocate it anytime soon and the cracked ribs like his ankle needed multiple treatments between Tuchanka and Illium so they were back at one hundred percent but that wasn't an issue with Ty as long as he got back to one hundred percent.

As Chakwas finished attending to his ribs Chakwas grabbed some more medical equipment from medi-gel to a few other salves and such that Ty didn't recognize as she asked, "So how did you come across these injuries exactly?" "Thresher Maw for every single one actually but it would've been a lot worse if Shepard wasn't able to get that Thresher tentacle off my leg, I'd either have come back with one foot or not at all." Ty said. Chakwas turned around with a shocked look and said "Oh my you encountered a Thresher Maw. Ty nodded in response and said "Part of Grunts Rite of Passage, the tentacle grabbed my left leg around my ankle and started dragging me towards the hole it just went down, me and Grunt couldn't chop or shoot the damn thing off but then I caught myself on a railing which is how the left shoulder got dislocated and I was about to chop my own foot off when Shepard grabbed my tomahawk and shot the tentacle then chopped it clean off."

Chakwas brought up her omni-tool and started pressing buttons and asked "Do you have road rash on your back as well?" Ty nodded and asked "Do you want me to take my shirt off again?" Chakwas nodded and Ty took his tank top off wishing he had just listened to her the first time when she told him not to put it back on since he'd likely have to take it off again but he was cold so he put it back on. Chakwas started applying the medi-gel to his road rash, the pain started to fade along with the road rash but he still had pain lingering in his right arm was still there, "How did Shepard react to the Thresher Maw?" Chakwas asked. That was a question Ty was dreading since both Grunt had an unspoken agreement of not speaking of what happened so Ty attempted to dodge the question, "It's not really my place to say." Ty said.

Chakwas stopped and gave him a questioning look full of motherly protection and would likely have scared the crap out of any marine under her care, "What happened Ty?" Chakwas asked sternly. "I don't think I should be the one to say but I figure you won't tell Miranda right?" Ty asked. Chakwas nodded and Ty said "She froze up, the only thing left in her eyes was fear and not just a small bit of it, it had consumed her every fiber and she was trembling." "Trembling?" Chakwas asked. "Yea it was bad but she snapped out of it after I started getting dragged." Ty said.

Chakwas didn't say anything as she started back on healing Ty's road rash again, she healed all his road rash then she looked at his right arms as she asked "How does your right arm feel?" "Sore as hell from using a Krogan Claymore shotgun." Ty said. "You do know that they are Krogan shotguns because only Krogans use them." Chakwas said in a cheeky sarcastic way. "Yeah yeah yeah I know but hey I was short on ideas and it saved everyone's life right, what's wrong?" Ty asked. "The readings from your cybernetics show multiple ripped tendons and ligaments, the damage goes from your shoulder and down but not much else." Chakwas said. "Medi-gel gonna fix it?" Ty asked. "Yes it'll do the trick I just wanted to let you know why it hurt and find out what you did but how did you get cracked ribs?" Chakwas asked as she applied medi-gel to his arm. "Well when I used the shotgun I jumped off this really tall metal column and with the help of Shepard's biotics I got in killing range and shot the thing in the face blasting it apart, the problem was before Shepard could reel me in the thing swung the elbow part of its arm up at me and nailed me in the chest which then sent me flying back into said column and straight through it to the ground." Ty answered.

To Ty's surprise Chakwas stopped what she was doing to look at him with a look that read that she thought he was bullshitting, Ty smirked and said "It's the honest truth." "He is serious doctor." EDI chimed from Ty's omni-tool. "EDI." Ty chided. "My apologies resuming privacy mode." EDI said with what Ty caught as sarcasm but truth at the same time. "EDI remind me or tell Shepard yourself that I told her so that no one would believe me." Ty said. "I will tell her at once." EDI answered. "Thank you." Ty responded. Chakwas just shook her head with a smirk as she began finishing fixing him up which told Ty that she couldn't believe he was still alive and that he was a lucky son of a bitch.

After Chakwas finished with everything Ty put his tank top back on and Chakwas sat back down at her terminal to finish her glass of Brandy but before he walked out Chakwas said "Keep a close eye on Shepard Ty, I worry about her sometimes." Ty nodded and said "I will, see ya Chakwas thanks for the help." Ty walked out and started heading back to his room to relax for the rest of the night but stopped halfway since Garrus had taken a break from calibrations to get something to eat with Tali who was sitting across from him and had also taken a break from constant work on the engines, "Hey you two finally came up for air from constant work." Ty joked. "Bosh'tet." Tali stated in a joking manor. "He always been like this?" Garrus asked Tali. Tali nodded slightly and said "Yeah and I've been dealing with him longer than the rest of you." "I'm surprised you haven't pulled a gun on him…oh wait you have I almost forgot." Garrus said. "I almost sent him out the airlock to." Tali said. "Back on Omega I almost shot him because I thought he was just another merc." Garrus said. "There was also another time that I almost shot him then air locked him after the first time I wanted to." Tali joked.

As Ty was listening with a smile to the different ways they thought of killing him Jack came walking from the elevator towards the kitchen since Gardner wasn't there, "Hey Jack." Ty said. Jack nodded at him and said "Hey Ty, why you standing around?" "Listening to team dextro here talk about the different ways they thought of or almost did try to kill me, you want to join in?" "Team dextro." Garrus's mandibles moved a little as it worked towards a Turian smirk then he said "I like the sound of it." Tali shook her head a little and said "Oh keelah." Jack grabbed some food from the fridge and said "And I thought I was the only one who thought of killing you. Sure why not I guess I wouldn't mind company while I ate plus I can explain some of the ways I thought of killing you." _These should be descriptive I'm sure_, Ty thought. Jack sat down on the same side of the table Garrus was on and said "So what have we gotten so far for how they wanted to kill you?" "Airlock." Tali answered. "Sniper shot." Garrus said. "Shoot him with a pistol then airlock him." Tali said. "Break his jaw." Garrus added. "Well that might end the sarcasm." Tali joked. "Because the others wouldn't right." Ty joked back.

Jack took a few bites of her food before she got a bit of an evil smirk and said "Come on that's the best you two can come up with, the first time I met the bastard I thought about ripping his spine out his ass, after dealing with his shit I thought of ripping his own arm off and beating him with it." _Ouch,_ Ty thought. "I did think of breaking an arm or leg to get the sarcasm out of him but I figured he might be useful, still goes through my thoughts once in a while." Garrus joked. "Nah he'd still be sarcastic after a broken limb you'd have to do something that wouldn't give him time to talk." Jack said enjoying the conversation. "Something more permanent than a bullet?" Tali asked. "No that's too permanent for him you need something like; hmm I don't know something like ripping his vocal chords out." Jack said then took a bite of her meal. "What about cutting out his tongue?" Garrus asked. Jack pointed at Garrus and said "See there you go now you're getting the hang of it Vakarian, you could also give him a tracheotomy so he had to talk through a machine." "And then hack the machine to put poison in it to kill him when he uses it." Tali said. "Exactly." Jack said. "You guys are so nice, it's great to have friends talk about ways to stop me from talking or kill me." Ty said sarcastically. "Hey sometimes the thought crosses your mind, so how'd you kill us?" Jack asked. "Oh keelah I don't know if I want to hear this." Tali said.

Ty smirked and thought, _might as well give them a good one for each, I do have kills to live up to even though I'd never hurt any of them intentionally._ Ty crossed his arms and said "Easy, I'd screw up Tali's enviro suit, Garrus I'd switch his rationings to human food so he'd get an upset stomach and then mess with his terminal so when he did calibrations it would give him a permanent jolt and Jack I'd scramble your biotic amp so you got such a bad headache your brain would pop from your own biotics."

That got him shocked looks from Garrus and most likely Tali under her mask but a smirk from Jack, "You'd do something like that?" Garrus asked. "That's cruel Ty even to your standards." Jack said. Ty nodded and said "Yea I know but I'd never do it." "Keelah I hope so." Tali said. "Switch my food rationings and give me a jolt, that could actually work, not that I don't check those things before hand but if you happen to catch me on an off day it could actually work." Garrus said.

Ty rolled his eyes with a smirk and Tali said with heavy sarcasm "So you check your food and make sure you aren't going to get shocked when you do your calibrations everyday every time you do those things." "Yup." Garrus answered. "Since when?" Tali asked incredulously. "Since Ty first said he'd switch my rations around when we were coming to recruit you, I never thought someone would try food poisoning on me until he mentioned it." Garrus said. "You aren't doing a very good job at it." Tali said. "Really?" Garrus asked quizzically. "Yeah because that is a human food you're eating." Tali said.

Garrus immediately stopped eating his food and though Ty knew he had been eating dextro food he actually had to do a very slight double take to make sure he hadn't been allowing his friend to eat human food. Garrus looked at his food and said "Spirits be damned I knew it looked weird, and you let me eat it this whole time?" "I thought you checked those things." Tali said with laughter starting to come on. Ty couldn't resist not jumping in on such a joke since Garrus seemed completely oblivious to it being a joke, "She has a point Garrus its called lasagna." Ty said jumping in on it. "Aw crap." Garrus said. "Looks like we need to find you a final resting place and get your will sorted out." Jack said jumping in on it as well. "I call the sniper; I did make it after all." Ty said. "No shit, that thing looked fucking deadly as hell when I last saw it. When are you gonna make me one of those things?" Jack asked. "When I get around to it and not a moment before." Ty said with a smirk. Jack grumbled something under her breath but then said "I want the armor to sell when it gets valuable." As the group looked to Garrus his sickly look continued to get worse, "I think I need to go see Doctor Chakwas." Garrus said likely turning green under his plates. "What's the rush there's still plenty of food left and it does look tasty." Ty said sarcastically.

Garrus blanched and then the laughter busted out between the three jokers, Tali was holding her sides as she was laughing while Jack slammed her foot on the ground a few times and then her hand into the table until she too was grabbing at her stomach, "You should see your face Vakarian." Jack said through her laughs. Ty grabbed at his chest since his ribs were beginning to hurt while he laughed and said "Tali I think Garrus is officially more scared of being sick then any Quarian I've met." Tali shook her head as she was attempting to not continue laughing and apologize, "I'm sorry Garrus it was just too good of a moment to pass up you aren't eating human food." Tali apologized but it probably didn't seem very sincere with her laughing.

Ty and Jack began to find some semblance of control on their laughter when Jack said "I don't think I've ever seen you sweat that much Vakarian." Both Ty and Jack were smiling big as Tali too got control of her remaining giggles, "You three are cruel as Batarian slavers." Garrus said as he started eating again. "Ouch that cuts deep Garrus." Ty joked. "I think you hurt my feelings Vakarian." Jack joked. "Now that makes me feel bad." Garrus getting his usual cool demeanor back.

As Ty was about to make his leave there was a familiar thumping noise that he had grown accustomed to in the months as a signal for the only member of the squad with a quad, well the only one with a real quad not just using it as a way to describe someone's ballsy moves. Grunt came thumping around the corner and Ty said "Well if it isn't my favorite Krogan on the squad, do you want me to still call you Grunt or do you want me to call you Urdnot Grunt or call you one badass Krogan." Grunt let out a low chuckle as he said "Grunt is fine Ty, what's with the gathering up here."

Grunt went to the kitchen looking for a midnight snack like the rest of the group exception of Ty and grabbed what looked like a big meal but was standard for Krogan rations and thumped his way over to the other open seat as Ty said "Well team dextro here were both just getting something to eat until I came around and then it was talk of killing or silencing me and then the PB here came up for food and joined in then it was giving Garrus here a scare saying that his food was a human food." "PB?" Jack asked. Ty nodded and said "Yea the psychotic biotic." Jack got a bit of a smirk on her face as she said "Works for me." Grunt grinned and said "Seeing Vakarian sweat had to be good." "It was." The three jokers said in unison.

Jack, Garrus and Tali started talking amongst themselves as Ty asked Grunt "So you feel any better after the Rite?" "Yeah, I like the sound of Urdnot Grunt I belong somewhere now and now I'm not just created, I have a clan." Grunt said. "Did that bother you badly?" Ty asked sincerely. "Sort of but not really." Grunt answered. _Hmm that's not very convincing but then again Krogans are hard to read sometimes but it would make sense in a way him being genetically built to be this ultra Krogan and not really having a clan or a place to fit in except on this crew of misfits,_ Ty thought, _reminds me of Miranda in a way, maybe that's why Grunt always seemed kinda nice to Miranda since he understood in his own way what it was like to be created._ Ty brought his focus back to the conversation because he heard Grunts voice again "And Uvenk I would've loved to disembowel him and have his hump for a trophy."

_Uvenk what a piece of work that pain in the ass was,_ Ty thought_, guess he had it coming to him being a thorn in Wrex's side then trying to kill us._ "I hear you on that but I think the Maw would've been a better trophy." "You guys killed a Maw?" Jack asked with Garrus and Tali now listening to them as well. Grunt chuckled a little and Ty said "Yea it was pretty crazy down there, Grunt you mind if I tell the story?" Ty asked. "Go ahead after what you and my battlemaster did you both showed me you both have a quad and a half." _Quad and a half that's a new one, I've heard of a quint but that was only a joke. I wonder if a quad and a half is real or not_, Ty thought. "Okay it all started with a Varren attack…"

There was a few reasons Ty chose to tell the story, the second was because, well it was a good story that Jack, Garrus and Tali would like to hear. The first reason and more important was that he didn't want Grunt to accidentally slip up and tell them about Shepard freezing up, Garrus and Tali were her closest friends and Jack was probably becoming a good friend as well but that was private information between the three of them and Chakwas now. Ty didn't like when something he told someone to keep secret was spread around and though Shepard didn't tell him he should keep it secret something like that wasn't something that needed to be talked about amongst the crew even if it didn't affect the morale it just wasn't something that the crew needed to know.

It could be a protectiveness he had over Shepard like all his close friends but even though it would've only been shared between the five of them plus Chakwas you never knew who was listening or eavesdropping. If Shepard wanted to share then she could do it when she wanted but it wasn't going to be because of him or Grunt people were talking about it, that was a shit storm Ty intended to avoid by spinning the story to match what happened but change Shepard freezing up to Ty and her strategizing how to take it down and as they were he got dragged. It was simple but it also worked and if Shepard did hear from Garrus, Tali or Jack about it she'd either go along with it or she'd dismiss and tell the truth and then if he was questioned about it he would tell them the truth that he only did because he figured she didn't want it talked about which was all true.

The only flaw in the plan was Chakwas if she mentioned it to Miranda, which Ty figured she wouldn't, then Miranda might get on her high horse about needing help or something and sick Kelly Chambers on Shepard. He was sure Kelly wouldn't mind but Shepard would be pissed especially at him for telling Chakwas. The second scenario was Chakwas trying to talk to Shepard about it and mention his name than if she really didn't want anyone to know then he'd be in some deep shit.

But it was Chakwas and she was a motherly figure to Shepard while she didn't see her real mom and she had a motherly tendency once in a while to Ty but she knew he wasn't looking for one or needing one so if it was the second one he was sure Chakwas of all people would approach it cautiously and tenderly without pushing to hard on the subject. Maybe and more likely to happen was she would leave it up to Shepard to talk to her or for Shepard to talk to him about it than Ty relay it back to Chakwas if it was bad.

Ty explained all of what happened during the Rite leaving out Shepard freezing letting Grunt explain certain parts in his own special way that made the event even more interesting with his commentary but Jack was the first to call bullshit on Ty getting hit by the Thresher Maw arm not that he blamed her in the slightest but Grunt and his menacing laugh followed as he confirmed Ty's story to which Tali said "Keelah Ty I wonder how you have lived this long." "Luck, luck and a lot of skill." Ty responded. "And a thick head." Garrus said dryly. "Are you saying I'm hard headed?" Ty asked. "No I'm telling you that you are hard headed, it's completely different." Garrus retorted. Ty chuckled and let Grunt finish the story and Ty could tell by the end of the story that the three didn't understand why Grunt and him were so ecstatic still about it, Garrus and Jack gave the two of them the look of you two are crazy and he knew Tali was doing the same behind her mask with the tilt of her head as Ty and Grunt began to banter back and forth about the kill. Grunt had his own reasons of liking the mission but Ty's were different his were more based on the fact he lived another Thresher Maw attack.

Two in one life wasn't exactly something he ever expected or hoped for but he never figured he'd be swifted away on some suicide mission by Shepard either or become friends with a Cerberus agent. Another reason he was happy about it was because it went a lot smoother than his first encounter, the first time he and his friends knew it was there and were able to prepare better but still almost lost everyone this time though they weren't prepared but got out unscathed for the most part that was something that he was happy about, close calls and casualties just weren't things he ever liked, especially with something like a Maw.

After finishing the story Ty said good night to them all so he could get some rest even though they wouldn't be at Illium for a day or two he liked to be well rested for anything like the surprise sparring with Miranda and the medical check ups he was going to have. It also gave the four some more bonding time with each other instead of just him, if they only came together because of him or Shepard not because of their own friendship then they would eventually drift apart and forget about all the good times they had together, even though it was Jack and Grunt two of the crew who didn't really do social interactions exception of with Shepard or Ty.

Ty got to his room finally after a little run in with Kasumi who had been walking back to her room with more alcohol, "Stocking up in case we have a party." Was what she had told him before walking past him. Kasumi in her own way was adapting to the life of a crew and not going out on her own when she wanted, though he hadn't checked to see if his bike had been moved since he got back he was really going to need to check that. Instead of thieving from everyone she eavesdropped, spied and snooped around Ty's room on more then one occasion so he assumed she did it to others when she felt the need. She had a good heart and that's what Ty always liked about her just like a lot of the crew on the Normandy, almost everyone had a good heart deep down in this crew, exception of the Illusive Man but Ty didn't count him amongst the crew. After getting into his room he laid down on his bed and relaxed himself as he looked up into the stars that were flying by, it relaxed him into a deep sleep letting his mind ease knowing the troubles were over for the night…or at least he thought they were.

**A/N: Nothing new from me, well except this chapter that is. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.**


	41. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Late Night Counsel

Bullets ricocheted from all directions off the low wall of boxes and tall boxes Ty and Miranda had been using for cover, they were both able to peek out of cover to get a few shots off but none were kill shots. Miranda got out of cover to shoot but her shields were taken down and got grazed by a bullet, "Damn, taking fire." Miranda's Australian voice catching Ty's attention. Ty moved from his cover over to hers and asked "Do you have any medi-gel?" "Yeah just give me some cover." Miranda said. "On it." Ty said as he got back out of cover and drawing the attention to himself. "This is going bloody well." Miranda said as she applied the medi-gel. "Yea I know right I can barely get a shot before I have to take cover." Ty said. Miranda finished applying her medi-gel and Ty came back down into cover as his new shields went down, Miranda put her pistol away and pulled out her tempest and said "Okay you ready." "Yea but a little help from above would be nice." Ty said. Sniper shots echoed across the cargo area that told Ty that his wish had came true. "Sniper support to the rescue, please keep your heads out of my reticule." A sarcastic voice came through. "Its 'bout time you showed up." Ty said into his comm.

36 Hours Before

_Corporal Toombs stood before Shepard, Garrus and Kaiden still holding the doctor at gun point, the man needed to die but Shepard knew he also needed to be arrested and interrogated for more information on Cerberus and so Toombs could go to therapy. "Toombs please listen to me he's not worth the bullet we can arrest him and throw him in jail to find out more information on the people who set us up, just please don't." Shepard said. "You got it easy Shepard, you got away with a few scars and a scary reputation, I was tortured for years Shepard, you can't judge me you don't have the right." Toombs said. "Toombs Liz gave her life to save me, I didn't get away from the hell we went through that day but I know you've endured more than that, just please let the doctor go and let me help." Shepard said. Toombs looked down for a moment as he said, "I'm sorry Shepard Liz was a hell of a solider and a great friend." Toombs looked up again and continued, "This man can't live for what he did to me, to you, to Liz or for what he did to the rest of our squad, are you with me?" Toombs said. Before Shepard could say anything Tombs shot the doctor, Shepard froze as she saw the doctor fall hard to the ground, "Toombs." Shepard said in shock as she stared down at the doctor. "You were the only survivor Shepard I don't see any reason to change that story now." Toombs said as he put the gun to his temple. Terror filled Shepard's chest as she saw what he was doing, "Toombs no!" Shepard yelled as she reached for him._

_ The gun shot echoed in the room and rang in Shepard's ears as blood squirted out of the other side of his head and he fell down to the ground. Shepard couldn't hold her own weight up as she collapsed to both knees at his body and tears started to form in her eyes, Shepard reached a hand out to his body "Toombs I-" Kaiden's hand grabbed Shepard's gently as she reached for Toombs "Commander you did your best." "I failed him…I failed him again." Shepard whispered. Kaiden's hand caressed her cheek bringing her attention to him, "You failed no one Shepard." "I could'v-" Shepard was interrupted by Kaiden, "No he was going to do what he did no matter what you had said, no amount of therapy could've brought him back from where he was and you know that." _

_They would never know that for certain but Shepard nodded slowly and Kaiden stood up, he reached his hand out to her and she grabbed it letting him pull her up, Shepard looked back down at her fallen friends body, Commander Shepard the Sole Survivor of Akuze would be the story that would continued to be told and even after she was given the chance to make a change she was still the only survivor remaining. Shepard saluted above his body and left not wanting to let the thought of being the sole survivor tear her down again as it had in the past. As she walked out with Garrus and Kaiden in tow she remembered Akuze and the wail of the Maws, seeing Lizzy run away buying her time. She felt her chest begin to swell as her heart began to ache and her stomach feel sick, she hoped Kaiden would talk to her back on the Normandy privately, she needed his counsel right now, she needed him now more than ever._

* * *

Shepard flung up in her bed with a gasp, she looked around her oversized quarters and saw the fish tank and model ship collection she had starting to fill up with more ships. Her heart was racing and her whole body felt cold as she brought her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them in an attempt to comfort and warm herself. She was a ball of sweat and her hair was damp from the nightmare of seeing Toombs kill himself again, she felt tears welled in her eyes as she remembered her fallen friend and how he was before Akuze and how she found him afterwards and of what she couldn't stop him from doing. Just have to keep fighting harder for their memory she had told herself after Akuze but right now it didn't seem to feel like she had succeeded. She only had on her bra and shorts on which was her usual sleeping clothes and neither seemed to be doing much to make her feel warmer and neither did holding herself in the way she was make her feel even remotely more comfortable after that nightmare. The thought crossed her mind that someone could call upon her at any moment since she didn't know what time it was and that wouldn't be good for her in this state so she looked up to her ceiling and said, "EDI lock my door and don't tell anyone what I'm doing, I don't care who asks for what I'm doing just tell them I asked not to be bothered." "Yes Shepard." EDI answered swiftly.

Shepard worked her way out of her bed and onto her feet as tears began to fall slowly down her cheeks; she was heading to her shower hoping that maybe that would help. Why did these memories have to come up now of all times when she needed to be focused on this mission, she had thought she had gotten over her fears and moved on from her failures or at least she had tried to for Lizzy and the others who died at Akuze and Ashley back on Virmire but she had nearly lost Ty and probably Grunt as well to another Thresher Maw because she couldn't shake her fear. Shepard got to her desk as she was heading to her shower but stopped and looked at the pictures she had, the one she had of Kaiden she turned down on its face but the other she walked up to and picked it up. Anderson had found it in her old trunk she left on the Citadel for safe keeping, when she died he held onto the trunk and kept it in his new office as Councilor not being able to hand it over to her mother since she was out somewhere and or when she did stop by the Citadel he was always in a meeting during those two years.

The picture was a slideshow of two pictures, both taken by Shepard and they were both of her and Lizzy, the first was of Shepard wearing a pink wifebeater and black jeans sitting on a couch with Lizzy who was wearing a black camisole that stopped at the middle of her belly and blue jeans while sitting between Shepard's legs. Shepard's arms were wrapped around Lizzy's waist as she was holding her hands in place, you could tell that they were wrestling with each other based on Lizzy's smile while yelling at Shepard and Shepard playfully biting her neck.

The picture brought a smile to Shepard's face along with sadness, there was a happiness the two had when with each other that she had wished she was still sharing with her to this day and had wished that she and Kaiden would have found but never did and likely never would, a friendship was about the only thing she was going to be able to ever forge again between the two and that was only if she was lucky. Shepard pressed the next button and let it bring up the next picture that was taken not many moments afterwards. Lizzy, in retaliation, had got Shepard on her back and Lizzy got on top of her as she pinned her arms down above her head, they were sharing a kiss that Shepard could still recall with one hundred percent clarity from the taste of Lizzy's lips to her fragrance and where exactly their tongues traveled.

Shepard's hands began to tremble as she put the picture down, the sole survivor of Akuze; she looked at Vic her hamster seeing him for once out of his little hiding space looking at her. She had always believed that animals could sense peoples feelings and her little Invictus was no different in that case it seemed but she knew the moment she would reach for him he would run away back into his little home. That thought gave Shepard a bit of a smile but she noticed the glass she had left out to fill up his water still sitting next to the cage so she grabbed the glass with her left hand but as she brought it down off the platform her trembling hands shattered the glass and cut her hand up across her palm and the top of her hand. "Shit." Shepard cursed. The crimson color of her blood dripped to the floor and on her desk, the shattered glass sprinkled across the ground and a couple shards hit her feet cutting them slightly.

Her left palm got the biggest gash though slicing it from her index finger across and down to the top of her wrist; _things just keep getting better_, Shepard thought as she shook her head. She walked into her bathroom and turned the shower on with the thoughts of the maw and Lizzy and Toombs still following her though. The cut burned and it didn't help the overwhelming thoughts that she was experiencing that ranged from sadness to fear depending on the thought. She couldn't continue on like this today she needed a break from all these emotions that popped up but there was no way out of it as she let herself collapse onto the floor and the cold water hit her, she needed help.

* * *

"Gallick! Grab Carson and go!" Ty yelled as he and Grissom chased down Brad who was being dragged by the maw. "Fuck fuck fuck! Guys don't let this thing fucking eat me!" Brad yelled as he tried grabbing onto anything. Brad finally caught a break as Ty and Grissom continued sprinting after him trying to close their distance when he grabbed onto a medium sized rock that was apart of one of the sets of minerals the Suns were hoping to get out of this stopping him but also beginning to pull him even harder. Brad began screaming louder with even more pain in his voice as seconds passed, "Just hold on Brad!" Ty yelled as he and Grissom were getting closer. "What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?!" Brad cried out with tears in his eyes. Ty and Grissom got mere feet away when Grissom unloaded his automatic shotgun into the tentacle ripping it up; Ty got around the mineral deposit and swung his tomahawk down cutting the tentacle off and letting it go squirming back. "Ty we must retreat." Grissom stated forcefully.

He was right of course but Ty didn't have the time to respond as he and Grissom both grabbed Brad throwing his arms over their shoulders as they began running away from where the Maw was likely going to come out again, "I got Carson to the LZ but I'm coming back." Gallick announced over the comm. "No stay at the LZ Brad and Grissom are coming and so is Kar." Ty ordered. "Fuck that Ty." Gallick spat. "We agreed that I call retreat and you all retreat and I stay behind to give you all time." Ty responded. "Ty we might all be able to make it if we all pull back right now." Grissom explained from Ty's side. "A maybe isn't worth risking your lives for, Kar get your ass moving back to the LZ." Ty ordered as he let go of Brads arm. "Ha no way little Pyjak I never agreed to that crap." Kar called over the boom of his Claymore.

Grissom stopped with Brad as he looked back at Ty, Ty looked away to see where Kar was only to see him taking cover behind a rock, "Kar-" Ty was interrupted by Kar "If today is your day to die then it is my day to die as well Ty. Today will not be known as the day Tyler Rhoddy died alone with his whole ground team fleeing, it will be known as the day that Tyler Rhoddy stood defiant against a Thresher Maw with his allies and when all the shit went wrong and he ordered retreat his squad didn't abandon him to a lonely death they stayed by his side to the end regardless of the outcome."

If it wasn't for the fact they were in the middle of a life and death fight Ty would have made a joke about Kar becoming a poet but Ty looked back to Grissom and Brad and saw Gallick running up with his Revenant in hand despite the golf ball sized hole in his arm from the acid, "Guys this is your last chance to go don't waste your lives for the Suns." Ty pleaded. "We aren't wasting our lives for them we are fighting along side our glorious battlemaster and friend." Kar answered.

Gallick, Grissom and even the wounded Brad gave a nod, "Carson woke up when we got to the shuttle, even with his broken arm he was going to come back but I told him to get the shuttle prepped for when we all get back, its gonna take him a while to do that all one handed so lets not disappoint the Turian and make him fly back all alone sulking to himself about what he could have done better, Val would never forgive us for that." Gallick said with a smirk. Ty heard the booms of Kars shotgun again holding off the Maw by himself as he was standing there doing nothing, "You guys are great friends." Ty finally said but then he continued "And you guys are also really shitty at following orders." The three smirked as Ty shook his head and said "Let's go kill this thing before Kar takes all the damn credit. Grissom you gonna keep Brad with you?" Ty asked. "Yes though we will attempt to attack from a distance so we don't have to dodge the creature."

Ty nodded and just like that they all made the decision to plunge into the battle again regardless that it would likely cost them all their lives, Ty and Gallick lead the charge back with Grissom and Brad taking up the rear but to their surprise Kar was running directly at them but he was still quite the distance away, the Maw suddenly came flying up out of the ground and was attempting to come down and eat Kar, "Kar!" Ty and Gallick yelled in unison as they began unloading their guns at the Maw. There rounds began to pick away at the already dissipating armor of the Maw that they all had been weakening during their right, they tried to hit the few spots where it had no armor but their plan wasn't working as the creature came down at Kar. Kar looked over his shoulder and jumped forward but spun as he did and as the Threshers mouth reached him he unloaded his Claymore round and it obliterated the Maws face and soaked Kar in blood as the body of it slammed into the ground a few feet from him. The four stopped as Kar got onto his feet and let out a thundering victory yell which they all soon joined in as the shock lifted.

* * *

"…y…Ty…Ty you must wake up." A synthesized voice called. Ty's eyes shot open and he pulled out his pistol from under his pillow waking up from a hellish nightmare, he pointed his gun around the room until he saw EDI hovering in her usual spot, "Did I startle you?" EDI asked. Ty put his pistol back under his pillow and said "No just a really bad dream, what's going on EDI? What time is it?" "It is 0300 on the Normandy but in case you don't know military time it is 3:00 am Earth time." EDI answered. _Shit I only slept for two hours and that was a shit two hours of nightmares._ Ty brought his hand to his face and let it run down slightly, _fucking Thresher Maws I hope I never fight one again,_ Ty thought. "Okay what's going on? Am I needed by someone?" Ty asked. After he said it he thought, _who in the hell would want to see me this early, most of the crew is probably still asleep or at least they should be. _"No one asked for you Ty but I believe you are needed." EDI answered.

That got Ty's gears in his head going right away waking him up quicker and quicker as the conversation went on, he started from the bottom of the engineering floor where Jack was and began running through each person on the Normandy and why they would need them as he asked, "Okay where is the person, who is the person and why do you think they need me?" "It's Shepard she is in her quarters and I believe she needs someone to talk to." EDI answered. He hadn't even gotten to the Crew Quarters of the Normandy in his mental list of people when EDI answered his question and suddenly his own nightmares on Thresher Maws seemed to pale in comparison as he remembered how she was on Tuchanka and what she was likely dealing with. _This is gonna be really bad I know it is_, Ty thought. "How bad EDI?" Ty asked. "She's in her shower wearing clothes still as she is sitting on the ground shivering with the water on while her hand is bleeding from a glass that broke in her hand, she told me not to give a report on her whereabouts to anyone but after watching her carefully I believe she is in need." EDI answered.

Ty started getting out of bed as his gears turned even quicker in his head, _why would she be shivering if she is in the shower…unless she hit the cold water accidentally and her hand is gashed open from glass, well fuck me, _Ty thought. _Why oh why do the spirits continue to test that woman's ability to live with shit like Akuze and Virmire can't they just be helpful for once, guys I'm mainly talking to you how about you talk all those other spirits into showing her some positivity for once instead of filling her life with uphill battle after uphill battle. No? Right forgot that you don't get involved sorry for impeding on your busy schedule._ "I'm on my way now but one question EDI, you're guided by Cerberus protocols meaning really you have to report to Miranda or the Illusive Man anything you find suspicious so wouldn't by your protocols you need to tell Miranda or hidden boy about it before even consider telling me?" Ty asked.

Ty left his hood down as he stopped at EDIs hologram who seemed to be contemplating the answer, she finally said "Yes but even though I am guided by protocols on certain occasions I can make decisions freely as I see fit, I trust you Ty with handling Shepard better than how Miss Lawson or the Illusive Man would handle it because I know how you care for your friends." _That's a good enough answer for me_, Ty thought. "Thanks for trusting me with something like this then, I'll head up now but you're probably going to have to unlock her door for me unless you want alarms going off because I hacked something Cerberus again, next thing you know it'll alert the Collectors." Ty said in a joking manor at the last part. "I will Ty but I should thank you for trusting me as a fellow crew member." EDI said. "You are a fellow crew member and a friend EDI I trust you with my life, not something that I can say about a lot of people." Ty said. "Thank you." EDI said.

After he nodded to her Ty walked out to the elevator experiencing the rare sight of emptiness on the crew deck, _not a soul in sight at this hour and it even looks like Doctor_ _Chakwas isn't in her room_, Ty thought_, I wonder when everyone starts waking up and starting their duties._ Ty got to the elevator and pressed a rare button for anyone to press which was Shepard's quarters, "Shepard's quarters/the loft" was how it was listed and as he pressed it the elevator started ascending slowly giving Ty time to contemplate a few things like how he was going to help Shepard without getting kicked out or her pissed off for trespassing on her private time. The other was his nightmare, or what was a nightmare now but was reality some years ago, his first Maw experience.

Being dragged was bad as it looked the first time he saw it but at least no one got sent flying into a rock like Carson had which also ended up breaking his arm…Ty stopped his thoughts realizing he had been sent flying, so maybe things still hadn't gone smoothly this time around but at least no one got that terrible acid on them like Gallick had. Grissom, Ty and Kar got out sort of unscathed with Kar almost getting eaten but ending up killing the thing which had him buzzed on his own adrenaline, Grissom having to deal with reliving the memory in full clarity and Ty suffering from nightmares on and off for months at a time. He only had the nightmare once in a while now but reliving it was still frightening.

The elevator doors opening brought Ty back to reality and he walked up to Shepard's door which had an orange hologram telling him it was locked, "EDI door please." Ty said. "Unlocking it now." EDI answered. The hologram flashed green then disappeared as the doors opened; Ty walked in and was once again surprised at the size of the room forgetting about the fish tank and the ship collection that now had some new ships in it. A nice tune you'd probably hear on the Citadel in the Presidium was playing from a dock station next to her bed giving the room a type of serenity even though there was a looming undertone that also was in the room. Remembering the layout of the last time he was in there he remembered that the bathroom was on his immediate right as he got to the corner, as he turned he took notice of the new space hamster with the name tag "InVictus" on his glass cage and the picture she had of Kaiden turned face down which was new and another picture slideshow of Shepard and another woman that Ty didn't watch or look at very long. Glass shards were scattered across the ground and crimson blood splatters were there as well_, not a good sign but still exactly what EDI said would be here, well lets hope this goes well. _

The doors to the bathroom were already open which let him also take notice to Shepard sitting on the ground dressed in a pair of black gym shorts and a black bra that was made of a solid fabric that didn't reveal anything except her cleavage and though her wifebeater did the same this felt different. Though Ty was accustomed to seeing a woman with less on, this for him was awkward. She was his Commander and friend and yeah he was thinking about giving the relationship thing a try but he had never thought about what she'd look like in just a bra and gym shorts. If it wasn't for not being able to get embarrassed by anything Ty's cheeks probably would have flushed red and would've turned around but this was his Commander and friend who was in need of his counsel if not just to vent at someone.

There was blood on the floor in the shower trickling down the drain and her hand had a nasty gash in it and her feet had a few cuts as well, her whole body was soaked and though Ty was more focused on trying to help he couldn't deny that even though she looked haunted she still looked damn good. He could see the edges of her angel wings tattoo and she had her belly button piercing in as well and as he thought it did have dangles on it. Her body was in great shape, abs, well toned arms and chest muscles but still very feminine.

Ty stopped his train of thought with a brick wall and got focused back on the task at hand and that wasn't admiring her great figure, her usual vibrant blue eyes that were usually full of life had a haunted look as she stared at the wall across from her, she had her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them shivering most likely because the water was cold since he couldn't see any steam and there was no heat coming from the shower. She sat against the wall on the right but barely glanced up at him before she was back to staring at the wall, "Wh…what are you do..doing here I told ED..EDI to keep everyone out." Shepard said with a little irratance but her teeth chattering stopped the most of it. "Well you see she respects your privacy and so do I but Vic here wanted me to come up." Ty said motioning to the hamster on his left.

Shepard barely smiled at the joke before she was back to what she had been doing, not wanting to do any harm with words joking or otherwise Ty decided to walk further into the bathroom until he got to the shower and turned the warm water on instead but not high enough to burn her. Ty sat down against the wall right next to her with his right shoulder and her left shoulder almost touching as he started getting wet from the water as well, he knew he'd be completely soaked by the end of the conversation she would hopefully start but it would be worth it in the end if it got her head back on straight. "I'm here to listen, let you vent, and help if I can Shepard, whatever you say stays between us so if or when you ever feel like talking go right on ahead I'll be here waiting." Ty said as he got comfortable.

Shepard's shaking stopped a little after a while of silence than she began to talk "Back on Akuze I lost all my squad, fifty marines, to Thresher Maws leaving me the only survivor of it. The wound of loss hasn't ever really healed and I never expect it to fully heal…I still can hear and see everything that happened that day and it frightens me more than anything else I have ever encountered. The screams of the men and women under my command, my friends, as they get pulled under by those things haunt me to this very day but the worst are Corporal Toombs and Private Elizabeth Armstrong." Shepard said in a tone caught between serious and sadness.

_Toombs, Joker mentioned him the guy killed himself right in front of Shepard but I have no idea who this Elizabeth is,_ Ty thought. "I swear I saw him get dragged down otherwise I would've gone back for him. Cerberus had him, those bastards had him alive and experimented on him and did unspeakable things to him. He finally got loose and got a bunch of mercs to help him go hunt down the scientists, can't say I blame him but I was a Commander in the Alliance and a Council Spectre so I had to stop him before he killed the last doctor so the doctor could go to trial and maybe help us out a little and Toombs could get the help he needed but I.." Shepard's voice hitched and she stopped for a moment and Ty stayed silent not wanting to push her to continue but still be an air of comfort all at the same time by staying. "I couldn't stop him…he shot the doctor and I was in complete shock so before I could stop him he put the gun to his head and..killed himself right there, right in front of me." Shepard said with sadness.

After a quick silence Ty noticed little things in her body language and tone that had turned to anger towards herself as she said "I try my damned hardest to be this invincible hero everyone seems to see but I can't hide that fear of Thresher maws or the guilt of losing Toombs twice from anyone…or losing Ashley because of my own selfish decision."

Shepard and selfish just didn't go together in the same sentence but Ty wasn't going to interrupt he was going to let her get it all out; she needed to vent that was more than obvious. "Then back on Tuchanka that Maw came flying out with its wail of terror and all I could do was freeze up not even protect my own men. You had to try shaking me out of it while Grunt ran around trying to keep the thing focused on him and kill it, if Miranda or someone else besides you, Garrus or Tali would've been with me and Grunt I'd have to listen to Miranda's chastising or Kelly's psychological talk or even the Illusive mans bullshit." That was likely as well but he was going to have to eventually tell her he and Grunt had a silent agreement not to talk about it so she knew and that Ty had also told Chakwas.

Once again Ty noticed the slight shift in Shepard's body language as it became more compassionate or something close to it with her tone changing as well from anger to calmness as she said "I'm lucky it was you though because I know the only person you may have told would be Chakwas." _Might as well get this out of the way early,_ Ty thought as he said "Yea sorry she asked and I tried to avoid it but she kept asking and I figured she doesn't talk about that personal stuff to anyone." "Its fine she doesn't." Shepard said.

_Dodged that bullet,_ Ty thought. The water had Ty completely drenched as he sat waiting for Shepard to continue venting joking with himself in his head about getting his shower in for the day. A lot of emotion took control of Shepard's voice as her voice softened to almost a whisper "I was reliving the day on Akuze and telling Elizabeth's sister when you were trying to get me fighting but the sudden absence of you from my vision is what finally got me going, seeing you get dragged across the ground to the Maw and seeing that you and Grunt couldn't get the tentacle off your leg. At that moment my instincts immediately kicked in not wanting to lose someone else to a Thresher…I didn't want to lose you to it." Hearing the last part Ty knew it was more then a professional concern but he was fine with it so to try to lighten the mood he said in a joking manor "I take it that's why you used the word fucking to me." "Yeah…I'm sorry." Shepard said sincerely. "Don't worry it didn't offend me or anything it just told me how serious you were." Ty said. "I was worried you were mad about it and I was also worried it would be the last thing I said to you, I don't think I would have ever forgiven myself if it was." Shepard said in a tone that confirmed Ty's thought of it being more than fighting related. He knew she had feelings for him but this moment wasn't the time to talk about that so he said "Guess it's a good thing that my stupidest crazy ideas work."

Shepard smiled a little than said "That's true, EDI relayed your I told you so already." "I can always count on her to get messages to people quickly but enough about that this is about you." Ty said. "After we got back and you left to see Chakwas I came in here to try to get some sleep and calm myself down because the Thresher was still bothering me but it wasn't working, I couldn't get that fear off of me or the thoughts of my squad, Elizabeth or Toombs out of my head and it was getting worse as the night went on until I finally got to sleep and I thought I would be fine but it followed me into my dreams until I woke up sweating badly and feeling so cold. I told EDI to lock everyone out and came in here to shower." "You usually take a shower with your bra and shorts on?" Ty asked in a joking manor.

Shepard pushed him with her shoulder playfully and said "Shut up, no I don't I just kind of you know collapsed in here as I accidently turned the cold water on." "You're lucky you didn't freeze." Ty said. Shepard smiled as she shook her head and said "I know I could hear Chakwas giving me a speech as sat here but I couldn't force myself to get up." "Lazy." Ty joked again. Shepard pushed him with her shoulder again and said "Shut up." "Before I give you any type of helping advice I need to know why you mentioned Ashley being your selfish mistake because honestly Shepard you are the most selfless person I know and maybe even in this galaxy and who is this Elizabeth that bothers you unless its severely personal then you don't have to tell me." Shepard's tone and facial expression showed the anger on the subject but it was once again at herself as she said "Ashley shouldn't have had to die because I was in love with Kaiden that's the only reason I chose him instead of her and she died for that lost cause…Liz is a bit personal but-" "Don't share it then." Ty interrupted.

Shepard nodded and getting the last of the information he needed Ty said "Now I may not have been there on Virmire or know everything that happened that day but I know for a fact that she didn't die for nothing. If it wasn't for her sacrifice you defeating Saren and Sovereign wouldn't have happened and she died knowing and trusting that you would pull through. Your love for Kaiden may have been a slight reason but you know that there was more to it than that, it was either her or everyone in the galaxy and I'm sorry if I sound like a complete asshole to you but if you start believing her sacrifice was for nothing, which is a load of bullshit, but if you start than you are just destroying everything that she stood for. If I'm wrong then correct me but I'm pretty damn positive for her sacrifice she was given the Salarian Silver Dagger and the Turian Nova Cluster, two medals that no other Alliance member was given. She would be disappointed in you thinking like this and that guy Kaiden better be damn proud to have a marine like her die to save everyone's asses in the long run."

Shepard didn't reach over and rip his head off with a biotic pull like he was expecting so he decided to cool it down a little and approach the other reason she couldn't sleep he lowered the tone of his voice and said in a more caring tone "Shepard you aren't invincible I know that is what almost everyone expects out of you so you act accordingly but you can't just hold everything in. You've gotta vent once in a while, use me as an example before you and after Ka'Reena I never vented to anyone anymore because Ka'Reena would sit me down and tell me to talk to her for as long as it took until I felt vented. I was a ticking time bomb after she died snapping at everyone including my family for a few years."

Shepard looked at him with a surprised look because of the last part but Ty continued "Yea I know surprising right, look at what happened at Scrums base those bodies before you reached me and the ones you saw me do is how I was on a normal basis before I met you, every part of it including the whole body change and attitude change. I looked like I did there all day everyday for a few years but then I began to cool off slightly when I met Kasumi and then even more so when we met and you started talking to me. What happened with Toombs and the rest of your squad shouldn't happen to anyone and there's not much I can do about that except give you the I'm sorry for your loss speech that I'm sure you've heard dozens of times but for what happened on Tuchanka I saw it first hand the fear controlling you. I fear Threshers as well so I understand in my own way what you were feeling but you have to fight the fear which I know sounds stupid but its true. What caused you to snap out of it?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow and said "You being in danger I told you that." "I know just putting it at the forefront of your mind, the easiest way to fight the fear against something is instead of thinking about the Maw or whatever it is think of your friends and them in danger at the moment and it'll snap you right out of it. The fear will still be there but you will have gained enough sense to fight back and get through it and once you have the fear goes away." "So you don't fear Thresher Maws anymore?" Shepard asked.

Ty shrugged a little not wanting to lie so he said "I don't fear them per say because if one pops up I'll fight it to whatever ending but I have an underlying fright of going against one and it scares me thinking of going against one. Back during my days as a Sun I almost lost five of my friends and my own life to one but I try to not let the fear drive me." "Do you have any fear?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded, he had many fears and anyone who tried to say that they didn't fear anything he always called a liar. "Yeah I do anyone who tells you they don't are liars. Someone once told me said that we aren't driven by our dreams but driven by our fears and some other stuff but I try to do the opposite when I can but some of that saying is true. I fear losing more friends, losing my family, someone having to sacrifice themselves for me, the Alliance finally catching up with me and sending me to death because of what emotional damage it would cause those close to me. One thing I don't fear is my own death, death is another part of life and when it happens to me it happens and I'll go to the spirit realm and be waiting at the bar there for everyone else to catch up." Ty explained. Shepard looked over at him and asked "Do you believe in a god?"

He believed in something and that was always good enough for him but there was no organized religion human or alien Ty had ever followed so he shrugged to himself and said "I believe that you should have your own beliefs and whatever they are you should never try to force onto someone else or be forced to believe what someone tells you. I believe in a greater spirit and a spirit realm where everyone's spirit goes, I don't believe in a hell or anything like that even though I say things like go to hell and call myself a demon or devil from time to time but to me those terms are just words with really no meaning to me specifically. Whatever you believe is fine though as long as you walk your beliefs and you respect the beliefs I walk and don't try to change them I will respect yours." "Our views are similar it seems." Shepard said. Ty nodded and said "Anyway all that stuff aside one of things I want to stress is that you don't have to be the invincible leader around me, you can be yourself without the worry of being judged for being human and if you ever need to vent to someone I'm always around."

Shepard nodded and they sat in silence for a few moments listening to the sound of the water going, "The night when I almost died from memory wipe Kaiden broke off our relationship, told me that he still respected me for what I did for the universe but we were both different now and I was with Cerberus and he wasn't sure he could trust me anymore. Told me good luck against the Collectors and he hopes I find happiness with someone else." Shepard said with sadness. _Well that sure explains a lot_, Ty thought. "I'm sorry about that I truly thought he would've came back around and realized who and what he had." Ty said sincerely. "I did too but part of me thinks he's right that we should move on, I didn't want to reopen old wounds when I came back so I didn't patch up the relationship so I always assumed it was over. He was a good solider and a good guy, in a way it is too bad since I wanted to believe that we could have found happiness since I used to think I'd only find love once before him but then I met him and then I died and I lost him as well. It seems I can't get this whole relationship thing down without some creature screwing it up." Shepard said. Though she was serious it made them both chuckle a little, "You got a towel in here?" Ty asked. "Leaving me already?" Shepard asked in a concerned tone.

Ty shook his head and said "Not at all I'm stayin but if I don't help you with that wound and Chakwas finds out I knew about it and did nothing she'll probably drug me up and put me on bed rest." Shepard chuckled a little and said "Probably true knowing how protective she is over me, I get a scratch and I'll be bed rested to make sure it didn't puncture some vein I didn't know existed, there's a towel on the bar over there." Shepard motioned to the wall adjacent to them. Ty got up and walked over to the towel rack that had two towels and grabbed one and dried his hair, clothes and his skin that wasn't covered quickly getting as dry as he could then he grabbed the other towel and walked back over to Shepard and turned off the water. "If it's not too much to ask can you help dry me off, I know it's kind of awkward but I don't want to get blood all over it. If it's too weird I'll make due with one hand but-" Ty chuckled a little as he interrupted Shepard "Shepard its fine really, I don't get awkward or embarrassed."

Ty helped her up grabbing her right hand and pulling her off the ground, he put one hand under the towel and the grab the edge of it with his other hand as he started drying off her arms and belly gently and trying to make it as less awkward for Shepard as he could. "I need to ask you something." Shepard said as he skipped over her breast and turned her around so he could dry her back off and her hair. "Shoot." Ty said. Shepard was silent a moment then asked "Would you have spared Scrum if I stopped you." Ty stopped drying her back for a second as he said "I was going to spare him until he told me what he did to Haley." "But you said he was going to die anyway." Shepard said.

Ty chuckled a little as he continued drying her back and said "I broke a few ribs but that was so he believed he was internally bleeding, he truly wasn't he just needed to crawl to the hospital." "What if I tried stopping you as you exploded?" Shepard asked. "No there wasn't anything you could do my demon was in control, I may have hurt you and I would have regretted that for probably the rest of my life." Ty said. "Good thing I didn't stop you then." Shepard said.

Ty started drying her hair softly and said "I like your angel wings." Shepard was quiet for a few beats and Ty swore that he saw a blue hew around her body but then it wasn't there as she said "Thank you." "Did you get them for a reason or just because you thought they were cool?" Ty asked. "Both, for a time I didn't know if I still liked them but I can't imagine not having them because of how much I like them." "What about your tribal tattoo?" Ty asked. "I admit that one was because I thought it was cool." Shepard said with a chuckle. "Any other tattoos I'm unaware of like an N7 badge on your ass or something." Ty joked.

Shepard chuckled a little as Ty finished drying her hair and said "No those are my only two, Alliance doesn't want a bunch of tattooed women running around." "Only because more men would join for that reason instead of going in for the military." Ty joked. "You like women with a lot of tattoos?" Shepard asked with a smirk. "I like women that are fun and free with a great personality, if a lot of tattoos comes along with that then yeah." Ty said as he wrapped the towel around her shoulders. "You forgot to dry my face." Shepard said in a joking manor. Ty grabbed the towel back and said "Sorry about that." Ty walked in front of her and dried her face of gently slightly caressing her face as he did, not purposely but that's what it was like drying her face off while trying not to poke her eyes out. Ty dried her neck next and then said "I'm not drying your boobs unless I have your permission." Shepard blushed a little and said "Geez don't make it sound like a punishment." "I'm not I'm just saying that I know from seeing my dead friend Brad do it that touching another woman's boobs without permission never ends well, especially when they can toss you on your ass." "Go ahead." Shepard said still blushing and not making eye contact with Ty.

Ty dried her boobs off gently and made sure that it was all done very professionally, or as professionally as drying your friends boobs can get without trying to make a move on them. After she was mostly dry Ty put the towel back around her shoulders, "I was just joking about my face but thank you." Shepard said. Ty nodded and asked "So where do you keep your medical supplies?" "There's medi-gel in one of my drawers by my bed." Shepard said. "And here I thought you'd have it in a medicine cabinet, I'll grab it, do you want a change of clothes?" Ty asked. Shepard nodded a little and said "Yes but I'll wait until my hand is healed up so I don't make you have to dress me as well." "It wouldn't be the first time I helped a woman dress herself whether it be an enviro-suit or clothing, do you want to come out or wait in here?" Ty asked. "I'll come; the medi-gel should be in my middle drawer in my nightstand." Shepard said walking out holding her left hand with her right.

Ty followed her through her room down the stairs to the bed and to the nightstand that Shepard said would have medi-gel. After getting the medi-gel Ty began applying it to the gash on her hand and putting small amounts on the slight cuts on her feet, neither sat down on the bed since their clothes were still very wet and Ty didn't want her to sleep in a wet bed. Ty finished applying the gel to her feet and came up from his kneeling position and asked "Alright now that your wounds are taken care of lets get you into dry clothes, while your changing I'm going to dry off a little more." "I'll use the bathroom to change so you aren't just sitting around in the bathroom waiting for me to tell you I'm ready." Shepard said. "Yea Garrus said you liked to spend time in front of a mirror." Ty said.

Shepard rolled her eyes and passed him the towel he used for her and started grabbing new clothes from her drawers. Ty started drying himself off and as she started walking away Ty's voice was muffled under his towel as he jokingly asked "You wouldn't have a spare of men's clothes would you?" "What you don't want to prance around in a bra?" Shepard asked sarcastically. "Well you know I love cross dressing an all but I don't think your bra and my oversized muscles will fit well together." Ty said as he brought his head out from under the towel.

Shepard was in the bathroom already as she called out with another joke "What are you saying? That I have small boobs." "Have I ever down graded your body?" Ty asked. "No you never make mention of it actually." Shepard said. Ty started drying his shorts as he said jokingly "Oh I'm sorry let me start talking about your boobs and ass in front of the whole crew I'm sure that wouldn't make you or them uncomfortable." "I wouldn't mind." Shepard retorted. "Oh but you mind Grunt saying that "the scents that come off you body sometimes smell like you want to mate with him." Ty shot back. "Asshole." Shepard called back. "Who me or Grunt?" Ty asked with a smirk. "Both." Shepard stated. "Oh don't give me that you know you enjoy it, Grunts senses were proof of it." Ty joked. "Really Ty?" Shepard called out with mock agitation. "I'm just sayin." Ty said back as he started drying his tank top off a little.

The hiss of the doors opening made Ty look up, Shepard was now wearing a new pair of black gym shorts and another black bra of the same material as the last. She had her blue wifebeater hanging out her waistband as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom, it was weird seeing her dressed the way she was but she still looked great. "You done with the towel?" Shepard asked. Something changed in her attitude, it seemed more serious than the Shepard he had just been cracking jokes at but she was still dealing with the thoughts of the maw and her friends so Ty nodded and said "Yeah, catch." Ty walked to the stairs and tossed it to her, she caught it and put it down on the floor where the glass was and then walked back down to the bed area where Ty was.

Shepard seemed troubled again as she stood next to her bed and Ty stood at the stairs, "Shepard if you still need to vent I'm here." Shepard nodded and said "I know you are its just…" Ty walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder and asked "It's just what?" "I was looking in the mirror at myself listening to your jokes when I remembered the first day we met." Shepard said quietly. Ty chuckled a little and asked "Me pointing a gun in your face and being an asshole?" "You weren't being an asshole you were caring for someone I didn't know about and I thought you were what the Alliance said about you which are two different people." Shepard said.

Odd start of a conversation, I bet this is about me getting taken out, "Shepard what happened that day wasn't your fault I made my choice to save you and die its who I am, my life for someone else's or a friends any day of the week." Ty said. Shepard turned around and Ty saw the haunted look again, "Its not just that moment, I saw you get impaled, I saw how bad the damage was when we pulled you off of it but I let you be stubborn and help me…You pleaded me to end your pain and I just let you suffer." Shepard said. "Shepar-"

Ty was interrupted by Shepard snapping in a tone mixed between anger and pain "Don't Shepard me about this Ty you didn't see the look in your eyes and if I did put you out of your misery we wouldn't be standing here talking to each other. If I would've done what you asked you'd be dead and when I didn't you suffered so much pain and then died and I was lucky that I was able to convince all the doctors and the Illusive man to bring you back." _Well I guess that joke about seeing my pleading eyes wasn't a good joke since she does, shit._ "Shepard list-" Shepard started again and she looked like she was gonna break into tears and her tone was choked up "I wanted to bring you back for so many reasons from why you said thank you before you died on the shuttle to why you were like how you are which I found out over the course of us talking and you know what happened when you came back around and we started talking?"

It was at this point Ty decided against trying to get her to stop just figuring he should just let her vent out about him so he answered "What happened?" "I started to develop feelings for you until I realized that I cared about you more than a friend and comrade but then I started second guessing it because of our loyalties and I didn't think you felt that way but then you gave me hope by saying you'd think about giving this." Shepard motioned her hand between them then continued "Us a try and then after that I started thinking about you and Haley and me and my past relationships and what happened to them."

Ty didn't really know where this was going so he tried to interrupt "Shepard what-" The way Shepard blurted her next sentence surprised Ty "I want to be with you Ty." Before Ty could respond Shepard took a breath and said "Sorry I didn't mean to blurt that out." "Shepard-" Ty was interrupted again by Shepard "I just want to try but-" Ty couldn't stand it anymore he needed to stop Shepard from talking just for a few seconds so he said "I know you need to vent but you need to listen for one goddamned second." Shepard stopped talking and when he knew she was giving her full attention he simply said "Okay." Shepard gave Ty a confused look as she asked "Okay what?" "Okay I understand that you want to be with me and okay lets give it a try, I was gonna tell you earlier that I wanted to give it a shot but I was worried this wasn't a good time but since you were working up a sweat trying to talk I figured now is probably the best time."

It took a couple seconds for Shepard to let the words sink in but when they did she asked in a confused tone "Wait what?" "What are you confused about Shepard? I want to try a relationship again and I want to try it with you." Ty said. Shepard was still trying to piece together what Ty said as she said "But Ty with everything I just said-" It was Ty's turn to interrupt again "One day I'll tell you why I said thank you but it wasn't me being an asshole I meant it, as for everything else I'd be a liar if I said that when we started talking that I didn't develop feelings for you but I didn't want a relationship then because I didn't think I was right for you and I had so many other inside issues like not wanting you to get hurt because of my past."

Ty stopped himself letting Shepard absorb some of the details then he continued "I have been mourning for six years but it was hard seeing someone you loved killed because you had crazy enemies, I cared deeply about Haley when I met her and I still do but the time for me and her ever being anything else has passed Shepard, she knows it and I know it but that doesn't stop us from understanding that what we had and what we have now are both really special but we don't need to be kissing and fucking for it to remain that way."

Ty grabbed Shepard's hands and lifted them up a little, he still wasn't entirely sure of taking this leap of faith but the more he thought about it and how crazy it was the more he thought that they might actually have a change together and that little shine of hope was enough. "We come from different worlds and different lives both that would like to see the other pay for something whether it be me for my crimes or you for being who you are and mercs wanting to cash you in. We can't change who we are or where we come from but we can climb the mountains it causes if we're up for it and with that said I'm game if you are."

Shepard looked down and closed her eyes and as she did a blue aura surrounded her hands and then her body, Ty could feel the biotic flow as it flowed on his hands but the last time she had biotic flare ups it was bad so he wasn't sure if he was about to get tossed across the room or if he over stepped his boundaries and she was about to toss him forcefully around her room. "You okay Shepard?" Ty asked. "Huh?" Shepard asked opening her eyes. "Your biotics are glowing just making sure it's not a flare up or something." Ty said. The biotic glow became bluer and the flow became more of a force as she said "Damn biotics always show when I'm severely embarrassed or when I feel really vulnerable." Ty chuckled as the glow got more intense, "It seems you're a bit of both." Ty joked. The blue faded a little as she said "I feel more vulnerable than embarrassed." "That's, good?" Ty asked. Shepard nodded slowly and continued to look down until she said in a quiet voice "I don't want to do this on my own anymore." "You'll never be on your own Shepard you'll always have this crazy crew to help pick you up when you stumble."

Shepard looked back up to him and asked "Will you always be there?" Ty nodded and said "Who the hell do you think is going to be the one picking you up and cracking a joke about you tripping." Shepard smiled and Ty saw the tiredness in her eyes so he said "You need to rest, we'll talk more tomorrow." "You gonna tuck me in?" Shepard asked sarcastically. "No but I'll tie you down if you be too stubborn." Ty said. "Maybe I'll like that." Shepard said in a flirty tone stepping closer to Ty until their bodies were touching. "Maybe I'll do it." Ty said letting her get closer. "Don't tease it may force me to misbehave so you actually have to tie me down." Shepard said in an even more flirtatious tone. "I'll shackle you up if you keep this up." Ty said. Shepard started to say something but then she stopped herself and said "Ty I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything right now, we can take this slow if you want."

It was what he wanted to do but he couldn't resist the initial jokes and flirtatiousness that she was showing though he did feel a little upset about the decision he was about to make, "I think we should take it slow, slower then making out and making love on the first night. I want this but I don't want to screw it up by turning it into a fuck buddies relationship." Ty responded. Shepard nodded understandingly but then got a slight smirk on her face as she said in a joking tone "I should've kept my mouth shut." "Eh you'd regret it later if this turned into shit and you were stuck looking in hindsight thinking that forcing yourself on me here screwed everything up." Ty responded. "That is true, is it okay if you lay down with me for a little while then before you leave, sleeping alone in this huge room really sucks." Shepard said as she looked around the room at how large it was. "What your model ships, Vic, fishes and creepy Prothean orb don't keep you enough company?" Ty asked. Shepard shook her head with a smirk but the question still stood and Ty was happy that she knew that he was going to leave, now wasn't the time for them to take up sharing a cabin but laying down with her was a nice start, "I don't mind." Ty answered.

Shepard took the wifebeater out and put it on the nightstand then rolled the covers down and got on the bed. She leaned on her right elbow waiting for Ty to get into the bed with her as he took his damp tank top off and then he sat down next to her and leaned back a little with a pillow supporting the middle of his back letting him sit up still but not forcing him to sit straight up. Ty put his arm around her back and rubbed his hand up and down her arm letting her know it was okay to relax and get comfortable on him, Shepard scooted closer and as she did she laid her head down on his chest and rested her left arm on his belly and her hand on his chest while her legs entangled his left leg. Ty pulled the cover over them and Shepard said "Thank you for coming up here." "And thank you." Ty said. "For what?" Shepard asked. "I'll tell you why someday soon." Ty said. Shepard nodded then nuzzled her head in his chest; she fell asleep after that as Ty ran his finger tips slowly up and down her arm. In this one moment the pair felt something that neither had felt in a very long time. Peace.


	42. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Salarian Experiment

Ty was alone with his thoughts for a few hours while Shepard fell into a deep slumber next to him now but on him for some of it though that wasn't him complaining as crazy as that sounded. His thoughts as usual spanned many subjects from mission based thoughts to thoughts that were completely out of the blue and random, one thought stayed though and that was the thought of wishing he had just turned the water off and wrapped her in a towel to warm up so his shorts weren't so uncomfortably damp. He endured the un-comfortability of his shorts and had planned to not disturb his slumbering Commander or leave until he was positive that she actually got some peaceful sleep.

He found himself watching her sleep on and off with watching the fish in the tank and the stars above them going by, she seemed more at peace while she slept with no signs of fatigue or stress from all the battles they had fought including their most recent endeavor. That was a commonality among everyone he had ever woke up before from Tara all the way to Ka'Reena when he was lucky enough to wake up before she began putting her suit back on which was also the times he had helped her put it back together while making it a bit more fun. Ty smirked slightly at a few of the memories but pushed them aside as he brought himself from watching Shepard back to the stars.

Some days he wished he could sleep as normally as most people did and not be sated by only a few hours of sleep but twitching at the slightest irregularity had saved his life on a few occasions so he couldn't complain. Life on the Normandy felt like living luxury to him, a bed constantly under him, food if he ever took the time to eat, Ty's stomach growled at him slightly, it had been a while since Shepard nearly got taken out by the memory wipe thing and that had been the last time he ate. Ty considered eating when he left this room but knowing himself as he did he knew he would likely not do it and wait another day or two. Another luxury that life on the Normandy provided was the ability to shower everyday and get all the grime and blood off from being in the shit all the way up to their necks, hunting the Suns down could lead to days without even coming near a shower and the grime of Omega didn't do anything to help so to say Ty was taking advantage of the shower everyday privilege was an understatement even if his latest shower wasn't what he expected.

All points of injuries that Ty had received back on Tuchanka were thankfully not throbbing or reminding him of his luck in life but his ankle was one of his bigger worries present in his mind. Chakwas told him that he would be ground ready and back to normal after the next few days of treatments on their way to Illium but that didn't stop the slight worry he felt of his ankle fully healing and allowing him to do all the crazy things he did. He pushed the worry from his mind when Shepard finally relinquished her hold on him and turned over to her other side, nothing about her seemed like she was in the midst of a nightmare or would be so he saw this as his time to go before she had her legs wrapped around one of his and her arm around his chest stopping him from going anywhere even if he didn't want to leave.

One thing he had learned was that when it came to getting out of a bed without causing a disturbance he was one of the best, he gently got out of the bed not and after putting his damp tank top in his waistband he made his way over to where the broken glass was and cleaned it up and the blood from her hand that was on the desk and floor. The least amount of reminders visible to her the better he thought but even still the areas of the room where they had talked and a lot of her lingering pain from the hours before were still present to Ty, he hoped the room would become peaceful once more even if she couldn't feel it. After trashing the glass and cleaning the blood he picked up an empty data pad that was on her table and typed a message into that read, _You looked peaceful so I left to make sure someone like Kasumi didn't stalk me and ask me where I was coming from, also I cleaned up the blood and glass so you didn't cut your hand again being as fragile as you are. Take care __-__Ty_.

Ty put it on the edge of the desk setting it so half of it was hanging off so she'd realize he left something for her and after taking one last look at her in her deep slumber to make sure she was okay he headed down in the elevator and was able to avoid being seen by anyone as he got back to his room where he hung his clothes up to dry and put his spare clamdiggers on that he always had in the compartment of his bike that he had brought up to his room when he first joined. He always wished he put an extra tank top in there but an extra pair of shorts was more important than a shirt, being shirtless and walking around wasn't an issue, being pantless and walking around…that would likely cause a stir. He finally laid down on his bed and allowed the peace that he had found before come over him and take him into a much more peaceful sleep than he had awoken from.

Sixteen Hours Before Illium

The hum of the Normandy's drive core and engines was an easy sound to get used to over the past months Ty had been aboard it, it was a comforting noise and in a weird way helped him think and meditate a lot better. His day had started hours before and after getting his treatments from Chakwas he headed down to the Cargo Hold, still shirtless from the night before, he began his work on Jacks gun. Instead of listening to his music again he decided that this time he'd just listen to the Normandy while he finished painting Jacks new Carnifix hand cannon. The hum was helping him concentrate fully for the past six hours he had been in the cargo hold working on the gun and the other four hours before moving crates around and setting up a shooting range because of a data-pad Miranda had left for him. After a brief confirmation from Chakwas that he could do physical activity without shattering his ankle over again, dislocated both his shoulders or tearing some ligaments Ty got to work on creating the shooting range. The data-pad that Miranda had left for him read, _Ty it would be really appreciated by most of the crew if it was possible to create a shooting range down in the Cargo Hold, I've looked into some holographic training sims but for now we don't have the time to install any so if you have any ideas to make one out of the materials at hand I would like to hear them. Thanks __-__Miranda._

After running the idea of using some of the non-essential crates as the targets by Miranda and assuring her that he wouldn't need any biotics to help move them he realized that he had volunteered himself to move it all though in hindsight he figured that it was both hers and his own plan to do all the physical work himself since it would prove to easier than shouting orders of directions. The task was easy to do just really physical by himself but that was the fun of it then trying to figure out how to get it all up so there were separate sections and enough space between them. That task was done though and now he had his spare mask from his bike on as he painted Jacks tattoos onto the Carnifix in front of him.

After taking care of the shooting range and spray painting faces of varying emotions on all the crates which had been against Miranda's wishes since she wanted a regular target symbol to which Ty responded that faces were regular targets un their line of work he started on Jacks gun spraying the last two layers of it until now twenty hours after he talked to Shepard and ten hours after starting his stint in the cargo hold he had finally finished the paint. The left side was of her chest and belly tattoos and the right he painted it like her back tattoo, he already had the engravings in which left putting his last three additions on, heavy warp ammo, an extended magazine and a kill counter like Garrus's Viper and Grunts Avenger. As he started he had remembered he had neglected to tell Grunt about it so whenever he saw him next he was going to make it his first order of business since he knew Grunt would enjoy boasting about how many kills he had.

He sat himself down at his work station he created what seemed like so long ago and started to work on both as his omni-tool flashed on informing him someone was calling him so he pressed the answer button and turned his earpiece on and said "This is Ty what's up?" "Ty what you up to?" Jessica's voice came through. _Jess? Well that's a surprise_, Ty thought. "Hey Jess nothing really just customizing some guns for the crew what you up to?" Ty asked. "Watching your dad and brother train Haley to use her biotics so I figured I'd see what you were doing." Jessica said. _Hmm that's interesting maybe she'll get as good as Miranda said_, Ty thought. "How's that going for her?" Ty asked. "Really well actually, Darian helps when he can since he has biotics and he teaches your dad and brother how to teach her correctly while he's gone. She's learned how to use a pull field to grab multiple targets, a heavy warp, stasis fields on multiple people at once, throws with the force of 1500 newton's, she's working on biotic charges and singularity's now but those seem to be pushing her very hard." Jessica said.

_Damn Miranda wasn't kidding with what potential she had and she's learning quickly, _Ty thought as he started messing with the ammo configurations on the pistol. "Well tell her not to hurt herself for me; after this is over I may be able to get her a powerful biotic teacher since there are a few here if she hasn't already surpassed everything humans can do." Ty said. Jessica's voice was further away as she told Haley what he said and then she said "She says for you to stop putting yourself in danger and then you can tell her what to do." Ty chuckled and said "Tell her she seemed to enjoy women telling her what to do so why can't I?"

Jessica relayed the message then her tone changed to a surprised tone as she said "Ouch that looked like it hurt, she just flung your brother with a throw not her hardest but he's still trying to figure out what happened." "Tell him sorry my bad." Ty said with a chuckle and a smile growing on his face. Jessica told his brother he was sorry then she said "He says to be more careful because what you say gets him hurt." "I will, so how are you and Darian?" Ty asked. Jessica let out a sigh of happiness and said "He's great; I think I'm honestly in love with him." "You're just saying that to hurt me." Ty joked. "Don't guilt trip me mister I may not be a biotic but the three guys aren't just teaching Haley how to fight, I'll be able to kick your butt soon enough." Jessica said with confidence. "Save that kinky stuff for Darian." Ty joked. Jessica let out a light laugh and said "You can be such a dork sometimes." "I take that as a compliment." Ty said. "You would." Jessica retorted. _Darian you so owe me one for all this, I don't know how I'll spin it so you'll see it that way since its not true but the look on your face if I find a way to will be all the reward I need_, Ty thought. "So where you headed?" Jessica asked. "Illium to help out one of the crew, you mind relaying a business message for me?" Ty asked.

Ty gave her his message then they finished talking to each other after a few more jokes since she was letting Ty get back to work. He worked for another hour getting the ammo configuration done and the kill counter on it finished when Miranda's voice came over the intercom, "Ty you still down there?" Miranda asked. _You know I am but I guess playing silent would probably make her irritated_, Ty thought. "Princess, you're still up what's up with that?" Ty asked.

There was a under the breath comment from Miranda then she said "Yes I'm up doing reports on the last mission Shepard did." "The little exploration that turned into a shoot out against Eclipse mercs that Jack and Tali went on?" Ty asked recalling Shepard leaving at the start of the morning. "That's the one." Miranda answered. "Geez you are such a party animal staying up late and doing reports, maybe I should give you and my brother a proper greeting so you can learn to have fun." Ty said. "I know how to have fun." Miranda said defensively. "Uh-huh." Ty said with heavy sarcasm. "I do!" Miranda said defensively with a raised voice. "Don't get so defensive Miranda it's the first sign of guilt or a lie." Ty joked. "You are such an ass." Miranda said flatly. "Hey prove me wrong and I'll take it back." Ty said.

There were a few mumbled curses then Miranda asked "You finish the shooting range." "Yea it's all done as long as no one blows them up with explosives or biotics they'll be sturdy enough to take all of our guns rounds." Ty said. "Thank you for taking the time to do it Ty. Mordin wanted me to tell you that he wants to see you before you go back to your room." _That could be…problematic, crap now he is rubbing off on me_, Ty thought as he looked up at the ceiling and with a questioning look and asked "How come?"

Miranda huffed a little and said "You'll probably find it funnier than I did but he wouldn't tell me said it was doctor patient confidentiality and when I continued to press him he told me to send you up then shut off the comm." Ty laughed a little and said "No shit he did that to you I thought I was the only one to piss on your parade around here." "You sure can be the biggest ass we have sometimes." Miranda stated though Ty caught the partial joke under the truthfulness in her voice. "You're an arse." Ty mimicked from the last time she called him it when they sparred. "You are so immature." Miranda stated back to her icy self. "You love it; you know it brightens your day to hear my immaturity." Ty said. "Just make sure you go see Mordin." Miranda said then shut the comm off.

After recovering from being so rudely hanged up on Ty left his work area and the gun there so it could dry longer to be sure it stayed and decided to go see Mordin then call it a night since he figured Jack was probably asleep and he didn't want to bug her if she was knowing if she was asleep she'd probably want to kick his ass for waking her up. He got in the elevator and pressed the button for the CIC and waited as it ascended slowly trying to figure out why Mordin wanted to talk to him, _lets see the last check up I had he put that seeker swarm repellent in me, Chakwas has been doing her treatments so Mordin likely wouldn't need to check that I don't need a prostate check up. I don't need my dental checked since I've got great teeth though that is likely because of the whole being created thing and Aria helped me make sure my warrior and his two colonies are still in working condition when I last saw her which covers everything important health wise to me,_ Ty thought.

Going through all the reasons why Mordin would want to talk to him lead to nothing because there wasn't anything that was wrong aside from the recovering injuries and daily sanity check he had so that left him real confused for why Mordin wanted him. The doors opened at CIC and Ty walked out still shirtless to a mostly empty room exception of Kelly, Jacob and a few others standing about. Jacob was talking to Kelly about what Ty assumed was business but soon stopped as he walked out with Kelly smiling with a slight blush as she tried to look away and Jacob just smirking. "Hey Kelly is the Salarian Scientist in his office?" Ty asked as he walked out. Kelly cleared her throat and said "Yes…um he is, I believe he is waiting for you." Ty nodded and said "Thanks, Jacob what type of ammo you like incendiary, cryo, armor piercing, warp or something out of the blue that I don't know?" "Incendiary is my specialty why?" Jacob asked. "Well inferno is your specialty now and because I'm customizing you a shotgun with special ammo." Ty said. Jacob nodded and Kelly gave him a flirty look as she said "You and Jack have beautiful art on your bodies."

The first thought that popped in Ty's head was, she is such a huge flirt and if Jack heard her talking about her tattoos with that look she'd rip her a new ass with her biotics, hell Kelly might like that. His last thought is what came out, "Thank you for the compliment Kelly." She nodded and Ty left to Mordin's lab to remove himself from what would likely lead to an awkward situation for Jacob. As Ty walked into the lab he saw Mordin working at his terminal humming what sounded like a patter song to himself but Ty didn't know it, he was almost at the table when he said "Hey Mordin, Miranda said you wanted to see me." Mordin looked up and said "Ah yes wanted to speak to you, personal matter of yours that needs discussing."

_Personal matter what the hell does that mean_, Ty thought. Ty raised an eyebrow and asked "What personal matter or are we talking about my nervous system because I admit that stuff is way over my head." "No not that today but have been compiling a lot of information." Mordin answered. Mordin pressed a button on his terminal and an image of Ty popped up, Ty looked at it confused and asked "Okay so why do you have me on here?" "Before Tuchanka I had been working on a special shielding system but I put it to the side since some an important matter came up. Today though Shepard reminded me that I needed to finish the project." Mordin said. Ty nodded and asked "Okay so what does it have to do with me?" "Shepard along with several other crew members, myself included, worry that you might get hurt permanently or killed before we finish this mission because of your lack of shields or any type of armor." Mordin answered.

_Well I guess I can't really argue with that and dodging rounds might not be the best way to fight the Collectors_, Ty thought. Ty nodded and said "Okay I won't argue the point of not using shields as long as we don't have to shove a microchip up my ass to do it." Mordin smiled and said "We can use extra lubrication if that is the way you want to do it." A bit of horror found its way to Ty's face since Mordin looked like an evil genius thinking of ways to strap him down and do it as Ty put his hands up and shook his head as he said "No way I'll take a needle over that, so what exactly is special about these shields." "Ah glad you asked very proud of my work."

Mordin took a deep breath and said "These shields are different then most, very high tech compared to military grade or even Cerberus level gear." Mordin pressed a button on his terminal and the image of Ty zoomed in on his right arm and into it showing all the cybernetics, "I also came up with a way to double the shield power by augmenting it with your omni-tool and your cybernetics letting you take twice as much damage but it takes a longer time to regenerate due to power output." The image zoomed out and showed the shield around him and Mordin continued "The shield will stay on as you cloak but with the augmentation into your cybernetics if you grab someone with you right arm while you are cloaked the cloak will envelope them. Normal cloaking only covers one person and the weapon they are holding but not about that tech, this is a new technology that STG has been working on." "So I'm a test run and you are looking forward to see if I survive?" Ty asked. Mordin smirked too much of Ty's disdain and answered, "Yes." _I'm a guinea pig for our mad scientist, awesome,_ Ty thought.

Mordin pressed another button showing Ty's nervous system treating Ty to the light show that was his nervous system, "Will both my cybernetics and regular side be guarded by the augmentation into my cybernetic side, I'd rather not have half my shields drop while the other stays up." Ty stated. Mordin nodded with a proud smile and said "Yes it will, I had to make some adjustments to the shielding system so it would work, you can activate both from your omni-tool and give them a slight boost if you need a quick recharge or turned off if you aren't fighting." "Will I feel the shield activating in my cybernetics?" Ty asked hoping for a no.

Mordin put his hand to his chin thinking the question over, "Hmm good question, I did a lot of checks but I cannot be sure until we test it and if it does cause pain I can take it out of your cybernetics until I can figure it out. I believe the only pain will be the injection of the shield to your right arm but to be certain I must test it on you." Ty nodded for a few seconds then stopped and said "Wait did you say injection." Mordin nodded with a smile and Ty groaned a little and said "Great I bet it's a big needle too, I guess it's better than a microchip up the ass." "I must also put the seeker swarm repellent into your shields again." Mordin said. "Injection?" Ty asked. Mordin looked to contemplate his answer then nodded and Ty groaned as he leaned against the table and said "Alright lets get this over with."

Mordin walked around the table with two big needles and started downloading the shield data to Ty's omni-tool, Ty held out his right arm with his forearm facing Mordin and let him stick the first one into the bending part of his arm, he pressed down on the top and something shot down into his arm which Ty felt. Mordin brought his omni-tool up and scanned Ty's arm with it, "Ah it's already augmenting to your cybernetics very good, now for the other." Mordin grabbed the other shot and put the needle into the same hole and pushed down on the button sending the repellent back into his cybernetics and into the new shields.

The download finished and all the shield controls were now on showing on it, Ty activated both shields and saw the shield for a slight moment then it disappeared, "Any pain?" Mordin asked. Ty shook his head and said "No it's good, it bounces bullets off until they deactivate right?" Mordin pulled out a pistol and said "Only one way to find out." Mordin took aim at Ty and as the realization of what he was about to began to hit Ty he started backing up and said "Whoa whoa Mordin wait a minute Mordi-" Mordin shot two shots into the shield where his shoulders were then one last shot between the legs all of which bounced off his shields, Mordin smiled and said "Yes they do." Ty's anger sky rocketed with his voice as he yelled, "Mordin what the FUCK were you thinking you could've just killed me or made me sterile, PERMENATLY!" "If the shields wouldn't have worked out you can always buy Krogan testicals they are always for sale." Mordin said with a smirk. "No that is so not cool Mordin you can't just do that as a test." Ty said starting to pace a little from anger. EDI popped up in the corner and said "The shooting of fire arms is prohibited on this deck." "Tell that to him he shot at me!" Ty yelled. "Did you get hit?" EDI asked. "No bu-" Ty said. EDI interrupted and said "Then you will be fine, carry on." Before Ty could comment she disappeared.

Mordin put his pistol away and walked around his desk and said "That test went better then delta squads, never forgave me for that." Mordin said. Ty glared at him and asked "What did you do to them." "Same experiment but the shields didn't hold leaving one with a bullet in the butt, it was a hard target to hit on him but I thought the shields would've worked. Glad to see you are not the first human I infected with a type of Genophage." Ty sighed and shook his head as he turned off his shield then said "Shit that scared me, okay so what else can the shields do?" "If you are surrounded you can use your shields as a shockwave to knock away your enemies but it completely drains your shields for a longer amount of time so use it if necessary. Also I know you like engaging in close quarters with your tomahawks, the shields won't block any type of blunt force but I doubt you will need to worry about something like that."

Mordin put the seeker repellent into Ty's shields configuration then got back on his terminal and did a few quick scans to make sure everything was working, after he finished he said "The shields have augmented to your cybernetics and omni-tool, that is one less worry for Shepard about you." "She would've had more if the shields didn't hold." Ty said with a slight glare. Mordin smiled and said "I'm sure I would've missed the last shot anyway if the shields didn't hold." "Not cool Mordin." Ty said flatly. Mordin smiled and said "Also last needle was unnecessary, nothing was injected into you just wanted to help with fear of needles." "Seriously Mordin telling me that didn't help at all." Ty responded. "Found it necessary to incite a reaction." Mordin answered with a sly grin. This meant war but Ty was going to have to get him back somehow if he could remember, two jokes from the mad scientist and now he was a guinea pig, that wasn't going to fly. Ty let out a sigh nonetheless and said "Well at least the shields work and Shepard can't be worried about me getting hit by a stray easily since we all know that has been likely since I joined." "True you are very fortunate or lucky cannot figure out which kind of luck it is. Anyway is there anything else I can do for you?" Mordin asked. Ty shook his head and said "Nah I'm good now thanks for doing all that."

Mordin nodded and said "Gratitude is appreciated though unnecessary." As Ty was about to leave he stopped and asked "Mordin if you could change the necessity of the Genophage that the Council saw or even reverse your own work would you?" "Why do you ask?" Mordin asked. "Well I know the Krogans would've been extinct if it weren't for what happened but now they are turning towards that decline of population and though I don't fully agree with your choice I don't know what I would've decided if I was in your shoes back then with the choices you had. Truly I'm just curious to hear your answer." Ty said.

Mordin nodded and said "Thank you for being honest in your assessment, I have some research back behind me somewhere that might one day be able to reverse the Genophage but I must focus on the Collectors now. Maybe when we are done I will be able to undo the Genophage." "Thank you for answering, I'll talk to you later Mordin thanks again for the shields." Ty said as he was walking out. "Goodbye Ty." Mordin said.


	43. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

A Man Named Conrad

After almost becoming sterile at the hands of Mordin Ty decided he was going to call it a night figuring things could only get worse after that so he got in the elevator and began his descent down to the Crew Quarters. The elevator brought him to the crew quarters and he walked out towards his room to find the doors open with Shepard looking around for him so he decided to take the element of surprise and sneak up on the N7 operative and Spectre. As he got behind her he put his hand on her shoulder and said "You look like your trying to find someone." Shepard didn't turn around or tense up and didn't seem scared by his presence which was unfortunate since he had hoped to at least scare her a little but seeing as she was an N7 and Spectre he was going to need to try a whole lot harder to scare her. Shepard looked slightly over her shoulder at him and said, "I think I found him." "You seem excited to have found him you don't even turn around fully or-" In a flash Shepard spun around not giving Ty enough time to react as his hand was ripped from her shoulder and her arms wrapped around under his arms giving him a big hug as she put her head into his chest.

Ty hugged her back and held her for a few seconds until he said "I was just playing around but thanks for the hug, so what brings you to my room at this hour." Shepard let go of him and said "Business actually and to say thanks for coming up last night." Ty nodded and said "My pleasure." Shepard put her hands on his chest and ran her hands on it as she asked "Where's your shirt?" Shepard traced his scars as Ty said "Drying from my clothed shower and I only ever bring a spare pair of shorts with me so no shirt day today." Shepard stopped tracing his scars and ran her finger up to his chin then said "You enjoyed it." She pinched his chin and sent a slight biotic shockwave through it, Ty smirked off the slight pain finding the biotics an interesting aspect of her personality, "True but I'm beginning to reconsider not bringing an extra shirt with me, it gets cold sometimes." Ty said as he walked further into his room so his door would close. "Maybe you should go shopping at the Citadel." Shepard said with a smile. Ty smiled as he sat down on his bed and said "Me and that tank top have been through a lot, I don't think I can be torn from it." "I figured." Shepard said as she walked over to him and sat down next to him.

Shepard laid onto her back and started staring at the stars as Ty asked "So what business did you need to talk to me about?" Without looking up Shepard said "We'll be at Illium by tomorrow later in the day and I wanted to know if you were still up for helping Miranda." "Chakwas said after tomorrow's treatments that I'll be fine but regardless I'm usually ready for anything plus Mordin gave me some new shields so I'll be even more ready." Ty said. Shepard glanced up and asked "Already?" Ty nodded and said "Yea he said he had been working on it for a while before Tuchanka, he augmented it with my cybernetics and omni-tool for double shields and double the power." Shepard nodded and laid her head back down, Shepard had both her hands on her stomach as she was lying down and after taking notice of her great figure and well manicured hands Ty said "Hey you want to try something." Shepard glanced up with a slight smirk and said "Should I assume something." Ty smirked and grabbed her hands and said "No you shouldn't…not yet at least. Come up here." Ty pulled her hands towards him dragging her off her back and back to a sitting position, "What do you want to try?" Shepard asked.

Ty let go of her hands and said "Its up to you completely but I figure since there are some things I haven't been able to tell you and I think maybe it would be easier to show you the important non-depressing things and let you piece it together and ask when you want to know. Up to you if you want to let me in your head." Shepard grabbed his hands and rubbed them slowly as she asked "Shouldn't I be asking you if you want me in your head?" "You are already Shepard." Ty said. Shepard got a big smile and a slight blue aura went around her but disappeared as she noticed, "You pass out still afterwards right?" Shepard asked. "I may, I may not I might be able to out last it but I don't know until I try again." Ty said. "I can't say that I don't want to see it but you don't have to show me everything yet, leave you some mystery." Shepard said with a smirk.

Ty took his hands away from her and readjusted himself on the bed so he was sitting crossed legged then he let her do the same real quick, "Only rules are don't let go until I let go no matter what." Ty said. "How come?" Shepard asked. "Bloody nose and knocked out for longer is what happened the first and last time it happened." Ty said. Shepard nodded and grabbed his hands again and asked "Will I still be able to move my body while you do it?" "Yep and if it becomes to much just ask me to stop." Ty said. Shepard nodded and said "Okay let's do it." Ty closed his eyes focusing his mind on certain past moments that he had explained before and one memory that had be awakened recently which took only a minute as it did with Jack, for Shepard it would be like memory segments in her own memory banks that would fade away eventually if she let it.

As Ty was about to let go he said "Alright that's the last memory for now, time to get back to the present." Ty let his hands slide away slowly until they weren't touching anymore breaking the mental connection and starting the black dots in his vision. Shepard had a loss of breath for a few seconds as Ty started adjusting himself on his bed for sleep before he'd pass out, as he laid himself down Shepard caught her breath and got on her knees to walk herself across the bed to him. She bent herself down over him so her face was in his and he said sarcastically "Not as flashy as the Asari is it." Shepard smiled and said "No but still an adventure, get some sleep I'll see you tomorrow." "You enjoy telling me what to do." Ty said at the point of blacking out. "Only when you can't fight back." Shepard retorted. "I always knew you'd take advantage of me Shephe-" Ty was interrupted by Shepard giving him a peck on the cheek. Ty smirked and said as he blacked out "Told yo…"

Shepard grabbed his hands and put them on his chest then gave him a peck on the lips and said "Night Ty." As she left the room she couldn't help but feel a weight lifted off her shoulders after taking the jump of giving him the peck on his cheek not really sure how he would react. He had such an affect on her that no one had ever had before, she had loved Kaiden for the time they were together and she had loved Lizzy even more but those took more time to accumulate, she had such strong feelings for Ty that appeared out of the blue. Maybe it was the Alliances use of his grandfather as a bad guy in some of the vids or maybe she assumed since he was a criminal she wouldn't like him but there was something about him that intrigued her and a part of her that was starting to have very strong feelings for him, maybe even love him.

Love was a dangerous word and she wasn't going to dare use that word any time soon or just assume that was what it was but he made her feel like the invincible hero she was supposed to be even though she didn't have to act like it around him. She trusted and respected him as much as she trusted and respected Garrus, Tali, Chakwas, and Joker not something that was easy to accomplish but he did accomplish it and found his way into her list of the very few close friends she had but she knew she had done the same to him.

Trust and respect weren't anything that either one just handed out freely but both had gained it from each other over the past months slowly and it was a good thing but it was also scary for Shepard for a few reasons, the first was it all happened within months and it took her by surprise completely since she didn't know for sure at first if it was because she did fully trust him or if she was wanting to trust him but she knew now it was because she trusted him. He'd give it all for everyone on the Normandy all because of friendship something that she admired and would do herself. The second reason it was scary was because she knew how fragile his trust was and if she said or did something that hurt him he'd never forgive her and she'd lose everything with him, friendship, trust, respect, their new found relationship, everything they had would be lost…forever. _I can't lose him like I lost Lizzy and Kaiden and I wont lose him to something I say or do, I wont be another let down for him, Shepard thought as she ascended in the elevator._

Ten Minutes to Illium

The rest of the ride to Illium was uneventful in activity on the ship and conversations with crew members for Ty not having any encounters with anyone which was a first in a very long time, he had gotten up the next morning after blacking out for the rest of the night and decided to meditate to pass some of the time until they reached Illium to think about the night before. The memories he had shared with Shepard were of him and Kar getting arrested and the bar fight on the Citadel which for him was funny any day of the week, Tali and his reunion of her shoving a gun in his face, him and Ka'Reena's first meeting which was them fighting off the mercenaries that were attempting to attack her when they first met. Not the nicest way to meet someone but Ty had found her in the streets of Omega being chased by the mercenaries who were calling her an abundance of slang terms but the most memorable and the only one that Ty understood was suit rat. She had saved his life a few times during it all with smart ass remarks to follow the saving and that started their friendship and then soon turned to them being lovers. The final memory he shared was the only intact memory of his mother on Earth with him, his dad and his brother watching the sunset when they were two and four, a year before she died.

The memories were good memories and he was going to make sure he never shared a bad one unless she asked though he hoped she never did for both their sakes, through showing her his past he was able to explore her memories without her knowing seeing some of the things he had only ever heard about and some weird vision of Prothean's and Reapers with a Collector showing up once in it which was a weird oddity. He didn't invade her personal memories though just the ones that he already knew about because he knew that he needed to let her keep her personal memories to herself like he would keep certain ones to himself. Exploring some of her mind was interesting but what was more interesting was Shepard giving him a peck on the cheek, he hadn't seen that coming at all and was sure she probably would've done more if it weren't for him passing out and his asking for them to take it slow. He was starting to wonder about taking it slow because of his feelings that were growing for Shepard, he had always admired her from a distance but now that they were getting closer he was starting to feel a lot more then admiration for his friend.

After meditating on everything for some hours he went to get his final treatments from Chakwas which ended well with him not feeling the slight pain in his shoulders, ankle and all other areas of injury afterwards. After that he headed down to the Cargo Hold to start on Jacobs shotgun and grabbed a Tempest for Mordin, he cleaned both and started thinking of what he was going to do for both not really sure on Jacobs since, well they didn't talk much and there wasn't much to stand out on Jacob to Ty. After a few hours of thinking and coming up with nothing Ty decided to just get the ammo and kill counter done on Jacobs first which is what he was still working on as they were on approach to Illium. He was already dressed in his usual tank top hoodie, black clamdiggers, black shitkickers/construction boots and all his weapons all on him as he sat at the table.

As he sat working Jokers voice came over the intercom "Hey Ty you down there?" Joker asked. "Nope it's Santa Claus and his three hoes." Ty joked. Joker chuckled a little at the comment,"Hahaha three hoes, don't you do anything else besides work on guns and get injured." Joker said sarcastically. Ty shook his head to himself with a smirk and said "I think you're just upset I haven't made you one yet." "I fly a ship I don't use guns." Joker said. "Because your bones break right." Ty joked. "You are such an asshole." Joker said flatly. "I know so what you call for?" Ty asked. "We're ten minutes from docking at Nos Astra so get your ass up here for the mission." Joker said. "You didn't call for conversation, I'm hurt." Ty said. "I'm not what you call a people person so get your ass going." Joker said. "No shit could have fooled me." Ty said under his breath. "What?" Joker asked. "I said okay shit I'm on my way up no need to get all bossy." Ty said.

Joker shut off the comm and Ty got out of his seat and headed up in the elevator to the CIC to wait for Shepard and Miranda who were sure to be up there very soon if not already. He exited the elevator and walked to the flight deck nodding to Kelly in a greeting and goodbye as he passed her and continuing up the hallway to the cockpit where Shepard and Miranda were already waiting behind Joker fully armed and standing back talking to each other as Joker and EDI bickered about something. Ty got to Miranda and Shepard and greeted them with a nod and said "Ladies."

They nodded back both in a mission mode mindset then continued talking to each other about the contact they were to meet so Ty walked around them and sat down next to Joker as Joker had his head turned looking at EDI as he said "Yea but I'm still the best damn helmsman you will ever meet so there." "I do not doubt your capabilities as a pilot Mr. Moreau but sometimes you lack in the people skills department as you humans say." EDI retorted. "Ouch haha." Ty said with a laugh. Joker turned to him and pointed at EDI and said "You see that I blame you for it talking back." "I take full responsibility." Ty said. "I do not "talk back" I just made a simple analysis and used terms you would understand Mr. Moreau there is no need to blame Ty or throw a "hissy fit" as you humans also say." EDI said.

Ty started laughing hard as Joker said "Argh Shepard can't we just unplug the talking toaster." "No but you have a mute button if you truly don't want to hear her." Shepard said in a slightly serious tone. "Hard ass." Joker said under his breath then continued "She overridded the damn button." "I did not." EDI stated. "Then why doesn't it work anymore huh? The only explanation is you overridded it." Joker said. "Or you broke it." Ty stated. "I did not override the controls but I can not say that for any of the other crew members." EDI said.

Jokers gaze found its way to Ty and though Ty understood why he was a prime suspect this time he was fully innocent and berating himself for not thinking of doing it as a joke. Ty put his hands up and said "Hey I'm innocent this time." "Sure you are." Joker said with heavy sarcasm. "Hey if it was me I'd have let the crew have a listen to your headphones." Ty said. "Probably true, Shepard we are about to enter the atmosphere of Illium." Joker said. Shepard walked behind Joker and said "Bring us in Joker the sooner we dock the better." "Yes ma'am." Joker said. Ty decided to keep his mouth shut as Joker brought the ship in so there wouldn't be any reason they could crash, they got through the atmosphere and Joker brought them into the Nos Astra docking bay and docked the Normandy.

After waiting for the Normandy to pressurize with the outside atmosphere the door opened and let them walk out onto the Nos Astra docking bay, they walked across the docking station and to the marketplace area then towards the Eternity bar where they were to meet Miranda's contact. As they walked along the balcony Ty looked out towards the city and at the skyscraper skyline, it was a beautiful site but Ty noticed something new that wasn't there the last time he had come, or actually something that wasn't there anymore but was when he was there. He smirked to himself a little and said "You know sometimes I forget about how much my brother is a pyrotechnic, if you look out towards the horizon you'll notice that the Blue Suns base where I found Haley has lost its top and has smoke billowing out of it." Shepard and Miranda looked over and Ty laughed a little and said "Ah gotta love the smell of burning Blue Suns base in the morning." Shepard and Miranda both gave him a wow look and Ty asked "What just me?" Miranda rolled her eyes and Shepard smirked a little and said "Come on lets go."

They walked around all the kiosks and up the stairs towards the Eternity bar, as they entered the bar Ty saw Matriarch Aethyta behind her counter with some blonde guy wearing armor talking to her, it took a few moments to register that it was N7 armor that was exactly like Shepard's just more grey. There were also three guys watching an Asari dancer, and a Quarian and a Turian talking to each other at a table. He waited for Shepard to choose which way they were going and when she got to the center of the room she said in a tone that read between shock and anger "You've got to be kidding me." "What?" Miranda asked. "Miranda can you wait a minute before we talk to your contact there's someone I need to deal with here." Shepard said walking towards the blonde guy. Ty looked at Miranda as they walked and asked "You got any idea who that is?" "Someone who she obviously knows." Miranda said flatly. "Geez and I thought I was captain obvious sometimes." Ty said sarcastically.

Shepard got to the guy first and he still had his back to her as she said "Conrad what the hell are you doing dressing up like me." Matriarch Aethyta looked over the man named Conrad and asked "You know this guy?" The man named Conrad turned around and squinted as he looked at Shepard determining if she was real then he asked "Commander Shepard is that you, hey remember me I'm Conrad Verner we met on the Citadel and…" Conrad changed his tone as he tried to talk like a tough guy "And then you shoved that gun in my face, you showed me what it meant to be really extreme. I learned that lesson well." "Hey if you know this guy could you get him away before I slap his ass with a singularity or better yet before I have Ty here break his skull." Aethyta said. "Hey that was once and he was completely out of line." Ty retorted then looked over to Shepard as he asked, "Shepard you know this tool box?"

Shepard looked at him in the corner of her eye and said "Yeah but trust me it's really complicated, Conrad why are you harassing her?" Conrad didn't seem to understand who Ty was or what Shepard asked since he looked pointedly at Ty and started his downhill spiral, "Tool box who you calling tool box, I'm a man on the edge I'm willing to do anything to get the job done, I'm the only hope this universe has against evil, don't you understand I have to make big decisions you're the tool box." Conrad said as he pointed at Ty. Shepard attempted to get a word out but Ty beat her to it as he pointed at himself and said "I'm the tool box have you looked in the mirror dude? If I'm a tool box then you're the stain on the underpants of humanity." Ty said pointing at him. Aethyta chuckled behind Conrad as Shepard stepped slightly in-between the two and said in a tone that was becoming more and more exasperated, "Conrad trust me you don't want to talk to him like that, Ty don't encourage him." Ty backed up a few steps and said, "Alright I was just saying, he's not exactly all there is he." Ty said. "Only someone crazy would say that in front of me, come on you're not going to walk away from this now I've fought people like you on the way to real battles." Conrad said.

Miranda pinched the bridge of her nose as she let out a sigh while Ty and Aethyta started laughing to themselves lightly trying not to bust out completely so they didn't make it worse but then Shepard stepped to the side and said "I just know I'm going to regret this but Ty go ahead, just don't break anything in the bar…or on him." "Okay." Ty said still lightly laughing. Ty walked up to Conrad and before Conrad could react Ty kneed him in the quad hard and let him fall down, Aethyta slammed her hands together like a Krogan and said "Yea right in the quad." She composed herself quickly and said "Sorry my father was a Krogan." Ty continued his light laugh as he sat down on the barstool and leaned with his back against the counter and said "I think I win, so what are you doing here "man on the edge" bothering Aethyta here, she's got it hard enough dealing with the real drunk assholes this place gets." "Thanks for the help kid." Aethyta said with a smirk. "Not a problem." Ty responded.

As Conrad was pulling himself off the floor Shepard and Miranda looked quizzically at Ty and Aethyta, "You two know each other?" Shepard asked. Aethyta nodded and leaned forward on the bar counter on Ty's side and said "I met his father years ago while he was on a "business" trip to Thessia, once you meet one of them you are stuck with them either hunting you for life or they remain ever loyal friends so mind yourself and what you say to this young man." "You and my dad got well acquainted on that "business" trip if stories are to be believed so you have no room to complain." Ty joked. Aethyta barked a laugh and said "Kid you have no idea how much those stories are censored." "The censorship is there for a reason Aethyta; it keeps me from needing therapy." Ty retorted. "I'm just saying if you need some instructional videos then me and your dad can create one for you kid." Aethyta said with a smirk. "Oh look Conrad is up." Shepard said changing the subject.

After Conrad pulled himself off the ground he started to explain to Shepard why he was there, someone who said they were an undercover cop told him the place was selling red sand and needed him to convince the manager to give him the deed. It reeked of stupidity on his half and lies on the others half but Ty kept his mouth shut as he let him explain his actions, where he got the armor and why he was doing all this to Shepard and let Shepard tell him she was going to take care of it. Conrad walked away and Shepard sighed and let her head fall down for a second as she rubbed the back of her neck as she said "That guy gives me the creeps." "There are so many things I could say about that guy but I'll bite my tongue and say he's your biggest fan apparently, you want me to check this out while you talk to Miranda's contact?" Ty asked. Shepard let out a big sigh and said "That would be really nice I don't know how much more Conrad I can take." "I'll do it you two go talk to the contact." Ty said as he got up.

Shepard nodded in a thanking manor and left with Miranda to the back room as he turned around to Aethyta, "Busy as ever I see." Aethyta said as she began wiping down the bar. "Yeah you can say that." Ty said with a smirk. "So the N7 and Spectre huh?" Aethyta asked with a knowing smile. "It's a bit complicated." Ty said. "Ha when is it not kid, she's got a nice ass and I bet that armor doesn't exaggerate that rack at all. Pretty face too and the way her body-" Ty shook his head and said "I really don't need the play by play Aethyta I am fully aware of all that stuff." "Okay I was just pointing it out no need to get your quad in a twist. Seriously though you both got a quad for trying to work something out, you don't see stubbornness like that anymore. I hope it all works out for you kid and if it doesn't just let me know how you want her taken care of, Aunty Aethyta will make it look like an accident." Aethyta said. Ty chuckled and said "Don't worry about it Aethyta, need anything?" "Just for that idiot to leave me the hell alone otherwise tell your father that I've got some information for him about someone who has it out for him on the Citadel. No name yet but it's got the attention of a lot of people." "I'll let him know, don't rip anyone's spine out Aethyta you know it scares your customers." Ty joked. "Stay safe out there kid." Aethyta said as Ty left.

Ty walked out of the bar and towards the secondary marketplace to go figure out what the deal with this Conrad guy was and who this undercover cop was trying to bust the bar on dealing red sand that wasn't being dealt. As he got to the midpoint he saw someone leaning against a wall sitting on a box sleeping with an Avenger at their feet so he took a slight detour to pick it up without waking the person or getting caught. He put it on his back horizontally and continued on his way to the weapons dealer wondering how he was going to approach it; he got through the last set of doors and turned left to towards the Asari dealer. She wasn't looking in his direction as he got to her so he said "Excuse me." She turned around and asked very unenthusiastically, "Yes how can I help you?" "Hi I'm here on behalf of my friend Conrad Verner an-" Before Ty could finish what he was saying she interrupted him with enthusiasm and asked "Oh your Conrad Verner's friend how is he doing?"

She was way to quick on the response telling Ty everything he needed to know, she wasn't a cop, and since he already knew the bar was clean that put the pieces of the puzzle together, she was just trying to do a hostile take over without being involved. Ty smiled and said "Great actually he just finished convincing them to give him the deed but he sent me here to get you so you could sign your name down as the new owner." "Oh really he did it? I'm surprised; all I have to do is sign my name?" The woman asked. "Yup just walk in there like you already own the place and take that place over, Conrad knows how to get the job done." Ty said. "Alright, here's a discount at the store thank you for the help." The woman said as she hustled away. Ty waited for her to be gone completely before he sent Shepard a message letting her know she was on her way and to have the authorities on stand by, she was dirty.

After he sent the message he stole a few research upgrades for weapons and the squad that he thought would be useful and even some type of cybernetic upgrade for Shepard and sent the information to EDI to send the tech lab. Before he started walking back Shepard sent him a message that read, _thanks for the help, we'll be on our way there to get a taxi when I finish with Conrad._ Ty sent a quick have fun message back and sat himself down on a bench as he waited for Shepard to arrive, they'd soon be in route to help Miranda's sister and knowing Miranda her protective claws were soon to come out.


	44. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Protective Instinct

Seeing how calm Miranda seemed now as they flew to where ever they were heading was different definitely after seeing her almost rip someone's head off at the slightest sarcasm. It was her usual ice queen persona that mostly everyone knew about, the cold calculating confidence that didn't waver to anything, the look of you are nothing but a slight obstacle in my way was written all in her gestures, her look and her attitude. Maybe it was a defense mechanism or her protectiveness coming out though it wasn't a first seeing it on Miranda, Ty had seen her act this way before and it wasn't surprising under the circumstances but he realized that her reactions were an instinct built into her, a switch on switch off almost.

It was almost calming as Miranda flew the taxi with Shepard as her co-pilot to see them both in their battle ready modes that were instinctual reactions but Ty wasn't really a good passenger when others were piloting so he wasn't exactly calm definitely knowing that they were heading towards Eclipse mercs who could crash land their shuttle with a slight wave of their Omni-tool. Though all Ty knew was Eclipse mercs were trying to get to Miranda's sister Oriana and they were the distraction to let her get moved without trauma it wasn't exactly comforting to think that the only defense they had right now was hoping they wouldn't shoot them down and hoping if they did that Miranda could land them safely.

_Be calm_ were the only two words running through Ty's head that were stopping him from pulling Miranda out of the seat and driving himself to make sure they could land safely in case of getting shot down. It might be in his best interests to stay out of the loop but it wasn't in his best interests to hope for the best with Eclipse mercs down below somewhere, reactions were everything and not being able to react right could get someone hurt so why the hell was he the only one slightly worried about this idea, were his reactions out of whack still or were they just using blind optimism to get through it. _Stay calm don't freak out,_ Ty thought, _we'll be fine they know what they are doing and the Eclipse won't shoot us down._

Eclipse mercs were too tech savvy for Ty's liking, they were good and knew it but maybe Miranda and Shepard didn't know them as well as he did, if they put a hack on Ty could break it quickly but they could still crash before he did and dying in a flying car was not the Jetson way or Ty's. "Girls you do know that the Eclipse are very tech savvy and could crash this with their Omni-tools right?" Ty asked in a nervous tone. "Come on your only twenty three have a little faith." Shepard said sarcastically as she turned to look at him. "Faith yea that's going to stop them." Ty retorted. "Just pretend like its not even happening its how I get through a day sometimes." Shepard said with a smile. _Blind optimism for sure,_ Ty thought. "Gee thanks for the motivation." Ty said. "No problem." Shepard said then winked with a flirty smile.

A few minutes had gone by then before Ty knew it gunfire erupted on the hover car and they were falling out of air, though everyone reacted calmly as they were falling out of air Ty said in a nervous tone "Sometimes I hate it when I'm right." The hover car crashed and slid across the ground until it finally came to an abrupt stop, Ty unbuckled his seatbelt and Shepard said "That went well, see Ty have a little faith next time." "Next time I'm flying." Ty said. "Assuming that they don't know how many of us are here maybe Ty you should cloak and sneak around them." Miranda said. "I'll attack when you two are ready." Ty said as he hit his cloak.

Miranda hit a button on the dash and the top to the hover car opened letting Ty get out quickly before the others and start scouting the area, _at least seven Eclipse in sight and a factory machine is moving explosives above the back three_, Ty thought, _well I did ask to get my hands on some explosives._ There were a few crates stacked below the machine and it was a few feet from three Eclipse members pointing guns at Shepard and Miranda, "I suppose since you aren't shooting you know who I am." Miranda said to the leader guy.

Ty got to the crates and tried climbing up as silently as possible without alerting the Eclipse members, "Is that what she told you nah she kidnapped a baby girl." The leader said. "Its complicated Shepard we share the same DNA just not the same birthday." Miranda said. _Birthdays? Those are far away for almost everyone I know_, Ty thought as he got to the top of the crate; _I wonder when everyone's on the Normandy are so I can give them all a big surprise. Actually now isn't exactly the time for that._

An explosive box was moving towards him as he waited with one of his special tomahawks and a pistol in his hands looking for some type of signal to start attacking, "Hold on where's the other one we had information that there was three of you, a guy maybe your boyfriend or something." The leader said towards Miranda. "Listen idiot your information is wrong." Miranda said with anger. "Oh did we hit a nerve I think we hit a nerve guys it seems little miss sunshine here is worried about her boyfriend, so where is he?" The leader asked. "He's not my boyfriend." Miranda said with anger. Miranda's look changed from anger to shock then back to anger in a few seconds like she just ruined the whole plan but for Ty she didn't it was the opening for sarcasm he needed and wanted, it was his way of interpreting a signal. "Oh look she's getting defensive." The leader said. "Hey asshole only I'm allowed to piss her off." Ty said loudly.

It was all split second action as Ty threw his special tomahawk at the rig that carried the explosive and wrecked it completely dropping the explosive which blew up when it hit the ground killing the back three below him. His cloak came off and he grabbed one of his normal tomahawks and threw it at the lead guy nailing him in the chest, as he died slowly falling to his knees Ty said "Not so talkative now are you." Ty aimed his pistol at the mans head and a shot was let off right between his eyes leaving a big hole in his forehead, he smirked to himself as he turned his body to the remaining Eclipse shooting them all in the head in quick succession.

Ty jumped down and Shepard and Miranda met him there with Shepard handing him his tomahawk, "Don't worry ladies I got all the killing." Ty said sarcastically putting it away and pulling out his pistol. "You reacted quicker then I could grab that lead guy one more second and I would've had him." Shepard said. Ty looked to Miranda and said "And your excuse Princess." "It wasn't an excuse." Shepard said in a fake defensive tone. "And I'm an innocent man." Ty joked. "Yeah right, come on lets get moving I'm worried about Niket." Miranda said. "After you two." Ty said motioning them. "It wasn't an excuse." Shepard said still mocking a defensive tone.

They advanced through the floor they crashed landed on gunning down a few Eclipse that got in the way, Mordin's new shield did its job ricocheting bullets off during the short fire fight which proved to be more helpful then having to constantly dodge bullets though old habits were dying hard even with the shields. As they were about to get into the elevator Miranda walked over to a radio transmitter from one of the fallen mercs and picked it up off the ground, she brought it with her into the elevator and all three connected to the channel so they could hear the conversations that the Eclipse were having which could give them a good tactical advantage and help them find Miranda's sister and contact quicker. The voice of a certain Asari that Ty and his crew almost killed came over the comm for a moment and Ty felt his blood boil, "Enyala." Ty growled.

Shepard and Miranda looked at him with questioning looks, after all these years he was finally going to get to kill the bitch who attempted to kill him but nearly killed Whitney instead. Ty saw the blade pierce through Whitney again and despite his friend being dead already he felt a tinge of the need for revenge begin to bottle up in him. "You know this person?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded as the memories of that day continued to flood in, maybe it was Taraks first attempt at getting Ty and part of his squad killed or maybe it was just a botched job either way him and his squad had met an adversary that could be considered an equal since she and her squad had been able to keep them on the defense and made them retreat. "We fought back when I was leading my guys, she had actually set a trap or maybe Tarak sold us out in an attempt to kill us I never really considered that until now but her and her men kept us on defense and made us retreat after impaling my friend Whitney with a blade. Please tell me we are going to kill her I have always regretted not killing her for what she did to my friend." Ty stated. "Count on it." Miranda said coldly. Ty nodded and stepped into the elevator finally hoping Enyala received a death that would sate Ty's growing need for revenge.

After pressing the highest floor the elevator could reach Ty relaxed himself against the wall as Miranda and Shepard discussed her sister and her history with Niket and escaping her father all information Ty already knew from hacking her file. The elevator went up to the highest floor it could go letting them off and into the next firefight, Ty took cover at a waist high crate and Miranda and Shepard took up positions across from him as they opened fire. There was a small opening on Ty's side towards the Eclipse mercs but the mercs seemed smart enough not to try and engage at close quarters so it was medium range fighting for them all.

Ty got out of cover and head shotted two mercs and broke the tech armor on another before his shields were almost dropped, he got back into cover and Shepard said "Hey why don't you throw one of those special tomahawks you got and kill that Asari with the shotgun." "Why don't you use a pull field and have Miranda detonate it on them with a heavy warp." Ty said as he pulled one of his special tomahawks out. "That's…actually not that bad of an idea." Shepard said as she turned to Miranda who was coming back into cover. Ty peeked over the cover and saw the Asari she had been talking about, though normally it was an humanly and alienly impossible shot it didn't need to be either for Ty it had to have enough open space upwards, sideways, diagonally, or downwards and if it did it was possible. After checking all the angles he had he finally found one that was suitable and let the tomahawk work its scientific magic, "Catch this!" Ty said loudly as he tossed it.

The tomahawk sailed sideways across the field making some of the Eclipse smile at what they assumed was a bad throw but as it reached the half way point it arced and flew fast at the Asari who let out a panicked scream right before it struck her in the head. The tomahawk reappeared in Ty's holder and he checked the surroundings again, three Eclipse members were huddled in cover as another three were twirling in the air because of Shepard's pull field, "Warp deployed." Miranda said. Miranda's arm glowed blue as she created a heavy warp detonating the pull field and blasting the three hard enough to kill them so Ty gave a critical whistle and said sarcastically "Damn and who said two girls couldn't work well together." "I'm going to hit him if you don't." Miranda said. "I got it." Shepard said.

A sudden force pushed Ty into his cover slightly hard and it came in the shape of a blue field along with Shepard's arm glowing, "That wasn't very nice." Ty said. "You enjoyed it." Shepard said with a cheeky grin. "Only from Miranda apparently if you ask that dead asshole." Ty joked. "Oh don't even start with that." Miranda said as she fired two shots. "Now you upset her Ty nice job." Shepard joked. "Now is not the time for this you two." Miranda said seriously as she got back in cover. Ty blind fired a few shots then said "I think I heard care in your voice Shepard, I think that guy was wrong maybe Miranda has a girlfriend." "Your turn Miranda." Shepard said. "With pleasure." Miranda said.

Before Ty could make another sarcastic remark about pleasure he was flung from his cover out into the open then back into another cover before he stopped, "That strangely felt better than I thought it would." Miranda said as she focused back on the Eclipse. "Biotics are so not fair." Ty said as he sat himself up with his back against another crate. "You're just jealous you don't have them." Shepard said as she sent a shockwave tumbling towards the last two Eclipse. Ty hit his cloak and hopped over his cover and put his pistols away and his fists ready as he approached the last Eclipse members who were picking themselves off the ground, one was on their hands and knees the other had one foot on the ground as he reached them and soon they were feeling Ty's punches and kicks rebound off their bodies.

Ty kicked the one on their hands and knees as hard as could right under his ribs taking the breath right out of him and leaving him squirming on the ground, the other merc who had enough sense jumped to his feet and brought his fists up as Ty's cloak came off. Maybe it was his menacing smile and purple eyes under the hood that scared people or the tattoos that were visible or maybe he was just so well known in the criminal underworld that a hooded man with purple eyes struck fear into every mercs body but the sudden fear that the merc had was like he had just seen a dead man come back to life, well in a way he had news reports said he was dead which was fine but it was only a matter of time before it got back out that he was still alive. "It can't be you were dead." The merc said. "No I was reborn." Ty said with an evil smile.

Eclipse were tech savvy and gun smart but hand to hand…not so much. There were a few Eclipse mercs that could handle themselves in close quarters and the ones that could were biotics which made it even easier for Ty to break the mercs guard and hit him in the face with his left hand and in his adams apple with his right hard enough to crush his wind pipe. The man grabbed his throat and tried to suck some air in only to receive another lightening fast hard right punch in the solar plexus taking whatever wind he had left in him out of him for good as he crumpled over.

As Shepard and Miranda got to him Ty was about to stamp on the back of the others neck to kill him but Shepard's boot stopped him before he could by kicking it lightly away, she gave him a stern look as he looked up at her and she said "You don't need to kill him he's helpless and won't be causing anymore problems, right buddy." The man looked up and Ty said in a serious tone "You ever commit a crime in your life again hell if you ever steal a fucking candy bar I swear I'll hunt you down, got it!" The man had a scared look as he nodded since he still was not able to talk; Shepard looked down at the guy and said "He doesn't break his promises so take the warning to heart." Shepard looked back up at them and said "Come on we still got work to do."

There wasn't anything Ty could say or wanted to say about sparing the guy, was it right, yeah the guy wasn't going to be a problem anymore to anyone but the old habit of making sure everyone was dead so no one could come back at him was going to a hard habit to shake it seemed. They walked at a quick pace with guns drawn as they looked around for Eclipse mercs, credits and anything else that could be of use on the mission. There was some comm chatter from the Eclipse about getting closer to Miranda's sister which made Miranda and Shepard quicken the pace more plus more encouraging words from Enyala having to do with her men just serving as a distraction and using as many mechs as possible just to hold the three off though most mechs they passed were already destroyed which was odd but Ty wasn't entirely surprised, mechs were unreliable at best and cannon fodder otherwise.

As they approached a turn in their path two Eclipse came around it with Avengers aimed at them and ready to open fire, "Duck!" Ty said as he pushed Miranda and Shepard down out of the way and into cover. Before the mercs knew it Ty's quick hands already had his pistols aimed at the two and fired as quickly as his quick trigger finger could let them off hitting them both several times at their heads but the bullets ricocheted off or were absorbed by their shields. They opened fire on their position as soon as Ty opened fire on theirs, "EDI boost my shield." Ty said as the bullets started bouncing off him. There was a slight glow that came across and went around his right arm and across Ty's body as he fired his last two shots on both pistols. He ejected his thermal clips and to his surprise two shots had pierced the shields and killed the two.

The gun fight was quick but not long enough to be called a real fight but short enough to get the blood pumping and the protective instinct to surge through him like a tsunami. After the two Eclipse fell Ty looked over to Miranda and Shepard who were picking themselves off the ground and Miranda said "Nice instincts though we could've helped you." "I know it's just a natural instinct, sorry." Ty said holding his arms out for them to grab. Shepard grabbed his left arm and Miranda after a slight sigh of defeat grabbed his right arm and he pulled them up the rest of the way, "Thanks." Miranda and Shepard said in unison. "You're both welcome." Ty said.

Shepard and Miranda took the lead again and they found more trouble in another factory based area with a dip in the center that lead to the other side where the Eclipse forces were, there was a way to flank to the side with a few Eclipse mercs guarding the area and a few crates and tubes of explosives sitting around. The three got into cover and Ty said "What's the plan here we got Eclipse up the wazu and explosives lying around." "Was that cloak enhancement that Mordin gave you anything we could use right about now?" Shepard asked as bullets impacted around them. There was a smaller red tube of explosives within five long strides, "You know those crazy ideas I get." Ty said. "Yeah." Miranda and Shepard said in unison. "I just got one." Ty said as he hit his cloak.

He slightly jogged to the explosive and put his right pistol away and grabbed the explosive, the cloak started slow as it started enveloping the explosive but then it sped up as it covered the rest of it. _Damn that could be very useful in the coming fight,_ Ty thought, _Kasumi's going to be soooooo jealous._ Ty carried it as silently as he could and set it down where he saw fit and found another tube and used his upgraded cloak to bring it to the other canister.

Ty set it down and found a small screwdriver and a handful long nails and brought them over to the explosives, he opened the side pressure valves just enough to fit the nails in and shut enough to hold them and on the other he stuck the screwdrivers grip into the pressure valve and closed it so it would hold the screwdriver in then aimed it towards the Eclipse. Ty got to a safe distant in a room behind the Eclipse who were to busy fighting off Shepard and Miranda to notice anything and pulled his pistol out, "Keep your heads down this one is going to be very dangerous if it works out like planned." Ty said.

The plan from start to finish was completely improvisation and based off of blind optimism which was ironic in its own way but there was no guarantee of it working all that was guaranteed was the Eclipse feeling the burn of the explosion. Ty got against the wall to the side of the big doorway and said "Fire in the hole." He aimed and fired twice hitting both tubes sparking a small fire on them then took cover against the wall and waited for the explosions.

War could be considered imporv definitely from a guerillas point of view since they usually were the most creative when it came to ways to kill, some vigilante groups like Garrus's were masters of creative disruption, guerilla type fighters like Ty and his family after the Blue Suns killed his squad were masters of creative destruction. The gun shots Ty had fired served two purposes the first was to get the fire sparked the second was to get the Eclipse attention so they'd be staring down his improv nail bomb and both purposes had been fulfilled as Ty heard one Eclipse members voice before the explosion "What the hell." She said in astonishment.

The explosion ripped across the field of battle where the mercs were hiding and some flames and shrapnel found there way through the doorway of the room Ty had been taking cover in. The only reason why it was a bigger explosion had nothing to do with what Ty had done except for the fact that he put the tubes right next to a big box full of explosive materials, probably not what anything was intended for but it served a more useful purpose.

There were screams from the Eclipse when the explosion went off which was expected since it hurt like hell to have something explode on you and to Ty's surprise when he stepped out of cover his idea had worked, nails were imbedded into a few of the Eclipse members bodies, one had the screwdriver in their forehead and was most likely dead before they hit the ground. Most of the others were scorched with some shrapnel in their bodies in different areas either barely alive or not at all as the squad regrouped, "Dirty bombs aren't exactly politically correct in any system or even legal anymore you know that right?" Shepard asked as she approached. "Well I never have truly been legally or politically correct have I?" Ty retorted. "Well that's been proven more then once." Miranda said. Miranda looked around then said "We're almost at the elevator and then we'll be able to get to Niket and Oriana and stop whoever is going after them." "Probably two more waves of Eclipse mercs, what you two think?" Ty asked. "Sounds about right, come on." Shepard said motioning them to follow her.

They advanced towards the next elevator and through another wave of Eclipse that was a pure gun battle that had bullets flying everywhere and explosives going off once in a while and even having a combat drone sent on them. After Shepard destroyed the drone she equipped her shotgun and blew some Eclipse away, Miranda was using her biotics and a Tempest using the short burst to take down multiple Eclipse and her biotics to take down some of the Vanguards barriers. Ty used his pistols and special tomahawks killing off many with ease and having to take cover a few times to let his shield recharge.

Shepard blasted multiple Eclipse members until she punctuated the last member with a biotic charge and a shotgun blast which signaled the end of the battle but it was short lived when they reached the last push to the elevator that was covered by more Eclipse members. The ware and tear of the battles wasn't showing on any of the three even though the two biotics had used a fair amount of shockwaves, warps, pulls, and charges through the last two battles but being well conditioned and not showing fatigue was important.

There had been more comm chatter from Enyala who was about getting closer to Niket and Miranda's sister and by the sounds of it they'd probably be reaching Niket at the same time hopefully before Miranda's sister got there so she wouldn't be traumatized by anything since that was the whole point of doing this in secret and why Miranda kept herself secret from her. Ty didn't agree with Miranda keeping herself hidden away from her sister, family was the most important thing to him and though Miranda was doing what she felt was right and still caring about her sister Ty believed she should at least let her sister know that she was there.

They finished blasting through the last of the Eclipse with a trio of moves starting with a warp from Miranda, a shockwave from Shepard and a blast of bullets from Ty that took out the rest of them. Before they started moving their comms were filled with more Eclipse chatter though it was not anything Miranda wanted to hear, "Alright we've got the girl me and Niket are just finishing up the transfer then we'll all be on our way." Enyala said_. You evil conniving bitch,_ Ty thought. Enyala found a way to make it all worse than it needed to be which made Ty want to kill her even more than he did before. "Niket but..that can't be right." Miranda said in disbelief. "That slimy little shit." Ty said with slight agitation.


	45. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Help for the Sisterhood

Though Ty didn't have the same reasons as Miranda to be mad he was. His thoughts on betrayal stood as they always had, betrayal was the worst possible thing someone could ever do to a friend or their own family and hearing it now and knowing that they were going to meet said betrayer kept Ty's anger higher than usual. Niket was helping the enemy and he was once Miranda's only trusted real friend and he was repaying her with giving her sister back to her father, it didn't make sense and it was wrong in everyway but it was what was happening and what they had to deal with when they reached the top of the elevator ride. Enyala was up there waiting as well and that was another reason Ty's anger was only continuing to get higher but despite it boiling up on the inside he was calm on the outside for Shepard's sake who was dealing with a very confused and very angry Miranda.

A nice tune played from the elevators speaker as they were ascending to the 94th floor to the docking bay where Niket and Enyala were, as calming as it was for Ty it didn't have the same effect on Miranda who was ready to blow which was understandable in everyway for Ty, it wasn't that long ago when he was in her shoes trying to help someone he cared for only to be surprised by something bad though his wasn't betrayal of someone he thought was a friend when he found Haley. Words of comfort was never something he was really good at so he wasn't about to try though he wished he could but it was also Shepard's lead she had to gain their loyalty, she had to be the leader not him it was her job this time since he already did his leadership tour.

Shepard and Miranda talked most of the way up with Ty staying out of it the whole entire time but the elevator was reaching the 94th floor and as soon as those doors opened hell was going to break loose, or at least that's what Ty thought Miranda was going to do. The number dinged to 94 and Ty said "Welcome to floor 94 a surplus in Eclipse assholes and backstabbing friends, please shoot on sight." Miranda ignored the comment but Shepard suppressed her smile and as Ty pushed himself from the wall to her side she elbowed him playfully in the side.

Everyone had their weapons drawn as the doors opened letting them step into the docking bay right into Enyala who didn't have a blade anymore from what Ty could see but she was also holding a claymore shotgun so that wasn't much comfort. There were many Eclipse around the docking bay but Ty easily picked out the betrayer who was the black sheep of the group since he held no armor and no gun just a data pad and a surprised look on his face. Enyala who seemed to not have noticed Ty at all got off of the crate she had been sitting on immediately with her shotgun unfolding in her hands until it was fully aimed on all three of them. Niket seemed to be trying to decipher if who was in front of him was the real deal or not and when it dawned on him he said "…Miri." Miri _I'll have to try calling her that sometime see if she minds,_ Ty thought.

Instincts told Ty to finish both off with head shots right now but since it wasn't his call he was fighting it, but he did have a pistol aimed on both of their heads just in case. "Screw her Niket lets kill her and get going." Enyala said. "I dare you to try." Miranda said with cold confidence. "I was just waiting for you to armor up unless Cerberus lets you whore around in that outfit." _She's just jealous_, a quiet voice in the back of Ty's head said. Without missing a beat though all the information he had searched on her before going to take her down came flooding into his mind and an evil smirk made its way to Ty's face, "You wanna talk whoreing around look in the mirror Enyala." Ty said. "Watch your mouth." Enyala spat with a very angered look. Ty chuckled, "I'm sure a lot of guys and girls have told you that haven't they Enyala? From what I heard you were one of the cheapest prostitutes because of the poor quality you gave when you put out." Enyala growled under her breath, "Who the hell do you think you are asshole?" Enyala asked. "Mercs these days have no code of honor or brains anymore, glad I was forced out." Ty said.

Shepard, Miranda and Niket all were staring at the two still guns drawn, feeling the holes being bored into him Ty looked over at Shepard and Miranda "What we have history though she doesn't remember, I thought Asari's had good memory." "Using information you got from your time in the Blue Suns to poke and prod her?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded and Enyala said "Forget it I don't care who you are you'll be dead soon enough anyway." "I've heard that before." Ty said sarcastically. "How much did Miranda's father pay you to kidnap Oriana?" Shepard asked. "Money wasn't an issue." Niket lied. "How much?" Shepard asked sternly. "More than a fair amount." Niket said. "You betrayed your friend for money, wow you are a real shit you know that right." Ty said. "It wasn't just about the money I was doing it to give her a better life." Niket defended. "Oh yeah loving family or narcissistic murderer geez that's a real toss up." Ty said with heavy sarcasm. "Your taking her away from the only family she has ever known Niket how could you do something like that to her?" Miranda asked with a tone of emotion in her voice. "Her real father could give her better though." Niket said. "You don't know him Niket." Miranda said. "I know what its like to be poor Miranda; I didn't enjoy it to much." Niket said. "I thought money wasn't an issue." Ty said sarcastically.

Niket glared over at Ty then continued talking only to Miranda or Shepard ignoring Ty's existence, Niket seemed to have turned completely bad because of Miranda's father or maybe he had always been like it but by the way Miranda was acting he had done a complete one eighty on her and she did not approve of betrayal at all by the way she was about to handle the situation. "I'm sorry Niket I didn't want it to end this way but…" Ty used his peripherals to look at Miranda, her usual un-alterable ice queen attitude had wavered but right as she was about to shoot Shepard pushed her gun down, "Miranda wait don't kill him." Shepard said. The ice queen was back and it was starting to look like a fire fight was about to start, the tenseness between Enyala and Ty could've been cut with a knife, you could tell she wanted to shoot him and the others and that she was pissed about what he had said to her but you could also tell she was trying to figure out why he knew what he knew, mental mind games were easy when you knew someone's past.

_Tick tock tick tock_ the time was coming it was in the air as Niket was promising to tell her father that they got there first since her father didn't know, "Shepard, Miranda be careful." Ty said out loud. Shepard glanced over to Ty but he was now focusing both guns on Enyala, "I never want to see you again Niket." Miranda said. Enyala smiled but it was too late for Ty to stop her, a shotgun blast was let off into the back of Nikets head and he crumpled to the floor, "Deal, I don't leave jobs half done." Enyala said. Miranda's emotions exploded and so did her biotics as she lifted Enyala up "You'll die for that bitch!" Miranda said. Miranda sent a powerful push into Enyala which sent her flying across the docking bay to the other side.

The elevator on the other side opened and a lot more Eclipse soldiers came running out with four of them looking to be lieutenants to Ty's merc trained eyes, _great and they seem to be carrying Revenants and other big guns_, Ty thought, _well here comes the fun. _"Get to cover and start taking them down." Shepard ordered. Ty slid behind a tall box in the middle, Shepard was on the left side already opening fire on the Eclipse and Miranda was at a waist high box on his right. There was a path in-between each section of crates that lead to the other side and it was swarmed with bullets, "Enyala you're so dead!" Ty yelled over the gunfire. "Before I kill you I'm going to take that stupid hood off and if I still don't know you I'm going to cut your fingers off while your still alive and then while your screaming for mercy I'm going to kill your little girlfriends right in front of you!" Enyala yelled back.

Harsh but she was a merc so it wasn't exactly surprising, "Tell me Enyala when you were a prostitute was your price so low because you talked so much shit in the sack but could never back it up, I guess some things never change do they!" Ty fired back as he fired his pistols at the Eclipse. "I'm going to slit your throat asshole!" Enyala yelled. Fire erupted around Ty's box making him take cover quickly before his shields went down, _you sure know how to make friends_ a little voice told Ty. Ty grabbed one of his special tomahawks and peeked out around his box to find a target, Enyala wasn't in sight but there was a lieutenant shooting at Miranda so Ty checked his surroundings and found a sneaky angle then tossed the tomahawk so it was laying flat as it flew towards the right past Miranda and as it reached the end of the crate it turned itself around the crate and down the path. The tomahawk flew down the path and as it reached the last crate it turned again and flew right into the lieutenants chest taking him by complete surprise, the Salarian lieutenant dropped his gun and stumbled out of cover as he saw the tomahawk disappear but before he knew it a bullet was lodged in his head from Ty's pistol.

Bullets swarmed his position again and as he looked around at Miranda's and Shepard's position he saw that they were going through the same thing, it was funny in its own way which is why Ty started laughing lightly to himself though he received strange looks from the others, "Are you feeling alright Ty?" Shepard asked. "I'm fine but its just kinda funny the situation we're in, overwhelming odds haha this never ceases to be surprising and fun." Ty said while still laughing. "I've think you've completely lost it." Miranda said. "No I haven't, it hasn't been this clear in a long time for me." Ty said. "How is this fun?" Miranda asked. "When was the last time you fought overwhelming odds and come out unscathed with a smile on your face?" Ty asked. "That's ridiculous." Miranda said flatly. "No not being able to get out of cover and shoot these guys till they die is ridiculous." Ty said as he popped out of cover and opened fire.

After almost losing his shields again he fell back into cover and ejected his thermal clips, as he was about to open fire again Shepard's voice got his attention "Ty get Miranda's flank!" Shepard said. Ty looked over to Miranda and saw two Eclipse mercs flanking Miranda, it wasn't that Shepard didn't think Miranda could handle it what it had to do with was Miranda focused on taking Enyala's barrier down and not being able to fight on two fronts at the same time. "On it!" Ty said as he put his left pistol away and pulled out one of his special tomahawks.

Ty thought the angle quickly and threw it then aimed down his sights as he waited for one of the two to turn the corner, the tomahawk sailed across the field again and as it reached the crates one of the Eclipse members turned the corner and received a tomahawk to the crotch. "Ouch right in the quad." Ty said to himself. A blood curdling scream filled the room as the man fell to his knees and the tomahawk disappeared back into Ty's holder but the scream was soon ended as bullets impacted through his armor and into his chest. As he died his partner bum rushed Miranda with full shields, Ty fired rapidly trying to take the mans shield down before he reached Miranda but it was not to be…for him at least. "Miranda watch out!" Ty yelled. Miranda took her focus off Enyala for a second to give the man a side kick to the gut with her heel knocking him back and off balance long enough for Ty to unload the rest of his thermal clip into his shields and punctuate his head with a bullet.

Miranda nodded at him in a thanking manor but for some reason a little voice in his head, his sub-conscious at the moment, told him that Shepard was now in trouble and it was right. She was a Alliance marine through and through you could tell by her hand to hand combat not that the Alliance marines didn't train them well, second to Turians were the Alliance if you put the Krogans above the Turians for brute strength and Asari's in first for being some of the best fighters in the Galaxy even if there weren't many of them but Ty wasn't exactly sure Alliance taught them how to fight while dodging bullets. _Probably not_, Ty thought. There wasn't enough room to shoot without the possibility of hitting Shepard and that left his tomahawks completely out of the question, it was one guy she was fighting but mix it with all the bullets flying and Shepard trying to stay in cover the best she could all the while trying to take the guy down left it with the guy taking it to her.

Shepard got punched in the face hard knocking her back a few steps and Ty's eyes turned purple as the demon was unleashed for a second. He put his pistols down at his sides and grabbed one of his regular tomahawks; tomahawks were no longer out of the question. He had to time it right completely one mistake meant Shepard getting hurt or killed because of him it all got down to luck something that Ty usually didn't put a lot of trust in but now with his demon controlling him for the moment it was what he was trusting. He gripped the tomahawk in his right hand and aimed for the guy's chest, if Shepard would duck down at the right time she would leave him wide open. Ty stood up from his kneeling position and took a step with his left foot then followed through with the throw, as he released he yelled "Shepard duck now!"

The tomahawk sailed through the air and as it got closer to Shepard she ducked down forwards giving the tomahawk open space to land in its designated target, the tomahawk hit the mans chest with force and as it did Shepard came up from her ducked position with a biotic fist loaded with fury "Arrrgh!" Shepard grunted as it landed across the guys face knocking the rest of his lights out. Shepard spun around and tapped her head with her hand and said "You could've killed me!" "You're welcome." Ty responded. Shepard noticed his eyes change back to normal as his demon went away and Ty grabbed his pistols off the ground, there was a bruise already forming on Shepard's face along with a cut from the punch but she was fine otherwise though Ty noticed that the glow to her scars when they first met had started to dissipate though still partly visible.

Bullets ricocheted from all directions off the low wall of boxes and tall boxes the squad had been using for cover, Enyala had retreated to the back of the pack again and the three were starting to have trouble with being able to peek out of cover to get a few shots off though the shots they did get off weren't kill shots. Miranda got out of cover to shoot but her shields were taken down and got grazed by a bullet, "Damn, taking fire." Miranda's Australian voice catching Ty's attention. "Go check on her I'll cover you!" Shepard ordered. Ty moved from his cover over to hers and asked "Do you have any medi-gel?" "Yeah just give me some cover." Miranda said. "On it." Ty said as he got back out of cover and drawing the attention to himself. "Where was she hit?" Shepard asked over the gun fire. "Left arm she's applying medi-gel now." Ty said.

There were six Eclipse mercs left including Enyala and three of the six were lieutenants, _overwhelming odds mixed with shit for cover or angles, this is starting to get on my nerves,_ Ty thought. "This is going bloody well." Miranda said as she applied the medi-gel. "Yea I know right I can barely get a shot off before I have to take cover." Ty said. Miranda finished applying her medi-gel and Ty came back down into cover as his shields went down, Miranda put her pistol away and pulled out her tempest and said "Okay you ready." "Yea but a little help from above would be nice." Ty said.

Sniper shots echoed across the cargo area that told Ty that his wish had come true. "Sniper support to the rescue, please keep your heads out of my reticule." A sarcastic voice came through. "Its 'bout time you showed up." Ty said into his comm. "You're not the only one with shit angles besides who do you think has been saving your ass when you'd run out of ammo because it sure as hell wasn't your guns who took those two Eclipse mercs out or the one about to get to Miranda." Z said. "Yea yea shut up and give us a hand, who the hell is keeping us pinned down so badly." "Who are you talking to?" Miranda asked. "My sub-conscious at the moment." Ty responded. "See now they really think your crazy, anyway though two of those lieutenants have really heavy machine guns and a shit load of rounds apparently while Enyala and the other three are laying down suppressing while they reload." Z said. "You know what they say about guys with big guns, anything you can do about them?" Ty asked. "Yup." Z answered.

Sniper shots echoed again and half of the rain of bullets had stopped, "Were those sniper shots?" Shepard asked. Again sniper shots went off and the other rain of bullets stopped "Alright the over compensators are taken care of and I gotta get out of this air duct since it smells like a bunch of Varren were shitting all around in here, see you soon." Z said. Ty chuckled and said "See ya." "Who the hell was sniping?" Shepard asked. "I'll explain later we gotta finish this and get to Oriana." Ty said. "Alright good point, there's two on the right and two on the left so be careful not to get shot." Shepard said. "Hey crazy idea 2.0 get ready to lay down some cover fire for me if I need it." Ty said as he hit his cloak.

Ty snuck up the path on the right where two regular mercs were reloading, he got as close as he could then opened his Omni-tool quickly and activated the shockwave that Mordin told him about, the pulse blasted the two mercs in different directions and as his cloak came off Ty aimed his pistols at both and unloaded six shots into each of them. Both his shields and his cloak were recharging very slowly as he took cover behind a crate so Enyala and the lieutenant couldn't shoot him.

A few bullets had impacted on his crate as Ty took cover and reloaded though after he did he put the pistols away and grabbed his brothers Avenger off of his back and put it in his hands. The sleeping man back on Illium was his brother he had asked Jessica to have him meet him on Illium to help out Miranda and switch guns for the mission, the trade was quick and un-noticeable to anyone who could have been paying attention or watching them and the sleeping man touch was a classic tactic. He barely used any other weapons besides his usual arsenal but Ty had trained with an Avenger before so he knew he could handle it as he peeked out of cover, "Miranda, Shepard I can lay down some cover fire so you two can advance closer to take out these last two or I can open a can of whoop ass and kill them both your choice." Ty said. "I want that bitch." Miranda said. "You heard her Ty lay down some cover fire." Shepard said.

His shields were at half power as he got out of cover and started firing in three round bursts at Enyala's and her lieutenants cover trying to at least wound her and kill the lieutenant so Miranda could finish her with ease. Shepard and Miranda flanked up the middle and left side and Ty caught the lieutenant in the right shoulder with some bullets but he was still alive and fighting, Ty started moving up as he ejected his thermal clip before continuing his burst fire still trying to get the lieutenant since Enyala was cowering out of sight. As he got halfway to the lieutenant he saw the lieutenant launch an incineration technique at him, "Oh shit." Ty said as he lowered the Avenger and ran between some stacked crates.

The incineration followed him through the path until Ty turned at the end of it and it impacted against a crate, Ty let out of a sigh of relief and heard rapid sub-machine gun fire and shotgun blasts, _hopefully they aren't killing Enyala yet I don't want her to go to the next world without knowing who I am_, Ty thought as he stuck close to the crate getting himself back into the fight. He got to the edge of the crate and peeked out to be sure he didn't get shot but was soon met by a fist in his face. Enyala had scurried away from Miranda and Shepard and accidently ran into Ty. She started trying to wrestle the gun away from him and as she did she asked through gritted teeth, "Who the hell are you?" "What you don't remember me or my sarcasm because I remember you, you stabbed and almost killed my friend Whitney Lopez when we were sent to kill you and I would have killed you that day if you hadn't jumped out the window and wounded my friend, my name is Tyler Rhoddy do you remember me now?" Ty asked. The sudden realization of who she was staring at was a priceless look for Ty, the ghost reaction was one of his favorite so far he had gotten, "No it can't be you, you died it was all over the news." Enyala said as she pushed him against a crate.

Ty kneed her in the gut and ripped the gun out of her hands then aimed it at her but she gave him a biotic push which sent him flying into a close wall behind him, as he got himself to one knee and one foot he looked up to see Enyala pointing her shotgun at him with a smirk as she said, "This time you'll stay dead." Ty pulled the Avenger up to shoot her but he heard Shepard's voice behind her "No you don't!" Enyala suddenly arched her back and let out a scream of pain, she turned around and Ty saw his tomahawk in her back and Shepard in the distance retracting her arm from the throw and back to her shotgun, Ty fired three shots into her back from the Avenger making her elicit another scream then as she turned to face him she was met with Miranda's predator pistol at her temple, "This time you die bitch." Miranda said coldly.

A shot rang out and Enyala fell sideways onto the ground dead, Ty got himself onto his feet and started walking towards Shepard and Miranda, "Good work you two now let's go make sure Orianas safe." Shepard said. Miranda nodded silently and Ty grabbed his tomahawk from Enyala's back and put it away then followed behind Miranda to the elevator where Shepard was waiting. Shepard had pressed the button already and it was coming down but as they waited she noticed a necklace on a crate and called Ty over to it, "Can you use your ability to see who this belongs to?" Shepard asked. "I can try." Ty said as he focused on the necklace. The energy around it was still fresh which made it easier to connect to it as he closed his eyes, Ty opened them again seeing the past unfold around him, there was an Asari that had it originally until she dropped it without knowing, Ty focused more on the necklace and saw that it had belonged to a male Salarian who probably had passed away.

As he came out of his vision he asked "Know of any Asari trying to find their lost husbands or mates necklace?" "I overheard one who was looking for one she lost in a docking bay; I should definitely get it back to her." Shepard said as she picked it up and put it in a compartment pocket in her armor. Ty chuckled slightly and asked "So you just what eavesdrop on random people looking for problems to solve?" "No I just…happened to hear her." Shepard replied at first defensively and then a bit lamely halfway through. Ty chuckled slightly but stopped when Miranda's voice caught both of their attentions, "Shit!" Miranda's voice called out. Both Ty and Shepard looked over and saw four Eclipse mercs in the elevator and two out of it one with Miranda in his arms and another at his side about ten feet away from the elevator, "Nobody try to be a hero here we have a job to finish and we want this to end peacefully." The man holding a gun to Miranda's head said. "Put the guns down if you want this to end peacefully." Shepard said.

The four in the elevator had their guns trained on Shepard and Ty but were shoulder to shoulder with each other, there was no way Ty could get his pistol out quick enough and gun down the first two guys then get the other four since they all had shields on but he wasn't about to let this mission go down the drain because of a sneak attack. As Ty was trying to formulate a plan he saw the two middle Eclipse in the elevator get pushed to the side like someone had barged through them, "What was that for?" One asked the other. "It wasn't me." The other answered. Suddenly a cloak started to come off revealing Ty's brother who, with a wave of his omni-tool, activated the grenades on all the Eclipse belts in the elevator. As his omni-tool disappeared he gave the four two middle fingers as he continued walking forward "Bitches." Z said.

The four started panicking trying to find the grenades that were active, Z's pace quickened and as he got behind the two guys he pulled his katana out of its sheath from his back with his left hand and cut it through the second guys neck decapitating him and making his head roll off his shoulders and into his friends arm. Z pulled Ty's sniper from off his back and had it unfolding as he lifted it up to the guys head that was holding Miranda, the barrel touched the mans temple and four explosions went off behind them. The man knew he was outnumbered and Miranda was his ticket out but Z said "You pull that trigger and you will not die peacefully. I will make sure that you suffer greatly for many days before I end you." Z motioned to the mercs gun with a nod of his head and continued "You put that gun down and we'll negotiate your release."

The man nodded and started taking his gun away from Miranda's skull, the man was smart but Ty knew his brother better than him and with the gun no longer aimed at Miranda Z said "Good but that's not how you treat a pretty lady you know, let her move away and you'll see another day somewhere else that isn't Illium, Miranda don't kill him." Miranda took a few steps away and the man asked "So can I go now?" Z nodded and said "Yep you'll be in the oceans of the afterlife in no time." The man got bug eyed a second before Z pulled the trigger, the mans body flew sideways from the force of the bullet nearly blowing his head in half, "You sure know how to make an entrance." Ty said with a smirk. "Told you I'd see you soon." Z answered.

**A/N: Happy New Years to all, be safe out there and have a good one.**


	46. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Changing

Z put his katana away and Ty walked over and gave him a hug, as they let go of each other Z used his hands to motion to all the Eclipse he killed and said "You know I don't see any tomahawks anywhere, I think my katana might take the cake on this one." Ty rolled his eyes and said "Shut up." "Yes." Z said as he pumped his fist in the air satisfied with victory. They traded guns quickly and Shepard asked "So you were our guardian angel today?" Both brothers nodded and Z said "Yup been here since the start, Ty called me up before you guys got here and told me to meet here to help so here I am."

With Miranda's sister being endanger of getting kidnapped by her psycho father Ty wanted to make sure there were no loose ends so his brother handled the exit and gave covering fire before he took out any of the Eclipse at the exit, Ty also wanted to give Miranda and his brother another chance to meet just to see how it went. One thing that puzzled Ty was why he hadn't heard his sniper shots before the fight they just had, he knew his brother had saved his ass more than a few times but didn't hear the shots and he knew his sniper shots better than anyone. "I gotta ask how come I never heard my sniper shots before I asked for a little help out loud?" Ty asked. Z rubbed the back of his head and let out a sigh, "Don't be mad but I put a silencer on your sniper for that time period." Z answered. The world stood still for a moment in Ty's eyes before he finally let out a sigh and lowered his head, "You put a silencer on it." Ty said in a disappointed voice. "You did tell me to be stealthy and your sniper isn't exactly quiet." Z retorted. "A silencer but…no you don't do that to beautiful equipment like that that's like putting a silencer on a shotgun." Ty said.

Z put his hands up in a calm down motion as Shepard and Miranda watched on in a bit of awe at the conversation going on in front of them, "Ty don't go there." Z said. Ty pointed at him and said "You brought me there, you don't do silencers Z you just don't its against every rule and code about guns, if you looked it up in a gun manual you will see silencers marked void, its disgraceful and…just no okay you don't do that to guns." "Why not?" Shepard asked curiously. Z looked over to Shepard and he said "Do yourself a favor Shepard and don't ask." "I'm going to find that silencer you have and I'm going to send it out an air-lock." Ty said. Z raised his hands in an I surrender motion and said "Okay I got it do we still gotta talk about this." "Okay you two we have to go make sure Oriana is safe." Shepard said. "She's safe; I killed the remaining Eclipse silently and hid their bodies all she has to do is get moved now to wherever it is she is going." Z said. "How do you know what she looks like?" Miranda asked. "I was looking for someone who looked like you." Z answered. "Oh." Miranda answered then went quiet. "Come on you three lets go." Shepard said.

As they walked towards the elevators over the scorch marks Ty said "The grenade activations middle finger was a classic touch by the way." "Thanks I thought so too." Z said. "You two are so alike." Shepard said with a smile. "And." They both said in unison. Miranda shook her head and said "Oh brother." "She seems grateful for me saving her ass." Z said as he looked at Ty. Shepard hit the button on the elevator and it started to ascend, "You get used to it trust me." Ty said with an underlying sarcasm. "Interesting." Z said. "What?" Miranda asked as she turned to look at him. "You." Z answered. "What about me?" Miranda asked with a little of her ice queen edge. "I find you interesting." Z answered then turned to Ty and asked "She seems a bit testy." "To her Oriana's life is still in danger in some way shape or form, there is a nice mellowy center under all of her ice that she puts up as a defense mechanism I've been ice picking it away for a little while now." Ty answered. "Sounds like fun." Z said. "It has its fun moments and its dangerous ones." Ty said.

Miranda rolled her eyes and turned away and Ty looked to his brother and mouthed, _she likes you and I know you like her_. His brother smirked and mouthed, _And?_ Ty rolled his eyes and mouthed_, and I think you should go for it if you aren't in a relationship, she's not a damsel in distress and she can kick ass and has a nice body and face, all things you find hot._ Z nodded a little then mouthed, _Cerberus though._ Ty gave a good point gesture and mouthed, _true but if I can pick off the ice then you can surly break it down, give it some thought before you leave to talk a little with her she may not always be Cerberus. _

Miranda's head started turning towards them and they both started looking up at the ceiling or the walls like they weren't doing anything wrong, Miranda didn't turn her head all the way only enough to get a peripheral at Z then she looked forward and Ty turned to his brother and mouthed, told you. Z smacked him lightly in the arm and they waited for the elevator to take them up the rest of the way, Ty leaned against the back wall and looked over at Shepard who was also using her peripherals to look back at him he caught her slight stare with a smile which she smiled back at and went back to looking forward as the elevator started coming to a stop.

Ten Minutes Later

Miranda had made a clean sweep of the area to make sure everything was safe and was walking up to Ty, Z, and Shepard as she said "The area is safe I think we are done with all the Eclipse." Ty and Z nodded to themselves then Miranda's gaze went away from them as she stared at, as Z had said, a younger version of her with shorter hair. "There she is with her family." Miranda said. "Aren't you going to go talk to her?" Shepard asked. "No she doesn't need to know about me, she has a normal life with her family." Miranda said. _Oh that is so not going to fly princess, _Ty thought. "But you're her sister Miranda you should at least talk to her so she knows you exist." Ty said. Miranda shook her head and said "No she doesn't need to know besides its not about me it's about what's right for her." Z rubbed the back of his neck and said "But Miranda you love her and I know its not my place to say anything about anything here since I'm going home after I'm done here but I know if I was her and I had a older sister that cared about me like you care about her I'd want to know she existed." "But…" Miranda stopped and Shepard said "Would it really hurt for her to know that she had a sister that loved her."

There it was, the ice shattering almost completely as Miranda started getting choked up as she said "I guess not." Miranda smiled a little then Shepard said "Go on we'll wait here." Miranda walked away towards Oriana and Shepard turned to Ty and Z and asked "Okay you two what are you up to?" "I'm not up to anything." Ty said. "What were you two mouthing to each other in the elevator?" Shepard asked with a knowing smile. Z looked at Ty and said "We are so busted." Ty nodded and said "Yup." "Well what was it?" Shepard asked. Z patted Ty on the shoulder and said "I'll talk to her; you wanna wait for Miranda here Ty while I talk to your girlfriend about a few things." Ty smirked at Shepard's reaction to his knowledge on them; her look of shock was funny though Ty himself was shocked at Z's knowledge since he hadn't told him about the shower night with Shepard. _Well he is my brother and he knows me better than anyone so I guess I shouldn't be surprised_, Ty thought. Shepard looked at Ty and asked "Did you tell him or is he just that good?" Ty put his hands up and said "I'm innocent that's him all the way."

Shepard nodded and Z wrapped his arm around Shepard's shoulder and said "I can see it in your eyes and his, Ty's eyes tell all to his family. Come on Shepard we gotta talk on a few things like you shagging my brother in the future." Shepard blushed a deep red and Ty said "Don't be to hard on her Z or I'll make sure Haley kicks your ass with her biotics." "I won't I won't." Z said as he started escorting Shepard to a near balcony. Ty walked to a near table and sat down on the table crossed legged as he waited for Miranda to return.

* * *

Z had brought Shepard to the balcony and let go of her as he leaned forward on the railing and asked, "Alright so do you want me to answer your question first or get down to what I was going to say?" "Either is fine we have a little time before Miranda gets back then back on the mission." Shepard said as she leaned her hip against the balcony and crossed her arms. Z nodded and said "Alright first off Ty was mouthing to me about Miranda because he sees me and her stealing glances at each other. I'm not entirely sure why he's set on me and her hooking up but he can see good matches between people though he'd never admit it." "He wanted me and Garrus to get together." Shepard said. _I can see that worked out so well for him_, Z thought, _then again Shepard might be more stubborn then both of us depending on the day or the subject_. Z nodded and said "Like I said he sees good matches, if it weren't for you and him hooking up you and Garrus would be a good match. My problem with his idea is Cerberus and Miranda's loyalty to it but for some reason he thinks she wont be always with them." Z chuckled slightly and said, "Nice eye candy though."

Shepard nodded with a smile and said "So I take it you and your brother share the good personality, good looks and fun and free standards." _He stole my material, that little shit,_ Z thought. Z chuckled a little and said "I came up with the words but we do share those standards, I may talk to Miranda before I leave to see if Ty's senses are still right but in my experience so far he has yet to be wrong with match ups, he hasn't told me if he thinks it's a long committed match up or just a fling yet so I'll have to wring that information out of him if he tries to hold out on me." Shepard chuckled to herself, "You have questions about my brother I assume? He hasn't told you everything I'm certain of that and it's not my place to tell certain parts but I'll answer anything I can." Z said. "…Was Ka'Reena really killed right in front of him?" Shepard asked.

Z let out a deep breath, Z hadn't been there that day and he cursed himself still for not going with his brother even though he had been on his own mission at the time but the what ifs and if I hads had been endless after that day. They weren't as bad now since Ty was finally coming around which he was thankful for but Ka'Reena had been a great friend to Z and an even better lover to his brother and for her life to be taken so viciously. "Yeah…A moment neither of us have forgotten nor will we." Z said solemnly. "You were there?" Shepard asked in a bit of shock. Z shook his head, "No but I saw its aftermath and what it did to Ty, I promised myself never to let him go through something like it ever again no matter what." Z said. "I see…that kind of loss isn't easy and it explains why he wasn't fond of the idea of being with someone ever again." Z forced a laugh and said. "That's an understatement." Both stayed silent for a few moments before Z looked over to Shepard and said, "Whether or not either one of you know or would admit it in his case the fact is simple, Ty fears getting hurt again. The feeling of it all haunts him and has haunted him ever since his crew were killed on the ship right in front of him, Ka'Reena just became the icing on the cake really."

Shepard raised an eyebrow in question as Z looked back out and into the distance, Z still remembered the day The Setting Sun had been destroyed as he still remembered the day his brother came home to their hideout at the time crushed beyond all reasoning with only the thirst for revenge. "The Blue Suns signed their own death warrants the day they killed his squad and then they checked off the "be viciously murdered" check box when they killed Ka'Reena. Her murder made Ty completely detach from who my brother truly is. Ka'Reena was everything to him and when she was murdered…imagine if your family and all your friends you hold close were all murdered because of you being a Spectre, how would you feel?" Z asked.

Shepard looked out and said "I don't think I'd want to continue living after something like that." Z nodded, that summed up everything in a nut shell on how Ty would have been had he not swore revenge on those responsible. "That is exactly what Ty felt, for him he didn't want to live anymore life didn't have any meaning to keep going, he would have rather died that day then kept going but he found a purpose in revenge. It killed him to live life without her but to watch him for years…seeing him how he was when he killed Scrum, the blue veins and tense muscles on permanent on and his personality devoid of everything we know him as killed me and our dad. Haley was the only one that got really close to him after it all happened, his remaining friends still remained close but Ty was on a hunt and didn't spend too much time with them afterwards, like Tali for example." Z said. Shepard smiled slightly and said, "I heard how that worked out for him. How did Ty and Haley even meet and then end up how they were?" Shepard asked. "I talked to Haley about it and she said it just kinda happened, she met Ty needing help with Suns and that started their friendship and eventual relationship and then back to friendship. They have a lot of trust and love for each other but Haley has a vision of living with a woman of whatever race she ends up choosing and having adopted kids or kids with an Asari and a bunch of other stuff that she is now fighting for because of the Reaper war coming."

Shepard looked over to Z and she asked "You guys are preparing for the war?" Z nodded and said "Yeah, we don't have military power or nothing just a huge fucking space station with guns and a tough training regiment based on some of the toughest fighters in this Galaxy from Drell Assassins and Asari Commandos to Turian soldiers. We may only be six strong between me, Ty, Jessica, Darian, Haley and my dad but we have a few friends who we still need to get in contact with to start preparing and if you haven't been able to tell by fighting alongside Ty we are very tough fighters. Plus you have Ty's connection to Aria which might be helpful to your war effort when the time comes since he's been on her since the attack on the Citadel about getting her forces together and getting the merc bands under her flag so they have a fighting chance."

Whether the Galaxy liked it or not they were going to need help from people like Aria to defeat this enemy and whether Aria liked it or not she was going to need to work together with the rest of the Galaxy so she still had a place to sit and call the shots from. "I've never thought of using Ty as a means to an end like that." Shepard said firmly. "Ty wouldn't be used like that anyway but good to know either way." Z said. "…Do you think me and Ty have a chance." Shepard asked. Z smirked and said "It all depends on you two but you two are taking it slow which is good for you both."

Shepard once again had a bit of a shocked look on her face due to Z's great perceptive skills and knowing his brother better than anyone, he was beginning to like using this tactic on her just to see the famed Commander Shepard surprised. It was a rare sight normally he was sure and getting it more than once in a day felt like an accomplishment. "How did you know we were taking it slow?" Shepard asked in a shock tone. Z laughed slightly and said "Because if you weren't taking it slow you two would be touching, kissing and other stuff all the time, it was just an observation that could have been wrong if you two were just keeping it hidden from the others but what can I say, I know my brother. I am surprised taking it slow has lasted so far long though I figure you two won't be able to stop the feelings much longer." Z said.

That made Shepard smile and blush a little then Z said "You're changing him back Shepard." "You really think so?" Shepard asked. Z nodded and said "Yeah, we've been trying for the last year or so to get him back on track but with little success since he's stubborn, thanks to you I'm getting to see my brother as he was before again so I thank you for that. He's hardened himself with sarcasm on the outside like a Krogan warlord but under it all he's a loving caring person who is sensitive to those he cares for which is the gooey center that holds him together."

Shepard laughed a little and Z said "Don't be mistaken by his outer shell he's gooey on the inside and one of the most caring people I know once you get past that all." Shepard nodded a little with a smile and Z's tone went stern as he said "Which means if you one eighty on him and break his heart I will kill you and dump you into the deepest darkest of space where no one will find you. If you two break up on reasonable terms where your still friends that's fine but if you hurt him in any way shape or form after getting through all his barriers and I have to see him hurt in the same way as before there will be nothing that can save you or the Universe after I find you." "I won't trust me, he means a lot to me." Shepard said. Z nodded and said "I'll trust you on it Shepard." "But what if he hurts me?" Shepard asked with a smile.

Z shook his head with a smile and said "I'll kick his ass but honestly he won't." Shepard nodded and Z said "Keep up how you two are now and you'll be almost inseparable eventually, screw it up and you two will never speak to each other." "That's not really helpful." Shepard said with a smirk. "Can I ask you something Shepard and have you be completely honest with me?" Z asked. Shepard nodded and said "Sure." "Why Ty, what attracted you to him and made you persist on getting with him?" Z asked. "Would it be bad to say because he's a criminal and I always had a fantasy about bad boys?" Shepard joked. Z chuckled, _Very bad indeed if it were true_, Z thought. "Yea I hope that's not it for your sake." Z said.

Shepard smiled as she looked at Ty in the distance and said "After being around him for a while I started to like talking to him because he was funny, sarcastic but could be serious when it was something serious. His commitment to his friends and family was attractive from the start. After he saved Miranda from that carnage blast and then me from the missile I knew the stories about him couldn't have all been true and I had to get to know him better to find out what drove him and why he was the way he was though I never figured he'd open up as much as he did but I was happy to be the one he did open up to."

Z looked at Shepard as she was recalling everything for him and couldn't help but smile on the look on her face, it was like a teenager talking about her big crush but he let her continue, "Horizon was really the turning point though that made me realize the feelings I had for him." Z looked at her and asked "Why Horizon?" "There was this guy named Kaiden Alenko that I knew and we were in love when I was hunting Saren but then I died for two years and when we met again there the process of breaking up completely started." _Me and my big mouth, fuck me_, Z thought. "Oh sorry." Z said sincerely. "Water under the bridge now its over and done with, once I found out he wanted it to be over it was like my feelings for Ty had been released from a cage."

Shepard stopped and Z asked "Were you still holding onto the hope of your past relationship still being there so you boxed up your emotions for him?" Shepard nodded and said "Me and Kaiden had something good and I had a little hope that it was still there and if it was I had to remain loyal so I don't think I really realized how I felt for Ty but then we met again and we were both in different mind sets…or he was different and I had remained the same as I was like the two years never had passed, I guess it was inevitable that we had to let it go. It was hard for me but during that time of thinking about him and me and all my friends I came to the realization that I liked Ty a lot more than a friend and I was hoping he'd give me a chance and that he had some of the same feelings." Shepard said. "And how'd that work out at first?" Z asked sarcastically. "Not the way I hoped at first but I blame myself for that for pushing as much as I was without taking in the fact that he mentioned he had his heartbroken and then after learning about everything about him and Ka'Reena and how she died it finally hit me that he was still hurting bad and I knew how that felt though not because of Kaiden." Shepard said. "Did you know he had the same feelings?" Z asked.

Shepard looked back out to the horizon and looked at Ty sitting on the table in the distance then said "I knew part of him was wanting to give it a try I didn't know he had the same feelings until I had a break down after a Thresher Maw fight on Tuchanka." _Man just one bad memory after another,_ Z thought. "Reminder of Akuze?" Z asked. Shepard smiled and shook her head as she said "You seem to know a lot." "That stuff was public info once you became the first human Spectre. Akuze, Spacer kid, N7, not to mention a hell of model for humankind, that was easy information to obtain." Z said with a smirk. "Yeah Akuze had to do with my break down but while I had it EDI told him to come talk to me. We talked about a lot but it was then I found out he was going to try the relationship and he did have feelings for me." Shepard said. Shepard leaned her head into her hand as she started to lose herself staring at Ty "We've been through some rough fights since we met and I feel like that has helped me to feel like I've known him longer than I have. I feel like I'm falling hard for him." Shepard said.

Z was silent for a few seconds letting Shepard stare at Ty until he waved his hand in front of her, Shepard was brought back to reality and Z said "I think you are too, I see Miranda walking back any last questions before we head back." "Do you pass out when you join minds with people?" Shepard asked. Z shook his head and said "No I conquered that a while back, he still passes out?" "Yeah and it worries me every time he does." Shepard said. _He still isn't in full control yet_, Z thought_, I hope he's starting to get it under control again, he should know how much better it is to be able to merge minds and not pass out afterwards_. "Everyone worries but its nothing to worry about, the quickest way is him getting in control of his demon but that's a whole 'nother can of worms." Z said. "Maybe I can help him with that, come on let's go before Miranda thinks you have feelings for me instead of her." Shepard said. _Touché Shepard Touché_, Z thought. "Good point." Z said.


	47. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Quick Clash

_Music blared all throughout the apartment as Ty made his rounds to see what his crew was up to, this was the party Brad had planned if they survived and boy did he make sure the party was wild. The apartment was more like a penthouse suite just not literally a penthouse and Brad had made sure to call some of the friends they had who were not apart of their squad to it which was why Ty was seeing Kiara laughing and joking with Darian and Valera as they sat on the couches with drinks in hands. They all raised their glasses towards Ty with smiles continuing on with their conversation, they all deserved the party for all the shit that they had done not only with the Thresher but for the last few months of non-stop work so it was nice to see his friends all in one place having a good time. Z, Mr. Rhoddy and Matriarch Aethyta were surprisingly amongst the crowd as well with Aethyta stirring trouble with Kar, Brad and Gallick who were all attempting to drink one another under the table with Kar and Gallick leading and Brad slouching further and further._

_ Seeing them made Ty smile as he continued around the apartment to the balcony where Mr. Rhoddy was talking with Tara about something though Ty did not eavesdrop to hear, Ty nodded to his dad since Tara had her back to him as he continued to the back half of the apartment in an attempt to find Grissom and Carson who were both missing from the festivities. Z had been in an out through most of it as Ty had been both leaving to talk to one another once, or mostly Z chewing Ty out for almost getting himself killed and then taking a walk on the Silversun Strip just to catch up on recent goings._

_ Ty finally found the two talking to each other while sitting across from each other on the couches, "Regardless it was a close call down there." Carson said. Grissom nodded in agreement and nodded to Ty as he saw him approach, Carson looked over his shoulder and nodded as well as he greeted, "Captain." "Gents." Ty nodded in greeting. Ty sat down on the couch next to Carson noticing how much quieter this half of the apartment was, "What's going on? You two should be enjoying the party downstairs not sitting quietly talking about how close we all came to getting killed by the Maw." Ty stated. "You know I don't do well with crowds." Carson said as he shifted nervously. Ty chuckled and said "The only crowds down there are our friends and Brads about to be the first to fall in the drinking contest between him, Kar and Gallick. Come on you two I know peace and quiet can be fun but we can at least enjoy the party while we have the chance to take a breath, tomorrow will be a recovery day before we set out once again."_

_ Grissom and Carson nodded slightly, "How's the Setting Sun doing?" Carson asked. "My dad called a guy who knows a crew who know a lot about our class of ship, Turians I believe, their working on the maintenance and will be done tomorrow." Ty answered. "I hate the idea of strangers poking around our ship." Carson said as he shifted nervously again. Ty chuckled and said, "My dad trusts them so I do as well, don't worry Carson they won't find your private stash of- Ow!" "Don't speak of it or that punch will be the least of your worries." Carson interrupted. Ty rubbed his shoulder where he had been punched and looked to Grissom who had a smirk on his face, "You do damn fine work Grissom, I didn't think he'd be able to punch let alone punch hard so soon." Ty said. Grissom nodded in thanks and said "Thank you but if he hadn't been so insistent on wanting to fly the ship so soon I would normally have had him in a cast." "You can't separate him from his baby; you never know what Val will do with her while he's gone." Darian piped up as he entered the room._

_ Ty and Carson turned to look back at him, he was still mostly sober by what Ty could read but he had a drink in hand and was looking at the three with a smirk from the comment he made but also a confused look likely do to why they were all just sitting there. "Carson I recall we had a deal." Darian said with what seemed to be an evil smirk. "Deal?" Ty and Grissom asked in unison. Carson shook his head and said "Spirits be damned I was hoping you had forgotten or were too drunk to remember." "A deal is a deal Carson so let's go, its time you pay up." Darian said. "What deal?" Ty asked. "I bet him Kar would get the final blow on the Maw after you would call a retreat he bet that it wouldn't come to that and you would kill it." Darian said. "Well that hurts my feelings." Ty responded. "What was your wager?" Grissom asked. "If he won I'd have to take Kar on in a head-butting contest as our favorite Captain did, if I won, which I did, he'd have to try to drink me under the table." Darian answered. Ty furrowed his brow and said "That doesn't really seem like a fair bet." "He wouldn't take Kar on and we need him to pilot the ship so it was that, insult Valera some how to get her to toss his ass around or this." Darian said. "Wow those are all shit choices." Ty said. "I know." Carson mumbled._

_ Carson begrudgingly got up and made his way towards Darian who then led the way to the minibar they had, Ty looked back at Grissom and said "He's going to need a cheering section." "That he is." Grissom answered with a smile as both got up and followed after. "So I think we'll be the only two people who aren't hungover tomorrow, which means we have all the responsibilities." Ty said. "We could always force them to go; they would understand I'm sure." Grissom said with a smile. "I like the way you think Grissom, you want breakfast duty or is that up to me?" Ty asked. "You or your father and the Matriarch, last time she was around with him they cooked a meal worth remembering." Grissom said. That was a fact as Ty nodded in agreement, his dad and Aethyta were great cooks on their own but when he and Aethyta cooked both their special cuisines together the smell made your mouth water and taking a bite of the food could bring you to tears. _

_ Ty had only ever been treated to the pair cooking for him on two occasions since it was always at a get together and that was only once a year or two, Aethyta on her own cooked for him once when she found Ty battered and broken after a mission he had taken on his own since he quite literally was pushed out of the window of a very tall building to which he slid down the side of since it was an angled building instead of a straight up and down one. Unfortunately for him the side of the building eventually vanished and he fell to the ground the rest of the way which thankfully wasn't fatally far but bruises and broken foot and shin far. _

_ That mission had gone to hell and he was pretty much covered in his own blood mixed with his targets and his bodyguards blood and the fall and fight had gathered attention from the local news and when Aunty Aethyta saw her little nephew taking a fall well she made sure she found him and brought his broken ass to safety before giving him an ass ripping of a lifetime and some good food when he was recovered. __**Good times,**__ Ty thought. The target may have survived another day but his days didn't last much longer after Z found out and hacked the mans skycar and crashed it into the Presidium lake where the man drowned, his brother was a bit pissed that someone nearly killed his brother._

_ As Ty and Grissom nearly made it to the stairs Ty was stopped abruptly by someone grabbing his arm, as Ty began to look back he saw a familiar blue hand that led to a very warm smile. Before Ty could get any words out Grissom let out a laugh and said "I'll let them all know why you two disappeared if they haven't passed out by the time they ask." "Thank you Grissom." Tara said with a smile. "You are welcome my friends." Grissom said as he continued down the stairs. Tara motioned Ty to follow her towards the balcony with her head to which he did as she let go of his arm._

_ Tara leaned forward on the balcony looking down at all their friends, Darian and Carson still going strong, Brad unconscious or asleep on the couch, Gallick and Kar still up and going but arm wrestling each other at this point. All the others were either cheering on Darian or Carson or relaxing in the vicinity of them, Ty leaned down next to Tara and said "Nice to see all the guys cut loose and have fun for once without involving gunfire, mercenaries or creatures chasing them." Tara nodded and said "Yeah, nice of you all to come back in one piece as well despite your orders." Ty chuckled and said "I guess they picked up on my hard headedness." "I wish we could spend more time like this, just all of us relaxing with no worries of the next mission or problems going on. Just being friends, normal as we can be but still making it fun."_

_ That was something that Ty agreed with, he enjoyed the fights they got into but it was times like these he cherished the times when they all could cut loose and have fun without getting shot at. __**As normal as we can be but still making it fun**__, Ty thought, __**I like the sound of that**__. Ty looked over to Tara who was smiling and looking down at the others at the moment, "Planning on retiring?" Ty asked. Tara chuckled and said "No, wherever you go I go and that goes for the rest of us. This is the closest thing most of us have to a family and we don't abandon family no matter what." "That's my line." Ty said with a smirk. Tara looked at him with a smile and said "Where do you think I got it from." "A charming, handsome man." Ty said jokingly. "Mm I suppose he has purple eyes and long hair." Tara joked back. "And tattoos." Ty responded. "And happens to be a very good friend of mine." Tara continued. Ty chuckled and said, "Who happens to have an engineer Asari as a very good friend as well and has wonder quite often why she ever fell for him." "Oh she fell for you?" Tara asked with a smile. "She likes to deny it feverishly but I can see the signs." Ty said. "Maybe she wasn't quite sure what she wanted." Tara responded thoughtfully. "Maybe both weren't sure but then again they were both stubbornly hard headed." Ty said._

_ Tara and Ty chuckled to themselves before falling silent again as they watched their friends, it was Tara who broke the silence first by intertwining her fingers with his, "I was worried." Tara said quietly as she leaned her head onto his shoulder. "I know and I'm sorry, it was a stupid idea." Ty responded. "Hindsight huh?" Tara asked. "Yeah." Ty answered quietly. He wasn't ever going to put his squad through a mission like that again for as long as he lived, they all had a strict no Thresher Maw or any other creature like it rule on the ship now. "So just friends?" Ty asked getting away from that thought. Tara chuckled and said "No, I think I know what I want now." "Oh?" Ty asked. "Yes I know I shocked myself as well but tonight isn't for sappy conversations, tonight is a party for us all and a tribute to our all our bonds though some of those bonds are passed out already." Tara said._

_ Ty smiled as Tara stood back up from leaning against the balcony, she began dragging his hand a little towards the stairs back down to the party, "Come on lets go have some fun." Tara said. "Yes ma'am." Ty said as they both headed back down to where they would dance and joke with their remaining awake friends before heading to the bedroom to just rest with one another. Ty wasn't sure what tomorrow would hold for him and his crew let alone for him and Tara but for now he was content just having her in his arms and knowing his friends were all okay, even if tomorrow they were going to be having the worst hangover of their lives._

* * *

As Ty sat on the table waiting for his brother and Shepard to return he closed his eyes and attuned his mind and ears to the area around him listening for the distinctive noise of his brothers and Shepard's foot steps or Miranda's heels. He visited the memory of him and his crew during the waiting period between that but as time passed the first set of feet he heard were Miranda's heels in the distance, it was a confident walk if he ever heard one and didn't stop for anyone or hesitate in the slightest but then again Miranda was a very driven woman. Soon after he heard Shepard's boots echoing across the floor and his brothers laid back pace coming his way as well. He waited listening to all the different movements around him until he felt a tap on his shoulder, he opened his eyes to see Miranda in front of him with tears welling in her eyes, "Hey Miranda how'd it go?" Ty asked. "Good, where are Shepard and your brother?" Miranda asked. "There almost back my brother wanted to talk to her." Ty said. Miranda nodded but looked away which Ty took as her assuming he liked Shepard so he said "Miranda its not what you think at all he was giving her the usual Rhoddy talk of if my brother doesn't come back your dead."

Miranda nodded and Ty looked behind him to see if he could see Shepard and Z, they were closing in but they were still far enough away that they wouldn't hear anything he said so Ty turned back to Miranda and said "Listen Miranda I know your dealing with a lot right now but you should think about talking to my brother. I don't mean to blow off steam or anything like that, I can see it in your eyes you like him and I can see it in his that he likes you as well so why not stop stealing glances and get to know each other better."

Miranda went to argue but stopped herself and said "I can't." "Why not I can introduce you two like strangers if you want, even if you don't actually end up liking each other like that you could still end up liking him like you do me, like a friend since I'm being bold." Ty said. Miranda was nearly breaking down as she said "I want to get to know him but..." Miranda stopped, _this probably isn't the best time but I'm tired of them tip toeing around each other the few times they've been around each other, I don't care if they just end up as friends they should at least talk,_ Ty thought. "But what Miranda, what's the risk of letting your guard down for a little while to get to know him." Miranda shook her head and said "Because my loyalty is with Cerberus and I don't want to be in a situation to have to pick between your brother and Cerberus, I've already had to be in a situation where I had to pick between you and Cerberus and I…I didn't like being in that situation okay. Maybe another life but as long as we are on opposite sides I won't risk it for either of our lives or yours."

_Well shit she's making a lot of sense, damn_, Ty thought. The fact that she had just admitted to not liking being in the situation of choosing between him who she was just getting to know and a company she had been working with for who knew how long really spoke volumes to Ty on how much change she had undergone since they first met. She wouldn't have blinked if she was asked to kill him when they first started out but Miranda flinching from her duty even slightly now, maybe her talks with Shepard as well as him had really begun to change how she felt about Cerberus or maybe she just saw him as he saw her, a friend even if that friendship wasn't as deep as others but still twice as fragile. "Damn I should've thought about that, I guess I can't ask you to go against that because it makes a lot of sense but if there was any chance the situation changed would you give it a chance?" Ty asked. Miranda nodded and said in an emotional tone "Yes." Ty put his hand on her shoulder and said "Then don't give up on it I can assure you he won't give up on you and I'll see what I can do about another life."

Ty took his hand off her shoulder and got off the table as Shepard and Z got to them, he wasn't sure how much he could actually do but if she held some genuine interest in his brother and Z held genuine interest in her than Ty was going to have his work cut out for him. Shepard and Miranda started walking back to the elevator so the brothers followed behind close until they got back in it; they both went to the back wall and leaned against it relaxing themselves for the final trip back to their respective destinations. It sucked that once again they were parting ways but Ty knew it was only temporary both seeing him now and parting ways.

As Ty looked out of the elevator he saw Oriana smiling in the distance with her family looking at them, he pushed himself off the wall and stepped to Miranda's side and saw the tears rolling down her face as she was smiling back, Ty bumped her elbow and said "Oriana looks really happy to know her sister and I can't say I blame her, she's got a great sister to look up to even though I frown upon Cerberus." Miranda jabbed him slightly in the side and said "Ass." Ty backed up with a smile and said "I know but I just wanted to point out that she already loves you like she's known you forever." Miranda nodded and Z said "She sees past her fortress to who her sister really is as the three of us have." "Preach." Ty said.

It was hard to tell if Miranda believed Z and Ty at all but she definitely heard what they had said and was processing it in her mind as they headed back towards the Normandy, she had wiped her tears away and was being quiet the remainder of the trip as Ty and Z would make small talk about different things going on back at home with the family or things on Illium they had experienced with Shepard jumping in a few times to ask a question or make a sly remark.

They reached the Nos Astra docking bay and were walking back towards the Normandy when Z stopped and said "Time for me to split, I gotta head back to home base and continue getting my ass kicked by Haley's biotics and or training her since she's trying to push herself hard enough to become a very powerful biotic." "Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you." Ty said. "Yeah she's getting tough, needs to work on her stamina though and not using powerful moves so much on weaker targets but that's what we train for right? Working on some new tech plans having to do with biotic restraints but harnessing it too…I lost you already didn't I?" Z asked. Ty nodded slightly and said "Yeah once you said tech plans and biotic restraints I began half listening."

Z slugged Ty in the shoulder with a laugh, "Try not to get yourself hurt." Ty said. Z waved Ty off and said "Yeah yeah." "Being as fragile as you are." Ty continued with a smirk. Z rolled his eyes with a smirk and said, "Anyway Shepard it's been fun, do us all a favor and stop the Collectors, Ty do your best to watch everyone's back and your own, Miranda it was nice seeing you again. If you ever need help again just give me a call I'll be around otherwise I'll still be watching after you when I can." Ty gave his brother a hug and said "Stay safe tell everyone I love them." "I will, don't get yourself hurt anymore I don't want you all cyborged up when this is over." Z said. Ty chuckled and said "I won't, love you." "Love you." Z said as he let go. Z shook Shepard's hand and said "Good luck to you with everything." "Thank you." Shepard said.

Z turned to Miranda and she stuck her hand out for a handshake and said "Thank you for your help today and what you said in the elevator I wish we could meet on better circumstances someday." Z took her hand in his but not for a handshake he took it and brought her hand to his lips and gave it a kiss and said "Someday soon we will, I promise you that." Miranda tried to hide the slight blush she had but Z let go of her hand and said "If you ever wanna talk privately without your boss knowing ask Ty he'll help." Miranda nodded and said "I'll keep it in mind." Z nodded with a smirk and said "I hope so."

Z walked away and Ty watched him for a few seconds then turned back around to Shepard and Miranda and asked "So what now?" Miranda looked at Shepard and said "We still need to recruit the Drell and the Justicar and they are both on Illium it's up to you what we do but I don't think we should wait another day I think we should go now." Ty nodded and said, "Yea that's true but we need to re-stock on ammo if we are about to jump back into a firefight and you two used a lot of biotics you may want to take a break so you don't run out of juice." Ty said. Miranda seemed to consider what Ty said but before she said anything Shepard spoke up and said "I'll decide back on the Normandy we have to go back either way to get more ammo so let's go back now." Miranda and Ty nodded and followed behind as she lead the way back to the Normandy, as they walked Ty said "Oh and Miranda I saw you blush." Miranda jabbed him in the side again and said "You'll lengthen your life if you never speak a word of it to anyone."

Back on the Normandy

After getting back on the Normandy Ty had restocked his ammo and headed back to the Crew Quarters to relax while Shepard decided who she was going to recruit first and who she was taking down with her. Until she decided what was going on she told Miranda and Ty to rest so they both went to the Crew Quarters but Miranda went to her room while Ty went to the Mess Hall and grabbed some ramen to cook, Rupert was cooking something for all the Normandy crew members Ty didn't know personally or didn't talk to on a daily basis but instead of waiting to have some or risk having intestinal failure he chose the ramen.

He still hadn't broken his bad habit of not eating constantly despite food being readily available but the past few years of food consumption compared to now was a stark difference with Ty eating more now than he usually ever did. As long as someone like Shepard or Tali didn't notice and EDI didn't tell anyone of his food consumption then he'd be able to continue how he was but if they did find out he was sure they'd start forcing him to eat more than once every week or two.

After finishing his bowl of ramen Ty put his bowl away and then headed back to his chair to relax, he had leaned a chair against the wall that was the back of the elevator and had his feet on the table pushing himself so the front of the chair was away from the ground and balancing himself so he wouldn't fall. He let his thoughts trail onto whatever they wished as he was watching everything going on around him, there wasn't much traffic a few people Ty didn't know personally passed through but he had noticed one from the walkway leading up to Joker and another from around the Galaxy Map.

As Ty was sitting watching them his chair was thrusted down suddenly surprising him and catching him off guard for once, "Do you always wear this where ever you go?" Kasumi asked as she took his hood off and un-cloaked. _That's hypocrisy at its finest,_ Ty thought. "Do you always go around cloaking and stalking everyone?" Ty asked with a smirk. Kasumi made a mock offended look as she said, "I don't stalk anyone I just watch them closely." Ty shook his head as he rolled his eyes and continued, "Call it what you want besides you never take your hood off so what makes it different for me to wear mine?" Ty asked. "The lesser the amount of people that see my face the better and the less I have to worry about getting noticed if I ever retire." Kasumi answered. "Like you're going to do that." Ty joked.

Kasumi slapped Ty in the arm then grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to him before she sat down in it, Kasumi stared at the wall until Ty asked "What's on your mind Kasumi aside from your bodybuilding dream of Jacob." Kasumi smiled a little and said "He has such great abs." _Oh here we go,_ Ty thought. "I never figured you for the abs guy with stick wedge up into his tight ass." Ty said. Kasumi smacked him again and said "You're just jealous you don't have his body, well actually you have a great body but Jacobs body oh its something else. And all those crunches…Mmm." Kasumi seemed to be imagining Jacob shirtless judging by the look on her face which made Ty raise his eyebrows at her and wave his hand in front of her. Kasumi snapped back into reality and Ty said "Wow." "Shut up." Kasumi said.

Ty pushed himself back again and Kasumi leaned forward and put her hands on the table in a contemplative manner so Ty said "So remind me what was it that Hock stole Kasumi I don't think I ever seen you so hell bent on something in the whole time I've known you." Kasumi didn't answer right away she stared at her hands for a little while then she said "When Keiji died Hock stole his graybox that held all his memories and something else that he needed to tell me…it's the last thing left of him Ty and I need to see what is on it." _Right I forgot they had those,_ Ty thought. "A graybox now there's something you don't hear everyday, is that what keeps you up almost all night sitting on that couch?" Ty asked. Kasumi raised her eyebrows and said, "And you call me the stalker."

He didn't need to see it to know it was going on but then again he was very observant during his time with Kasumi before all this and knew specific quirks of hers. Ty smirked and said "I don't need to stalk you in the shadows to know that; I know how you are when you're planning a heist of some sort I mean we worked together and we watched each other so we both knew how we reacted to certain things." "Yeah you go all sorts of crazy when you lose your temper, I always worry your hair is going to change colors or lightening will start crackling around you." Kasumi said jokingly. _Now wouldn't that be cool, guess biotics would be the closest I get to that and that won't happen since I really don't like the idea of being exposed to eezo for a chance to move shit with my mind and all the lovely side effects if it goes wrong,_ Ty thought but smirked on the outside as he said, "And you write haikus when you are infatuated with someone, like your recent one about Jacob" "Shush that's a secret." Kasumi said as she slapped him in the foot. "Okay no need to get physical with me." Ty said. Kasumi rolled her eyes with a smile but then she got serious again as she said "I just hope we can get to Hock soon you know so I know someone isn't trying to hack into Keiji's memories while I plan out trying to get it."

After a few beats of silence Ty let his chair come back down and he leaned forward and put his hand on Kasumi's and said "Shepard we'll get us there soon Kasumi I promise besides its not like Hock would be able to unlock it he's not as intelligent as you or Keiji. Besides Keiji would've made it so only you or him could unlock it." Kasumi nodded and Ty continued "Believe me Kasumi Shepard hasn't forgotten about you or your mission she's probably planning out right now how she's going to do everything that she has to do." Kasumi nodded again and said "Thank you for the slight pep talk." Ty took his hand away and said "Hey it's what I'm here for keeping the mood light and boosting spirits when there down, besides it's what friends do."

A smile found its way to Kasumi's face as she seemed to ease up a bit and relax herself, Ty pushed himself up and Kasumi took notice of the lack of food in front of him and said "Geez you better purge after all that food you have there." Ty rolled his eyes and said "I just had a bowl of ramen so bite me." "Does anyone else know about your food consumption?" Kasumi asked. Ty shook his head and said "Nope and I want it to stay that way, save all those meals Rupert cooks and the rations for people who need it I can survive on ramen every now and then."

Before Kasumi said anything Ty's eyes caught movement to his left so he looked over and saw Jack walking towards Miranda's office, Kasumi looked back and saw her and said "Uh-oh looks like we're about to have a pay per view fight." "Yea that can't be good, I'll be right back." Ty said as he stood up. "Just going on the record saying that what you're doing is a bad idea." Kasumi said. "You say that about all my ideas." Ty retorted. "And I've been right so far." Kasumi responded. Jack got into Miranda's office as Ty got half way there and he could hear raised voices from Jack already and Joker over the intercom, Ty got to the door and opened it and saw Jack and Miranda standing across from each other with a blue aura around both of them, _well shit, Kasumi was probably right about this,_ Ty thought as he stepped slightly forward. "Ladies ladies calm down what the hell is going on?" Ty asked. "Stay out of this Ty." Jack said with anger in her tone.

That was about the least likely thing to happen whether that made Ty smart, brave, or stupid was up for debate still. "Do you really expect me to listen to that when I can see the anger swirling about you Jack, both of you get the biotics off and calm the fuck down I don't know what this is all about but this is not the way to go about it, not while we are on this mission." Ty said in his calm leader voice. Jack used her peripherals to give Ty an angry stare as she said through gritted teeth, "I said stay out of this Ty, this is none of your business." "Ty I think for your own good you should listen to her." Miranda said not breaking eye contact with Jack. Ty raised his eyebrows in a really manner, _seriously who do they think they are talking to, I jumped off a rickety metal tower thing at a thresher maw and with a shotgun likely to break my arm and a bad foot and ankle, I never do what's for my own good,_ Ty thought. "Fuck that if I have to step in the middle of this I will." Ty said. Ty went to step between them but as he did he saw a blue surge come across Jacks body then straight at him, there was what felt like a fist hitting him in the chest that was followed by a sudden feeling of weightlessness as he went flying back out the door and past Shepard who was walking in "Whoa shiiiitttt!" Ty yelled as he flew.

Shepard's body glowed blue as she used her biotics to create a small pull field to slow Ty down, the field slowed him down but didn't stop him as he crashed through a cart full of cleaning supplies that Rupert had left out in the Mess Hall and then into the ground where he proceeded to roll and slide until he hit the wall that curved towards the elevator. The crash and rolls weren't smooth at all and at the end of it he was laying sideways on his right shoulder looking back at the Mess Hall and Miranda's door as he tried to get his bearings back. Kasumi looked over at him and Ty could tell there was a slight smirk on her face, "I did warn you didn't I?" Kasumi asked with humor in her voice. "Owwwwwww." Ty exaggerated. "Well there's a life lesson for you don't try to stop angry fighting biotics." Kasumi said_. Hindsight huh?_ Tara's voice echoed in Ty's thoughts. "Thanks." Ty said.

Ty pushed himself off his side so he was sitting straight up but as he leaned back against he was met with a cold shock, water had soaked the back of his tank top from the cart of supplies and it sent a cold jolt through his body, "Ah cold." Ty said as he leaned forward. "Aw man now I got more to clean up." Rupert said as he looked at his tipped over cart. "Sorry." Ty said sincerely. "Back to work." Rupert said as he started cleaning up the mess. Ty heard a light hearted chuckle, "I suppose I should've figured I was going to see you soon." Chakwas said as she approached Ty. Ty nodded at her in a greeting manor and said "Hey doc." "I saw you go flying so I came to check on you." Chakwas said as she got to him. "The thought was nice but I think I'm fine aside from my tank top being soaked and probably a few bumps and bruises." Ty said. "I'm sure your pride has a few bruises as well." Kasumi joked from her seat.

After Ty gave Kasumi the finger Chakwas knelt down and pulled her omni-tool up to do a quick scan on Ty, after the scan was complete Chakwas said "Well medically you're fine there's no serious injury on you, your cybernetics seem to be fine as well. You'll have a few bumps and bruises like you said but nothing you can't handle I assume." Ty nodded and said "Thanks for the check up doc maybe I'll treat you to some brandy and conversation later." "Drop by whenever you please." Chakwas said as she stood up and left. Ty put his hands against the wall and pushed himself to his feet, as he started walking back towards the table Jack came walking out of Miranda's office not looking as angry as before but still not her usual self. Ty wasn't going to give her any digs about the toss since he didn't want to do it twice so he stayed silent as he walked by her but his anger quickly rose when he was met by Jack slamming her shoulder into his with force, "Watch it dick." Jack said as she continued walking. Ty stared at her back as she walked away with a what the fuck stare but then shook his head and said "What fucking ever." and continued walking. Though she was obviously pissed about something, disrespect to a friend who was true wasn't something Ty was good at tolerating…ever.

Ty sat down in his seat again and Kasumi sat silently until the elevator closed then she said "Let it go Ty she didn't mean anything by it she's just being Jack." Ty ran both of his hands through his hair since he didn't have it ponytailed and kept them in as he closed his eyes, he laid his head back and let out a deep breath fighting with his inner self about it, _I just wanted to fucking help and that's how I get treated for it? She knows I care about her as a friend and she knows I'm friends with Miranda who I guess is her literal arch nemesis more than just someone she hates for being a Cerberus bitch, _Ty thought. _I don't mind her tough bitch attitude, hell I like her attitude on most occasions because she makes things fun but seriously just because you're pissed off doesn't mean you can be a bitch to everyone and everyone is just going to take it._ Ty sighed slightly, _yeah but this is Jack we're talking about, she's never really had to deal with people like how she is now with me and Shepard befriending her and not having some ulterior motive and having comrades who actually watch her back while she watches theirs. I'll just give her some space so I can cool off and so she can as well_, Kasumi's voice dragged Ty out of his thoughts, "You know she puts on the tough act around everyone on this ship except you and Shepard, besides she used her little pet name for you cut her some slack." Kasumi said. "I'm trying to." Ty said as he brought his hands out of his hair and relaxed himself in the chair. "Maybe you should go work on some guns you know get your mind off it." Kasumi said. Ty shook his head and said "All it'll do is agitate me at this point, besides I have to eventually give her the gun I was working on for her." "Maybe you shouldn't do that then." Kasumi said in a joking tone.

Shepard walked out of Miranda's office and looked over to Ty and Kasumi then started walking towards them, she got to the table and asked "You okay Ty?" "Physically and medically I'm fine Chakwas did a quick scan on me since she saw me flying though I assume I had it coming for stepping between the ice princess and the psychotic biotic." Ty didn't hide the slight agitation in his voice as he said that but he took a deep breath and continued "Other than that though I'm fine ready to lock and load if you need me." "I'm going back down to Illium to get the Justicar Samara with Jack and Garrus after we all suit up, I got the resources you needed for those upgrades any idea how long it will take to get it all integrated?" Shepard asked. Ty shook his head and said "No idea but with Tali down there I'm sure she'll help me get it done faster than I could by myself." "Alright when your ready get to work on that, Kasumi any luck with a plan for getting what you need from that guy?" Shepard asked. "No I still have a few things to figure out but I'll figure it all out soon." Kasumi said. "When you get it all figured out tell me so we can head out that way." Kasumi nodded and Ty said "If you need more back up just call I'll be ready." "We'll be fine, I should get going." "Later Shep." Kasumi said. "See ya Shepard." Ty said. "I'll see you two later." Shepard said as she walked away.


	48. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Bosh'tet 4 Life

After a few more minutes of small talk and sarcasm Ty and Kasumi took their leaves and went separate ways with Kasumi going back to her room and Ty heading down to Engineering to start working, as the elevator descended his Omni-tool lit up informing him of a call so he answered "This is Ty's mortuary you kill 'em we chill 'em." Tali's voice came through in a serious manor "If you don't get your Bosh'tet butt down here right now and start working I'll see to it that you'll be visiting a mortuary." _Well that doesn't sound good…for my health at least,_ Ty thought. "That hurts Tali." Ty said jokingly. Tali was silent for a beat then she continued in an inquisitive tone "Sorry but what is a "mortuary" it doesn't sound very nice." _Ah well it seems she was attempting to use my comment as a joke,_ Ty thought_, this is probably going to make her feel bad,_ "Its where people go when they die so they can be processed and get an autopsy to determine cause of death before they are sent to a funeral home to be buried or cremated or at least that's how it went way back when I don't know what the process is now or if it changed." Ty answered. "Oh keelah." Tali said in a shocked tone. _I can't believe I'm going to make a joke out of her shocked state, she's just so innocent that I can't resist_, Ty thought. "Like I said that hurt Tali." Ty joked. Tali's tone was genuine as she said "I'm sorry I didn't mean it Ty I was just trying to be funny and-" Ty tried to interrupt "Tali its fine I-" "Make you think I was serious about coming down here, well I was serious because I want to get the Normandy upgrades done and-"

It was going to be a losing battle trying to get Tali to stop rambling at this point so Ty let her continue to ramble on until the elevator doors opened letting Ty walk out and to the right to the doors leading into Engineering and through both set of doors as Tali continued rambling un-aware that Ty was walking up behind her since she was facing away and he had the sound on his Omni-tool broadcasting into his ear, "Oh keelah Ty I'm sorry if I offended you I don't want you mad at me." Tali said. Ty cleared his throat loudly to get her attention as he said, "Tali really it's fine I was just joking with you, I was already on my way down anyway." Tali nearly jumped out of her suit in surprise but her surprise turned into a quick hug then a punch in the left side of his chest "You Bosh'tet I thought I really did hurt your feelings, I guess I forgot that you don't really have any." Tali said throwing in the joke at the end. "Ouch now I think I really am hurt." Ty joked. Tali shook her head in response and said in a humored tone "Keelah sometimes I wonder how you manage to make friends." "It's my charming charisma I think." Ty joked. "Uh-huh." Tali said slowly and sarcastically.

Ty looked around and saw Donnelly and Daniels working on the opposite end of the room then around at the room itself, Tali seemed to notice what he was looking for and said "I put the supplies where they had to be integrated, there's some down that hall where the drive core is, some of its lying about over there by Ken and Gabby the rest though I already integrated, sorry I couldn't wait to get my hands on some of that technology." Ty smiled at Tali's nature of being an engineer and loving tech, she was like a sister so it was cute and funny to see but if she had integrated some of the stuff that meant, hmm, "So let me guess the really tough stuff is what I have to integrate?" Ty asked. Tali nodded slightly and said, "Well I'll help where I can but yes I integrated the small things I figured you wanted to do some of it." That unfortunately meant he was going to be crawling around in ducts or engineer tunnels, "So you'll be up here while I end up contorting my body in some weird way somewhere right." Ty joked. "Yup." Tali said. "Okay time to get to work." Ty turned to Donnelly and Daniels and said "Hey Daniels were going to be installing the propulsion upgrade so since you're an expert with that stuff don't be afraid to pass down some advice so I don't get zapped or incinerated, I'd rather not be a pile of ash." Daniels nodded and said "I'll do my best to help." "Great 'cause being a pile of ash just doesn't sound very fun, alright ladies and Ken time to get to work." Ty said.

An Hour Later

To get to the final installing area Ty had to go under the floor by opening up the floor panel and begin the balancing act of holding himself up in a confined space and still working. The good news was that Tali and Daniels had walked him through step by step what needed to be done before going down so they could finish the upgrade for extra propulsion into FTL speeds, jumps, and overall speed of the craft, the bad news was he was in such a cramped space that he wasn't sure he would ever do maintenance work on the Normandy ever again. "Just an oversight by the engineers." Daniels had told him yet she still had a smirk on her face since Ty was the only one capable between him and the others to not only hold himself in place but also work while holding himself in place.

As he balanced uncomfortably with his feet against one wall and his back against another next to a small pipe he used to climb down he said loudly for Tali to hear "You know I'm still wondering why I had to go down here to do this." "Because that's where it has to be integrated." Tali responded with humor in her voice. "Right and I'm the only one who could do this all without falling down to Spirits know where this shaft leads. So why does bigger frigate mean smaller spaces for extracurricular mechanic work?" Ty said sarcastically. "A design oversight." Daniels called back. "That is the stupidest excuse ever." Ty retorted. Ty heard Tali and Daniels chuckle at his expense_, this is why I fly a bike_, Ty thought, _its fast and when I need to do maintenance it is easily accessible. _"Can you talk to me while you work so I know you aren't being electrocuted or fall down further?" Tali asked. _Well that's the least bit comforting, no faith whatsoever, _Ty thought. "Sure what do you want to talk about?" Ty asked. "I don't know that's a good question there's been some things I've wanted to ask for a while now but how about this I ask a question then you ask then me then you and so on." Tali said.

That was fair though there wasn't much Ty had to ask, he knew what she had been up to for the most part, "Works for me, ask away Miss Zorah." Ty said. Tali hmmed for a moment while footsteps echoed across the floor above him whether she was pacing or Daniels was leaving he wasn't sure, "You knew who Shepard was before you joined this mission and you knew Cerberus was going to be a part of the mission, why did you join you aren't exactly on good terms with either the Alliance or Cerberus?" Tali asked. That was an understatement but still an honest enough question deserving an answer, "At first it was because I needed help finding my friend Haley and Shepard offered, I guess you could say I was desperate because I didn't know where to start and I hadn't calculated asking Aria for help yet but after I did I stayed on board because I promised I would for starters but….It was because I wanted the chance to do something that benefitted the galaxy, you know be a "good guy" for once." Ty said.

There wasn't a response from Tali at first though that wasn't surprising, it wasn't unknown to anyone who truly knew Ty that he was on the wrong side of the law still trying to be a good guy and maybe he was a good person without taking in to account his Galactic standing but that didn't change some of the things he had done or the repercussions some of it caused. Tali broke her silence after a few seconds but her voice was barely audible, "Really?" Tali asked. Ty stopped working as he said "You know me Tali I've done a lot of shit, not all of it completely good but I can't say I regret it all because the things I did by my own power I don't regret since it was just a part of the life I had to lead but my crew, Ka'Reena and anyone else I've hurt unintentionally or got killed boils deep down inside of me of guilt and anger. I've tried setting some of it right aside from my revenge mission, I've tried to apologize to some for who I am and what I did that hurt them none of it ever helps but maybe it helps them and if it does then great. I've cost men and women there spouses, I've killed some people's siblings and some children's parents who were mercs and now they are struggling to live because I was part of a separate merc band."

Ty rested his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes remembering some of the things he had heard from certain aftermaths, Ty forced most of the memories from his mind as he said "The kills I can't let myself regret since they were necessary at the time but the aftershock of what I caused when or if they had innocent people close to them that weren't used to our lives and if I hear about it is painful and I guess they all got there payback when I lost my friends and my lover." Ty let out a sigh then continued, "Maybe its my conscious and morals that made me stay or the need to do some good in this universe for once, I don't know. I've always tried to do my best to be good but, well I'm a criminal and my skill set revolves around fighting and killing." "If it's any help I've always thought you were a good guy." Tali said.

That was a relief for Ty no matter how small or mundane someone could think her comment was, it was nice to know one of his oldest friends still believed he wasn't a seriously bad person. "Thank you Tali." Ty said. "You may not be on the right side of the law Ty but you are a good person." Tali responded. Ty smiled and said "Thank you Tali…Careful though you might make me cry and then I'll fall down." Tali laughed and asked, "What do you want to ask?" The first question that came to mind was one he had been wondering for more than a few years now, "How are Ka'Reena's parents doing?" Ty asked. "It took them a little while to get over the loss but they ended up getting permission and having another daughter, her name is Tera'Reena nar Ryya." Tali said. She would never replace Ka'Reena but at least there was some sort of silver lining in it all, "Is she like Ka'Reena?" Ty asked. "She has some of the same personality traits but she's still a little soft spoken but she's still young and hasn't embarked on her pilgrimage." Tali answered. _Must be between three and six depending on when they had her, she's a long way from her pilgrimage and a long way from having me as a guardian angel, or Archangel if Garrus hadn't used it,_ Ty thought. "Do her parents want my head on a silver platter?" Ty asked. "They never have actually, Ka'Reena had left them a message in one of her pockets and it explained everything you were to her and what you did for her, last I heard they wanted to thank you for giving their daughter an incredible life." Tali said.

It was shocking to hear that but Ty looked up at the opening above him and asked "She left them a message? Like a holo?" "Yep." Tali said. "I didn't check her pockets when she died but I was almost certain she didn't have anything on her." Ty said. Tali let out a light laugh and said "You'd be surprised at how many pockets our suits have, you should have studied more than how to take it off." That was a low blow, he had studied a lot about them so he understood more about Ka'Reena and how to take care of her but it also wasn't a false statement since he became very good at taking off and putting them back together. "Hey she started the lessons I just perfected it all quicker than she expected." Ty said. "Bosh'tet." Tali said with a laugh. "Forever and always, what's your question?"

Tali was silently contemplating her question for a few seconds then she asked "Did you kill everyone that had a hand in her murder?" Ty nodded to himself and envisioned all four, Tarak Shepard had gotten, Jason Z killed, Jedore he had crushed her skull in and shot her so she was dead, Scrum had met Ty's demon and like the others who had he didn't survive to tell the tale. "Yeah they were all killed separately and not pleasantly either." Ty said. "Okay." Tali said quietly but still loud enough for Ty to hear. It would never be enough for either of them since despite killing those who did it Ka'Reena was still dead and maybe one day it wouldn't hurt as much as it did but even six years later it still was a wound carved deep into their hearts losing a someone who was like a sister in Tali's case and a lover in Ty's. "I'm sorry Tali." Ty said sincerely. "You didn't kill her Ty you have nothing to be sorry for, I'm just happy you killed the ones who did it." Tali said. "Ask me another question since I asked you like five." Ty said. "How is your family handling you doing this?" Tali asked.

Completely to Ty's surprise they weren't overly pissed off or wanting to pull him off the mission, they weren't happy he was going on a suicide mission but they weren't too worried about him, "Better than I thought they would but I don't plan on dying and they know I won't so I guess that helps." Ty said. "What about Cerberus?" Tali asked. Ty chuckled slightly and said, "You're gonna be shocked but my brother actually likes Miranda, they've been stealing glances at each other every time they meet and I think they may actually hook up if the Illusive man can't find out." "What?" Tali said in shock. "I know but don't worry we'll still be ready to blow the crap out of Cerberus if things don't go well." Ty said. "If you need an extra grenade I'll lend you one." Tali said. "I'm sure you would." Ty said.

Ty fiddled around with what he was working around almost finishing it up when he asked "So Tali any boyfriend or girlfriend waiting for you back on the flotilla?" By the tone of Tali's voice Ty could tell she was completely uncomfortable with the subject "Ummm, oh keelah that caught me of guard, is it getting hot in here." Tali said. "I think your un-comfortability is reaching down here Tali I swear the temperature just rose a few degrees, I'm becoming a ball of sweat in here." Ty joked though he was becoming a ball of sweat. "Um no I don't, I really haven't found anyone I trust like that, well no Quarian." Tali said. "Oh Tali you have a crush on someone who's on this ship don't you?" Ty asked. "You little Bosh'tet I'll lock you down there if you keep this up." Tali said. "You'd miss me." Ty said. "I think I could cope without." Tali joked. "Not cool." Ty replied. "I don't think I have to tell you about how Quarians feel about sharing their suit environments with someone." Tali said. "Ultimate sign of trust." Ty said. "Yep." Tali answered. "So is it Shepard, me, or Garrus?" Ty asked. "This line of questioning is over." Tali answered. Maybe I could- Wait she has a shotgun and a pistol, retreat from this line of questioning, "Fine." Ty responded.

Tali's footsteps echoed in the little shaft Ty was in, by what he could decipher from the direction of the noise she had walked away from the shaft towards Donnelly and Daniels terminals then back towards the shaft. It sounded like she sat down so Ty said "Relax all you want up there Tali don't let little me down here in this steaming enclosure distract you while I balance myself with all the muscles in my legs and back to make sure I don't fall down where ever this shaft leads." "Okay." Tali responded. _Crap I hope she isn't being serious_, Ty thought.

Ty was connecting wires together and using his Omni-tool for a light so he didn't screw up the wires or the Normandy when Tali asked "So what about you any new girlfriends recently?" "You know me Tali I don't do relationships anymore." Ty lied and didn't enjoy it. "What about that girl that was kidnapped?" Tali asked. "Who Haley? Nah we were close but neither of us called it a relationship." Ty said. "Garrus said there was another girl you mentioned the one that told you about the kidnapping." Tali said. "That was Haley's sister Jessica we met, we exchanged pleasantries if you get my meaning then I didn't see her again until I got Haley back to her and she fell in love with my Turian friend Darian." Ty answered. "How are they working on the species barrier?" Tali asked. The fine details he was unsure of but as far as he knew they were working on it, "They're figuring it out who knows maybe we'll find out what a Turian human baby looks like." Ty said. "Speaking of hybrid babies what about you and your brother I heard your mother was a Drell and I know your dad was a human so how did that work out?" Tali asked.

Ty slightly chuckled to himself, he thought of a few funny jokes but stopped himself and said "You know when Shepard gets back we'll have that conversation I don't want to have to explain it twice because part of it is a good story the end is not very happy though." "Why Shepard?" Tali asked. "Because she asked me before and I didn't answer, hell maybe I'll have Joker open up a comm and have story time with the whole crew." Ty said. "I'm not sure everyone really wants to know about how you were created Ty." Tali said. "True, I guess I could just tell you and Shepard and maybe have Kasumi spread it around or something for those who are curious." Ty said. "You two seem very close." Tali stated.

Ty put the panel he was working on back in place and grabbed the screws and screwdriver out of his pocket as he said "We worked together for a while and we were close friends during that time period but then I left to go Blue Suns hunting, or at least continue it I should say and we didn't speak or see each other until now. I was surprised when Miranda asked me about recruiting her since I hadn't seen her name for a while but when we met each other again it was just like old times but only now and a little better, if your implying that we were more than friends though then you'd be wrong. She had a boyfriend when I met her and we just enjoy being friends." "It seems you made a lasting impression." Tali said. "I seem to do that on a lot of people." Ty said with a sly smirk. "So you still haven't answered me honestly yet about new girlfriends." Tali stated._ Huh? There is no way she can tell that I am lying, definitely since I'm down here_, Ty thought. "I recall I did." Ty said. "Well you lied, not a very good one either but I could tell it wasn't true." Tali said. "Really and your sure of that?" Ty asked. "More sure than a Quarian mechanic working on engines." Tali said. "Wow you're pretty sure of yourself." Ty said. "Call it my female intuition." Tali said. "I'll call it a bluff first." Ty joked. "You may not be in a relationship but I can tell that you definitely like someone on this ship more than a friend." Tali said. "I like a lot of the squad more than friends, like you for example." Ty said.

Tali laughed a little to herself and said "Okay now I know you are hiding something if you weren't you would've just continued repeating the "I don't do relationships" speech you are so fond of using, I guess I'll just have to wait to find out." _I knew I should've kept using that, oh well its just Tali she probably only talks about that stuff with Garrus and Shepard, if she asks Kasumi I'm sure she'll inform her that me and Shepard could be an item but that I'm also close with Jack or at least I hope she'd add the Jack part to give more than one name,_ Ty thought. "I guess we'll both have to wait to find out since I honestly don't know why you think I'd change my tune on relationships." Ty lied. "Are you almost done down there you lying Bosh'tet." Tali asked.

Ty finished screwing everything in and said "Just finished but since I don't want to climb out and if something goes wrong have to climb back down would you mind checking to make sure the integration worked." "Yep let me go check." Tali said. Ty's muscles were starting to ache as he wiped sweat out of his eyes and waited for Tali to either give him an okay or a no you have to re-do it, if he had to do it all over again he was going to take a break for his muscles sake and get some water. Thankfully his muscles weren't shaking yet but his back was becoming sorer as time elapsed and being biotically tossed earlier by Jack wasn't helping since the minor bumps and bruises he had were now becoming more painful. Ty's Omni-tool lit up and he looked up at the opening and called out "Tali you calling me?" "No I'm checking the status on the integration, why?" Tali asked. "Just checking." Ty said.

After hitting the answer button he said "Ty's small spaces incorporated how may we shrink your space." "Let me guess you're working in engineering and you're in a small space trying to work." Shepard answered. "Close but no I'm working in engineering balancing myself against two walls in a shaft under a panel in the engine room that if I were one or two inches taller, fifty pounds heavier, and or happened to lose my balance and fall down further would be no longer called a shaft and would be called my tomb." Ty said. "Well that sounds like your having a lot of fun working with Tali." Shepard said. "Well she's having fun asking questions while she relaxes about six feet above me; this obviously isn't a small talk call Shepard what's going on?" Ty asked. "Well let's just say complications arose and we have to go fight a bunch of Eclipse mercs who are holding information I need so I can recruit Samara." Shepard stated.

Ty chuckled, _well that isn't a surprise, wherever Shepard goes bullets usually are close behind_, Ty thought. "Sounds like a normal day what do you need me for?" Ty asked. "I was hoping you could give us a little more information on who we were fighting and if they are as scummy as some of the people around here say." Shepard said. "Ty your clear you can get out of there now." Tali called from her terminal. "Alright just give me a second Shepard I gotta climb out of here on a very small and thin pipe." Ty said. "A pipe? Not a ladder?" Shepard asked. "Yea apparently it's a design oversight since when Cerberus rebuilt this they didn't think about someone like me doing extracurricular work on it so they made the spaces small without really feasible climbing ladders." Ty said.

Ty gripped the pipe in both hands and brought his feet over to the wall it was connected to then climbed his way up slowly because his muscles were tired and climbing up six feet was harder then sliding down the pipe six feet. He got to the top and grabbed onto the flooring as he pulled himself completely out of the shaft, Tali was hammering away on her terminal so Ty put the floor back and latched it then said "Okay Shepard who exactly are you dealing with? There's a bunch of Eclipse mercs in Illium and I dealt only with the more dangerous ones." "Well then you should probably know this group then they're called the Eclipse sisters." Shepard said. _Holy shit she wasn't kidding,_ Ty thought. "Wow they weren't kidding about scummy mercs when they told you that, alright lets see what my memory banks hold about them." Ty said.

Ty closed his eyes and started remembering his short time fighting the Eclipse sisters on Illium and all the information he had been given about them and all the recent activities he had learned about from a few contacts that still watched Eclipse activities. As he heard the words and read the data-pads given to him in his memory banks he asked "Shepard can Garrus and Jack hear me?" "Yeah why?" Shepard asked. "Because the information would be easier for me to tell you all at once instead of having to have you relay it to them." Ty said. "Okay give us what you got." Shepard said.

A slight chuckle found its way out of Ty as he said "Huh where do I begin, I guess the beginning is a good start but I don't actually remember who started the Eclipse some woman I think and as you should all know by now they specialize in high tech and intelligence more than they do on discipline and brute force like the Suns and Bloodpack. Now I know you don't have time for all the ups and downs of the Eclipse and my brief time fighting them but what you do need to know is who's in charge of it all and why they are so scummy."

Ty stopped to crack his back to relieve a little pain from it then continued, "The leader of the Illium Eclipse is an Asari that I only know by the name Captain Wasea, and she can be considered one mean bitch. If you fight her, and I'm sure you will knowing her, you should know that she specializes in shotguns and biotics. She's not the most powerful biotic in the Universe but she knows her way around them like most Asari, the merc band itself is like all Eclipse they smuggle anything and everything, red sand, people, weapons you name it they've smuggled it but there's one thing that I want you to all keep in mind that is very very important." "What's that?" Shepard asked. "Every Eclipse sister and I mean every Eclipse sister has to commit a murder to earn her outfit and place among the group, I know killing isn't hard for any of us but if you happen to find one who tries to convince you otherwise from what I've said they are lying. Killing someone un-armed or pleading for mercy isn't exactly a "good guy" trait but you've gotta trust me when I tell you there is no such thing as an innocent Eclipse merc on Illium, they are the only group I've heard of that require you to commit murder to join." Ty said. "Really?" Shepard asked. "I swear Shepard on everything I believe in and hold dear it's true." Ty said. "That's one hell of a guarantee." Garrus said.

Tali stepped away from the terminal and sat back down next to Ty on his left, "Anything else we need to know dick?" Jack asked. "Actually yea one last thing, when I was on the Citadel getting information on Fade and stuff for Garrus and Shepard one of my contacts who keeps his eye on Eclipse movements as well as Blue Suns for me told me about a shipment of Minagen X3." Ty said. "Minawhat?" Jack asked. "Minagen X3 is an air toxin that could be considered a drug and it enhances biotic abilities making people like you and Shepard stronger than any biotic humanly possible." Ty said. "Fuck that sounds like some good shit." Jack said. "It kills in large quantities." Ty said. "Shit that sucks." Jack said slightly deflated. "In small doses and I mean small doses it can increase your power to inhuman proportions." Ty said. "What about people with no biotic potential?" Garrus asked. "Still deadly but it doesn't do anything for you." Ty said. "No sudden great power?" Garrus asked dryly.

Ty chuckled and said "Sorry you don't get any great power aside from what you have Garrus." "Some Volus smuggler mentioned that he just brought in Minagen X3 and they want him dead because he didn't tell them it killed them, I don't suppose you could find out some background information on the smuggler for me could you?" Shepard asked. "Sure any others you want me to try to get some information on? Ty asked. "Well as long as you don't owe Aria one for it." Shepard said. "I have more sources of information then her, names and occupations and I'll give you information." "Pinte For smuggler, I know he's a smuggler but if it's just this one bad deal then I'll let him slide if not I'll turn him in. Detective Anaya, I think she's clean but I just want to make sure she's as clean as she appears, we have to go before Samara kills some innocents because of her code." _No shit I thought Tara and Valera were just bullshitting,_ Ty thought. "Geez the code thing wasn't bullshit I thought it was just stories, alright I'll call when I finish doing the background checks for you, later." Ty said. "Talk to you soon." Shepard said then shut off the comm.

Ty opened up another part of his Omni-tool and put the two names and occupations through all his information engines that would eventually give him all the dirty secrets of each person he sent in but to go through it all took time so Ty left his Omni-tool open as he waited and looked over to Donnelly and Daniels terminals and asked "When did Donnelly and Daniels leave?" "While you were down in the shaft, Rupert finished the food he was making and they wanted to go eat so I told them to go." Tali said. "Ah gotcha, what about you when was the last time you ate Miss Zorah?" Ty asked. Tali shook her head and said "I've always hated you calling me that it's just so…" Tali trailed off not able to pick an appropriate word for herself but Ty said "Formal for friends." "Well yes but I also think it is because Ka'Reena used to call me it when I was younger when she'd catch me goofing off or just to chastise me like if she was my mother or an elder, I think I hate it because I think I'm in trouble."

Ty started to laugh to himself lightly at what Tali said which made Tali feel embarrassed and was more than likely blushing under her visor, she had always been like that though ever since they had met what felt like so many years ago to Ty. She was truly a genuine person and always spoke what she felt even if it made her feel embarrassed afterwards but that's one of the many things that made her such a good person and a great friend to be around. "Your blushing so bad right now Tali for no reason the laugh was because it reminded me of how Ka'Reena used to chastise me about some things but she called by my first and last name like my dad does." "Oh I thought you were laughing at me because of what I said and how I said it." Tali responded. "I would never truly be a complete asshole and make fun of you because of something like that, sure I'd make a joke but never hurt your feelings intentionally." Ty replied. Tali nodded and said, "Ka'Reena was lucky to have a guy like you in her life." Ty shook his head and said, "No I was lucky to have her in mine…besides if she was lucky that makes you lucky because your apart of my life as well." Ty said. "You'd probably forget about me if we stopped talking." Tali said.

Was it a joke? Ty couldn't tell there wasn't any gesture or tone to it so he took it seriously as he looked over at her and said "Tali there is no way that is true, you are as apart of me as Ka'Reena was and everyone else that is close to me. We've known each other for almost eight years now from the time we first spoke to now why would you even think that?" Ty asked. Tali shrugged and said "Sometimes I worry that you will break off contact again like you did when Ka'Reena died until we somehow bump into each other again. I don't have many close friends like you, Garrus and Shepard and now that I know you three like I do I don't want to stop knowing you three because of something stupid like the Reapers or some stupid politics."

A true friend is exactly what Tali was there was no doubt about it , she meant what she said and Ty knew that she hadn't been joking before so he said "I wont break contact after this is over and I'll try to start calling more alright, I could spill out excuses for why I did what I did back then but the truth is it was a stupid move and was inconsiderate of me to do that to you just dropping her off like that and leaving after I dealt with Zal'Koris and Han'Gerral. I owed you an explanation then for how and why it happened and I should've been there for you as a friend but I wasn't and I can't change that now but what I can do is promise to be there for you as a friend from now on." Tali looked at him and her eyes glowed behind her visor penetrating through it and asked "Promise?" Ty grabbed her hands and intertwined his with them then put one set on her chest over her heart and the other on his chest over his heart and said sincerely "I promise Tali." "Keelah Ty your promises make me feel like I have a fever." Tali said. "Uh…is that a compliment?" Ty asked as he let go of her hands. "Oh sorry that could be taken the wrong way, yes that was. It made my face heat up." Tali explained.

The word love had about the same non-meaning as fuck did to Ty except when he told his friends and family he loved them because that was the only time it held its true meaning, otherwise though it was just a word that truly had no meaning anymore that was lost by the overuse and wrong timing when using it over the last generations. Though love in some ways had no meaning anymore it did still have some meaning to it through different levels of love, to say that you love someone could mean many things like a friend love, a family love or a lovers love. Ty loved his brother and father more then anything else, he loved Haley, Jessica and Darian as close friends for what they had all been through and the bonds they had, now though as he looked at Tali and thought about everything they had ever said to each other and did with each other he was now realizing that she too he loved as a sister more so than ever. She was truly a great genuine friend who he'd do anything for to make sure she was alright and would even lay his life on the line for if it was necessary.

They didn't speak for a while during her time on the original Normandy and his self exile from her and his friends but that didn't break the bond they had before everything went to hell on Omega with the Suns and Ty and Ka'Reena. It for some reason in a way made their bond stronger when they finally reunited and though he never admitted it back then he was truly needing a friend to help him through what was originally a tragedy that turned into a self inflicted hell. The more he thought about it as he got up and helped Tali up telling her she needed to eat he realized that more than Tali had made their ways into his small plain of friends who either he loved, respected or just enjoyed their presence, Jack was definitely there though they were now in a point of their friendship that they would either remain good friends or crumble, Kasumi had reached it for sure, Garrus was a good friend though Ty planned on talking to him soon just so they could shoot the shit since they hadn't in a while.

EDI and Joker though they bickered with each other had one thing in common and that was a solid friendship with Shepard and Ty, Grunt though the word love definitely wasn't the first word that either thought of when they thought of each other they both had each others respect, trust and friendship. Miranda didn't exactly have Ty's full trust since she was Cerberus and the Illusive mans number one and she'd still pick her boss over their friendship on most days but he did consider her his friend, Chakwas had worked her way in as a motherly type figure and she was a kind person that you could tell truly did care to hear what you had to say and cared about fixing people up.

Mordin and Ty didn't talk a lot but the few conversations they did have Ty could tell though he made a very troubling ethical decision he did now feel upset about it and part of him wanted to change it. It was difficult to explain exactly his feelings on Mordin because he did trust him since he came up with the Seeker repellent, his new shield, had a hand in saving Haley, and probably helped in Ty's rebuild though he didn't know for sure or remember, he had gained some of Ty's respect through doing that because his skills were undeniable but the part of the Genophage Mordin worked on with re-doing it made him lose some of Ty's respect at first.

Now he didn't know all the details on it but some of the things Kar had told him about Krogans weren't really happy stories and Salarian's were not held in high regard, and neither were Turians, though Kar had no trouble getting along with Darian or Carson but for Ty to cast judgment on a whole race and make it nearly impossible to breed was a decision he wouldn't have made.

Every race should be given a chance to live in peace not be plagued by something but maybe the Krogans really would have taken over the galaxy and destroyed everything, they destroyed their own home planet so why would it be surprising. Mordin made sure that the Genophage stayed potent or something but now seemed to second guess it and Wrex wanted peace among the Krogan people so they could survive as a whole, who's to say that the sins of their races pasts can't be fixed. Mordin was an undeniable genius and would do what he felt was right and had the least problems to follow behind it, he made tough ethical decisions he had Ty's respect and trust as long as he didn't do something stupid. Jacob really didn't exist much to Ty they hardly spoke and Ty wasn't into the whole human brotherhood thing that some guys embraced plus Ty still thought he had a big stick wedge between his butt cheeks. Jacob was still part of the squad though so that counted for something in Ty's books, as long as he didn't do something extremely stupid.

Tali and Ty walked out of the engine room and Ty heard muffled shotgun shots coming from the cargo hold so he looked down and saw Grunt shooting targets with his shotgun, Tali walked up to the console and looked for a speaker button. When she found it she pressed it and said "Hey Grunt me and Ty are going up to eat you wanna come?" Grunt stopped shooting and seemed to think about it for a couple of seconds then shrugged and said "Sure." Grunt walked to the elevator and disappeared out of Ty's sight, Ty looked at Tali and asked "I was going to ask him anyway but how come you asked him?" Tali shrugged and said "I figured he was probably hungry and though I doubt he needs much companionship it didn't seem right not to ask a fellow shipmate to come and eat when we could."

Ty nodded and said "That's a good reason pretty similar to mine." "I asked myself "what would Ty do in this situation" but my answer was go down and shoot with him at first then it switched to enter a head-butting contest with him again." Tali said. Ty smirked and said "Keelah you can be such Bosh'tet." Tali's gestures told Ty she was smiling and part of her wanted to fire back but the other part wanted to soak up the use of her native tongue from him. It felt good to say some of the Quarian language again, Ka'Reena was teaching him the language but he hadn't learned it all when she died and most of it during his self exile escaped his memory though he thought that impossible.

He wanted to ask Tali to teach the language to him but he wasn't sure either of them could find the time to do it, he had to work on the other upgrades which were the harder ones and he could only do it when the ship was docked then he also had all those guns to still work on which he needed to get back to work on since they were going to take up a lot of his time if he didn't finish it up and then on the side when he could he was going to talk to the crew and keep their spirits high and talk to Shepard more. Then Tali had the engines and that was an all day kind of thing not to mention that if she didn't pull her own weight down there, which she did triple of now, there could be back lash that came at her for it. "…Ever teach you it all?" Tali asked.

Ty snapped out of his thoughts and said "I'm sorry Tali what did you ask I was in my own little world for a second." "Did Ka'Reena ever teach you all of the Quarian language?" Tali asked. Ty shook his head and said "No she was working on it and I don't know how far we really got but we obviously never finished and what she did teach I somehow forgot during my self exile." "I could teach you if you wanted." Tali said. Before Ty could answer the elevator doors opened with Grunt waiting for them in it, "Well are you coming?" Grunt asked. "Yeah." Ty responded then looked to Tali and said "We'll talk more about it later but although I would enjoy it I don't think I could really sit down that long trying to learn another language." Tali nodded and they both walked into the elevator with Grunt and went up to the Crew Quarters so Tali and Grunt could eat, Ty checked his Omni-tool and saw that the search on both people were almost done soon the Volus smugglers and the detectives backgrounds would be tangible and then he'd find out if either one would be out of a job very soon.


	49. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

A Promise of Battle

Ty had his feet kicked up on the table again just without leaning his chair back as Tali and Grunt were eating and they all chatted with each other sometimes just Tali and Grunt would hold a conversation with each other about something that Ty didn't intervene in like personal question Tali would ask Grunt or vice versa whether they'd be legitimate questions or just a question to lead up to something on their mind. Either way they were getting along fine when Ty would let his mind wander about the room they were in checking everything out like where everyone was. Rupert was relaxing in the kitchen not exactly hiding his disgust for Tali or Grunt the couple times he'd glance over though Ty would shoot him a death stare to get him to look away, racism over species pissed Ty off but he couldn't go knee cap the cook, plumber and whatever else Rupert did that would mean more work for someone else. Chakwas was in her office with a glass of Ice Brandy in one hand and a data pad in the other walking about checking over the machinery in there.

Donnelly and Daniels had a big surprise when the elevator opened and Tali, Grunt and Ty were standing in there with Grunt in the front but they recovered quick enough and went back down to then engine room after the three got out, Miranda hadn't left her office the whole entire time Ty had been in the Mess Hall since the little fight she had with Jack but Miranda really never left her office. The sleeping pods were occupied by a few crew members and Ty had to restrain himself slightly from using his Omni-tool to have the door open and have them fall out to wake them up. _Mean but still slightly funny since they'd laugh about it…eventually…probably._

Kasumi was no where to be found but that was her nature unless you had a keen eye you could barely ever spot her unless she'd un-cloak, the shimmer of her cloak could giver her away if you were lucky enough to spot it but it was rare that you'd ever be able to, she was a killer at hide and seek. No one from the CIC deck was down walking about in the Mess Hall but they could have been the ones in the sleeping pods Ty wasn't sure but then again it wasn't a huge crew so he wasn't expecting to see a Cerberus officer at every door standing around watching the post ready to salute whenever someone important came by but they weren't Alliance, they didn't get paid to stand and salute.

As Ty continued looking around his Omni-tool popped up informing him the search was done so he clicked on the detectives name and a small biography popped up describing her career on Illium and how she did at her job, she was as clean as she seemed, there wasn't a speck of corruption on her file she fought it pretty hard by the sound of it so Ty dismissed the file and clicked on the smugglers name. A bigger screen popped up and paragraph upon paragraph filled up the bigger screen until it started scrolling down, Ty skimmed through it as it went by and saw that he was indeed the stereotypical smuggler, dirty, no loyalty and liked to leave his people to die apparently. "That's a big file." Tali said. "Yeah that's what I call a dirty smuggler with no loyalty." Ty said as he closed it and started to call Shepard.

It was no secret that Ty wasn't a saint but smugglers that held no loyalty to the people who they worked with or to the contracts always irritated Ty. Loyalty to your people was a big thing to Ty and some people, like this Volus smuggler, didn't give two shits about their partners and supposive friends. Smugglers weren't the worse scum in the universe though but they weren't the greatest set of people either and Ty had met his fair share as well as killed his fair share of smugglers. Maybe it was karma coming to bite the Volus in the ass finally but Ty was happy knowing that once Shepard heard this information she would eventually turn the little round shit in for his deeds. The dial tone went off three times until Shepard answered "You've got some good timing." She was a bit too out of breath for Ty to really figure out if she was being sarcastic or serious, "Is that sarcasm or are you serious?" Ty asked. Shepard chuckled and took a deep breath then said, "I was serious, we just finished taking down a gun ship if you would've called a minute earlier I wouldn't have answered since I doubt anyone here wants to have a missile to the face…again." "Ha ha." Garrus replied dryly.

_Or get impaled on a wall after shooting a missile,_ Ty thought, _that was not one of my brightest ideas but can't say I regret it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat._ Ty chuckled slightly and said, "Well go me then, I got the information you asked for." "Wow that was quicker than I thought, what do you have?" Shepard asked. "Well your detective friend is as clean as a nun; she takes her job seriously and hasn't had any black marks on her record but your smuggler friend he's about as clean as a Batarian slaver." Ty said. "That's pretty dirty, what did he do?" Shepard asked.

Ty chuckled and said "More like what hasn't he done, smuggles red sand, leaves his partners behind to die, does rip off deals all the time. He's about as scummy as the Eclipse mercs you're fighting even though red sand is legal on Illium as long as you have a permit." "Motherfuckers with no loyalty don't deserve to live." Jack said. Ty nodded to himself, that was something that both of them could agree on right now, "Amen." Ty said. "I'll turn him in when we're done here, Ty I ran into an Eclipse merc who claimed she hadn't killed anyone and just pretended to be shooting." Shepard said. "What's her name?" Ty asked.

He had expected her to do something like this if she did run into someone like whoever she had run into, Shepard was a good person and Ty didn't fault her for what she did it was just a shame that her good will and good heartedness had to be wasted on a piece of scum like an Eclipse Sister. "I take it you figured out I didn't kill her?" Shepard asked. "I know you Shepard; I knew you wouldn't if someone claimed they didn't." "Hey Shepard check this out it's a recording of that Eclipse merc, seems she was lying all along." Garrus said. "Play it again so I can hear it." Shepard said.

The sound of the recording was very faint to Ty but when it finished Shepard said "Well at least I know who killed the Volus. Shit." "Don't blame yourself Shepard you are guided by a good heart and you should stick to it, she'll get hers eventually." Ty reassured. Shepard let out a sigh, "Yeah, thanks Ty." Shepard said. "Want me to head out and see if I can find her?" Ty asked. He was an expert hunter after all and she'd likely be easy prey, Ty felt like he could feel the gears in Shepard's head turning, "No that isn't necessary, hmm…you think you could get her location or anything I could give to the detective to help her find her?" Shepard asked. Ty chuckled and said "Come on Shepard I could have her delivered to the detective's office tied up with a sign attached to her chest that gives her name and what she did on it if you wanted."

That got an evil grin from Grunt and a light laugh from Tali, they couldn't hear the full conversation but they seemed to get the gist of what was going on. Shepard chuckled herself and said, "Well it definitely would make me rest easier knowing that she didn't get away with it because I let her go." Shepard said. "One Eclipse merc special delivery on the way, just need a name." Ty said. "Elnora is all I got, she's an Asari." Shepard said. "Clear enough you don't find a lot of Elnora Asari's out there, she'll be captured and delivered with a sign that says "my name is Elnora I killed the Volus please arrest me I've been a bad girl, courtesy of Commander Shepard and the Normandy crew" I'm sure it'll make her popular in her cell block." Ty said.

It seemed to lighten the mood enough for Shepard, Jack and Garrus as it did for Tali and Grunt, Grunt had a big smile on his face as he let out a menacing laugh while Tali suppressed a laugh, "I want to see a picture of that when it happens." Jack said. "Consider it done, alright you three get back to work and I'll start getting someone to hunt her down, knock her out, tie her up, pin a sign on her, take a picture of it, and bring her to this Detective Anaya." Ty said. "I'd hate to get on your bad side Ty, is there even a good side?" Garrus asked dryly. "Well I haven't switched your rations out yet so take that for what you will Garrus." Ty joked. "He wouldn't really fall for something like that." Shepard said.

Jack barked out a laugh while Ty attempted to not laugh at the memory of the joke Tali had played on him. "Wait what's so funny?" Shepard asked. "Oh Shepard you should have seen his face when Tali tricked him." Ty said. "Oh man that was fucking glorious." Jack said with what Ty could tell was a huge shit eating grin on her face. "Wait a minute, Garrus you actually thought that you were eating human food? Don't you check that before you eat the food? It's clearly marked." "I check it now." Garrus replied dryly. "And you three didn't record that?! Do you know how much that could have sold for? I would have paid at least over a hundred thousand credits to see Garrus freaking out." Shepard reprimanded Jack and Ty. "It took to much will power to not laugh and it wasn't as if we planned it, he would've noticed it anyway and that would've ruined the joke." Ty responded since Jack had lost control of her laughter no doubt based on what Shepard's face looked like as she chided the two for not recording Garrus. "Damn that would have been good." Shepard muttered. "You can complain more about it later, get your asses moving before Samara has to kill the cops." Ty said. "See you later Ty." Shepard responded. "Later." Ty replied.

Ty immediately started sending a message to his brother to go hunting for a recent addition to the Eclipse mercs on Illium an Asari named Elnora and to knock her out and do all the things he told Shepard he was going to have done and even gave him the words he wanted on the sign. He figured his brother was still on Illium anyway, he wouldn't have came by himself he would've brought Haley or Jessica if not both with him to get out of the ship and stretch their legs out in a nice populated area. Ty also figured his brother would have fun with the new mission Ty sent him; it wasn't every day he got to pin a sign on someone who was getting arrested and take a picture of it that was just a classic joke.

Ty's Omni-tool disappeared and Tali looked over to him and asked "Who do you have going after Elnora?" "I sent the message to my brother so he'll probably do it if not he'll pass it along to one of the few people he trusts but knowing him he'll definitely do it himself; he wouldn't pass up a great joke." Ty said. "I'm surprised you don't do it yourself since it's so funny." Tali said. Ty shrugged and said "Well I would but I gotta stay on board here and Elnora, if she was smart, would take the first taxi out of the district and to the first Eclipse ship off the planet and I don't have the time to chase after her right now though it would be fun if she was already running." "Ha! Nothing like the thrill of the chase." Grunt stated with a laugh. Ty nodded and said "That's the fun part of everything, well that and if it's a good fight."

Tali's gestures told Ty she had a big smile on her face as she said in a humored tone "Ty you so have some Krogan in you." "That or the two Urdnot's, Kar and Grunt, knocked it into me when they knocked me out." Ty said. "I still can't believe you did that." Tali stated in disbelief. "Yea and both outcomes left me unconscious so think of how I felt." Ty said with a smile. "Exhilarated." Grunt stated. "Exactly." Ty responded. Tali shook her head at him, it wasn't actually exhilarated but it was close enough. For some strange reason despite it hurting badly Ty enjoyed the head-butting, that was likely because the first time had knock the common sense out of him but that was still unconfirmed. "Who did you last longer against?" Tali asked. He wasn't entirely sure of the exact time or how many each had done but he knew that Grunt had knocked him out faster, he wasn't sure by how much but he knew Grunt had knocked his lights out quicker. "Grunts pure Krogan strength knocked me flat on my ass quicker than Kar did." Ty answered. "Ha." Grunt laughed.

Kar had a huge head-plate unlike Grunts not fully formed head plate so it was a bit of a surprise still that Kar hadn't done it quicker but Ty had been emotionally out of whack so maybe that held some weight. "Though I was emotionally unstable against Grunt I mean Kar was huge too." Ty said looking for a reaction from Grunt. Grunt let out a deep laugh, "Is that a challenge I'm hearing from you Ty?" Grunt asked. Ty wasn't sure why he was continuing his line of thought at the moment, "I told you I wanted a rematch after this mission is over Grunt and I'm looking forward to it." Ty said with a smile. Grunt chuckled lowly again and said "Its on Ty, we will prove who the strongest crew member is." "May the best human win." Ty said with a challenging smile. "Your fighting spirit is great Ty but my pure strength will outlast it." Grunt said sending a challenging smile back.

Grunt and Ty's smiles turned into grins as they stared each other down, it was going to happen now, it was crazy for Ty to even consider doing three times in one lifetime but in an odd way there was a thrill to the idea. It wasn't testosterone or pride that caused him to challenge Grunt again it was the thrill he got from it when he did it with Grunt, the back and forth between them the challenge it was to try and knock him down or back a few steps, the blood pumping adrenaline that rushed him when he got busted open and continued to push through all the pain trying to achieve an impossible goal. The fire burning in their eyes now showed that they both had they same feelings on the idea of doing it again, you could see them challenging each other with every second that went by, you could tell they could hardly wait to actually challenge each other again.

Ty and Grunt both stood up nearly at the same time and walked to the side of the table until they were nearly chest to chest, Ty was looking up at Grunts towering frame and Grunt looking down at Ty's five ten and one hundred and seventy five pound muscle frame. Both were still giving each other challenging grins, "You know Ty there's something about you that gets my blood rushing and stir something in me that no other creature has stirred in me." Grunt said. "Like a beast within." Ty said. "Yes." Grunt said. "I know how you feel, the head-butting contest we had stirred my inner demon in a way I can't exactly explain, it seems to hunger for a rematch I can feel it in the fibers of my body right now, my nerves feel like they're on fire wanting me to start the contest right this second." "I feel the same." Grunt said. "Oh Keelah." Tali said quietly as she stared in awe at the two.

It would be hard for anyone watching right now to understand what the two were doing, to some it would look like a stand off before a fight or an argument about to escalate into the fight but they both knew the contest would be for the thrill not for a crew hatred or a true challenge of who was stronger they both knew well enough that Grunt would win each time but Ty's time in a conscious state was the only changing factor and that was the thrill of it for Ty. It had to wait though now wasn't a time for head injuries and being put on bed rest Ty had enough time in that category and he couldn't add more to it, their loyalty to Shepard and her mission was what mattered now both knew it and could feel it overriding their nerves, instincts, and inner fighters making this look like a "tense situation" to on lookers but in reality was just a friendly bargain though neither knew that an on looker would have the Normandy's XO come try to get involved.

Miranda appeared on Grunts left and Ty's right but was only a blur in Ty's peripherals, "What are you two doing?" Miranda asked with a slight tone caught between assertiveness and shock. "I think we're upsetting the natural order Grunt." Ty said jokingly not breaking eye contact. "We do that everywhere we go haha!" Grunt bellowed. Miranda looked at the pair like they were insane for a moment before shaking it off and asking in her assertive tone, "Is there a problem here?" "No." Grunt answered still staring at Ty with a grin. "None at all princess." Ty said. "Then why do you two look like your about to rip each other apart and enjoy it?" Miranda asked.

Ty chuckled a little and said "Hold on Miranda. Respect is a big thing to me Grunt something I hold very dear like trust, doing the rite with you and fighting along side a great fighter like yourself and seeing what you were capable of earned you my respect, it was one hell of a show of really everything that makes you a true Krogan and great fighter. Now we've all been kinda forced into trusting each other on this mission since we don't have a choice even though some of us came here for personal reasons or didn't have a say in the matter even though they hated Cerberus but you've earned my trust and not just some fake trust I have to give you for the missions sake, you truly do have both my trust and respect." Ty said. "You're a great fighter Ty you've proven that in several ways, I never thought I'd find such a strong fighting spirit in a human but you and Shepard have shown me otherwise. Having your trust and respect is an honor and you have mine as well." "It's an honor to have gained that from you." Ty said.

Grunt nodded and put his hands on Ty's shoulders and Ty put his right hand on his left arm then they swung their heads back and then into each others with a hard thump echoing slightly in the room, Grunt smiled and Ty smirked and said "Good one that should hold me over for a while." Grunt let go of Ty and sat back down to finish his meal so Ty looked over to Miranda and asked "Okay so what's up Miranda me and Grunt were just talking about our future head-butting contest after this mission is over." Miranda was holding back her jaw from falling to the floor that much Ty could tell but her business focused mind kept it from dropping, "I was making sure you two weren't about to tear each other apart, I'd ask if you were sure about that but after seeing everything I just saw I guess it would be pointless to protest." Miranda said. "At least she knows." Grunt said. Ty heard a sigh of relief come from Tali so he turned his body so he could look between her and Grunt and Miranda, "Worried Tali?" Ty asked. "I think I stopped breathing a few times during that exchange." Tali said.

Ty smirked and Miranda shook her head and said "You sure have a way with people Ty." "Thank you." Ty said. "Ty do you want to finish up those upgrades now or later?" Tali asked. "Later just in case we have to mobilize when Shepard gets back since doing the upgrades will leave us stranded until we're finished and that could give the Collectors a whole colony." Ty said. "Good point; when we're both on the Normandy next for a while we'll finish it all up." Tali said. Ty nodded and looked at Miranda and asked "Anything you need princess or can I dismiss myself to go work on more guns for the crew?" "Could I talk to you for a minute in my office?" Miranda asked. Ty shrugged and said "Doesn't sound like I have much of a choice, let's go."

Miranda led the way to her office and after they got in Miranda went to a chair that let her look out a window she sat down and waited for Ty to lean against a wall across from her. "What's up Miranda?" Ty asked. "I wanted to ask you how you are doing with this mission." Miranda stated. Strange question from a woman who had read a dossier about him and had fought along side him to know him well enough that he didn't shirk away from a fight. "Why?" Ty asked. "Well you just seem so upbeat most of the time and you're always trying to keep everyone in a positive mind frame but I've noticed that you never really let anyone talk to you about how you feel." Miranda said. "Sure I do you just don't see it being in your office all day, I've talked to Chakwas about stuff, I talked to Tali today about personal things between us. Everyone I talk to on a personal level with talk to me about something different so I do talk to some about how I feel, you and I just haven't had the time to bond with you being in here all day and doing reports." Ty said.

Miranda rolled her eyes at the word bond since Ty had intended it to be taken in such a manor but then she looked out the window and asked, "How do you feel about the mission?" "You mean like me personally or if I think we are ready?" Ty asked. "Your thoughts on our progress would be nice as well as your personal mindset." Miranda answered. "As of right now we aren't ready." Ty said. Miranda cocked an eyebrow up in question as she looked over at him, "We need to get all the experts and get them headstrong for the mission otherwise we're fucked plain and simple. Our guys and girls aren't all completely focused where their heads need to be for this mission and if we take on this mission with that mentality there will be unnecessary deaths that could be avoided." Ty said.

Miranda nodded in what Ty assumed either to be agreement or approval as well as for him to continue, "The Normandy still needs a few tweaks though most of them are out of my department except for the last thing me and Tali are working on and then I still have to finish all the guns I started working on so the crew is outfitted with more powerful guns. The Collectors have some strange tech and got some thick armor but if we have some stronger guns than the basic equipped ones we have now that'll boost our chances I think. If I had a contact in the black market still I would be able to get us some guns that are more lethal than the ones we have now but the last guy I knew turned out to be a rat and nearly killed some friends of mine for "business," needless to say he's dead." "I wouldn't expect anyone to betray your trust to survive the reprisal." Miranda stated matter of factly though with a slight smirk creeping on her face.

Ty smirked himself for the truth of the statement and because Miranda had actually allowed a smirk to get on her face naturally instead of forcing it. Maybe she was changing; it might be a slight change but an improvement nonetheless. "As for me though I'm fine and ready for anything as long as the Illusive man doesn't try something stupid." Ty answered. "What about your family, are they okay with you doing this?" Miranda asked. "You mean okay with Cerberus or okay with being on the mission that is the start of a war that we will all be fighting soon enough?" Ty asked. "I guess both now that you mention it." Miranda said. "They still hate Cerberus as much as before though they see this as more of working with Shepard than working with glowy eyes. Otherwise yea they're fine 'cause I don't plan on dying and this war that is coming involves everyone no matter race or status. As long as the Illusive Man remembers that he actually could be a big help, if he goes all power hungry and doesn't think through what a war with the Reapers is and why we have to destroy them then he'll be wasting good resources." Ty said. "He knows what needs to be done." Miranda assured. Ty chuckled and said "Right excuse me if I don't seem completely convinced. You put too much trust in the man but hey he's your boss I guess you have to regardless of what I think of him." Miranda chose to ignore his comment which was fine, he doubted her faith in the man would ever be easily shaken regardless of what he said, she'd need to see something with her own eyes that was completely terrible for it to really sink in. "I know you risk your life a lot but if you did happen to die could they handle that?" Miranda asked.

Ty shrugged a little and said "Well all hell would break loose and I'm sure Cerberus would be the main target, death isn't a possibility unless you let it be a possibility and when we take it to them it won't be a possibility." "You seem sure of that." Miranda said. "Because I know who's leading us and I know everyone we have fighting with us and once everything is ready nothing can stop us." Ty said. "I wish I shared your optimism." Miranda said. "Yea you can be a bit of a Debby downer sometimes." Ty joked. Miranda rolled her eyes at him, "You should, have more optimism I mean since Shepard is one hell of a leader and the crew of miscreants she's leading, including us, are some of the toughest and smartest fighters out there." Ty said. "I don't doubt Shepard's talent to lead, I guess I actually envy that in her but the Collectors are an unknown and what we do know is that they can abduct entire colonies like clock work." Miranda said.

Miranda sat forward and her faced showed the worry that she easily hid from others, "Yeah but we got Mordin to come up with a repellent that has worked so far and we stopped them from abducting a whole colony on a fly response imagine what we can do when we are the ones preparing the attack." Ty said. "We don't even know where there base is just that it is beyond the Omega 4 Relay which we don't know how to get through without getting killed let alone why they are abducting human colonists." Miranda stated. Miranda venting her stresses to him was a bit odd but Ty still considered her a friend so he was going to do his best to ease those stresses, "Not yet but we will and we'll kick their asses and send them back to their masters on their knees bloodied and battered or just plain dead." Ty said. "I never thought you'd be such an optimist." Miranda said. "And I never thought I'd see you shed a tear over anything." Ty retorted. "That's different and not up for discussion." Miranda defended. Ty smirked and raised his hands in an I surrender motion and said "Okay, how'd it go by the way?"

Miranda's mood changed and she relaxed in the chair with a smile and said "It went well her parents were surprised but she adapted quickly. I'm glad that I did it though I don't really know what else I'm going to do about it I haven't thought that far ahead about it since there is so much to focus on with this mission." Ty smirked and said "I told you so." Miranda shook her head with a smile and said "Shut up you ass." "Just glad to be right sometimes, anything else you wanna talk about Miranda?" Ty asked. "You have time to spar?" Miranda asked. Ty laughed a little to himself and said "You know if you would've asked me earlier before I was tossed across the room and have to balance myself with my leg and back muscles I would've said bring it on but since my back and legs are sore I'll have to take a rain check maybe tomorrow or the next day I just don't think I could go as long as we did last time right now." Miranda nodded and said "We'll do it another time then, I did warn you not to step into that fight though."

Ty waved her off and said "Yeah yeah yeah but I'm stubborn and don't listen to things that involve my own well being and safety, I'm gonna go work on guns I'll talk to you later Miranda." "Goodbye Ty." Miranda said. Ty left the her office and looked to the table and noticed both Grunt and Tali were gone so he continued on his way to the elevator and after waiting for it to get up to him he took it down to the Cargo Hold where his work was waiting for him.

Four Hours Later

Working on the designs for Jacobs shotgun took a while first to figure out and then paint but he finally figured it all out and was satisfied with the result, he had made it a black base with a gold barrel and gold down the sides and on the back of the grip he also added a choke on it for more damage. He had engraved Jacob Taylor into one side and Mr. Abs into the other, after completing it Ty started on Mordin's ammo and kill counter for his tempest though he wasn't sure Mordin was into the kill counter he just figured it would be a nice add on if he wanted it. He had equipped both Mordin and Jacobs guns with inferno ammo though he wasn't sure if it was Mordin's preferred or not but it was what he was going to have either way if he wanted it.

While finishing up Jacobs gun Shepard, Jack and Garrus got back with Samara who was ready to do the mission with them though Ty passed on the meeting not sure if the Justicar and him would get along or if she even knew who he had been before and if it mattered he was trying to change, he doubted them all since from what little he knew about Justicar's they had a strict code and it didn't get broken for anyone, it wasn't a pleasant thought thinking about how she could filet him with her mind if she wanted to.

He had finished up the kill counter and ammo on Mordin's then called it quits since he had to think about what paint job to do this time around though he was starting to get ideas already and he was going to need some more metal so he could add onto it like he did Garrus's but in a different way. As he thought he looked at the shooting range and looked at the targets he had painted and noticed a lack of art to the last one he had done that was furthest away from the elevator, there was nothing spontaneous about it, it was just a plain face and it didn't scream out shoot me so he grabbed a few different cans of paint and walked over to the crate and started painting and getting very creative with it.

Two Hours Later

It was finished, it was impressive and most of all it screamed shoot me. Ty backed away from his art and smiled and said "Now that's a target." It was a masterpiece and when some of the squad members saw it they'd probably only ever use that space and some would avoid it, the target took on a shape of its own as Ty started painting and when he finished he barely realized what he had did. The slicked back hair, the piercing blue eyes, a cigarette in his fingers as he sat in a chair wearing a black suit with a white undershirt, the Illusive man had appeared as Ty remembered him and he even had a thought bubble that read "No one can see things the way I do, I'm the Illusive man I am the pinnacle of human kind." Under the thought bubble Ty wrote "Shoot me in the head I'm asking for it." A true work of art is what it was and Ty was proud of it though he was sure Miranda would no doubtly be pissed but she'd have to at least chuckle to herself at the true artisanship of it, it was perfect.

**A/N: Haven't gave the ol disclaimer in a while, I know its a big surprise but yes I still do not own the mass effect universe or anything of that sort since that still belongs to Bioware/E/A and that is a good thing. I do stake claim in the personalities of Ty and co who are not apart of the actual mass effect universe. Thank you to all who have read this thus far and those who have fav'd, followed and such, new and originals thank you. Not much new news really from me so have a good one and I'll see you next time.**


	50. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Baby Café

As Ty stared at the reanimation of the Illusive man many thoughts crossed his mind of how life would have been had his mother survived long ago and if the man responsible hadn't been such an evil person, he didn't doubt that it would have changed that much since his grandfather would likely have still been killed and that was the cause of the blacklisting of his family. Maybe he had been lucky in a way though, had his life been different he may not have met his old friends or his new ones. Ty sighed as he walked away from the depiction of the Illusive Man_, for all I know I might have been a slightly different person_, Ty thought_, I never wanted to fight as a kid anyway so I might not have even taken up fighting and followed a more easy boring life. _

It was a sad reality that he had to lose so much to be the person that he was now, a person that he was happier to be now than he had been the last few years. He wished that his grandfather and his mother had survived because of who he knew his grandfather to be and what his father had told him about his mother but that wasn't the way it all worked out and for the most part with all the experiences he had gone through good and bad he wouldn't pass any of it up. Even though some of the things he experienced tore his chest open, ripped out his heart and crushed it in front of him he couldn't even think of what his life had been like if he hadn't met the people he had loved and lost even if losing them had been the worst feeling in the universe just being able to have known them was worthwhile.

Ty stopped at his work bench and sat down to relax for a moment, _wonder if Tali and Shepard have spare time to talk, they did wish to hear about how I was created and now is as good as time as any for me,_ Ty thought. It wasn't a fully happy story but one he wished to only tell once so he didn't have to explain it again, it was mostly common knowledge on the Normandy that Ty and his brother were created in an experiment; while he knew Mordin had a scientific curiosity about it all he wondered how much the others wished to know. _I should just invite them all to talk or over a comm link or something and if they want to know they'll listen and if they are fine with the knowledge they have now then they won't, _Ty thought.

Ty let out another sigh. He hadn't even known the woman fully but the story still hurt in its own way, maybe it was hearing the hurt in his father's tone and the hurt look on his face when he had told Ty and his brother about it that left an impact on Ty or maybe it was the childish wish in him to have known her better because of the person his father had described her as. _Someday we'll meet that is certain,_ Ty thought, _I just hope it's later than sooner in that case_. Ty opened a comm link to Joker from the terminal at his work bench, "Joker." Joker answered. "Hey Joker I gotta question for you." Ty said. "This isn't going to be one of the really weird questions is it?" Joker asked. Ty rolled his eyes as he chuckled, "No, could you send a message for me asking the crew if they want to know about how I got my past seeing abilities and purple eyes and such?" Ty asked. "Sure I'll send out the memo." Joker answered. "Thanks Joker you're the best." Ty said. "Didn't have to tell me that I knew already." Joker said. Ty shut the comm off and used the elevator to head up to the Crew Quarters while he waited for the response, the elevator doors opened and he walked out and to his room not knowing exactly how he was going to tell everyone who wanted to hear it whether through comm link or just all in the mess hall

He got in his room and laid down on his bed when EDI popped up across from him and said "Mr. Moreau wants me to tell you that Shepard, Samara, and Kasumi are heading to your room while Garrus, Tali'Zorah, Doctor Chakwas, Miranda, Jack and Mordin will listen from their rooms. Grunt said he'd listen but he wasn't really interested unless there was a big battle so I would not expect to hear him ask any questions and Jacob Taylor had little interest in it so he asked not to be involved." That was surprising, Ty hadn't thought that nearly all of them would like to hear about it but that made it easier for him since he'd only have to tell it once and if any of the other people they recruited wanted to know they would be able to ask anyone in the crew. "Wow that's more than I expected, are you going to open the comm while I talk?" Ty asked. "Yes you will be able to talk at any pitch and they will still be able to hear you." EDI answered. "Alright thanks a lot EDI and tell Joker thanks as well." Ty said. "I will." EDI answered as she disappeared.

A few minutes passed while Ty relaxed himself on his bed but his door opened and Kasumi, Shepard and Samara walked in simultaneously. _She's a justicar?_ Ty thought,_ damn not what I thought by a long shot._ Samara didn't look as Ty thought she would, he imagined a Justicar to look more threatening not as regal as Samara looked. He had only ever heard of a Justicar once or twice in his life from Valera and Tara and it wasn't a huge amount of information either but the information he did know didn't prepare him for her actual appearance. She wore a red armor that hugged her body and showed her curves, the armor opened in a v form revealing her cleavage and her blue chest and neck, she also had a slim piece of red armor on her face that went up her cheek on both sides then bent towards her nose above her eyes.

Though he expected a different type of armor it probably was a good armor for her since she obviously didn't wear it to get men or women of any race to stare at her, she was a Justicar love or relationships more than friends probably weren't allowed. Ty did notice that she had a certain type of beauty to her that he had only seen a few times in his life from the Asari but one of the more astounding features of hers were her eyes, they were a very light blue color that showed a caring soul deep under all the armor and barriers but the color captured Ty's gaze quickly. The only one he had met recently that had a similar effect on him was Shepard with her dark vibrant blue eyes.

Her eyes held his as he admired the beauty of them and searched them for answers to his unspoken questions, why was she here? They never met but she was here to listen to a story about things she didn't know about. Would they have issues in the future because of their choices in their lives? Was there really care in her eyes or was it a façade she could switch on and off? Answers would come in time but not now so Ty sat up and said "Sit where you feel comfortable I'll probably end up pacing back and forth." The three nodded their heads and Kasumi and Shepard sat in two of the plush chairs in his room while he stood up and walked over to Samara to introduce himself, "I'm Tyler Rhoddy but everyone calls me Ty." Ty introduced himself putting his hand out for a handshake. Samara shook his hand elegantly and said "I am Samara; I am pleased to meet you Ty." "Likewise." Ty said.

Samara sat on his bed crossed legged which reminded him of himself in a way so he figured she probably meditated a lot, "EDI do you have the comm open?" Ty asked. "No it will take a few seconds to link everyone in." EDI answered. "Okay, I guess I should apologize to you now Samara since our first meeting is you listening to me talk about something that isn't really a bright gleaming light in my past." Ty said. "There is no need to apologize I could have chosen not to listen but I was intrigued to hear some of your story and why you have the abilities you have. I have seen many bad things in my long life I will not be affected by this." "I hope so." Ty said. For someone who was commanded by her code to kill innocents if they held her against her mission she seemed very calm, though everyone on this crazy ship had calmness about them when they weren't in battle. She had sincerity in her voice that told Ty she was truthful about what she had said but he hoped that the darker part of the story truly didn't affect anyone who heard it.

EDI popped up on her terminal in Ty's room and said "The links have been connected you may start talking when you are ready Ty." "Thanks EDI, alright everyone who's on the comm you ready for me to start talking?" Ty asked. "Ready." Garrus answered. "I'm ready Ty." Tali said. "Yes." Mordin answered. "Go ahead dick." Jack answered. "I am ready." Chakwas answered. "Whenever you are ready Ty." Miranda said. It was unexpected to have almost all the squad waiting to hear the story, maybe they were all just curious of how he got the power or maybe the bonds he had with them were bigger than he thought, he shrugged off the thought and said "I'll warn you all now that the last half may evoke some anger deep inside you but then again a lot of my past isn't very happy as you have all found out but anyway I'll just get this over with so we can all get back to our duties."

Ty walked to his big window and started pacing a little, "My father is a human as you know but my mother was a Drell so as you can guess a human Drell hybrid is so rare it doesn't exist to my knowledge. They fell in love at a young age and were together for years while my grandfather worked for the Alliance through contracts and my father just hired himself out like my grandfather did at first. Eventually though she wanted to have kids with my dad and after long talks of what they would do they finally came upon this secret scientist guy named Dr. Vance who was a specialist in basically a "baby café" as my dad explained it." Ty started. "A what?" Garrus asked. "Baby café, if I'm keeping with this metaphor than you could go to him and order off a menu what you wanted your child to have." Ty explained.

A silence filled the room and the comm so Ty forced a chuckle and said "Yeah like I said this is not a fully happy story so if you want to leave be my guest." Silence filled once again but there was no sign of the comms being shut off so Ty continued, "So he experimented on babies experimenting with human DNA trying to unlock different potentials and my mother wanted to have kids that had the Drell quality of past reliving though not as extreme so after deciding they wanted two sons three years apart from each other they told the doctor what they wanted and he obliged."

Ty stopped pacing and stared out into oblivion then continued "My dad says now that he should have known it was a bad decision to trust this guy since he was fucked up in the head but they wanted kids so they were blinded by that he said. The guy ended up experimenting on a three year old, my now biological brother, while experimenting on me as a day old and changed our DNA so we'd have similarities to my parents and we'd become biologically related but what he didn't tell them is that he also experimented with different abilities giving us the Asari melding ability and the Drell ability to be able to recall our past with perfect clarity but without the slipping into it unless we did it ourselves, though I'll let you guys be the judge on that one being successful or not based on how much I do actually slip without consent."

_And here comes the confusion that I face that has no answer,_ Ty thought. "Something went wrong though. No one that's alive is sure of what went wrong but something did because we are able to see every past moment around us or of someone else's. I mysteriously have four interconnecting nervous systems, three of which we know are human, Asari, and Drell and the other that is this big mystery that hasn't been solved."

Pacing back and forth again Ty waited to see if there were any questions yet, "So your eyes are purple and your brothers are really bright green because of this 's experiment?" Tali asked. "Yup, as far as I know human eyes can't be purple and they can't be as neon as my brothers are without contacts or some type of science like the one this guy used." Ty answered. _And I am thankful I have human eyes without the second set of eyelids, that would just be creepy_, Ty thought. "What about when you visit your past or lose control of your anger and your eyes go all purple and your veins get darker blue and your muscles tense out?" Garrus asked. "We aren't sure if it was intended to do that but yea from the same experiment. For some reason in times of severe pain and anguish and my anger gets unleashed my veins and muscles do that but any other time I lose my temper it's just my eyes going purple." Ty answered. "And here comes the fun part." Jack said dryly. "It's like you've heard me tell this type of story before Jack." Ty said with a smile. "I know you well enough now to know that you start out with something like that and then end it with the shit that pisses everyone off." Jack said.

Ty continued smiling as he said "It's kinda become my thing when we get new recruits to share some history of mine I guess but yea your right that's where this is heading. The experiments worked and the guy gave me and my brother to my parents and sent them on their way for a fee and for three years nothing bad happened. My parents raised us with unconditional love and were on their way to becoming normal citizens even being able to visit Earth once and watch a sunset which is the only intact memory I have of her but I guess that isn't so bad since the things I know now I'm glad I don't remember."

The reflection of the window showed Kasumi, Shepard and Samara listening intently with looks that were between surprise and question, Ty continued as he looked away from their reflections not sure how he was going to hold up for the remainder of the story, "I grew up from years four and up with no memory of my mother except the mother my father told me about who was a human woman who left us because she didn't give a damn about anyone but herself. I wondered for a little while after he told us the truth why my father would tell us that instead of the truth and I think I understand it a little now, I think his grief was a key factor but the other key factor I think was so we wouldn't grow up knowing our mother was dead and he wouldn't have to explain it to us more than once since we wouldn't understand as innocent children that mommy died because we were an experiment that was recalled."

He stopped pacing and turned around to face the three in his room then leaned his back against the window and slid down to the floor to sit, "I feel bad that my father lost her and I understand in a way what he felt because of Ka'Reena and when I lost her but even though I didn't know her that much I guess I still love her since she was my mother and what she did for us will immortalize her to me." "What was your mother's name?" Shepard asked in a caring tone. "My dad told me it was difficult for him to pronounce still to this day so to save himself the trouble he called her Cassie when she was alive which was the closest name to it." "What happened to this Ka'Reena if it is not rude to ask?" Samara asked.

Ty shook his head, he forgot that Samara was new for a moment and had no knowledge on what had happened to him. "It's not rude I forgot you didn't know, Ka'Reena was my Quarian girlfriend and lover and it got really serious to the point of us being bondmates and or lifemates which is about as serious as it sounds. Short version is I worked in the Blue Suns with my own crew of people until they sent us to deliver women and children to slavers and we choose not to because of how wrong it was, they were watching us so they knew what happened and blew up our ship along with everyone in my group except me and one other member. I hunted them and met Ka'Reena then they kidnapped her and murdered her in front of me to try to incite my anger…" Ty let out a sigh of defeat, "They did succeed in that much." Ty said solemnly. Samara nodded and Ty could see in Shepard's eyes that she wished to be sitting next to him so she could do something to comfort him but was restraining herself, "I can see that you have been burdened by this for many years, you have had a hard time letting yourself feel again and have on occasion blocked everyone that you care about out of your life so you could be cold and calculating and not effect anyone but who you hunted." Samara stated.

If Ty had been showing his true feelings his jaw would have hit the floor and he would have questioned her being a psychic but he held those emotions in to not seem like an utter fool on this first meeting. She was wise and had read Ty like a book within seconds, it was impressive but it almost sounded like a question or like she had known someone with the same qualities before and there was a connection she was making, _maybe she's referring to herself,_ Ty wondered. He'd figure it out eventually if all went well between the two but for now everyone in the room nodded including Ty all agreeing that what she had said was true, Samara nodded to him giving him her full attention and said "I see, please continue if there are no other questions."


	51. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Mr. Rhoddy's Revenge

**A/N: I felt spontaneous so two chapters today, enjoy and I'll see you next time**

Ty closed his eyes and rested his head back waiting for any other questions but received none so he continued with his eyes closed "When I was three and my brother was six my dad started getting calls from this Dr. Vance, he wanted to see us so he could run more tests on us and my dad essentially told him to fuck off because if it wasn't for the fact they needed him to gives us the past seeing ability he wouldn't have used him. After a few weeks of getting badgered by his calls it stopped and my dad knowing better knew it was far from over. My mother went out with me and my brother one day to the Citadel and brought us down into the wards where Flux is to look out at all the arms of the Citadel because of the sight and how beautiful it was…"

Twenty Years Ago

_Cassie was holding both three year old Ty and six year old Z's hands as they walked through the lower wards to the great view she was bringing them to see, the Citadel arms that expanded out into the distance sheltering more than millions of people in city like areas. Cassie's clothing was similar to Thanes but more feminine and her complexion was like Kolyat's. Both brothers had long hair as they did in the present and wore the same type of clothing just smaller, they looked similar to as they did now just without the tattoos and younger with a more innocent look. Cassie brought them there because it was a breath taking sight to see and she hoped that their father would be able to meet them there soon so he could share with them the experience. _

_ They stopped at the balcony and she looked down at them and asked "So who wants to ride on my shoulders and who wants to be in my arms?" "Ty Ty can ride on your shoulders, I got to last time." Z answered. Z was already watching after his little brother making sure Ty was given fair opportunities and sometimes even sacrificing his own opportunities so he could let Ty have a great experience even if Ty wanted Z to have it. Cassie smiled at that, her sons were marvelous kids and she was already so proud of whom they were turning out to be. __**They'll brighten the Galaxy when they are older, I just know it,**__ Cassie thought. "Okay, up you go Ty Ty." Cassie said._

_ She lifted Ty up and onto her shoulders then lifted Z into her arms and asked "Can you see it?" "Whoaaaa." The brothers said in unison. "That's the Citadels arms." Cassie said. "Look at all those lights, are those people's houses?" Z asked. "Yep, millions of people from all the races live on those arms coexisting together in this great galaxy." Cassie said. It was a shame that wasn't the full reality but she would not let her sons know that even on this grand structure that people still couldn't coexist. "How come they can't co-ex-ist all the time and stop the fighting that daddy and grandpa have to do?" Ty asked. Cassie smiled again, her sweat little Ty never liked that fighting was necessary always believing that if people stopped looking at what made them dissimilar and just focused on being a cohesive unit fighting wouldn't be necessary. "Well because not everyone in this galaxy believes in coexisting, some believe that their race is superior and they shouldn't have to coexist. They believe they are in the right though as you have pointed out it is wrong and they shouldn't think like that because we are all children of this galaxy." Cassie answered honestly. "Those people are dumb." Ty said immaturely. Cassie smiled and Z asked "Do you think anyone out there could ever unite everyone together?" _

_ She hoped someone could, she prayed that the need for killing others for the sake of war, conflict or political gain would end but she did not fool herself in thinking that she would see the day come herself. The Spirits did not move that quickly for things like that could not be rushed or the fighting would emerge again. "I don't know baby I don't know, maybe if no one steps up you two could be the people." Cassie said. The brothers looked at each other with smiles and said in unison "Awesome."_

The Present

Ty's vision came back to normal and he realized his eyes had opened and he revisited a memory, he shook his head getting his bearings as he looked around his room, Samara and Kasumi had different looks of confusion but Shepard had a worried look, "You okay Ty your eyes went purple and you stopped talking?" Shepard asked. _What the fuck was that_? Ty thought, _I was seeing that all from her perspective and I never joined minds with her…unless as a child it happened or maybe through my own memories that are awakening my mind is opening hers as well…Okay that's just confusing me even more_. "I'm fine where was I?" Ty asked. "She brought you two to the Citadel arms to show you two the beauty then you stopped." Kasumi answered. Ty nodded and said "Alright I remember now." _In more ways than one_. "While we looked on we conversed on some stuff and stared at the arms that's when the attack happened. My dad told me she was trained by the Hanar to be an assassin but she had two little kids with her and trying to stop people from kidnapping your kids all the while trying to fight off people is difficult for anyone."

The past moment that flashed into Ty's head threw him out of whack mentally with the sudden memory of his mother being there but he regained his composure mentally when Miranda asked "They tried to kidnap you and your brother on the Citadel?" "Yeah they had been watching my mother and knew where to find us so they sprung their attack and tried to get away, my father found out from a contact of his right before it happened and he tried to reach my mother on her omni-tool. For some reason he couldn't so he flew to the Citadel since he was in the area and tried to get to her as quick as he could. The men had beaten my mother down pretty hard and were still beating her down when my dad found them; they met their end quickly..." The past flashed into Ty's head again but he continued talking as he saw the images happening, his memories were awakening.

Twenty Years Ago

_A few minutes passed by after the initial conversation when Cassie felt a sudden hit in the back of her knee making her fall backwards and lose grip on both of her sons, "Get the kids and keep her down." Someone ordered. Cassie's training kicked in as she kipped up and looked at her assailants, there were twelve of them not the best odds but they already had Ty in their hands and she was not about to let them kidnap her children. "LET HIM GO!" Z screamed as he started attacking the kidnapper with Ty in his hands. He stomped on his foot and punched him below the belt making him turn over and drop Ty, Cassie sprung her attack as well using any means necessary to take the assailants down, she punched one in the face three times and followed it up with a brutal uppercut that knocked him to the ground. Two attacked at the same time trying to punch her but she caught both arms and twisted them together then followed it with two hard kicks to the gut that sent them careening into more of their friends._

_ Z had grabbed Ty and retreated behind their mother with him keeping Ty behind him and having his fists up ready to fight, "I'm gonna kill that kid." The man Z downed said as he picked himself off the floor. Cassie roundhouse kicked another assailant then dodge a punch from another following it with a hard kick to the side of the knee hyper extending it. One grabbed her from behind putting her in a choke hold while two went to attack her, she kicked at them both keeping them away until Z ran up and yelled "Let my mom go!" He then fired off another two low blow shots making the man let out a high pitched yelp and loosened his grip enough for Cassie to flip him over her head and onto the ground, she was hit by a punch to the face and a kick to the gut by two other assailants that had gone after her while she was in the choke hold but she recovered quickly._

_ Two assailants went for Ty and Z but Cassie turned and took them down with an elbow to ones temple and trapping the others arm and breaking it, though it was a good thought it also opened her up for the three remaining assailants that hadn't been taken down by her or Z to rush her from behind and take her down hard. There was an earth shattering scream that no one had heard yet from Ty, his eyes had turned fully purple and his veins became bluer as his muscles tensed out and he went after the three who were stomping his mother. Though he was only three his lack of size and strength didn't stop him from stomping and breaking their feet or elbowing them in the pills, with Z behind him they tried fighting off the assailants with stomps, low blows and even some skilled punches that they picked up from watching their dad and grandfather train with each other and just now from their mother._

_ They had a few members jumping up and down grabbing their feet and a few others on the ground mumbling curses while holding their family jewels, the beating Cassie received was harsh and she was feeling it as her sons were trying to help her up, "Come on mom we have to go this is no time to rest." Z said as he lifted one of his mother's arms up onto his shoulder. Ty had the other arm over his trying to help but despite their best efforts it wouldn't work, at this age their hearts were strong but they didn't have the man power to stop the fighting. They were snatched up as they thrashed and yelled trying to break free and help their mother who was being stomped and kicked repeatedly again, not even Ty's or Z's anger at that age could make them strong enough to break free but they continued to thrash and fight making it very difficult for the people to carry them._

_ Their dad arrived on the Citadel and had ran down to the wards and had to take the slow elevators down which slowed him down tremendously but when the last elevator finally arrived he bolted out in search of his family but only found his love being stomped and kicked by three assailants. "This bitch is gonna pay for her kid hitting my balls and for her breaking my arm." One said as he kicked and stomped. Anger took control of Mr. Rhoddy and he sprinted and tackled one to the ground then gouged a knife into his throat giving him a trach, he got up and dodged a few punches then broke ones wind pipe and used another knife to stab the other repeatedly as he dodged attacks until he got an opening and gouged it into his throat as well._

_ He took his knives back and put them away as he went to his lover and picked her up off the ground, Cassie couldn't believe that her children had gotten stolen from her, all her training and she couldn't keep them safe. "Tim they took them, they took Ty and Z. The boys tried to help me fight them but I wasn't able to protect them and now they have them." Cassie said with tears rolling down her face. "They can't be off the Citadel yet we can still get them back, can you still fight Cassie?" Tim asked. She nodded with a fire burning in her now, she was badly wounded but she would not let them take her children not while she still had strength left. Tim handed her a gun and said "Take this we aren't taking these bastards alive, Franklins on his way here and will try to head them off if they get to a shuttle, did you see which way they went?" Cassie pointed in the direction and Tim said "Let's hunt them down then."_

The Present

"My dad and mother, though she was badly injured, started going after us and found us being boarded on a shuttle with some of the mercs who the guy hired, it turned into a blood bath for them…" Ty explained.

Twenty Years Ago

_Tim and Cassie gunned down the assailants with many shots leaving them very holey, they got to the shuttle and opened the door revealing Z holding Ty in the corner of the ship with their eyes closed. "Buddy it's just us now, come here." Tim said. Z got up and walked over to them with Ty in his arms and had a shocked look on his face, Tim got them out of the shuttle and both parents hugged their children tightly not wanting to let go. Tim pried Ty from his brother and checked him over for injuries, injections or anything else that they could've done to him but found nothing so he handed him to Cassie and let her hold him in her arms and nuzzle him trying to get him out of his shocked state._

_ Tim checked over Z and said "I heard you fought hard for your mom and brother." Z nodded and said "Not hard enough though I have to train harder so I can fight like you and her so no one can ever hurt her or him again." Tim smiled at his son's determination to train hard when he was older, "Did Ty Ty help at all?" Tim asked. "He lost his temper and let out this battle cry that scared me, his muscles got bigger and his veins became really blue. He gained a lot of strength and broke a few feet and hit some in their mommy and daddy buttons, he'll be awesome someday." Z answered. Tim smiled and looked to his lover and said "I think they are fine it doesn't seem like they had any chance to hurt them severely." She nodded and held onto Ty tight still telling him how much she loved him and how sorry she was, he was in a complete state of shock and though Tim didn't know now he would soon find out that neither of his sons would remember this day or who their mother was._

_ As Tim looked back at Z Cassie suddenly jumped into him and pushed him and Z down, a shot rang out and Tim's instincts kicked in pulling out his gun and turning towards the gun shot where a lucky survivor had sat up enough to get a shot at him, he wasn't lucky much longer getting three bullets lodged into his head. Tim turned back to see Ty walk over and kneel at his mother's side as she was holding her chest, "Cassie." Tim said in a shocked tone as he knelt down at her side. She had a bullet wound above her heart, she had minutes to live if she was lucky, she caressed Ty's face "Ar- are you leaving us mommy?" Ty asked stuttering slightly in shock. She nodded and said "Yes it is my time; do not mourn my loss I will always be with you." Cassie put her hand on his small chest where his heart was and continued "In here." She brought her hand to the top of his head and continued again, "And in here, always remember to stay true to your heart, you don't gain strength from hate so don't let hate consume you it only brings evil. Great strength comes from the love you have for those you fight for." "I will mom but I- I don't want you to go." Ty said starting to cry. _

_ She caressed his face again and said "My sweat Ty you will grow to be such a wonderful person, I only wish I would be there with you through all your life." Cassie coughed, "But my time is up in this life, I will be waiting for you all one day on the shores of the afterlife and until you reach me I will be at your sides watching over you. Never stop fighting for what you believe is right and just in this universe. I love you Ty Ty." "I love you." Ty said softly. She turned to Z who was at her other side next to his dad who was in such shock he couldn't say anything, Cassie rubbed Z's face as well and said "Take care of your brother like you do now and never stop believing you can make a difference in this galaxy, you can be whatever you want as long as you put your mind to it, stay strong for me baby, I love you." "I love you to mom." Z said. _

_ Cassie looked at their father now and grabbed his hand with her remaining strength and said "Hold me in your arms one last time." Tim got her in his arms again and she said "I will be watching over you and someday we will see each other again, take good care of our children Tim they will brighten the galaxy someday as you have brightened my life." "You are my heart and soul Cassie." Tim said. She smiled her beautiful smile not allowing her death to change anything about her and said "You were mine as well but now they must be your heart and soul for the rest of your life until we all join each other on the shores of the afterlife someday in the distant future." "Keep a close eye." Tim said. "I will, I love you." Cassie said. "I love you Cassie." Tim said as his lover passed away in his arms._

The Present

Ty stared at the wall on the other side of his room as he came out of his past remembering it clearly now and feeling the sudden pain of loss of his mother but he hardened himself up and continued "My dad told me that my mother loved us all dearly and would have loved to watch us grow up but granting us the ability to live was more important to her, she had seen the gunman and had enough time to put me down gently and push my dad and brother out of the way taking the bullet to her chest right above her heart. She died within a minute but not before telling my father she loved him as she died in his arms, she gave her life to save his and my brothers since the shot would've killed both and after my dad and grandfather got us to safety his rage took hold of him like it does me and my brother and my grandfather before him."

Ty hadn't noticed but his voice had become hollow with a mixture of sadness and loss taking the rest of the space, "Where was C-Sec?" Shepard asked. "I asked the same thing, my dad told me he didn't know until later that the group that Vance hired had paid off the right officials to turn their cheek, my grandfather hunted them down afterwards for being crooked cops since, well that was his job mixed with revenge." Ty said. "Tell me your dad got that Vance guy and that asshole didn't get away." Jack said with bitterness towards Vance and his cohorts. "My dad said he hunted him and hunted him and every time he got close he'd get away." Ty said.

Shepard shook her head in response as did Kasumi and Ty assumed a few others over the comm but Samara remained composed, you could see her mind working as Jack said "Bullshit that fucker deserved to die for what he did to kids including you and your brother and then that ordered hit on the Citadel...Its fucking bullshit." "That's terrible Ty." Tali said. "Does your father still hunt him or look for leads?" Garrus asked. Before Ty answered Shepard caught his eyes, her eyes held pain in them likely for what Ty was explaining and for Ty who had pain in his eyes as well though he was unaware. Though neither of them moved from their spots the distance between them felt like it didn't exist as Shepard attempted to pour her comfort telepathically to Ty. "Is he still out there somewhere?" Shepard asked.

Ty shook his head and said "No he's dead but not by my dad's hand." "Bull fucking shit." Jack said anger rising in her tone. "Your dad didn't even get to kill the guy who killed your mother?" Miranda asked with a slight agitation in her tone whether it was because of Jack being linked in or because of the story Ty didn't know. "That piece of shit how the hell did he get away with that." Jack said still angry. "Girls let him talk and you'll get your answers." Shepard said. "Sorry this really has actually gotten under my skin a little." Miranda said. "This is really pissing me off not knowing how this asshole died." Jack said. "I know I am new to this ship and crew but talking isn't going to let you find out, I am sorry if I'm too blunt but I would like to know the ending to this story as well, please Ty continue." Samara said calmly.

The biotic's seemed to calm down and Ty nodded at Samara and Shepard and continued "Before my grandfather died my dad finally caught up to the bastard, the guy was hiding on a ship. After blowing his way through guards my dad finally reached the man who took his lover away and tied him to a chair so he couldn't go anywhere as he beat the crap out of him, he was able to let out some frustration but Vance had other plans…"

Sixteen Years Ago

_Tim was wailing punch after punch to Vance's face and body not letting up the attack releasing every bit of emotion he had been holding inside, Vance's face was bloodied and bruised but he was still conscious and that was the plan. Tim hit Vance with another hard punch then stopped, Vance spit blood onto the floor then looked up at Tim and asked "You feel better yet?" "You smug piece of shit." Tim spat then pulled out a knife and impaled it through his hand making Vance scream because of the pain. Tim started spinning the knife around eliciting more screams until he tore it out and yelled "Do you feel better NOW!" Tim stabbed it into his other hand and yelled "My kids don't even remember who their mother is because of you and I've tried for four years to get them to remember! I finally had to tell them a lie that they fully believe now about the woman I love, do you understand now how much pain that has caused me!" _

_ Vance was screaming bloody murder as Tim moved the knife around in his hand, he finally tore it out and used the blunt end to smash Vance in the nose hard breaking it, "What other experiments did you conduct on my children that you didn't tell me? My oldest son can merge his minds with anyone he touches and see their past and let them see his and he's been knocked unconscious with a bloody nose for an hour because of it. My youngest sons body changes when he loses his temper and it changes his mental outlook on everything turning him into what he refers to now as his demon!" "That's all I did." Vance cried in pain. Tim took another knife out and stabbed both knifes into Vance's thighs and started moving them around as he screamed, "I swear that's all I did I swear it, your sons gain strength from losing their temper just like you do all I did was increase it tenfold that's why their bodies change, I don't know why your oldest can see everyone's past and show them his it wasn't a part of the experiment." Tim took the knives out and asked with anger "Why did you send those men to take them away then?" "I wanted to run more tests and experiments on them at their ages and see what else I could do, they wouldn't have remembered it." Vance pleaded._

_ Anger surged through Tim as he took his knife and drove it deep into Vance's stomach and screamed into his face "You sick fuck those are children you are talking about and because of your bullshit they lost their mother and can't remember she even existed and loved them!" Tim took the knife out and used medi-gel to heal Vance's bigger wounds; he wasn't done with him yet. "You're the one who wanted the kids experimented on remember, you came to me." Vance said. "I didn't believe in experimenting on kids but that was the only way Cassie could have her wish and she was against it as well but the sliver of hope of having human children with Drell qualities was the only reason we came to you." Tim said. "Hope is overrated and look what that got you two." Vance said with an evil smirk._

_ Tim's anger exploded as he wailed punch after punch on Vance until he finally stopped and cut his shirt down the middle so he could inflict more pain on him but what caught his eye was something strapped to Vance's chest that was counting down from seven now. "I hope you said goodbye to your kids Mr. Rhoddy because you won't be seeing them again." Vance said. Tim kicked Vance in the chest making the chair roll backwards to the end of the room as Tim dove out of the room and into the hallway; the explosion ripped a hole into the ship and sucked the burnt dismembered corpse of Dr. Vance into the vacuum of space. Cassie could finally rest in peace with the man behind her death finally dead._

The Present

"Four years harboring the anger and hatred and the guy blows himself up. As I grew into my teens I found out me and my brother could see any past moment or anyone's past without contact and when I told my dad this he told me it was a rare case in humans that so far only me and my brother had, apparently not even Vance knew that we'd gain that ability or where it came from but however it happened its lost now since he's dead and my dad destroyed all his work. Now you all know the truth of how I got this ability and what happened to my mother and how the man behind it all died, it's not a happy story but I'll try next time we do something like this to tell a better one." Ty said. "You have no memory of your mother now though?" Kasumi asked.

Ty wasn't stupid, Kasumi knew already that he had seen all those memories again but he already had decided that for now he wasn't going to tell anyone that he had seen almost everything they had talked about. For now that wasn't information he felt like sharing, not after reliving it and reopening a wound he had no idea was there. "Exception of the sunset on Earth I don't remember anything everything I told you was what my dad had told me and my brother." Ty answered. Kasumi gave him a knowing look but he shook his head in an attempt to have her drop it since he didn't want to talk more on it, she nodded slightly in understanding and kept quiet. "Your father must've had a hard time for a while." Garrus said. "Yea and my grandfather was murdered the next year after Vance died." Ty said. "Ouch." Garrus responded.

Ty chuckled and said "Yea my sentiments exactly." "Least that bastard got what he deserved." Tali said. "He deserved worse than that, I'm shutting this thing off before I tear this ship a new one." Jack said. "Later Jack." Ty said. "Yea…whatever." Jack said then shut off the comm. "She rips anything out Ty I'm sending Tali and Shepard after you." Joker said. "You been listening this whole time Joker?" Ty asked. "Yea figured I should so if someone tries talking to me about it I know." Joker said. Ty heard Mordin clear his throat, "Though I do not have much new information on your condition I would gladly share what knowledge I have with you and if you seek to know more there may be some tests we can perform to find out." Mordin said. "Is it voluntary or are you going to knock me out with some STG punch if I say no and do it anyway?" Ty asked trying to find some humor in himself. "Blunt trauma is not the way now it would be far easier to drug you…Though I would never do such thing unless it was asked of me by a volunteer…Hmm that did not sound much better, yes my experiment would be voluntary you do not have to do it if you do not want to know it is just my scientific curiosity."

Ty nodded to himself and said "Let me think about it Mordin I don't know right now if I want to." Ty answered. "Understandable, I will be here if you would like to know until then I must get back to finding out why a scale itch has found its way onto the Normandy, so far answers are troubling." Mordin said as he signed off. "That doesn't sound good, if I see any of you scratching I'm staying the hell away from you so don't take it offensively, anyone else signing off?" Ty asked. "I have some reports that still need doing; I'll talk to you some other time Ty." Miranda said. "You big partier you, later." Ty said. "I need to finish up some calibrations and…"

Garrus was interrupted by deep sighs from Tali, Shepard and Ty, "What?" Garrus asked. "You and your calibrations, you need to find yourself a girlfriend Garrus." Tali said. "And you can talk with how much time you spend cleaning those engines." Garrus said. "That's different." Tali retorted. "I think you have spent the same amount of time with those engines as you have telling us about your immune system in those elevator rides on the Citadel." Garrus fired back. "This conversation is over." Tali said flatly. "Tell me about your enviro-suit again." Garrus continued. "I have a shotgun." Tali retorted seriously. "Maybe another time." Garrus said. "Get to work you two I'll talk to you later." Ty said. "Bye Ty." Tali said then shut her comm off. "I'll see you later." Garrus said then shut off his comm. "If you still want to talk tonight Ty I'll still be up with some Ice brandy." Chakwas said. "I'll stop by if I stay up, later Chakwas." Ty said.

Chakwas shut her comm off and Ty looked at EDIs platform and asked "EDI is that everyone on the comm." "Yes Ty." EDI answered. "Alright feel free to leave if you want and make sure Joker doesn't continue eavesdropping if you do." Ty said. "Ass." Joker said. "Logging you out Ty." EDI said. "Bye EDI." Ty responded.


	52. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

What Could Go Wrong

**Edit: Forgot to put lines in when perspective changed, sorry to those who read it before hand if it was jarring or confusing at first.**

After everyone had logged out Ty sat in silence and contemplation thinking on the events he had just witnessed in his head, reliving it wasn't exactly what he wanted but seeing her and hearing her made it finally sink in to Ty that she actually did care and the woman his father had told him about truly was as he said she was, a loving spirit who had loved all three with all of her heart and soul. It also explained why his dad always mentioned the shores of the afterlife in past talks on death and spirits that they had when Ty was growing up, Ty finally looked up at the three in his room and said "I hope that the story didn't have the same effect on you three as it did Jack and Miranda and if it did I'm truly sorry." Kasumi was the first to speak up of the three "Not my favorite story that I've heard you tell but I'll be fine on it. I suggest that you don't dwell on it so you don't become all dark, brooding and scary again." Kasumi said. "Ha ha." Ty replied dryly. Kasumi smirked and said "I'm going to take my leave; I need to think on Hock."

Ty nodded, the sooner she got all the details figured out the sooner she could get Keiji's graybox back and then her mind would be focused on this mission. "If you need help on overcoming his security or any plans I'll be here." Ty offered. Kasumi nodded and got out of the seat taking her leave as she said she was, Samara uncrossed her legs and got off of his bed and said "I will leave as well so I may meditate on today's events, thank you both for being very welcoming. I haven't traveled with others in a long time and it is nice to feel so welcomed aboard this ship and crew." Ty nodded to her and Shepard said "You're welcome Samara; I'll stop by when I can so we can talk a little more since I'd like to learn more about you." Samara nodded and said "Stop by whenever you please I'd like to talk more with you as well." Samaras gaze moved to Ty and he looked up getting locked in it as she said "Though I have not known you long I believe your mothers sacrifice was not in vain, I hope we will talk more in the future." Knowing that she truly felt that way Ty nodded and said "We will."

Samara bowed her head a little and left, as his door closed he pushed himself off the window and to his feet, as he made his way towards his bed he said, "I like her Shepard you did good with recruiting her I think she will be very helpful, just do me a favor and don't do anything questionable around her so I don't have to try and stop a Justicar from killing you." Shepard smiled and said "Would I do something that extreme."

He doubted it very highly, Shepard wouldn't cross Samaras code on her worst day and on her best day she probably walked beside something close to her code. Ty shrugged anyway and sat down on the edge of his bed and said "Probably not but I wanted to make sure you knew how I felt on it. She's not what I expected from what little I heard about Justicar's from her looks to her attitude. She seems very wise too but I guess that comes from living basically a millennium…She read me like a book within seconds too something I find surprising and she seems very genuine in everything she says. If it wasn't for the fact I know she can filet me with her mind I would never have guessed right away that she killed people for a living, she just seems so calm and tranquil." "I'm going to guess you noticed her eyes as much as I did?" Shepard asked. _Her eyes were damned hypnotizing and full of so much history_, Ty thought to himself. "Yeah, she places third in my scale of women with beautiful eyes." Ty said. Shepard raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Wow seriously? Who's second?" Shepard asked. "Ka'Reena." Ty said. Shepard looked even more confused, Ka'Reena's eyes were gorgeous and being able to see them only when she took her mask off made seeing them all the more special, "Who is first on this list?" Shepard asked. Ty looked at her with a smirk and said "You."

A blush made its way to her face momentarily but it disappeared as quickly as it came being replaced by her beautiful smile. She stood up from the chair as her smile changed to a mischievous one and said "You know you seemed pretty protective over me with your worry on Samara killing me." Ty smirked at the comment, she was leading him somewhere with this but he was willing to follow so he could ask his own question, "Maybe I was but that's only me assuming we are going for more than just friends with benefits." Ty said. "Oh so even after our little shower discussion you're still worried that I have some infatuation with bad boys and I'm playing with your emotions to get with you." Shepard said sarcastically as she got in front of him.

That was exactly his worry but he hadn't been honest enough with her to tell her that, he was uncertain if she was just in such an emotional state that she didn't think it through or maybe she thought she was doing what he wanted and not thinking about her own needs. So many questions had swirled his mind recently about it but the only way he was going to get them answered was by asking, "It wouldn't be the first time someone tried playing my heart strings to get at me for an ulterior motive." Ty said. There had only been a few when he was still too young and dumb to realize he was being played but he learned his lessons and hadn't fallen into those traps since then.

Shepard put her hands on Ty's shoulders as she straddled his legs and said "Well if it makes you feel any better, hearing you get a little protective over me was enjoyable for me…it told me something I've been wondering since I talked to your brother." "Which is?" Ty asked. "How serious you thought this was. I was worried that maybe you just wanted to play with my heart strings and get with." Shepard made quotations with her fingers as she continued, "Commander Shepard." And all the glory and reputation that would bring." He probably should have resisted the joke for his own health but he didn't, "Well the thought did cross my mind once." Ty joked.

Shepard pushed him onto his back playfully and punched him in his left peck as she smiled; Ty smiled back and continued with his joke, "What can I say the thought of the most wanted Alliance fugitive nailing the top of the Alliance first human Spectre was sort of appealing before this." "I never pinged you as the good girl kind of guy; I always thought you preferred the bad ones." Shepard said sarcastically. Ty nodded slightly not letting up on the joke yet, "I do that's why you're on top of me." Ty retorted. "Oh so you're saying I'm bad?" Shepard asked with a smile. "Well pinning down a defenseless man isn't exactly a "good girl" trait." Ty said.

Shepard sent a biotic pulse through Ty's chest though it did little except push him back very slightly, it wasn't very powerful but then again she wasn't trying to hurt him or mess up his room. Ty smiled though in return because of the joke he still had up his sleeve, "And kissing him while he passes out doesn't fall in that category either." Ty said. A blue aura went around Shepard's body as she blushed deeply but she then sent another stronger pulse into his chest once again just knocking him back and not meant to really hurt him. As fun as it was making jokes and making her blush with his knowledge and quick wit Ty had to bring them back to being serious, his question had yet to be answered and he wanted, actually he needed to know the answer so he was certain what this all meant.

Were they just screwing with each other and really they just wanted to be friends with benefits on this crazy tour or were they actually being serious, were they really going to try for this despite all the risks it would likely entail. Either answer was fine for Ty; he just needed to know how committed they wanted to be. Ty's tone changed from playing around to serious as he asked "I know we said we both wanted this but I need you to answer my question in all seriousness right now, is this going to be completely serious or are we just fucking with each other?" The aura left Shepard as she turned serious as well, "Ty why are you so worried? I would never mess with someone's emotions and toy with them." He knew she wasn't like that but he still held worry, maybe it was because he wanted it to be more than just a casual thing that he was worried. "'Cause you were full of emotion when I told you yes and I need to know if this is serious or if it was a spur of the moment thing." Ty said. There was sudden look of realization on Shepard's face, "You don't want me to hurt you." Shepard stated.

Before Ty could say anything Shepard shook her at herself and said "I'm sorry Ty that was rude of me to just say that." Ty shook his head in return, she called him out when he was still being to cowardly to tell her how he really felt about it all. He didn't want to be hurt again; he didn't want to put his heart into something that would end up with him heartbroken for the third time in his short life. "No it was a true statement and I just couldn't bring myself to say it 'cause I didn't want you to worry about it. I am afraid of that Shepard; I'm damn terrified of going through another real heartbreaking experience. I've been down the hurting highway already, twice if you count what me and Tara had or just the general loss of my guys. I-…" Ty stopped himself momentarily but Shepard still looked intently at him searching his eyes for what he was going to say, Ty let out a sigh, he needed to say it he knew he did but damn was it hard bringing himself to admit these things, "I just need to know if this is real or not. If it is then great if it isn't then I need to know we're just gonna be friends with benefits or just friends."

* * *

He really was afraid like Z said he was, she felt bad for saying it so bluntly but she needed to know that is what he was afraid of. He wanted this to be real like she did, he wanted to be more than friends with benefits like she did she could see it in his stunning purple eyes. The thought that he wanted it to be real paralyzed her, it allayed her fears and doubts about what he wanted but now she had to allay his fears and she was afraid of screwing it up. He was there for her when she needed him most but she became paralyzed with fear of screwing things up when he needed her now to answer a simple question. Expressing her feelings was never her strongest suit, Lizzy and Kaiden could both testify to that with how many times she stumbled over herself.

Shepard took a deep breath as she thought, come on you got one chance at this and the answer is simple but you need to make sure he understands exactly how you feel, we all could be dead tomorrow at this time, he needs to know that you want this. Shepard knew what to say then something that she truly meant "We've both had our heartbreaks Ty but I honestly don't think there's anyone else in this galaxy I want to be with more than you." Shepard said with her heart behind it. Ty looked into her eyes, those flawless amethyst colored eyes staring deep into her sapphire ones heeding the truth in her words, feeling a slight bit of hope but still protected by a fortress that was created to protect him from feeling all the pain he had once felt again. "Are you sure this relationship is what you want? There's still time for you to tell me no you want someone else without losing our friendship Shepard." Ty said.

He believed her but he still questioned if he was right for her that much was certain and Shepard too held her own worries about it all but right now while she stared into his eyes she felt hope that they might be able to pull it off and that little bit of hope was good enough for her. It took all her will power to stop her biotic's and body from not showing how vulnerable and nervous she felt but she put on her best poker face, her hands were almost shaking as she put her hands on his to support her weight. She leaned down to him as her lips quivered and gave him a kiss on his lips, she let her tender lips stay against his soft lips for less than a second not wanting to push too far knowing that he still held some reservations, she removed her lips from his and looked deeply into his eyes as she said "I've made my choice, I want to be with you."

* * *

Through all the ups and downs of the story he had just gone through it was a real relief to hear that because he too wanted Shepard now more than a friend, it had long grown passed just wanting to be friends and they had started a relationship only recently but it was nice to know that she was in fact truly wanting their relationship. Maybe it was the thought that they both could actually in fact die going after the Collectors that moved her to be so bold to be in the position they were in and give him a kiss on the lips but her boldness was very attractive and the way she said what she said made it obvious that she was waiting to hear if he was in the same boat, he was. If he could have thought of a sly remark he would have but with none coming to mind he decided that honesty was better than a sly remark, "I want to be with you as well Shepard." Ty said. Shepard smiled and she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and leaned her forehead against his.

They stared into each other's eyes for several seconds looking far into them putting all the barriers and walls down both finding the same secureness in being together. They treaded different lives and had their own fair share of tragedies and heartbreaks but here and now in this moment was what mattered to them both, the past and future didn't matter right now, they'd climb those hills when they got to them. Right now as they got lost in each other's gaze it didn't matter where their origins were and how they would get past that in the future so they could continue to be together openly. They would cross that burning bridge when they came to it they were too caught in each other to care about that, Shepard's biotic's had begun to show slightly becoming a small force connecting the two together but neither had made a move yet.

They were both waiting seeing who'd make the first move, or second if you included Shepard's slight peck as the first, wondering if they should themselves but never breaking direct eye contact or glancing away, their eyes both read what they wanted but both were to nervous or concerned of taking the jump to the next level. As they were caught in indecision Ty had noticed Shepard had a nice scent he wasn't sure the exact smell of it but he was close to certain it was strawberry or something similar but he wasn't sure since he hadn't smelt any fruit in a while. She always had the smell but now he was breathing it in with every breath and though it smelt good he couldn't help but feel teased by it since they were both being indecisive. Maybe it was her lotion or maybe it was a shampoo or both either way it was a nice scent that he liked.

Shepard's biotic's had intensified into a dark blue with a hint of purple showing that as seconds upon seconds elapsed she was becoming more and more vulnerable letting more and more of what was left of her guard down, it was decision time for both either let the tender moment pass or make up your mind, they did, they both went in for a kiss slowly getting closer and closer still with their eyes open until they both knew their lips were almost touching but as they were about to connect the noise of Joker clearing his throat over the comm interrupted them killing the tender moment and making them both miss a breath and smile slightly, "Ahem, Commander sorry to interrupt you…getting to know your crew better but I have an urgent message from the Illusive Man, he needs to talk to you on the QEC right away." Shepard's smile disappeared and turned into a frown as she said in a deflated tone "Alright I'll be right up, how long have you've been eavesdropping anyways?" "Long enough." Joker said as he logged off. "Always something to interrupt when it's important to you right." Ty joked.

Shepard let a side of her mouth quirk up into a smile but stopped as she said "I have a serious question." "Shoot." Ty said. "When you were telling us about your mother were you reliving it for the first time?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded and said "Yea, I'll talk to you about another time, feels like a new wound right now." Shepard nodded and said "Okay, we'll continue this when I'm done talking to glowy eyes." "I'll hold you to it." Ty said with a smirk. Shepard smirked and gave Ty a quick hug and kiss on the cheek then got up and started walking away, as she got to his door Ty said sarcastically "Tell him hi from me." Shepard smiled and shook her head as she walked out completely.

Fifteen Minutes Later

Ty had been staring at the stars since Shepard left thinking on a lot starting from the moment they had shared together though he wondered if they would've just kissed right away if the moment would've had the same impact on him. He wasn't sure if it would've been as good as what happened, even if they didn't share a kiss he knew that it would've happened and would happen eventually. From that thought his thoughts moved to how much he was starting to care for her and from that to Jack and Miranda reacting to the story trying to figure out where the anger had come from on both. Jack was a bottle of anger, Miranda wasn't but they both in a way reacted the same on the story though Miranda's was more reserved than Jacks openness on it, he thought hard on it trying to figure it out when he heard the sudden hum of the Normandy and felt the Normandy start to move_. Shit looks like Joker wasn't kidding_, Ty thought, _the Collectors must be after another colony or something. Shepard's going to have to start working on that which means we'll continue where we left off another time. Oh well business before pleasure and with the colonies at stake I can deal with that_, Ty's thoughts drifted quickly from knowing that Shepard had things to plan back to Jack and Miranda's reactions.

His thoughts were funny in their own way in the sense that he cared a lot about Shepard but he was thinking about two other women and their emotions and reactions to something he said, he'd never live it down if he told Shepard about it. She'd probably find humor in it but he wasn't into giving ammunition to others to give him shit. Ty scooted himself to his pillows so he could get comfortable as he stared at the stars, leaving Illium and recruiting Samara began to sink in with Ty that though they still had some work to do they were getting closer to finally taking the fight to the Collectors wherever that fight would take place.

That fight was going to be a different experience but he was prepared for whatever it would bring, the Collectors were just the beginning though the Reapers were the puppet masters and their invasion would be no doubtly advanced by the defeat of their puppets, then again it might not since being a machine they wouldn't attack early out of fear. They didn't feel such thing…or at least Ty didn't think they'd feel something like that and hoped they wouldn't advance their war plans, the universe needed more time to prepare for something like the Reapers. _One Reaper caused a huge amount of damage, if there is an army of the bastards…_ Ty's thoughts trailed off momentarily, _we need to deal with these Collectors soon so we can be prepared for that, we don't stand a chance right now._

_ People thought this mission was a suicide run, this will be a cake walk compared to something of the Reapers magnitude, and if they target humans because of Shepard being a huge role in killing Sovereign then Earth would be the first target and billions and billions of innocent people would be killed and then the rest of the galaxy would be attacked and even more innocents who aren't even a part of this war would be killed. Man this thought sucks I know what we're up against and what I signed up for but really thinking on a literal basis of all the innocents that would be at stake, all the lives of every species everywhere on the shoulders of those who fight…that's a huge weight. Focus, Collectors first then we'll worry about the Reapers. One fight at a time you can't worry about a fight you aren't fighting right now…even if this fight affects that fight._

It was a troubling train of thought but Ty finally worked himself out of it and thought back on Jack and Miranda and the story he told and some of the key things that he thought would cause such anger. It couldn't have been about his mother sacrificing herself that caused the anger that wasn't when they got angry, they got angry about Vance getting away and the experiments that he performed, "the baby café" as Ty had called it. _Maybe it wa-_ "Ty we got a lead on the Collectors from the Illusive man, a Turian patrol was able to immobilize the ship and take down the life support on it." Shepard interrupted his thoughts as she came over the comm.

The Turian's have a huge amount of fire power but the Collectors, "Are you sure?" Ty asked. "The Illusive Man seems sure that it's what happened but…" Shepard stopped and Ty finished "But that doesn't mean shit since he is the Illusive Man the leader of Cerberus and has no real reason to tell us the truth." Shepard chuckled and said "Yea that about sums it up, either way though we're going to investigate and see if we can find some Collector technology or information that can help us with how to get to their main base. You up for it?" "Yea when do I need to be ready to go?" Ty asked. "We'll be there in ten hours or so, we'll meet at the shuttle when we get there." Shepard said. "I'll be there." Ty said.

Shepard sighed a little and asked "You're not mad about this right?" Ty chuckled a little, she was obviously disappointed that they couldn't continue where they left off, he was too but it wasn't the end of the universe. "Don't worry your pretty little figure about it, we've got to go now and be ready when we get there which means business before anything else. I'm not mad and you shouldn't be upset about it, we'll have our time together and it'll be un-interrupted when the time is right." "I know I just feel bad that we were in that moment and then this happened." Shepard said. "Don't feel bad it's how we have to work and we'll work around it in the future, get some rest Shepard I don't want to be kicking your ass around on that ship to get you moving." Ty said. Shepard scoffed, "You wish you could kick my ass." Shepard said in a mock serious tone. "Is that the Alliance Marine challenging me to a sparring match?" Ty asked. "Sorry I don't spar with guys who can't handle a real woman." Shepard said sarcastically.

Ouch, Ty thought, not the response I thought I'd get. "Okay first off the only "sparring" I ever did with women, exception of Miranda and a few friends of mine, was in the bedroom not in hand to hand combat and B a real man doesn't have to spar hand to hand with a real woman because of the gap of talent that a real woman lacks compared to a real man." Ty joked though he had known women who could best a lot of guys in fights. "Then maybe we should skip the hand to hand challenge and go right to the main event." Shepard said flirtatiously. Ty chuckled enjoying this flirtatious side of Shepard, "I don't know if you're ready for such an event you may need some training." Ty teased. "I'll need a trainer then, you want to help me prepare?" Shepard asked flirtatiously.

Ty hmmed for a few seconds then said "I don't know if you can survive my type of training, its main focus is physicality, passion and stamina, it lasts a few hours." "I'll give it a shot if you'll train me." Shepard said getting more flirtatious. "Training is just the beginning then it's the actual main event and that has tested some of the strongest wills." Ty said with a smile. "I can assure my will won't go down without a fight." Shepard said. "You are such a bad girl I don't know how you lasted in the Alliance hahaha." Ty said with a laugh truly enjoying the banter they were having. "Without real bad boys, bad girls don't make themselves known." Shepard said. "So are you saying all bad girls have a good girl tendency or that all good girls have a bad girl tendency?" Ty asked with a smirk. "Good question but that raises the tantalizing question of if all bad boys have a good guy tendency or if they act all bad but have a good heart under it all." Shepard said. "That's a good question though I think you found one of the few that have a good heart but can be bad when he wants." Ty said. "As long as it doesn't cross his morals at least." Shepard said. "Sounds like a lovely woman I know." Ty said.

Shepard let out a chuckle and said "Seems we're at a stalemate then." "Maybe but all it takes is one move to end that." Ty said. "One move, that's all it takes?" Shepard asked feigning innocence. "Usually, yea." Ty responded. "Hmm one move, that's a bit of a tease isn't it, one move and I could end this stalemate." Shepard said. "It's kinda like chess." Ty said. "Since when did you play chess?" Shepard asked in surprise and Ty figured she was smiling.

Ty couldn't help it he had to throw another tease in, "You'd be surprised at what I know and what I'm capable of." "Maybe you could show me some time." Shepard said flirtatiously. "Maybe I will if you'd bring your nice figure back down here." Ty flirted back. "Maybe I will." Shepard flirted. "Maybe you would but you won't tonight." Ty said. "Damn you for bringing in the truth I was enjoying that." Shepard said her flirtatious tone deflated completely. "It was painful for me to do but you were going to do the same thing." Ty said. "No I wasn't." Shepard said childishly. "That's a lie." Ty said. "Fine I confess you're right, happy?" Shepard asked. "No not really actually, I enjoy our flirty conversations and sexually tense moments that leave you with your biotic's glowing." Ty said.

A few seconds went with silence then Shepard came back over the comm, "My biotic's just glowed because of you." Shepard said. "I imagined they would." Ty teased. "Maybe we should have you on the frontlines fighting the Reapers, maybe embarrassing them is the way to defeat them, we could get a megaphone set up and have you on the mic." Shepard joked. "You'd miss me not being in your squad." Ty said. "Eh I could make do with Garrus I think." Shepard deadpanned. "Ouch." Ty said then continued "Though then again you seem to be attracted to guys with scars on their faces and soft hearts underneath all the armor." "How about I come down there and give you a facial scar to match the scar already on your face." Shepard said feigning a serious tone. "That sounds like a good time to me, maybe you should." Ty teased.

Silence ensued for another few seconds and Ty knew that she had not been able to think of a comeback and couldn't help the smile that came to his lips as Shepard came back over the comm "Damn you." "You have no idea how much I've heard that haha." Ty said with a laugh. "I wish I could come back down there." Shepard said. "You and I both but we both know what's at stake ten hours from now, we have to be well rested in case the Illusive boys just lying to us and sending us to our deaths." "Yea I know, thanks for being understanding about it." Shepard said.

The tone was getting back to serious from their flirting which Ty knew meant it was time to rest up for both of them so he said "Catch some shut eye Shepard you need it, I'll see you when we get to their ship." "Make sure you get some rest as well." Shepard said. "I will, sleep well Shepard." Ty said. "You to Ty." Shepard said then shut off the comm. As Ty closed his eyes and relaxed himself to sleep knowing that EDI would wake him up if he wasn't already he thought about the mission at hand, _go in, get information, and leave what could possibly go wrong._


	53. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

It's a Trap!

Ty had slept for seven hours after he stopped talking to Shepard and most of it was good sleep but as all good things it ended, rather quickly actually when his dreams turned to reality and started making him relive his mother's death again. He figured in the back of his head that it would happen but there was part of him that hoped it wouldn't but it did and as it started he woke himself up as quick as he could. His eyes flung open and he could feel the sweat on his body and his grip tightened on his pistol, he let go of the pistol and sat up slowly getting his bearings as he did. He ran his hands through his hair, it was wet from sweat, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths calming his mind down from the memory.

Shaken up was an understatement to how he felt, he had faced down many nightmares over the last eight years that all revolved around the memories of all the people he lost and he still faced them do to his ability but this one was fresh now despite being twenty years old. He hated this side effect, normal nightmares were bad but the memories and reliving them again going through all the motions again, feeling all the emotions and all the pain again nearly every time he slept was terrible. If they were good memories he might not care but he hadn't found himself in a good memory while he slept for quite some time now. He thought a lot as he sat there about his brother Z from how he was handling the information on their mother to if he had any memories reawakened and if they were if he still had his dreams controlled. His brother had full control of his ability with no "curse" as Ty put his problems with control but Z had gotten control as a teenager, Ty's control ended once he lost his friends.

He'd get control again he promised himself he would, he promised Ka'Reena he would gain control and that promise was one he would keep. To gain control he needed to focus hard on it in his spare time and lately he hadn't focused on getting control. He was just so used to no control that it had become more of a daily nuisance than an actual problem, now was different though with this mission he had to be focused and couldn't let dreams, or nightmares in his case, bother him as much as they were. _You need your head in the game_, Ty thought, _you know what it is at stake and you can't afford to have a clouded mind when we are going into the pits of hell._ Ty looked over to EDIs terminal, not going to be solved right now we have a mission that needs doing. "Hey EDI." Ty said. EDI popped up and said "Yes Ty." "How much longer until we get to the Collector ship?" Ty asked. "Approximately three hours." EDI answered.

Three more hours until go time but sleeping it away was out of the question now, "Alright thanks." Ty said. "Are you okay?" EDI asked. "Yea just a memory." Ty said starting to get out of bed. "Dr. Chakwas and Kelly Chambers are awake if you need to talk to someone." EDI said. Ty nodded to himself and said "Thank you EDI but I'll be fine I think, I need to work on Mordin's gun anyway so I can finish outfitting everyone." EDI was silent for a few seconds and then asked in a caring synthesized tone "Are you sure you are okay Ty, you seem very…tense?" Ty smirked a little at EDI, he liked her inquisitiveness, it showed him that she was more than just some technology thrown together and given a personality of a sort. She was just as much a crew member as any of the ground squad was even if she didn't have a body. "Yea I'll be fine EDI but thank you for asking." Ty replied. "You are welcome, take care Ty." EDI said. "You to EDI." Ty said as he walked into his bathroom.

After showering, getting dressed and strapping up Ty walked to the elevator and took it down to the Cargo Hold, he had shaken off the dream and was relaxing a bit more as the doors opened letting him get out. He crossed the room when a shot rang out from the opposite end of the Cargo Hold of the targets, Ty felt something zip past him so he snapped his head in the direction of the shot about to yell at whoever had taken the shot when he saw Garrus using the mandible bi-pod of his custom sniper rifle aiming in the direction of the shooting range. _He did that on purpose,_ Ty thought. Ty looked over at the targets and saw a fresh bullet in the skull of the Illusive Man's portrait. "You going blind there Vakarian? Surely you can hit it more centered than that, I mean you took his damn eyebrow off sure but what about between the eyes." Ty said as he continued walking to his work table.

As he sat down another shot rang out so Ty looked back at the targets and saw the fresh bullet hole right between the eyes_, well I guess that's what I get for challenging him_, Ty thought_, suppose I could still make a joke_, "Close a few centimeters off though, I'm sure I would have gotten it but then again I am one of the best snipers I know." Ty joked. "You are really going to make me have to challenge you to find out who the better shot between us is aren't you?" Garrus asked. "Maybe, but not today." Ty said. "Scared to learn the truth?" Garrus asked as he shot another round. Ty smirked and said "No today just isn't your best day; I wouldn't want to sour your reputation so easily."

Another shot rang out and Ty heard the thermal clip eject and Garrus starting to walk over to him, "You win the verbal marksmanship for today but someday we'll find out who's the best shot." Garrus said. Ty chuckled, that was one challenge that he figured would take a few hours or more just to figure out, if it was possible to get a decisive winner. "You gotta include Shepard when we do though I don't know how she handles a sniper rifle seeing as she likes to quite literally charge in and blast people with her shotgun." Ty said. Garrus nodded as he got closer, he sat down on a crate near Ty and said 'True, so you ready for the Collector ship?" Garrus asked. Ty nodded as he picked up what was to be Mordin's new tempest and looked at it for a little while figuring out the paint, the engravings, and the add-ons he'd do, "Yea, you going with?" Ty asked. Garrus shrugged and said "Beats me Shepard hasn't decided yet I was just taking a break from calibrations and keeping my skills sharp."_ How much calibrating is possible to do on guns? Surely he just uses it as an excuse to…actually he probably really does calibrate all day, _Ty thought. "Keep doing that and you'll be as good as me someday." Ty joked.

Garrus mandibles moved giving him the Turian equivalent of a smirk as he shook his head, "How's your face doing?" Ty asked. "Dr. Chakwas has been keeping a close eye on it so it's been in good hands; she says I should be able to take the bandages off in another month or so. Well that's if I don't get hit by another missile." Garrus deadpanned. "I guess we're lucky Tarak didn't do much more damage than he did." Ty said still holding the tempest thinking. "Well I think I was lucky, Garm and Tarak did the best they could to try to kill you." Garrus said. Ty nodded, seeing as he had cybernetics and would have died without them or not been able to move his arm or breathe normally without them he was pretty sure Garm and Tarak really did try their best, for whatever that was worth now. "Yea but their best wasn't good enough, a lot have done their best to try and kill me, so far I'm alive and they aren't." Ty said. "Try to keep it that way; I don't know what I would do without the headaches I get from staring at your tattoos or without the witty remarks. I might actually enjoy some peace and quiet here and there." Garrus said. Ty chuckled and gave Garrus the finger, "Ha ha Garrus you're just a big comedian aren't you." "Only on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the galaxy doesn't need saving." Garrus replied with a grin.

After a few moments of silence Garrus readjusted himself to get more comfortable then asked, "How are you handling your mother's death?" Ty shrugged, it wasn't good or bad really, just somewhere in between that still sucked but wasn't killing him. He put the tempest down and said "I'm dealing with it, really all I can do I guess but it won't affect me mentally for this mission." Garrus nodded and said "That's good, wouldn't want the Collectors to get an easy shot on you, if there still alive that is and the Illusive man is telling the truth." "Heh yeah, a lot of faith in that department." Ty said sarcastically with a chuckle. Ty went under his table and pulled out three cans of paint then came back up and put them on the table then went back under and grabbed two long pieces of light weight metal and put them down on the table, "What's all that for?" Garrus asked. "Mordin's tempest, the metal is going to end up looking like the two things on the top of his head, or one and a half I guess, or is it less? Ah fuck it anyway I may add some type of special weapon to it but I also worry if I do that he'll test it on me…after last time I can't be off guard." Ty said remembering Mordin "testing" his shields. "What happened last time?" Garrus asked.

Ty chuckled since it was funny now, it wasn't so funny then but now it was so he said "He set my shields up and I asked if they deflected bullets not really thinking through the fact that he is our mad scientist. So since he said he wouldn't be sure without testing he pointed his pistol at me and shot at me three times…if it weren't for the shields he would've hit me in both shoulders and I'd be looking on the market for some new testicals." "Well you could always get a full Krogan set so you had an extra pair." Garrus said dryly. Ty laughed a little and shook his head at the ridiculous joke, "That or go Asari." Garrus deadpanned. Ty grabbed a can of paint and said "How about I spray Ty rules, Vakarian loses in the battery." "Well you could but that would be more of an opinion than a fact." Garrus said. "How about I also paint your armor a pretty pink and white, I'm sure you would look really good in Phoenix colored armor." Ty joked.

Garrus seemed to pale slightly at the thought, or maybe he was remembering a time with Shepard, Ty didn't doubt Shepard threatening him with it since she used to go around searching through everything for everything. Now she just looked for credits and upgrades so maybe that was an improvement. Garrus recovered from whatever he thought of and got a big toothy grin as he said, "Maybe I should go back to do some calibrations." "That's a good idea, joking aside though I want to get some work done before the mission and I don't know how toxic the paint is to dextros, I know it's toxic to humans in large amounts until it's dry." Ty said. Garrus stood up and said "I'll see you around Ty." "See ya Garrus." Ty said.

Three Hours Later

The sound of grinding metal filled the Cargo Hold as Ty was cutting and curving the two pieces of metal to finish the gun, he had painted it a white base color and red and black stripes horizontally going across the side of the gun. He had carved Scientist Salarian into the left side of it and Mordin Solus into the right since the ammo and kill counter were done already. Ty was finishing up the final two pieces to the gun which would take time to do since they'd have to be able to fold up with the gun and then he had a good idea for a special weapon to add to it. All would take a lot more time but he had to first finishing the carving and cutting, the sound was loud and irritating but he had activated his full mask, breather mask and eye protection which blocked sound from his ears and protected his eyes from any sparks that could hit his face.

The first piece of metal was starting to take shape when the comm in his mask activated, "Ty shut it down we gotta go." Shepard said. Ty shut down his tools and put the piece of metal on his work bench, as he turned around he saw Shepard with Tali and Shepard had her full helmet on with the breather part, Ty's mask deactivated and revealed his face as he said "Business always gets in the way of pleasure." Shepard's shook her head a little as Tali said "Oh Keelah here we go." "What I'm just sayin." Ty said as he started walking to the shuttle.

They all loaded up on the shuttle and it lifted off and out of the Normandy and into the Collector ship, as it landed Ty activated his breather mask and stood up waiting for the door to open. The door opened and Ty hopped down first and started looking around at the inside of the ship, _looks like a hive or something, they really should hire an interior decorator and fix this place up_, Ty thought. "Really homey don't you think? I really love the hive look I've heard it's a big fashion statement now." Ty commented sarcastically. "I don't think this is a fashion statement Ty, this place is just creepy." Tali said. Shepard chuckled and said "You sure Tali? I'm sure we could outfit the Normandy with this style if you want." Tali visible shuddered at the thought of it which made it all the more funny for the pair, Tali looked to Ty first, "You of all people would never stand for something like that. You hate bugs." Tali said. "Yeah she has a point." Ty said. "Fine, let's move." Shepard huffed. Shepard took the lead with Ty and Tali taking up the rear as they proceeded through the Collector ship. It was very eerie on the ship, there wasn't any noises at all except for the threes footsteps and the slight breaths that each were letting out.

It felt all wrong but if the Illusive man was right then the Turian's might have taken out the life support and all the Collectors all died, but what if this was a trap? If it was then it was a very convincing ploy to get them on the ship to kill them. "Ty can you feel any energy here?" Shepard asked. Ty let himself feel the energy of the place around him but he was confronted by a host of muffled cries and screams, mostly originating by a pod they were passing. "A whole lot of bad stuff, muffled cries for starters but that's all I heard before I shut it out, stuff happened here but nothing I want the courtesy of seeing for myself." Ty said. "Are you going to be okay?" Shepard asked concern evident in her tone. "It won't be another Pragia but I can't say this place will do us any good being here." Ty said. Tali nodded in agreement and said "Yeah, Shepard I…I don't like this."

Tali's tone was had fear in it but Ty didn't blame her, this place sent chills down his spine just at the sight of it, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. "I don't either Tail, I don't like the feel of this place is giving me." Shepard said in a comforting tone. "It's a never a good sign when I'm not the only one getting a bad vibe." Ty said as he looked around but then he continued, "This place feels very weird, like we're being watched." Ty said. "Well if it's a trap then I'm glad you two are with me." Tali said in a caring tone. Ty smiled behind his mask and said in an equally caring tone "I'm glad you're here to Tali." "Can't imagine anyone else I'd like to walk into a trap with." Shepard said.

The squad moved further into the ship looking for any upgrades or tech that they could use to find out anything else on the Collectors when they came across a pile of dead bodies, "Oh shit." Ty said in shock. "Keelah." Tali said quietly. Ty knelt down and scanned an arm that was sticking out with his omni-tool to get some readings on the body, as the scan completed he got up and said "Human, female, dead obviously, probably a colonist, I think she was experimented on and then killed though I don't understand why they would even bother with it in the first place." "Do you think all of them were killed after being experimented on?" Tali asked. Ty nodded and said "Most likely, maybe they were killed by the Turian patrol or maybe were tested on and then discarded. I don't know but either way it doesn't look good." "There's a lot worse ways to die like being an experiment for the Collectors." Shepard said. "I know that you're right but it doesn't make me feel much better." Tali said. "I don't really think there is a good way to go, it's pretty much shitty in all circumstances." Ty said.

They proceeded a little more through the ship very cautiously checking their surroundings as they walked until they got to a room that went left but it also had a machine with a Collector in it, Shepard and Tali walked up to it and Ty went over to the pile of weapons he saw, there was some high tech machinery lying about including a Widow and a Revenant which peaked Ty's interest due to none of the Normandy crew having them. There was a Claymore laying in the pile then some Avenger's, Vindicator's, Scimitar's, Mantis's and a few other regular easy to get guns, _now why would they have these just lying about, trying to teach them how to shoot some different guns maybe_, Ty thought. "My god they're Prothean's." Shepard said.

That got Ty's attention quickly, Prothean's? _What the fuck_? "What do you mean Prothean's? The Reapers are using a group of extinct aliens to attack us? That's just fucking insulting and rude." Ty said. "No Shepard these are not the Prothean's, they have been repurposed by the Reapers and are no longer of that origin…I have come across something of interest though, Ty I believe your fourth nervous system is of Prothean origin." EDI said. _WHAT!_ Ty exclaimed mentally. Shepard and Tali looked at him in shock as well as he tried to figure out what she meant, "EDI are you positive on this?" Shepard asked as Ty continued to try to get his thoughts straight. There was no way that it was possible, he couldn't possibly have that in him, "I believe so but I have forwarded my information to Doctor Solus for further examination." EDI answered.

He couldn't wrap his head around the idea, the race had been extinct for fifty thousand years and he was just a science experiment. _There was no way Vance could have done it, no one should be capable of doing it, they have been dead for fifty thousand years for Spirits sake!_ Ty began to pace, "Ty?" Shepard asked trying to get a read on his thoughts. "It can't be possible, they've been dead for fifty thousand years, Vance couldn't figure something like that out." "Yeah but you said something went wrong right? Maybe his experimenting created the similarity." Tali said. "I don't know…I just don't know what to think." Ty said.

_If this is true then that means me and Z have the closest relation to Prothean's since their fall, oh fuck if Liara finds out she's gonna freak the hell out and want to put me on a damn dissection table_. Ty thought. "Back up a moment, so you're saying that the Reapers repurposed the Prothean's who turned against their own people for whatever reason, indoctrination or whatever and made them work for them?" Ty asked. "A possible conclusion that these are the remnants of indoctrinated Prothean's or repurposed Prothean's, like the husks are repurposed humans, it is very possible but I cannot speculate further on it without more information." EDI answered. "Spirits be damned I can't believe it." Ty said. "What? That the Reapers repurposed the Prothean's?" Tali asked. Ty shook his head and said "No that the aliens that were on top of galactic civilization looked like fucking bugs. And I apparently have some relation to that, eugh!"

Tali and Shepard chuckled slightly then EDI said "That may not be an accurate assumption, the Collectors might only have the body structure of the Prothean's, husks would be an example of body structure but not the physical appearance." "Alright good point but still." Ty said.

Shepard and Tali walked over to the pile of weapons, "See anything you like?" Shepard asked. "I got what I like already just scoping out some extra guns for the crew or my brother, what about you?" Ty asked. "I'll take the Claymore." Shepard said. Ty grabbed it and tossed it up to her since he was kneeling down and said "Remember that it only shoots one shot at a time and it can dislocate a normal human shoulder and tore the crap out of mine." "I bought an upgrade that strengthened my cybernetics so I could handle something like this." Shepard said as she put the shotgun vertical on her back on her left shoulder in the magnetic holder. "Tali you want something?" Ty asked. "No I'm fine with what I have." Tali said. Ty grabbed Revenant and Widow and put them on his back which weighed him down more than he was used too, _all for science right_, Ty thought to himself. "I won't use them but someone else might, plus we may be able to make copies given the right tech. Let's head out if you two are ready." Ty said.

Shepard motioned them to follow and they continued down the path until they ended up going uphill, "Hey Commander on a hunch I asked EDI to run a scan on the Collector ship and you're not going to believe this." Joker said. "The ship shows the same signatures as the ship that attacked the SSV Normandy two years ago." EDI said. "The same ship dogging me for two years, that's a bit of a coincidence." Shepard said. "I don't know Commander, stay sharp in there." Joker said as he signed off. "I don't believe in coincidence and every time I marked something off as coincidence I've been wrong. This is going to get bad." Ty said. "Some positivity would be nice Ty, let's hope there isn't a surprise waiting for us anytime soon." Shepard said. "Blind optimism isn't something to live by all the time Shepard." Ty responded.

The path continued until they got to a room full of hundreds of the cocoon looking pods that they saw on Horizon, "Are there any people in them?" Ty asked. EDI popped up on his Omni-tool and said "My readings show no life signs in the pods, maybe when the Collectors lost their life support they tried to re-direct their power from the pods to another part of their ship, I do not know for certain though." Ty nodded and said "Thanks EDI." "You're welcome." EDI said then disappeared. "We may need to talk later about you unshackling an A.I. onto your Omni-tool and bike Ty." Tali said. "She's harmless to us Tali don't worry about it, besides I wouldn't have done it if I didn't trust her completely. I know EDI better than most to know she won't turn on us." Ty said. "Are you sure?" Tali asked. "More sure than a Quarian mechanic." Ty wisecracked. "I trust your judgment Ty even though you can be a big Bosh'tet sometimes." Tali said. "You two are so cute." Shepard teased. "Really." Ty and Tali said in unison.

Before any more comments could be made they walked into a bigger room that had what looked to be billions or trillions of pods, "Oh Keelah." Tali said. "Look at all those pods there have to be billions, you could get everyone in the Terminus system and you'd still have empty pods. Spirits there's only one planet I know of that has that many humans in one place." Ty said. "Earth." Shepard said grimly. "Yeah I hate being right sometimes, we gotta stop them before they get that ballsy." Ty said. "We will." Shepard said sternly.

This brought a whole new spectrum to their mission, the Collectors were just getting warmed up by abducting colonies, they would aim for Earth eventually and be able to get all the humans they needed for whatever reason they needed humans for. That was a scary thought even though Ty had no affiliation to Earth other than being a human but all the humans that could be taken to fill all of the pods for whatever they were doing would pay if they didn't stop them. What they were doing was the other scary thought, _why the hell did they go after only humans and why did they need humans in the first place, yeah they work for the Reapers but all these pods for just humans? It doesn't add up._

They continued on their way looking around the ship for anything of use, Ty took notice of the how the place was structured; it looked like a giant beehive just without the bees or the honey. The structure was weird, the Collectors looked like giant flying bugs but why structure you ship so weirdly, the thrust from it was powerful and the gun was more than efficient but otherwise it was just a huge target if you out maneuvered it. It was too big to turn on a dime and if the armor couldn't hold up against the GARDIAN turrets and a Turian ship then it was only useful at stealth attacks which was weird for a large ship as it was since anyone could pick it up on their sensors.

The shape of the exterior was weird too, the way the arms of it came straight out, it didn't seem like a well put together ship but yet it could sneak through all the systems with ease steal a bunch of colonist by jamming their systems and using the seekers, it could annihilate a top of the line stealth ship like the Normandy. How did they move around so much without getting seen and why couldn't they track them? They would need a place to hide right in plain sight since a ship as big as it was should pop up easily but they just appeared and disappeared. Nothing was making sense with this ship or the Collectors abilities to pop up and disappear at whim; this whole mission didn't make sense either. The Omega 4 Relay was unmapped and right in plain sight where everyone could see it but where did it lead? Why did everyone who entered not return?

That thought brought Ty to the thought on the mission, a Turian patrol taking the Collector ship down a few notches and yet the Turian's weren't deploying to find this ship, Ty decided to voice his confusion, "I don't get it, why aren't the Turian's here? Shouldn't they have a whole fleet out here checking into what attacked their ships?" Ty asked. Shepard nodded and said "Usually but the Illusive man is stopping the reports from getting to their destination so we could get on here and investigate before the Turian's got to it." "So the Illusive man is stopping reports that the Turian's sent out because he wants us to come on board to look for anything to help…where's the original patrol?" Ty asked. "Destroyed, missing, non-existent you choose." Shepard said. "I'm just a little suspicious is all, my senses that have kept me alive this far are going off making me a little worried." Ty said.

The path through the ship continued on and it seemed like it was never ending but they finally made some head way on the ship when they got to a panel with a terminal on it, "Well that looks promising." Shepard said. "Or really suspicious." Ty said. Shepard went to the terminal and started talking to EDI as she tried getting into their systems, Ty watched their backs as he waited, there was a sudden noise that was unsettling. Ty pulled out his pistols slowly and started looking around when the platform they were standing on lifted off and began bringing them into the middle of the room.

The force made Ty lose his balance and made him have to hold onto a barrier until the platform came to an abrupt stop, Tali fell to the ground as it stopped taking her by surprise so as Ty finally got his footing he walked over and helped her up, Ty grabbed her hand and asked "You okay Tali?" "Yea I'm fine I just hope that was EDI trying to be funny." Ty looked around as Shepard asked EDI what happened and EDI explained that someone else was in the system, they all knew what it was, it was a trap and one that was well executed getting them all the way into the middle of their hive. Sneaky but very effective and as Ty was looking he heard what sounded like another platform coming their way and sure enough it was and it had what looked like four Collectors two drones and a Collector Guardian, "Get into cover there's surely going to be more than three." Shepard ordered. "Where's the positivity Shepard?" Ty wisecracked. "Gone since we just sprung a damn trap." Shepard retorted.

Ty took aim as he moved to the U shaped cover they had, he shot three shots into one of the drones killing it and another four shots into the guardian taking down its barriers as he went into cover, "Assuming direct control." Harbinger said. "I was really hoping that Horizon was the last time we had to see that asshole." Ty said. "You and me both." Shepard said. "So what is it? A fucking Reaper taking control? It has the monotone voice Sovereign had." Ty said. "I think so, I think this one's called Harbinger though since he likes to claim to be the "Harbinger of our destruction" and…wait how did you hear Sovereign's voice, he only spoke to us on Virmire and the Citadel and you weren't there for either." Shepard said. "Details details." Ty retorted.

Ty grabbed his special tomahawk and saw the controlled Guardian, he thought the angle and tossed but as it got close Harbinger saw it and blasted it, the tomahawk appeared back in Ty's holster, "Seems he got some upgrades to my moves, or that was predictable." Ty said. Shepard got out of cover at the same time as Tali did, Tali deployed a combat drone and Shepard fired a shockwave at Harbinger, "Throw it now." Shepard ordered. Ty grabbed it again and threw his tomahawk, with the combined assault Harbinger was to focused on the combat drone to notice the tomahawk sailing at his head. The tomahawk planted itself into the back of its head and as it did the Collector started to levitate, "You will not stop us Shepard." Harbinger said. "Man he likes to talk shit." Ty said.

As Ty got out of cover and shot at the last drone he heard another platform and saw a Scion on it, "Dammit really? More old friends." Ty announced. Ty finished the drone with a head shot but as he did four more Collectors came flying to the far platform and took cover, "Ty get up close and personal with the Collectors, Tali you and me will take the Scion but be careful he launches shockwaves." Shepard said. "On it." Ty said holstering his right pistol and grabbing one of his regular tomahawks. They were outnumbered but that was the usual case, this was only the beginning and when it was over the Illusive man had some explaining to do.


	54. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Trapped Fighting

After jumping the U shaped cover he was in Ty climbed the far platform and dodged fire with his shields bouncing a few rounds off but he did well enough to avoid getting shot, as he reached the first Collector he lodged his tomahawk in his head. Before the Collector could crumple to the ground Ty used the lodged tomahawk to keep the Collector up as he dragged him as he ran at the other Collectors. Ty pulled the Collector in front of him as the others begin to shoot at him using the Collector as a human shield against the rounds, the Collectors dead weight was starting to make him drop more and more, _come on just a few steps more you sack of shit,_ Ty thought as he forced the dead collector further. As he reached the other Collectors who had bunched up Ty dislodged his tomahawk from the original Collector and used as much strength as he could to throw the dead Collector into the guardian that was there.

The dead Collector knocked down the Guardian knocking him out of Ty's fighting equation for the moment, the other Collectors attempted to scatter at the last moment dodging the dead Collector but now they were in reach of Ty, as planned. He kicked the closest one on his left in the gut and used his tomahawk to parry the other Collector who swung his gun at him, he forced the gun to the side and unloaded two shots from his pistol into the Collectors head. The Guardian that got knocked over had started getting up while the other Collector swung his gun more rapidly at Ty making him parry multiple times, the other Collector got behind Ty but as he did Ty holstered his left pistol quickly and grabbed the other Collectors gun as it was coming back at him and twisted himself so his back was against the Collector he just grabbed the gun of and grabbed the trigger hand of the Collector making it unload five rounds of the Avenger into the Guardians shoulders and chest. Before the Guardian could crumple Ty grabbed the Collectors arm and used his strength to throw the Collector over him and into the Guardian but managed to keep the Avenger in the process.

As their bodies collided Ty emptied the clip into both of them killing them both, he threw the gun to the side but then felt something grab him from behind that was not Shepard or Tali judging on the disgusting arm wrapped around his waist. _Bastard must have just flown up, _Ty thought. His reaction was quick as he twisted his tomahawk in his hand so the blade was facing at him and then swung it over his head imbedding it in the shoulder of the Collector that had grabbed him. Ty left it lodged and back kicked the Collector in the stomach making it stumble back, Ty turned around and grabbed his tomahawk back and out of the Collectors shoulder then swung downwards at it with the intention to lodge its head with a new ornament but this time it dodged to the side much to Ty's shock and disapproval.

The Collector kicked his tomahawk hand at Ty's other arm which was away from the Collector and then with the help of its wings it flew forward at him and kicked him in the shoulder making Ty fall to the ground and slide before he forced himself to roll sideways and onto his tip toes and with his un-armed left hand resting against the ground. The Collector pulled out two short blades much to Ty's shock and disapproval once again. Ty raised his eyebrows slightly behind his mask, "Well that's new." Ty commented. The Collector took a fighting stance and Ty pulled out his other tomahawk but still kept himself in his position trying to figure out why there was now a special Collector that was likely made just for him_. How good could he really be_, Ty thought than immediately mentally facepalmed himself, _crap I so just fucked myself. _The Collector charged him and Ty charged forward and into a standing position to meet the Collectors blades with his own, the two met with strikes only colliding their blades with each other.

Ty attempted to catch the Collector off guard with a kick but the Collector dodged back and then came back forwards with both blades coming down to lodge themselves in Ty's head, Ty brought his tomahawks up in an X form catching the blades between his own as the Collector tried to bring them closer and closer to Ty's face making him back up further and further until he managed to twist his arms and force the blades off to the side. The Collector was back on him like a Krogan dominatrix on a Salarian putting Ty back on defense, Ty parried each strike as it forced him back and to the side with fancy footwork, whatever possessed this Collector or whoever trained him really needed to get their asses kicked for doing so and making Ty fight with his tomahawks in the middle of their ship during a gun fight. Ty blocked another strike to the side and as the next strike came he used his forearm and slammed it into the forearm of the Collectors swinging arm stopping immediately.

The Collector was brighter than Ty thought possible as he and Ty began to strike at one another with their other arms still only managing to clash steel instead of any kill or wounds. Ty could feel the Collectors other arm beginning to win their strength contest and begin to descend itself closer and closer to his shoulder, the strength of the Collector seemed to continue to grow at levels that shouldn't have been possible and Ty began to feel worry grip at his chest, _this damn thing has inhuman strength,_ Ty panicked slightly as he began to feel himself struggling, _got to end this now_. _**"Now isn't a time to be stingy Ty, lose it!" Tara yelled**_**.** Ty felt a surge of primal energy in his body as he began to see his veins become more blue, _**"Now Ty! Let it loose now!" Ka'Reena yelled**_**.** Ty let out a wordless yell filled with struggle and with his new found strength he pushed the Collectors arm back and landed a powerful kick pushing the Collector back. His demon had come out to play.

With calculated confidence Ty allowed the Collector to charge once again but as it attempted to strike Ty parried it downwards and to the side, the Collector attempted to react quickly and strike with his other blade but Ty was already ten steps ahead. Ty parried the strike and used its moment to fling it to the side leaving the Collector wide open for a strike that landed right in its chest, the Collector attempted to step back but Ty didn't allow him any breathing room as he closed the distance between them and began striking with great speed putting the Collector on defense as it tried to parry Ty's quick strikes. The Collector had become remarkably slow in Ty's eyes from what it had been but maybe that was due to the state of mind he was in now. He felt faster and he landed more hits on the Collector until his cold confidence took over and he began toying with the wounded Collector making it go for strikes but always dodging them or swatting them away with ease.

After parrying another strike that knocked one of the blades out of the Collectors hands Ty put one of his tomahawks away quickly and blocked another strike but held the arm of the Collector in place as he felt an evil smile work its way to his lips behind his mask. "End of the line." Ty whispered for only the two of them to hear. Ty gripped the Collectors arm tighter with his left hand than let his right hand with his tomahawk leave the arm only for him to slam his palm and the grip of the tomahawk into the Collectors elbow breaking it and allowing Ty the ability to slam the blade of the Collectors own blade into its gut. The Collectors arms fell limp and it fell to its knees as Ty stared at it.

In a quick motion Ty slit its throat and it fell to the ground dead, feeling safe Ty let his guard down and his demon disappeared with it returning him to normal but as he did he heard Shepard's voice behind him, "Ty dive to your left now!" Shepard yelled. Ty didn't ask questions he just dove to his left and landed hard on his left shoulder, he looked up and saw a shockwave going flying by him and a flying projectile that could only come from Harbinger. Ty got up quickly and looked back in the direction it came in and saw yet another Scion and three more Collectors, one being controlled already. _Damn it I was hoping they'd be done already,_ Ty thought.

Ty took cover and pulled out his left pistol, he got out of cover and aimed at the two drones and fired off seven shots, three for one and four for the other with all the shots aimed at their chests killing them both. Ty got back into cover and ejected his thermal clip and got ready to go back out again. "Let's finish this." Shepard said. Ty hit his cloak as he sat in cover then started sneaking towards Harbinger who was going after Tali as Shepard was recharging her shields and ejecting her thermal clip.

He got down back to the bottom platform and as he got in front of Harbinger he aimed his pistol at its head and deactivated his cloak, "Hello bitch." Ty said. He unloaded six shots into its head taking it by surprise and making it stumble back until like all controlled Collectors it levitated as it disintegrated leaving them without a comment for once, "Thanks Ty." Tali said. Ty got down into cover with her and said "Told you I'd always be there when you needed me." Tali nodded and Ty said "Now how about we finish off this last asshole so we can get out of this cluster fuck." Tali gave a sharp nod and they both got of cover and unloaded the rest of their predator pistols into the Scion making it finally fall over dead, "Well that solves the first ambush, can't wait to see what the Collectors have left for us." Ty said sarcastically. "Shepard I need you to reestablish connection for me." EDI said.

A green hologram popped up in the center of the U shaped cover, Shepard walked up to it and pressed a few buttons and EDI got control of the platform again and started flying it towards the way out as she continued her data mine. "I noticed an error in the Turian distress beacon that was the cause of this trap." EDI said. "What do you mean?" Shepard asked. "The coding of the distress call is flawed and doesn't resemble Turian distress coding; the Illusive man would have seen that." EDI said. "Maybe he just didn't see it." Shepard said trying to be optimistic. "Ever the optimist." Ty said with a shake of his head.

The platform started to land as EDI said "No he would have noticed it, the protocols that let me find this information he created them."_ Of course he did that slimey no good piece of shit,_ Ty thought. "The fucker knew this was a trap and sent us in anyway, well I guess hunting season for Cerberus was coming soon anyway. I hear the prime weapons of use are explosive." Ty said. "Need an extra grenade?" Tali asked. Ty shrugged and said "Sure why not the more the merrier." Shepard looked back at them though Ty couldn't tell what the look on her face was, "I'm pissed off too you two but we need to get out of this ship before we worry about that." Shepard said. Both Tali and Ty nodded as Ty said, "Alright Shepard." Ty said.

Shepard took the lead and they walked through the ship back towards their shuttle all watching their surroundings looking for more Collectors or ambush points, as they searched the area Tali was the first to break up the silence, "Ty did you-" Ty nodded knowing what she was about to ask, "Yeah, it happened when we helped Jack too and I changed back to normal with no consequence. I'm not sure why it's happened like this lately but I am not complaining." Ty explained. Tali nodded and they continued on their way without much conversation. They soon found more resistance in the form of abominations, husks, and some more Collectors with a few getting under Harbingers control. Ty and Tali took on the abominations and husks with ease as Shepard used a pull field on the husks to rip them half for the finish but Harbinger worked his way to them and started attacking them ferociously. He pinned Ty and Tali down in cover as a few Guardians took down their shields, Shepard pulled out her new Claymore and unloaded a round into Harbingers chest ripping it to shreds before disintegrating.

They pushed their way forward on the flat field covering each other and taking down the Collectors that were left with concentrated fire, the Collectors were throwing everything they had at the squad trying to stop them from getting back to their shuttle as they were warming up their main gun. They had to move as quickly as possible before that happened so they wouldn't lose another Normandy. Maybe that was the plan kill whoever got on the ship and blow the Normandy up again either way though the squad wasn't going down without a fight and they were proving that to the Collectors without fail.

Ty brought out his sniper as they proceeded to the next room which had a path that led up on the right and a path down the center, "Ty take out the guys up top we'll cover the front." Shepard said. Ty nodded as he boosted his shields, Ty sidestepped his way across the field as Shepard lead the barrage attack of biotic's and her Eviscerator, that she had held onto despite also having a new Claymore on her back, against the husks and abominations that were coming at them with Tali taking up the rear helping Shepard and watching everyone's back with her predator pistol. There were ten Collectors with one being a controlled Collector as Ty took his aim, they were all strategically set up and had the higher ground for whatever that was worth, for Ty it just made it a slight challenge.

His crosshairs were lined up on the first target as he took a deep breath and let it out; he took another deep breath and held it in as he continued to side step. Bang, blood splattered out of the Collectors head, he readjusted to the next drone, bang more blood, bang bang, two more down. He readjusted to the next target but saw a shield so he moved on to the next target, bang bang, two shots to the skull dropping another Collector. His crosshairs were moving quickly from target to target, another guardian but without a shield, bang dead, drone bang, back to the guardian with the shield, he was still behind it but Ty's sidesteps brought his trajectory to the side of it with enough opening to take it down. Bang.

Four more Collectors flew in but as they were flying Ty's crosshairs jumped to them and he opened fire, bang, bang, bang, bang, all dead with headshots piercing through their barriers. "Do you need cover to reload before you take on the controlled Collector?" Shepard asked. "No I still have enough in my clip." Ty said. Ty took aim on Harbinger but as his crosshairs lined up he pressed a button on the side of his sniper and it started making a noise, soon it let out a beep and Ty pressed down the trigger. The sniper made louder bang as it launched the bullet out and the recoil kicked the gun upwards, as the bullet impacted in Harbingers head it tore a tennis ball sized hole all the way through letting you see the wall behind him before he disintegrated. "Now I'm out." Ty said. "Nice shooting Ty." Shepard complimented. "Thanks." Ty said.

The recoil from the shot was substantial like if he had fired a shotgun but he was used to the recoil now, the next step had started now as his sniper was letting steam and his thermal clip out, Ty gripped the middle of his sniper in his left hand and pulled out his pistol in his right hand as they continued forward running with it still in his hand letting the heat sink vent. Despite thermal clips replacing the old system when Ty overcharged his bullet on his sniper it would eject his clip and then vent the heat sink do to how much power it drew when he overcharged the round.

They ran through more of the ship until they got to a room with large doors on the bottom floor and a few low and high barricades for cover, the large doors opened and EDI said "I've opened the doors on the far end of the room the path will lead straight to your shuttle." "You heard her." Shepard said as she descended to the bottom floor with Tali and Ty behind her. As they got to the bottom a few husks and Collectors came from around the corner but were all easily dropped by the running roadblock of death that consisted of bullets and biotic's.

As they reached the doors they slammed shut, Shepard and Tali hit their skids but Ty was unfortunate enough to not have enough time and stumble as he tried to stop right into the doors left shoulder and left knee first. The doors were solid and the angle was just right, or wrong in this case, as he hit dislocating his shoulder and jamming his knee, the dislocation sent a lot of pain through him making him nearly drop his sniper, "Damn it to hell. Fuck!" Ty grunted. Shepard and Tali went to check his shoulder but as they did Ty used his right arm to point behind them as he yelled "Move! Big ugly thing firing up its gun!"

A Praetorian had emerged floating its way towards them as it charged its beam up, Ty pushed Shepard and Tali away from him as he started limping towards the Praetorian but really going for the ramp back up the way they came to get a sniping position. Ty threw himself behind a high wall as the beam fired at him, he could feel the power of it on his side of the wall but he also knew that it would be trying to out flank him to get him so he moved slowly and carefully around the wall as the Praetorian came around the other side.

The energy beam stopped firing and the Praetorian was hit by a beam of gold light from Shepard's Collector beam getting its attention and wounding it at the same time buying Ty enough time to escape from his wall and up the path he was going for. Ty got behind a low wall at the top as Shepard's voice came into his comm, "You holding up better than Horizon Ty?" Shepard asked in a joking manor. Ty heard the humor in her voice and it made him smirk slightly but the pain soon ended that smirk, "Haha fucking hilarious." Ty said in pain. "Seriously though are you alright Ty? Your left shoulder looked pretty rough." Shepard asked. Ty put his sniper and pistol down and brought his right hand to his left shoulder; he took a few deep breaths then pulled his shoulder forward but not fully into place. "Argh SHIT!" Ty yelled. His breathing became faster with his pulse rising quickly as he gripped his shoulder again, this time he pushed it back into a position that wasn't fully correct but would allow him to use his arm with less pain. The pain from the attempt at relocating was excruciating, "Grrrh MOTHERFUCKER!" Ty screamed through gritted teeth as he tried to alleviate pain with words.

Ty's hand gripped his sniper rifle tightly as the pain exploded in his arm, he put his pistol away and grabbed the top of the low wall with his right arm as he pulled himself up to get a look at the battlefield, the Praetorian had taken a beating during his time putting his shoulder in place but it was still putting up a fight as it was blasting a wall Shepard was behind and trying to maneuver around it. "Ty are you alright?" Shepard asked in a calm but authoritative tone. "No pain no gain right?" Ty asked through gritted teeth. "That wasn't really an answer." Tali responded. "I'm alive." Ty retorted. "Still not what I meant but I'll take it for now." Shepard said.

The Praetorians beam stopped as Ty set his sniper on the wall and aimed down his sights, the heat sink was still letting out steam but it would only last a few more seconds and when it stopped Ty would open fire on the Praetorian hopefully taking it out quickly. Shepard opened fire with her pistol as she started to retreat back while Tali sent out her combat drone again and then started unloading with her Eviscerator shotgun, the steam stopped and Ty got his reticule set on the Praetorian and as he did he shot four times getting its attention and wounding it more but not destroying it.

Ty started to readjust as the Praetorian flew towards him on ground level, Tali shot the Praetorian four times then tried to sabotage it but all it did was get its attention as it aimed at Tali with its beam starting to charge up again. Tali's cover wouldn't last long against the Praetorian since it would just elevate higher when it realized it need just a little more height, the Praetorian was close to the wall that Ty was at the top of and he realized the damage it could do so he put his sniper away and grabbed his tomahawks as his pain disappeared. He was letting his demon take some control.

* * *

Shepard crouched in cover as she ejected her thermal clip on her tempest she had seen the Praetorian going for Tali and knew it was on its last legs with how much the three of them had pumped into it. She got out of cover and aimed at the Praetorian when she saw something falling from up high come crashing down into it, it was Ty. Ty had jumped from the wall and landed hard on top of the Praetorian knocking its gaze off of Tali as it fired its beam into the wall and ground as it tried to figure out what had happened. _He is insane,_ Shepard thought.

* * *

The fall wasn't what had worried Ty, it was the hard landing that he knew it encompassed and unfortunately for him he once again landed on his left shoulder which made him feel the pain once again despite letting his demon off the chain. Ty regained his senses and got on his knees on top of the Praetorian when he saw the left rod like arm of the Praetorians coming at him, Ty swung his tomahawk at it cutting it in half and then parried the right arm that came flying up at him with his right tomahawk and cut it in half with his left tomahawk.

The Praetorian started making noises after it got its arms cut off but Ty didn't stop there as he started swinging his tomahawks into the top of it with each swing being harder and harder. The Praetorian started to screech and moan as Ty yelled different words with each swing, "Die! You! Piece! Of! Scrap! Die! Die! Fucking die!" Ty put his right tomahawk away as he kept swinging with his left and pulled his sniper out, he got up on one foot and put his snipers barrel into the Praetorian and yelled "Just die!" Ty shot four more shots into the top of it and as the last shot rang out the Praetorian started to ascend and disintegrate at the same time making Ty fall straight through but this time he landed on his feet.

Ty holstered his weapons and pulled his pistols out as his demon subsided and his body returned to normal, Shepard and Tali got out of their covers and began making their way towards him, Ty nodded to them both and said "Alright so which way do we go now." Tali tilted her head slightly which told Ty she was smiling at his craziness and then at the sudden calm he was showing, "Though that was incredibly stupid, I'm glad you did it to stop it from hurting me you Bosh'tet." Tali said with humor in her tone. Ty nodded and said "I'd do it again in a heartbeat for the same reasons." Ty said. "I know." Tali said. Shepard walked over to Ty and punched him in his left shoulder which sent of sting of pain through Ty but he knew why she did it and he deserved it, "That's for being stupid." Shepard opened applied some medi-gel which started to numb the pain in his shoulder, "That's for your craziest stupid ideas working, follow me, EDI we need some navigation." Shepard said as she started walking in the direction of the doors.

EDI got them back on track getting through more of the ship until they ran into even more Collectors, it wasn't a huge surprise but it was starting to get ridiculous for so many different reasons. They pushed through three waves of Collectors, husks, and abominations, Shepard and Tali had taken the higher ground this time while Ty fought his way through the bottom keeping close to cover and using his shields strength to stay out of cover longer to take down more Collectors. As both Shepard and Tali neared the end of their path so did Ty but they ran into a Scion and more Collectors and husks.

The Scion sent a shockwave Ty's way but he wasn't quick enough to dodge and it took down his shields to a quarter of strength and knocked him back a few steps, instead of heading for cover Ty boosted his shields quickly getting them to seventy five percent while he continued to shoot and move avoiding more shockwaves and bullets. Harbinger made a slight appearance before he had his head lodged with one of Ty's special tomahawks, he disappeared and Ty grabbed both his special tomahawks in both hands as he got closer and closer to the Scion. He threw both of them after thinking the angles and they flew until they both hit it square in its ugly face, his tomahawks came back to him but the Scion was still standing.

Ty pulled his pistols out again and started shooting it trying to kill it while avoiding another shockwave, as Ty's clips emptied he saw a blue glow go flying from the top path straight at the Scion and when it hit Shepard appeared knocking the Scion back a step before she unloaded her Claymores round into it blasting it apart. Ty and Tali joined with Shepard, her breathing had become labored it seemed so Ty asked "How much energy does that take?" "Used to take a lot more when I first started but now it doesn't take as much, I've used a lot of biotic's today though I may have about one really good pull field or shockwave left before it starts to really become straining for me." Shepard said while panting a little. "We're almost back at the shuttle just up this path and then you can rest Shepard." Tali said putting a comforting hand on Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard gripped her hand for a second then let go and motioned for them to follow her, they started up one of the last hills when Joker came into their comms "Come on Commander their guns are almost fired up and I don't want to lose another Normandy." Ty chuckled slightly, "What about us Joker? Aren't you worried about losing Shepard again?" Ty asked in a joking manor. "Yea but so far the only real threat is to the Normandy since Shepard can handle the Collectors with one hand tied behind her back." Joker said. "I guess you have a point." Ty said. "I've been meaning to ask Ty why did your sniper make that noise earlier?" Tali asked. "I can overcharge my bullets but I don't do it too often because it takes a whole clip and then a long time for the heat sink to cool down." "Ah that makes sense, when did you add th-" Tali was cut off by the sound of husks growling.

At first only five husks came around the corner at the top of the hill but as soon as they shot and killed three fifteen more turned the corner and started to charge, they would quickly overrun them if they didn't start moving back and shooting at the same time but before it became an issue Shepard's bodied glowed a dark blue and purple. Ty had only seen her biotic's look so intense on the battlefield a few times but once again it surprised him, it was as scary as it was sexy knowing that she could probably rip anyone in half if she felt the need to expend that much energy. "Arrrrrah!" Shepard yelled as she launched a huge shockwave down the center of the path bulldozing and destroying all the husks.

The husks were decimated but Shepard looked like she was on empty but as she always did she pushed through her tiredness and motioned them to follow as she started to run, "Nice one Shepard." Ty said as they ran. Shepard nodded and they continued to run the rest of the way back to the shuttle without any more resistance. They all piled onto the shuttle quickly and took off back to the Normandy, no one relaxed though, the Collector ship still had to be out run and that would hopefully go better than the last time they tried.

The shuttle landed and the doors opened letting all three of them pile out and get to the elevator, Shepard pressed CIC and the elevator took them up three floors and let them out, Shepard jogged to the cockpit with Ty and Tali on her tail and as they reached the cockpit they all saw Joker who was hammering away on the screens in front of him trying to get the Normandy going, "Let's get out of here Joker." Shepard said in an authoritative tone. "Time to test out the FTL upgrades Ty and Tali put in." Joker said. The Normandy started flying forward as Joker started dodging the Collectors main gun. Joker's hands moved like clockwork over the controls as he started the preparations to jump to FTL speeds, "I know I'm not a hot shot pilot like you but do you think you could, you know, jump to FTL now." Ty said impatiently. "I hate backseat flyers, EDI I can't dodge this thing forever get us out of here." Joker said as he pressed a few more buttons. "Specify destination Mr. Moreau." EDI answered. Joker dodged the beam and said "Anywhere that's not here." "Very well prepare for mass acceleration."

The Normandy's jump to FTL was very sudden and smooth but it ended quickly and they decelerated to a stop in another system far away from the Collectors, Ty didn't know where, he was just glad to be away from the Collector ship finally. "Well at least the upgrades work really well." Ty said. Tali nodded in agreement, Shepard turned around and said "You two go relax for a little while, Ty go get your shoulder checked on by Doctor Chakwas to make sure it's in the right place, if the Illusive Man contacts us anytime soon I'll let you know." "He better have some good explanations for what we just went through." Tali said. "I'll put a bullet in his head if he doesn't." Ty said as he started to walk away. The fight was long and hard and it showed on the returning squad but one thing was floating in the forefront of their minds, what the Illusive Mans grand reason was for sending them into a trap.


	55. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

First Things First

_"Get the suit rat!" A mercenary yelled. Ty felt his eye twitch slightly as his head shot up from his omni-tool, he had been sending a message to his brother and dad about a Blue Sun base he had just learned the location of from a…"volunteer" Blue Sun who actually yelled it to him, as his tomahawk dug deeper into his leg. __**Suit rat**__, Ty thought, __**whoever they are they aren't getting away with that**__. Ty shut down his omni-tool and began searching for signs of whoever had yelled, gun-shots echoed from an alley near by which brought from a brisk walk to a sprint now knowing their location whoever they were and if they had just shot a Quarian they were going to pay dearly. Ty had always had a soft spot for Quarian's due to them being exiled from their homeworlds and people treating them like they weren't even sapient beings, he hated it when people did that to them but now he was finally going to be able to do something about it and if they were Blue Suns then it would be an added bonus so he could take his anger out on them for all the other things they had done._

_ Ty rounded the corner of the alley and saw the backs of five Eclipse mercenaries as they were searching for whoever they were chasing, "She's got to be here somewhere." The human of the group said. "She just killed my brother so she'd better be. You hear that you damn suit rat I'm going to kill you!" A Salarian yelled. Ty cleared his throat with his pistols already in his hands, the four Eclipse members turned around, "She's the least of your worries." Ty said. "Oh shit tha- ahh!" The human had been interrupted by Ty's rounds piercing his shields and armor getting him in the gut. "Fall back and call for back up damn it; we don't have the men to fight him." The Salarian ordered as the two Asari grabbed the human and lifted him up to retreat. _

_ A figure appeared behind them with an omni-tool lit, she was a Quarian but that much was obvious from the Eclipse shouts beforehand, she wore a mostly blue suit with black accents and a dark blue mask, "Good luck with that call you Bosh'tet's." The Quarian said. Ty chuckled to himself already beginning to like this Quarian, "Shit, boss our communications are blocked." One of the Asari said. The Salarian had panic in his body language as subtle as it was as Ty began to walk towards them, "Now I usually don't give a damn about you Eclipse shits since I'm too busy screwing with the Blue Suns but you said something that really irked me and believe me when I say that you really shouldn't have done that." Ty said. The Salarian put his gun away and motioned for the Asari to do the same, "I know who you are and I know we also have no chance of defeating you and I'm not stupid to risk my life in trying. We can make a deal." The Salarian said. Ty hmmed slightly with a nod and said "Name your terms." "We go free and I apologize for whatever it is that I did to offend you." The Salarian said._

_**I'll give him credit for thinking that much through**__, Ty thought as he reached the group and stopped. Ty hmmed again and said "Alright but how do I know you won't call reinforcements as soon as you get comms? Can I trust the word of a mercenary? Think of what you know about my experience with mercenaries, you know I can't be too careful." The Salarian nodded and said "I understand and you can count on my word that we will do no such thing." "Not bad Salarian not bad I give you credit you are smarter than I thought you'd be, so as for the other end of your bargain your apology is not to me but to her." Ty pointed at the Quarian and continued, "I really don't like hearing the name suit rat, it makes me want to beat the crap out of the person who says it so if you want this bargain to go through you will apologize to her right now or test your luck against me."_

_ The Salarian's face grew angry but he turned around and gave some half ass apology that Ty didn't hear, as the Salarian turned back around he was met with the sight of Ty's pistol, "Your free, meet your brother on the shores of the afterlife you scum." Ty pulled the trigger and the Salarian fell to the ground dead, "But you said you'd let us go free." One of the Asari said. "I did, I freed his soul to join his brother. As for you three your buddy there has a few hours to live if he's lucky so you'll want to get him medical attention. You three are free to leave but I promise you that if you call reinforcements or send your people after that Quarian I will find you and I'll make that kill look like I was being merciful." The Asari's both nodded so Ty smiled and said "Good now get the hell out of here before I lose my sunny disposition" _

_ The two Asari with their human friend on their shoulders left the direction that Ty had come, __**got about five minutes before their gunships get live and then reach here**__, Ty thought__**, better figure out what they want with the Quarian quickly and get her the hell off this station**__. He looked back over to the Quarian as he put his pistols away, "Before you go I need to talk to you." Ty said as he stepped over the Salarian. The Quarian nodded and walked towards Ty so that he didn't have to walk the length of the alley, as they reached each other the Quarian stuck out her hand for a handshake, "Thank you for your help, I didn't want this kind of trouble." The Quarian said. Ty shook her hand and said "Not a problem but you picked the wrong station if you didn't want to deal with this trouble. Listen we honestly have about five minutes before they send for reinforcements and knowing them they will send gunships…for me at least. Why would you come here for your pilgrimage and what happened between you and the Eclipse that they want you dead?" "You know about the pilgrimage?" The Quarian asked in shock. _

_ Ty nodded, he had studied most of the races of the galaxy extensively so he wouldn't be completely clueless when it came to customs and traditions of the other races, "Not all people think the Quarian's are suit rats, you won't find many of them here or on the Citadel for that matter since most people are loyal to their prejudices but you found one who doesn't hold contempt for your race." "I see, well I didn't come here willingly. I was almost out of fuel in my ship and this was the closest station for fuel but…" Ty shook his head as the Quarian trailed off, "But someone scammed you, stole your ship or screwed you some other way." Ty said. "Pretty much, I ran into these guys on accident and they demanded an apology but I didn't give one, when I saw them go for a gun I stole it from the Salarian and killed him and a few others. Been on the run ever since." The Quarian said. _

_**Shit that means they're out for blood**__, Ty __**thought, she won't last another week on this station…I've got to get her the hell out of here but where will I bring her? She needs a new ship which I can provide but I need to get her to back to my place so I can plan for transportation and let her get some rest and food before we leave**__. "You need to come with me. I have a safehouse not far from here, we can rest and you can eat there and then we'll get you the hell off this station." Ty said as he motioned her to follow. "Wait a moment." __**We don't have a damn moment**__; Ty thought as he stopped himself, "How do I know I can trust you? We just met, we don't even know each other and you have no reason for helping me. You are obviously well known by the mercenaries which leads me to believe you are some sort of killer for hire." Ty smirked, __**smart girl**__, "I'll explain back at my safehouse, everything you have questions for I will answer but we cannot stand out in the open like this, the Eclipse will be swarming us any minute now." _

_ The Quarian still seemed reluctant so Ty sighed and said "Listen I lost eight of my friends to the Blue Suns recently, I've been hunting them ever since. Trust me I know that you are really wary of trusting me, I would be too with this little introduction we had but I'm just asking you to trust me until we get to my safehouse. Once we get there you can hold me at gun point if you wish and get your questions answered. No secrets, no lies, no bullshit. I want to help you and I'm likely the only person on this station that will without any kind of twist. You won't owe me anything I just want to help." The sound of a gunship flying nearby got both of their attentions, "Name?" The Quarian asked. "What?" Ty asked in surprise. "Your name or I leave." The Quarian answered. Ty chuckled and said "You first princess." "Ka'Reena nar Ryya you big bosh'tet." Ka'Reena answered. Ty chuckled again and said "Ouch that hurts already calling me a bosh'tet and we haven't known each other that long. Everyone calls me Ty." _

_ A contingent of Eclipse soldiers entered the alley at the far side, "Well that sucks." Ty said. "Keelah why did you waste the five minutes?" Ka'Reena asked. Ty turned to her with raised eyebrows, "You're the one who insisted on asking more questions when I said we needed to leave." Ty retorted. "It's not my fault a man with purple eyes randomly appeared in an alley and killed one of the mercs trying to kill me, how was I supposed to know if I could trust you." Ka'Reena responded. Gunfire began to erupt in the alley as Ty grabbed Ka'Reena by the arm and dragged her away, "Let's go!" Ty yelled. "You're not one of those people that trouble just follows are you?" Ka'Reena asked. "Ha! You kidding this shit is just a minor instance compared to most of the trouble that I get into." Ty said as he began to laugh. "Oh Keelah what did I get myself into." Ka'Reena said._

* * *

"Three, two, one." Doctor Chakwas counted down then used her strength to put Ty's shoulder into place. Pain shot through Ty's arm as she got it back in place but he was only able to get out a barely audible "ow" as it did. He had a tongue depressor horizontal between his teeth and tongue to make sure he didn't bite his tongue while Chakwas dislocated his shoulder then reset it afterwards, either way she had given him a slight sedative to his discontent to null the pain a little. "You shouldn't talk with your mouth full Ty." Chakwas said with a smile. Ty knew he was going to sound like he was holding his tongue and talking but he couldn't let her get away with that, "It's not my fault. You're the one who put me on a sedative and made me put this thing in my mouth so I don't bite my tongue and then to top it off you dislocated my shoulder again and reset it all the while making jokes at me since I can't really correlate that much. You said it was a slight sedative not the strong stuff."

Everything was fuzzy to Ty from his hearing and speech when he didn't have the thing in his mouth to his vision and the slight light headedness he had. He never did well on medicinal drugs exception of medi-gel which didn't make him get loopy. Doctor Chakwas started applying some medi-gel to his shoulder making sure it would heal properly, "It was a slight sedative, I don't think your system takes well to medicinal drugs though." Chakwas said cheekily. "That's what I tol-" Ty was interrupted slightly by Chakwas swatting his leg and pulling out the tongue depressor, "Don't talk with your mouth full." Chakwas said in a motherly scolding way. "I told you I don't take well to medicinal drugs; they make me get all fuzzy in the head." Ty said. "Something you should be used to." Chakwas said jokingly as she put the tongue depressor on her table. "Not cool Chakwas not cool." Ty said. "Please Ty you can just call me Karin." Chakwas said.

Chakwas walked towards Ty's usual bed but went over to the cabinets, "Karin, that's going to take some getting used to." Ty said as he rolled the name around in his mind. He knew he would still call her Chakwas since that's all he had ever known since joining, that and doc. "So is my shoulder going to be fine?" Ty asked. "Yes though you're going to have to use something I know you aren't going to be happy about." Chakwas said as she knelt down to a cabinet. _That sounds absolutely dreadful_, Ty thought. "I already don't like the sound of that." Ty said. Chakwas came up with a sling, _yup that is completely terrible, maybe I can get out of it,_ Ty thought. "No way Karin that is not going to happen." Ty said. He hated those things, they restricted his freedom of movement and he hated the feeling of being restricted, Chakwas look became stern and if Ty had been a weaker being he might have even cowered slightly at the look, either way he knew he wasn't getting out of it now. "Yes it is unless you want to be sedated and handcuffed to that bed for a week." Chakwas said in a stern tone. _That's even worse…Damn it this sucks, guess it was only a matter of time with all the injuries I got, maybe I should move my stuff in here since its where I spend most of my time…nah I like my room better_. "Really?" Ty asked.

Chakwas sat down on the edge of Ty's bed with the sling in her hands, "Ty it won't heal properly if you don't wear this it could lead to multiple dislocations without this which would be easier to prevent if you just wear the sling." Chakwas said. Ty let out a sigh and asked "How long do I have to wear that thing?" "Years ago if you were lucky it would twelve to sixteen weeks." "What!" Ty exclaimed. There was no way he was doing that. Chakwas gave a hearty laugh and said "Calm down dear I said years ago, thanks to modern medicine and likely your own genes you'll only have to wear it for at least a day or two but you won't have to be confined to bed rest. You can still go do what you want as long as it isn't going into the field." Chakwas said. Ty breathed a sigh of relief knowing it was only going to be a couple days of wearing the sling; _it won't be that bad_, Ty thought. "Fine I'll wear it." Ty said.

Chakwas walked in front of him and helped him put the sling on his left arm, it was more comfortable than Ty thought it would be but it would still get in the way of his usual movements and doing stuff one handed was going to be difficult for the most part but there were people worse off than him when it came to doing things one handed, he was thankful it was just a dislocation and that his left arm was still there. After making sure his arm was comfortable Chakwas scanned his knee to make sure it wasn't broken, "Hmm well that's good news for you, your knee will suffer from some bruising but otherwise it seems you didn't do anything else besides jam it hard against that door." Chakwas said. _That's a relief_, Ty thought. "No cast?" Ty asked. "No cast." Chakwas repeated. Ty nodded and said "Thank you." "Are you alright Ty? I know you handle injuries just fine but I mean with everything you told us?" Chakwas asked as she walked over to her table and grabbed her half-filled glass of Ice brandy_. Maybe I shouldn't have made that stuff so readily available, well she knows her limits…I think_. "You know me Chak..Karin what doesn't kill me makes me stronger and stranger haha." Ty said with a laugh.

Chakwas walked back over to his bed and sat on it across from him but he received a very serious look from Chakwas, "What?" Ty asked. "Don't give me that, I know you well enough to know when you are bothered by something." Chakwas said. Ty nodded in a good point gesture and said, "True you do but I'm doing my best with it, I know what I have to do to get "better" for the lack of a better term but that means I have to focus on that when there are far more important things to focus on besides my own problems." Ty said. "Shepard and I talked before you went on the mission; she said you relived it all as you were talking." Chakwas said. "She's such a snitch. Never telling her a secret again." Ty joked. Chakwas smiled and said "It's for your own good, you saw everything that happened to your mother for the first time and that means you felt all the emotions you had back then right?" Ty nodded silently for a few seconds then sat quietly, "You don't have to talk about it Ty." Chakwas said. "No like you said it's bothering me so I'll talk but you may want to grab yourself a full bottle." Ty said in a joking manor that Chakwas caught. _And if I was the drinking sort I would likely want to drown my own sorrows_.

Twenty Minutes Later

Ty had laid out all his feelings and emotions on what he had witnessed in his memories and all the way to his dream that started bringing out his demon and how he could get control of it, as always Chakwas sat and listened quietly letting him talk only voicing her thoughts a few times but only considerate thoughts. After Ty finished Chakwas contemplated her thoughts on the conversation before inputting her advice to him, Ty sat patiently in his own thoughts wondering how Chakwas had become like a second mother to him but the answer was simple, she cared about him. She wanted to look after him if he was injured, she liked him beyond a professional level, she wanted to be someone he could depend on even if he didn't want a motherly figure she was going to be one.

In one of their previous conversations they had talked about why she became a military doctor and about Jokers Vrolik syndrome and when they talked she talked about how she never really had patients who stayed around being in the military, they either died or moved on. When she met someone who needed constant medical attention because of a syndrome, Joker, or because they liked to throw themselves at impossible odds, Shepard, or got injured a lot, like him, she attached herself to them and became like a watchful mother over them. She enjoyed Ty's presence a lot; she had admitted that, since he was filled with youthful spirit and kindness that brightened her day. She had called him the bright light in the crew's field of darkness when they were down while Shepard was the immovable being that everyone could depend on to stand between anything and anyone no matter how tough it would be and together they really helped the crew's moral.

Chakwas put her quarter filled glass on top of the waist high cabinet that was against the wall then waited a few more seconds in contemplation, she finally spoke up, "I know that you will do whatever you want but I would like to suggest that you focus on getting your mind back under control so your dreams don't work you up like that. You are very strong mentally to be able to live what you live through on a daily basis and not break under it all but you need to do everything possible to get your mind back under control so you don't start slipping into memories in the middle of battle or while you are walking about on the Normandy." She had a valid point and Ty had thought back to what happened on Horizon when he was passing out in the middle of battle but he had hoped that it wouldn't happen again. He was using blind optimism a lot more than he thought he would and he blamed Shepard for that. "I know but the crew's guns and the Normandy upgrades need to be my top priority when I get this sling off so when we finally take the fight to the Collectors we're ready." Ty said.

Chakwas nodded slightly and said "True which is why my other suggestion is while you have the sling on you should devote your time to meditation and focusing on your mind, you will get all those upgrades done in time Ty but you need to be mentally prepared for the mission and that needs to be your top priority." No matter how you could slice it Chakwas was right about that, as she usually was, "Alright I'll focus on that then while I'm slinged up." Ty said.

Chakwas grabbed her glass and drank the remainder of the glass but as she did EDI popped up on her spot in the med-lab and said "Excuse me Doctor Chakwas but Shepard has asked if Ty would be able to come up to CIC for a few minutes to talk about her conversation with the Illusive Man." "Tell the Commander that he'll be on his way." Chakwas answered. "Yes Doctor." EDI responded. EDI disappeared and Chakwas said "After you talk to Shepard in CIC start working on what needs to be focused on." Ty nodded and said "I will, later Karin." "I'm sure I will see you later Ty." Chakwas said as she walked back to her terminal. "Can't wait to see what my next injury will be can you doc." Ty said sarcastically as he began to take his leave.

Ty heard a chuckle from behind him as he left the med-bay and took the elevator up to CIC, Chakwas had a point about focusing on getting his mind back under control so his dreams didn't bother him as badly and so he wouldn't slip into memories like he did the night before, the guns and Normandy upgrades would have to wait anyway until he was out of the sling and it would probably only take a day or two to really get it under control so this time would really be a rehabilitation time for his shoulder and his mind. He wondered how he would fare with sleep and showering with the sling on as he walked out of the elevator and asked Kelly where Shepard was having the meeting, she pointed him in the right direction after asking a few questions about his arm with concern and worry in her face and tone. Ty reassured her that he was fine and had gone through worse than a dislocation to which Kelly smiled and shook her head as she made a joke about him getting injured too much to call that a minor problem. He couldn't disagree so he shrugged with a smile and made his way to the comm room.

After making his way through Mordin's lab, which was missing Mordin, he made his way into the comm room where Jacob, Mordin, Miranda and Shepard were waiting in their usual gear and Shepard in her blue wifebeater and black jeans with her long black hair flowing past her shoulders covering part of her angel wings, "What the hell happened to you?" Miranda asked with a slight agitated tone mixed with concern. Ty laughed a little and said "I know I'll never live this down but when we were escaping the Collector ship the doors EDI opened up to get us out shut since someone else was in the system and I didn't hit my brakes fast enough so…I kinda stumbled full force into the solid metal door and dislocated my shoulder and jammed my knee. Doctor Chakwas told me if I wanted it to heal properly I needed to wear this for a day or two." Ty motioned with his right arm to the sling then continued, "So if we have any ground missions anytime soon I'll be sitting them out." "She is right; if you were not to wear the sling you could re-dislocate your shoulder multiple times preventing it from healing." Mordin said.

Guess I got my second opinion, Ty nodded in response, "That's what she said too…we're not going to start running tests on me right now because of the whole partially Prothean thing are we?" Ty asked. "Tests would be optimal now, you cannot fight back." Mordin said with a sly grin. "You know I really can't tell if he's joking or not." Ty said. Shepard chuckled slightly, "They already have what they need Ty, they'll just talk your ear off." Shepard said. "That's what worries me Shepard; I like my ear right where it is." Ty responded. "Alright you guys listen up we have to discuss what the Illusive Mans reasons were." Shepard started.

Ten Minutes Later

Shepard went through all the important details of her conversation and giving the Illusive Mans reason, which wasn't as good as Ty thought it should be, but it left Jacob and Mordin pacing back and forth and Miranda taking on her ice queen mentality while Shepard crossed her arms and waited for the crew to finish processing the information. Ty stood on the end of table by the doors while he waited since he didn't want to be the first to speak but Jacob ended the silence "So he didn't betray us, could've fooled me." Mordin went off on a slight tangent but came down to that the reason was good enough when Ty said "He sent us into a trap because he thought the Collectors could be tipped off somehow if he contacted us and he "knew" that we would make it through it? Now usually I'd be pissed at such a piss poor excuse but the information EDI got may have just tipped the scale in a good way."

The whole group nodded in agreement and Shepard said "It doesn't matter now if he knew of the trap or not we now have information that can help us take the fight to the Collectors but first we need that Reaper IFF, EDI how's the data-mining coming?" EDI popped up in the center of the table and said "I have un-covered the location of the Collectors base." _Well that's some good news_, Ty thought. EDI disappeared and the Milky Way galaxy popped up, "I have determined that the Collectors base is here." EDI finished as an indicator moved over the galactic core.

Everyone in the room was silent as the stared at the galactic core, one of Ty's thoughts on the Collector ship hit him like a train, _they would need a place to hide right in plain sight and the ability to come and go without getting tracked, they stay in the Terminus system and the only relay that I know of that isn't explored is the Omega 4 which is where everyone here says they are coming from, shit the Collectors are smart_. "Right in plain sight." Ty whispered to himself. Shepard looked over at him, "That can't be right." Miranda said in shock. "That's impossible the core is full of nothing but a bunch of supernovas." Jacob said in the same amount of shock. "EDI is sure of it which means it has to be right, remember who the Collectors work for, they are just pawns for the Reapers and look at what they are capable of. The Citadel, the Mass Relays who's to say they couldn't build a base right in the galactic core around a bunch of supernovas." Shepard said.

Ty finally found it in himself to speak up, "The Omega 4 has always taunted my mind with questions that I'm sure we've all asked ourselves. Why was it red? Why couldn't anyone survive it and such thoughts so I always steered away from it so I wouldn't end up like the ones who died. When we were on the Collector ship I was trying to figure out how a ship the size of the Collectors could easily move in and out of the systems without so much of a trace and then go right back into hiding and I'm sure we've all tried to figure that out. If the mechanic in me is right then that IFF does more than identify friend or foe, it triggers that relay to send you right to their base. The signal off of that thing has to broadcast the ship it's a part of to whoever is watching that relay and if that's the case the Collectors could just wait on the otherside of it and pick us off as we come out of the jump."

Shepard seemed to be the only one not looking at Ty like he was crazy as she asked "So you think this IFF emits a signal?" "I can't say for sure, not without seeing it for myself but if it is really just an IFF then why were the humans able to activate that relay in the Sol system in 2157 and use it to jump into the first contact war, figuratively speaking on the last part."

Shepard nodded to herself but before she could speak Miranda jumped in, "It doesn't matter we have to get that Reaper IFF no matter what so we can survive the jump to the galactic core where their base is." _Ah Miranda ever the conclusion jumper_, Ty thought. "I know that but I'm just saying after we get it you should allow me, EDI and Tali to look it over and make sure that when we integrate it with the Normandy that we don't end up blown to hell when we come out of that jump." Ty said. "What about the stealth drive could it block a signal if there is one?" Shepard asked.

Ty shook his head no, he didn't know much about the stealth drive as it was except that it hid their heat emissions which was all he knew about his own but since the last Normandy got blown to hell while the stealth systems were engaged he doubted this one would help much either "If this Normandy has the same stealth drive as the last then I don't think it would since the Collectors were able to engage you while you were using your stealth drive." Ty said. Shepard raised her eyebrows in question, "How do you know so much?" Shepard asked. "I'm fucking psychic." Ty joked. "Unlikely or you would avoid injuries, unless you think scars are attractive like Krogan. Hmm possibilities." Mordin said. Ty shook his head with a smirk and said, "Anyway, this all hypotheticals so it doesn't really matter right now I'm just saying its Reaper tech and the Omega 4 and Collectors shouldn't be underestimated no matter how much we need to kill them, we need to discuss what our next move is." "That IFF is the only way we can get to the Collector base so I say we go get that first." Jacob said. "Maybe but we need to get the crew ready before we go to their base." Miranda said. "Mordin what do you think?" Shepard asked. "The crew is as important as the IFF but I would say to help the crew first." Mordin said.

Shepard looked over to Ty and asked "Ty?" "Jacobs right about the IFF being first and foremost to kill the Collectors but we still have two guys to recruit and make sure they are headstrong along with one crewmate who needs something done and two who haven't spoke of any problems but are sure to have some. I'll do whatever needs to be done but I personally believe that without a strong crew and ship we'll be like Krogan's trying to mate when we go against the Collectors…uh no offense Mordin just a metaphor." Ty said. "No offense taken." Mordin said.

Shepard leaned against the table for a good minute contemplating her choices until she finally stood up and said "We'll recruit the assassin and mercenary first and then figure out what needs to be done, EDI have Joker set coordinates for Illium." "Yes Shepard." EDI said then disappeared. Shepard looked at the four and said "The rest of you back to your stations I'll be around the ship if you need me." Ty, Miranda and Mordin nodded while Jacob saluted then they all left the room, Mordin and Jacob went back to their rooms while Miranda and Shepard walked towards the cockpit as they talked leaving Ty to head back down to his room to start working on getting his mind back on track.

He got down to the Crew Quarters but instead of going to his room he headed for Samara's to see if she wouldn't mind company while she meditated, he was sure she either would say no or wouldn't care but he wanted to try and befriend the Justicar for no other reason than he liked her for what little he knew about her or her order. The doors opened to her room and he saw a slight glow of blue around her hands, he took a few steps in when she said "Ty." That caught him off guard a little he hadn't said a word and his footsteps weren't very loud either, maybe she was psychic or maybe he was crazy for the stupid assumption but after regaining his thought pattern he said "I wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind some company?" "Company for conversation?" Samara asked without moving. "More like I wanted company for meditation, Doctor Chakwas wants me to work on some mental things of mine and I-" Before Ty could finish the blue biotic orb she had in her hands disappeared and she waved him over with her right hand and said "Come and sit then."

_Well that went better than expected_, Ty thought, Ty walked to her side and sat down crossed legged next to her, she looked to him with intrigue as she examined his slinged arm and the rest of him, "Is your injury bad?" Samara asked motioning to his left arm. Ty shook his head and said "No I dislocated it on the last mission but Dr. Chakwas fixed it for me and wants me to wear this to make sure it heals properly." Samara nodded silently for a second then asked "Do you meditate often with others?" Ty shook his head and said "Not really, years ago when I was still a kid me and my brother did but then we started doing what we did which didn't really leave time for that. I guess I miss the feeling of having someone there with me both getting lost in our own thoughts." "It will be a new experience for me; I have never meditated with another." Samara said. "Hopefully I make it a good experience then I'd hate to make it a crappy experience for you." Ty said. Samara smiled then brought her hands close together and the biotic orb formed again and her eyes started to glow a solid hazel, Ty closed his eyes and started focusing on getting himself back in check as he enjoyed the silence between them.

**A/N: I had to recheck this chapter a lot for stupid mistakes so hopefully it turned out good, if there was any mistakes that were outrageously bad let me know but I think I got them all. Anyway hope you enjoyed and I will see you next time.**


	56. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Fight for Control

**A/N: Quick note, according to Google translate mi alma is my soul in English just so you know when it pops up. If that is not correct I apologize.**

_Ty knelt down at Ka'Reena's dead corpse as tears rushed down his face, she was gone for good there was no amount of medi-gel that could fix that, no amount of medi-gel to fix his own shattered heart. She was face down on the ground with her blue mask cracked and a pool of blood beginning to form under her, __**how could I let this happen to her? After everyone I've lost, after everything I promised to do…I still failed her**__, Ty thought as the tears burned down his face like acid. Ty went to touch her mask but stopped himself not wanting to disturb her body but still wishing to hold her close once more. __**"Leave him, you've killed him already we'll finish the job after it's sunk in that everyone he knew died because of him." Tarak's voice echoed again through his mind. **_

_ Tarak's voice continued to reverberate through his being seeding itself into his very soul to be a constant reminder of why he would never allow himself to get close to anyone ever again. Many of Omegas inhabitants walked by staring at the two or not looking at all whispering among themselves knowing full well who Ty was and why keeping their distance would keep them alive. They were seeing a side of him no one had seen before, a very broken version of the man that almost everyone either feared, hated, respected or held some weird combination of the three. He knew pain well but this, this was beyond any pain that had ever touched his life, losing his eight friends was what he had always considered one of the worst moments in his life that also held the worst feelings he had ever felt but this…to have seen her actually executed right in front of him with the saddest acceptance in her voice knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to save her…Ty balled his hands into a fist and dug his nails into the palms of his hands.__** Why couldn't I save her?! **__Ty thought then he punched the ground eliciting pain through his hand, __**Why!**_

_ He looked back to Ka'Reena's body; __**"I'll always be with you." Ka'Reena's voice echoed.**__ He couldn't stop himself any longer as he moved to her body and turned her over so the front of her body was facing him while supporting her upper back and neck with one hand so she was sitting up. She was gone and it was all his fault he didn't keep a close enough eye on her while knowing Jedore and Tarak would take it this far being the sick bastards that they were, not even Jason or Scrum could stop them. Just like all his friends he lost he was now never going to see her face again, never hear her laugh or hear her call him a bosh'tet, he'd never feel her skin against his, he'd never feel anything again._

_ There were footsteps behind him that were at a running pace until they slowed to a walk then to a stop right behind him, he heard a voice he knew but hardly recognized when he heard it, "Oh shit they killed her…Fuck…Ty are you okay?" Grizz asked. If Ty had registered the question he would have thought it as a stupid question but his main focus was on the corpse of his lover that was in his hands, __**They will pay, every single one of them will pay for this,**__ Ty thought. "Ka'Reena I swear on everything you were and what we had that I will not rest until those responsible for this are dead, I will not stop hunting and I will never let myself get close to someone again so they won't befall this same fate. I swear on everything that I held dear and all that is left in me that until my dying breath I will hunt and kill the bastards who did this to you…please guide me down my path." Ty said through his tears. Ty brought his head to her mask and pressed his forehead against it and said "I'm so fucking sorry…I will avenge you mi alma." Grizz had been the only guard of Arias that Ty liked so when the question that Grizz asked registered into his head as Grizz's voice he said "Grizz I want you to take her body somewhere that it will be safe until I can bring it back to the flotilla." _

_ As hard as it was he finally let go of Ka'Reena and his veins started turning blue as he stood up, "Okay…What are you going to do?" Grizz asked. Ty's eyes turned purple and said "Hunt those bastards down." Ty looked down at his hands that were now soaked in Ka'Reena's crimson blood and they started to shake as his body felt like needles were poking him. He clenched his hands into fists and his muscles tensed out, his demon now had full control and wouldn't release control for years to come, Ty ran after Tarak using his past seeing ability to track him and when he found him he let out an earth shattering roar._

* * *

Ty flung up in his bed as a ball of sweat and breathing faster than was healthy for him, he felt needles poking at his skin and as he looked down at his hand he saw something that was more than inconvenient, his body was changing again. He could see his hand clearly but it was still covered in Ka'Reena's blood and that was a bad sign. He had spent many hours meditating with Samara and he had gotten a lot of his mind back under his control but this was too much to be held back by some mental barriers, Ka'Reena's body kept flashing in his head and the rage he felt was taking over him as he threw himself out of his bed and tried getting himself back under control. _Fuck this is not good,_ Ty panicked. He tried visiting happy past moments but his mind wouldn't allow him and he kept seeing Ka'Reena's corpse, he had some closure to it with the holo she had wanted him to find but it was a wound that would always be there and seeing the memory again was not helping in the slightest.

His left arm was still in the sling as his muscles started to tense up and the blue in his veins became more prominent, he couldn't stop it, it was fighting to take the remainder of his mind over and he was fighting his hardest to stop it with as many positive thoughts as he could. _"Fight it Ty, don't let it control you!" Tara yelled._ _I- I can't_, Ty felt his panic take grip and his anger begin to seed itself in his soul once more. He paced back and forth in his room as he felt the pain of loss coming back in full swing, he needed help before he hurt someone or himself, he walked to EDIs platform and in a pained voice said "EDI I need help now." "There is an unusual amount of distress in your voice Ty what is wrong?" EDI asked as she popped up. Ty's vision started to blacken around the edges like it did when he focused on a target while in his raged state, it was too late for outside help, "Forget it EDI don't send anyone after me." Ty said as he moved quickly out of his room and to the elevator.

He had to get away from everyone to make sure he didn't hurt them, he had to get control too but that was going to be a battle of mind and body that could tear apart whatever he was around. The elevator went down slowly as usual as Ty's breath became quicker, he was angry, not just because of his dreams making him turn angry but angry at himself for letting it control him and angry for letting his mind relive such a memory while he slept. _"You can't control it; you couldn't even save your friends." Tarak's voice echoed. "He's wrong you can control it, fight this Ty." Tara said._

He looked down at his right hand and saw his pistol that he kept under his pillow, his knuckles were white from gripping it so tight and the veins in his hands were more prominent then his tattoos, his strength was increasing with his anger as always and soon not even Grunt would be able to stop him_. "Yes breath that in Ty, let that thought seep into your soul. Think of the power you could gain." Jedore said._ The thought of reveling in the power disgusted him. He didn't want that kind of power; he didn't want to hurt any of his friends or crew mates. Anger seethed in him as he slammed his right fist into the elevator door in front of him, getting angry with himself was now the only thing stopping his demon from taking full control.

The doors opened and he walked out and found a place in the middle of the room and started pacing while he focused on getting control of his mind. Back and forth back and forth then stop and stare at the ground then back and forth back and forth back and forth, look at the table with the guns he was working on, back and forth back and forth back and forth. It continued like that for several minutes until he stopped his pacing and saw his well-designed portrait of the Illusive Man, _that motherfucker thinks himself so high and mighty on that stupid fucking seat while he sits and plans how to go after my friends and family. He'll die for even threatening those things and then I'll fucking blow up whatever station he happens to be on to fucking smithereens wiping that piece of shit off the face of humanity and alien kind alike, FUCK HIM!_

Ty aimed his pistol at the graffiti target and let off three round burst after three round burst as he walked forward to the target. Every shot was aimed at the targets head until he reached the barrier and he had to eject his thermal clip, _"Stop." A familiar voice called out_. A three fingered hand gripped his gun and pushed it down, Ty looked to the source and saw a maskless Ka'Reena staring at him, _"You can control this, you promised me you would and I know you can Ty. Just remember who and what you fight for." Ka'Reena said._ Before Ty could respond she was gone, he looked down at the gun in his hand and took in her words, he felt himself grow angry once more but this time it was for allowing the voices of Tarak and Jedore skew his mind and gain the slightest bit of control. He tossed his pistol as hard as he could over his shoulder and heard it crack against the ground, he made a promise to her that he wouldn't allow his anger to control him and he had disregarded that promise and in turn Ka'Reena and his friends, he saw a small crate and gave it a huge kick sending it flying across the cargo hold.

This was what would be the turning point of getting control, disregarding his friends and lover. He heard light footsteps on the ground and as he did he said "Whoever you are stay away please, I don't want to hurt you…I don't want to hurt anymore friends." The footsteps stopped.

Minutes Before

It was late on the Normandy, after debriefing Ty and the others Shepard had talked with Miranda a little about the assassin they'd be recruiting and how Ty had a certain lack of care for authority and how he liked to say what was on his mind no matter if it was a popular idea or not. Miranda considered it as irritating as it was helpful. Shepard teased her about his brother being the same way so she should get used to it soon enough but that ended the conversation quickly, Shepard talked with Joker and EDI for a little while then went down to the Crew Quarters and Engineering to talk with the rest of the squad about her conversation with the Illusive Man and catch up on what their thoughts were now.

All went well with the crew from Garrus, Tali, and Grunt to Chakwas, and Samara who was meditating with Ty but Jack was a troubling conversation. She was loyal to Shepard and made sure that she understood that as long as the Illusive Man didn't pull that again she wouldn't raise hell but she seemed to have something on her mind that was troubling her. She hadn't been the same since the little spout with Miranda and then whatever happened with Ty afterwards, that was something Shepard would have to find out from Ty, maybe they had a slight falling out though she hoped not.

Ty was the closest thing Jack had to a real friend and Shepard was working her way there but she knew she had to go slow to make sure Jack wouldn't think she was trying to use her or anything of that sort, maybe Jack cared for Ty more than a friend and whatever happened was bugging her but if that was the case there was going to be some tension between the three of them. Shepard wasn't the jealous type and didn't care if Ty talked or looked at other women since jealousy was a waste of an emotion but she didn't want a rift between Jack and Ty or between Jack and her because she was with Ty.

After talking to Jack though Shepard headed back up to her room and took some down time to start reading the books Ty had gotten for her at Karin's request, she laid down on her bed as she read the first in the series of the novels. Time passed on as she read until finally she decided to put it down and catch a few hours of sleep, she walked up the stairs back to her desk and set the data-pad down, she walked over to Vic the hamster and gave him a little food then to her fishes and fed them as well. She stared at the fishes swimming for a few seconds thinking about what Ty had said about the signal the IFF could emit, if his suspicions were correct then that would be more than troubling. She didn't doubt the thought, it was a valid idea that could be possible but before she could go further into her thoughts EDIs synthesized voice interrupted the thoughts, "Shepard Ty's in need of help, I believe he has had another dream that triggered his anger and it is now "taking over him" as he would put it."

_Oh no,_ Shepard thought. Shepard turned towards EDIs platform and asked "What's going on EDI?" "I believe he was having an intense dream that triggered it to happen, his voice was very distressed and he seemed like he was in pain. He asked me for help but then suddenly told me to "forget it EDI don't send anyone after me." He is heading down to the Cargo Hold though I do not believe he is leaving the Normandy I think he is just trying to get away from the crew so he doesn't accidently hurt them." EDI said.

_Come on Ty what's going on,_ Shepard thought but said "That sounds right, how long until the elevator gets down to the Cargo Hold and then back up here?" "Twenty seconds." EDI answered_. That's a long time for him to be alone with his anger, I have to be there for him, he needs me right now but I should bring some back up_, Shepard thought. "Okay is Garrus awake?" Shepard asked. "Yes would you like me to have him wait at the elevator for your arrival?" EDI asked. Garrus would likely give her a hard time over this late night trip but if things got out of control, which she hoped they wouldn't, he was one of the few people he'd want by her side for help. "Yeah tell him that I may need him to help me hold Ty down." Shepard answered. "I will inform him…he will be okay Shepard." EDI reassured.

_I sure as hell hope so,_ Shepard thought. It shouldn't have come as such a surprise with his ability to see past memories but seeing him meditate with Samara had assured her that he was going to be okay and he was going to get control of it all. _He'll be okay, he'll fight it,_ Shepard reassured herself. "I know I just want to be prepared." Shepard said as she started walking to the elevator. "The elevator will be ready in seven seconds and Garrus will be ready when you reach him." EDI said as Shepard got closer to her terminal. "Thanks EDI keep a close eye on him while I try to get down to him." Shepard said.

After seven seconds the elevator doors opened and Shepard got in and pressed the Crew Quarters button, she knew Ty had intense dreams sometimes of past memories but none had ever done this to him, at least not to her knowledge. _He was working on getting himself back on track so how did this happen, was it a memory of his mother or was it of his crew or Ka'Reena?_ Those were the only things that really had ever set him off since she knew him, which really wasn't that long but still long enough to start caring for him more than she ever thought she would.

The elevator came to a slow stop and the doors opened with Garrus standing on the other side waiting, Garrus nodded at her as he walked in then he pressed the Cargo Hold button and the elevator started to descend. As it descended Garrus said "EDI gave me the brief on what's going on, I take it you don't know much more than that." Shepard shook her head and said "Not the slightest idea of why but I figure if worse comes to worse and all hell is about to break loose you should be there with me to help restrain him." "You sure like to drag me into hell and back don't you?" Garrus deadpanned.

Shepard smiled to herself and said "It would be pretty boring around here without going into hell and back, besides after what we saw from him on Illium I figure if it all goes to hell you'll last long enough for me to get the rest of the crew down here to help." Garrus hmmed to himself, "You know throwing myself into a small space with a vicious Varren isn't my idea of a good time." Garrus said dryly then continued "But I guess its good exercise and keeps me sharp since someone has to watch your back." Shepard slugged him in his armored arm and said "Shut up." The doors opened and as they did they heard a three round burst being fired, "Well he's armed to, this should be interesting." Garrus deadpanned again. "Stay low and hidden until we have a better view on what he's doing." Shepard said as she crouched a little and moved slowly out of the elevator.

The gunfire soon stopped and after lowering the gun and then staring at it for a few seconds Ty tossed the gun behind him, it hit the ground and slid to a stop seven feet in front of Shepard, _well that's a good sign, I think,_ Shepard thought. Garrus was behind Shepard crouched down behind a waist high crate so she looked back to him and he motioned with his head for her to go she nodded and started walking towards the gun to make sure if Ty was indeed losing control of his anger he didn't have a weapons. She got to the pistol but as she did Ty's voice stopped her dead in her tracks, "Whoever you are stay away please, I don't want to hurt you…I don't want to hurt anymore friends." The tone of his voice was almost pleading and what he had said struck Shepard's heart, _"Imagine if your family and all your friends you hold close were all murdered because of you being a Spectre, how would you feel?" _Z's voice echoed in her mind. Shepard shook the thought from her mind and began examining Ty, his body was definitely how it was when he lost control back on Illium with his muscles tensed out and his veins were completely visible. It worried Shepard a little but she kept her cool, she'd get him through this no matter what. They'd work it out together.

* * *

Ty didn't know who it was he just wanted them to stay away; he would not allow himself to hurt anyone else. "Ty talk to me what's going on?" Shepard asked. _Shepard? I should've guessed, she might be alone but I don't know maybe she brought someone. I would have if I was in her shoes._ "Please Shepard…I don't want to hurt anyone." "You won't hurt me." Shepard said confidently. Such confidence in him, a confidence he didn't feel for himself in this situation.

There were footsteps, she had to stay away, "Shepard stop right now." Ty said loudly. The footsteps stopped again, "What's going on Ty what memory was it?" Shepard asked. He wasn't going to lie so he told the truth, "The day I lost Ka'Reena, I relived the sorrow I felt as I held her corpse in my arms one last time and then the anger as I chased after Tarak." Ty said. "You were working on getting control today right? Why did the memory happen while you slept?" Shepard asked. _Because controlling it isn't as simple as letting it control me,_ Ty thought. "The mental barriers I put up held off what I was able to focus on today but…I need more time to get control, I have to get control." Ty said as he leaned forward against the barrier while his anger raged in him.

More footsteps and they were getting closer; the control that his demon had right now shone through a little as his left arm swung down slamming into the barrier, the sheer power of the slam snapped the strap on the sling. It was impressive even to him but it wasn't a good sign she had to stop, "For fucks sake Shepard stop being stubborn and fucking stop." Ty said with more edge than he wanted. The footsteps stopped again, his left arm felt good being free of the sling though he was sure he was going to have to put another on and he felt bad for his strength making it break because he told Karin he'd keep it on. "You're not responsible for her death Ty." Shepard said. "I know." Ty said quietly. He felt sorrow gripping him and his eyes began to well with tears, "I guess it wouldn't matter if I was or not anyway, dead is dead no matter how you slice it or who you blame…And she wouldn't blame me anyway no matter how stupid of a mistake I made. Besides that isn't why I'm like..this." "Why are you like this?" Shepard asked in a caring tone. "The memory started it but…I avenged her and my friends Shepard granting them peace and myself some peace…my demon doesn't want peace it wants pain, anguish, power." Ty flinched at the words he said, "You're opposed to that Ty I know you are, you aren't a bad person you can't let this control you." Shepard said.

She was right and he already knew that but hearing her say it shattered some of the control his demon had on him, he swore he could hear Tara's and Ka'Reena's voice echo with hers making it louder as it pushed further and further through his anger to him. Ty finally turned around and saw Shepard standing there, Ty pointed at himself as he said "I have to get control, I promised myself I'd get control, I promised Ka'Reena while she was alive that I would never let my anger rule me and here I am all blued up and tensed up because I let my anger rule me. I have to get control so I can stay focused on this mission, I have to get control for the crews sake, my demon needs to be controlled and the only person who can is apparently to incompetent to control it."

He turned around and thought of all his friends and his promise to Ka'Reena and the words she had just spoke to him, they all held so much faith in him, all could see in him a power to control his anger yet he couldn't see it himself. Even Shepard believed in him and as moral boosting as that was he just couldn't get a hold on his anger, he felt hopeless going against the very thing he had let control him for years. His thoughts moved to disregarding the promise he made to Ka'Reena, he couldn't just pretend he didn't make it anymore he had to complete his promise for her and for himself. The thought of it all made his anger subside and as it did his body returned to normal, there were footsteps again and Ty tried to ward Shepard off again "Shepard please." Ty said his voice heavy with sadness.

It didn't work, Shepard's hand rested on his shoulder and turned him gently so he was facing her, her eyes pierced into his soul burning all her hope and care into him making Ty feel a sudden warmth grow in his chest, "You won't hurt me." Shepard said confidently. Shepard grabbed Ty's right hand slowly and gently then opened up his balled fists, she let her fingers run slowly down his open palm as a hidden gesture of reassurance that spoke volumes of to Ty and also told him someone was near. She put the pistol in his hand and said in a very caring tone, "Whatever you need Ty whether it be more time or someone to talk to I'll be here for you." Ty gripped the pistol and said quietly "I know." Garrus stood up from his crouched position and said dryly "Well that's a bummer I was looking forward to a fight." Ty chuckled a little and said "I can always unleash my anger again if you want." Garrus put his hands up and said "No thanks I'll pass, you two coming now or not I gotta get back to calibrations." "Really Garrus? This late at night you are doing calibrations?" Shepard asked as she looked back at him. "What?" Garrus asked innocently. Shepard shook her head as she turned back to Ty and said "You need a new sling, try not to move your arm too much." Shepard grabbed him by his right hand and pulled him a little as she walked forward back to the elevator, Ty looked down at his hand with Shepard's holding it and felt a great many feelings that he hadn't felt in what seemed like an eternity. He'd get control tomorrow and if not Shepard would be there to help him through it every step of the way and that was an encouraging thought.

**A/N: Two notes, first is mostly me correcting a statement I made in an author note a long time ago that is likely forgotten but the Anime nerd in me wouldn't let this sit. I realized that the whole anger taking hold of Ty and transforming him was more like the nine tails in Naruto moreso than super sayian in DBZ. I guess it has similarities to both or maybe they are all tri-similar...if that is even possible or a word, either way that's my first note. Secondly, and much more importantly, I'd like to thank all of you who have read this so far and gave me the 4,258 views last month. I'd also like to thank you all for the 15,349 views I have at this moment, I know I've said this before but I never thought I'd get even close to this much and it continues to grow each month so thank you all for taking the time to read this and for the follows, favs and reviews. Ford B, I'm glad you enjoyed and have caught up and hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, thanks for the review :). Anyways hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time.**

**Disclaimer: Yes I still do not own Mass Effect Universe and it belongs to the rightful owners of it, I don't make money off this and I also don't own Naruto or DBZ because they belong to their respective owners *sigh* though if I did own them I'd have a nerdgasm...It just got awkward.**


	57. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

No More Almost Moments

Garrus went back to his calibrations after the elevator brought them to the crew quarters and Shepard and Ty made a late night trip to the med-bay to get him a new sling, he felt sorry for breaking it and he hoped Chak-, Karin wouldn't mind it but she wasn't in the med-bay when they arrived. Ty pointed out the cabinet Karin had originally pulled his out from to Shepard so Shepard went over to it and opened it up to find another sling in there for use, "Come on we'll put the sling back on in your room just in case Chakwas comes back and decides to run another test on you." Shepard joked. Ty nodded quietly and followed at her side while making some small talk about Garrus and his calibrations, "He really enjoys working on those cannons all day and night?" Ty asked quizzically. Shepard chuckled and said "Yeah you should have seen him with the Mako back on the original Normandy." Ty shook his head slightly and said "Wonder if the Turian army is like that, sir I have to finish calibrations I'll handle the hostile's later sir." Shepard chuckled at his jest and continued off it, "Hey don't touch that it'll take me three days to recalibrate it." "Sir Permission to recalibrate the cannon for the twentieth time today so I can get .05 percent more output sir." Ty joked.

The jokes were all in good fun and without any type of malice since jokes like that could be made about them just with different habits, Ty's constant injuries or Shepard's to hell and back mentality or any other habits they had. They made it to his room and as the doors closed behind them Shepard opened her Omni-tool for whatever reason she had found, Ty just walked to his bed and sat on the edge of it to try and relax a little more. Shepard closed her Omni-tool and said "Well there's nobody in here or any bugs so we can talk freely now." Ty nodded a little, made sense to check for Kasumi hiding in the room but he had taken care of the bugs a long time ago. He opened his own Omni-tool and aimed at his door to lock it but as he did Shepard said "Way ahead of you big boy." Ty couldn't help but chuckle and look at her, "Big boy? I've been called many things but never once big boy." Ty said. "It was a short notice nickname I'll come up with something cleverer in the future." Shepard said in an honest tone.

Shepard walked forward to the bed and Ty tossed his pistol back to his pillows as she reached him, she started to put the sling on his arm as she asked "Do you want to talk about anything?" He wasn't sure what they could say at this point, he had to get control there wasn't much else to it. "I don't really know what to talk about Shepard…I'll live with the memories of holding Ka'Reena's corpse in my arms and seeing my ship with my friends on it blow for the rest of my life just like you have your own memories of things that happened to you. My demon will always be there as well but if I can control that then all the dreams I have of those incidents won't have the effect on me they did today." Ty explained. Shepard got the strap around his shoulder and asked "What about your mother and that memory?" "It'll be a memory forever but as long as my demon is in control I won't get blued up unless I choose to get blued up…Z has his controlled and his is like a switch now, whenever he wants to use it he flips it on and when he's done he flips it off with no problems." Ty said.

As she was finishing up getting the sling on Shepard's cheek was right next to Ty's and her aroma had consumed his senses again and he was for sure this time it was strawberry, any other circumstance he would've made a joke about it to get her biotic's to show but this time he didn't, he had a serious question one that he hoped she would have an answer for. "When you went through the tragedies that you went through how did you get through it without ripping some Alliance brasses head off or the Councils…how did you continue going forward without getting lost in emotion?" Ty asked seriously.

Shepard stopped for a heartbeat and seemed to stop breathing as well but then she continued breathing and finished putting the remainder of the strap on to finish the sling but as she did she sat down slowly with her right leg crossed and her foot under her left thigh, "I took it day by day…I cried and cursed all the gods of every religion I knew of. Cursed them all for taking my friends lives from me without remorse, told my fair share of therapists to go fuck themselves because they didn't understand what I had gone through, told them to shut the hell up when they told me that religion was the answer and it would solve all my pain." Shepard said with resentment in her tone. She seemed to still hold her resentment for the therapists and Ty couldn't blame her, it was easy to tell someone what you think they should do and how to handle loss when they had never even felt personal loss before but when it came down to it loss wasn't something that was easily brushed off. You don't go through the things Shepard had gone through and one day just spontaneously feel better, those things follow you for the rest of your life and the pain may dull but it would never disappeared. "Yet here you stand stronger than any person I've ever met and still believing in your own beliefs and own spirits." Ty said with an encouraging smile.

Shepard smiled slightly and said "I formed my own beliefs because I didn't find answers in theirs, that doesn't make them wrong or me wrong." "Hey you'll hear no argument from me, I don't follow any organized religion but that doesn't mean I don't believe in something and as you said that doesn't make me wrong and it doesn't make them wrong. Who's to say any of us are right, in a galaxy where Reapers are real maybe we are all right." Ty said. Shepard nodded, they were on the same page it seemed and Ty had received a good enough answer for his question. Much to his surprise Shepard continued though, "I forced myself to work harder, promised myself I'd do better for the people that were under my command after the squad I lost on Akuze. It haunted me for years…it still does. After some time and soul searching I focused on becoming a better soldier and a better person for those who I fought beside." Shepard said. "But you've always been you; you really didn't need to become a better person because you already were a supreme human being." Ty said. Shepard shrugged slightly and said "I felt that I needed to become better and that became my mission and it helped keep my mind off the loss. Then, well, N7, Spectre and spaced." Shepard said.

Her determination to better herself was inspiring, she was faced with Akuze and all her other losses and yet she still steered her way through it and came out a better person. Ty on the other hand became the exact opposite; he became the demon that was locked away inside him. If he was being honest looking back he wanted to become that demon, he didn't want to change into a better man he wanted to change into a demon that would hunt down his friends killers to the ends of the galaxy, he wanted that self-inflicted hell so he could punish himself and the killers of his friends but in the end he lost who he was and was only steadily getting him back. Sure he always held his code close to his chest and he never backed out on it but the him he had been was not the demon that he had let run his life for the last few years. He wanted to better himself and maybe with the talks that his family had given him over the years finally sinking in and the help he received from Shepard he would but it wouldn't happen overnight so he wasn't going to stress about it now.

Shepard forced a bit of a laugh bringing Ty out of his thoughts and said "You know if I had chosen Ash instead of Kaiden on that day I think I probably would have grown as close to her as I did Kaiden." Ty was slightly confused by the statement, did she mean she would have fallen for him or just become best friends, was it even possible for those two to have had a relationship like the one she held with Kaiden? Ty had spoken briefly with Tali and Liara before meeting Shepard about their time on the Normandy and as far as he knew Liara had feelings for Shepard to some degree, Kaiden obviously held feelings for her at the time and the rest of the crew were just good friends. Maybe he was missing something, "Really?" Ty asked. "If she wasn't as straight as and Admirals back, maybe. Her attitude towards aliens had improved before Virmire but…I don't know. If it happened I wouldn't have been against it because she was a good looking woman and other than her racist attitude I liked her personality and I'm not against same sex relationships. We had some fun times together. Hell if you weren't here and neither was Garrus I probably would be flirting back with Kelly since she's a hell of a flirt." Shepard said with a smile. Ty nodded, that was a fact for sure, "Yea she is." Ty agreed. Shepard laughed a little and said "She goes for you too? Well I'm not surprised but I thought I was special to her."

Ty shook his head and laughed a little with Shepard, "You ever even have a girlfriend before?" Ty asked while suppressing his laugh. Shepard winked at him and teased, "I'll never tell." "Only during late night in the barracks right." Ty joked. Shepard slapped him lightly while laughing but after a while she stopped, her laugh was a gorgeous sound that he was happy to get out of her. It was nice to see her not so serious all the time and he was happy to be one of the people she shared her time with. Ty saw the slight change in her attitude as she continued more seriously, "Ash is probably the second hardest loss I've gone through, Akuze was bad, actually it was terrible…but Ash…I had to choose one or the other and leave behind someone, no forget "someone" I had to leave behind a friend no matter what. I think back on it a lot, probably more than anyone thinks I do and I question if I made the right choice militarily, did I do it because of my feelings for Kaiden? Was there really no other way to save both?"

Shepard stopped for a few seconds to which Ty figured was holding back her emotions which he understood from his own perspective of telling hard tragedies that happened to him, it was never easy to talk about something that had a big emotional effect on you especially something like Virmire that happened because of her own decision, that was a hell Ty hoped he never had to live through on his own. He had to see Ka'Reena murdered right before his eyes and see the ship his friends were on get destroyed but he never had to choose one or the other, he never had to leave someone to damnation regardless of the choice he made. More seconds of silence crept by and Ty did what he thought was right, she got his emotions straight so he'd try to get hers straight. He turned himself slightly to see Shepard looking away from him, using his right hand he put his hand on the crook of her neck and said "Shepard anytime you want to stop you can I don't want you to hurt because I asked a question."

Shepard may have been shorter than him but she in no way was she small in muscle mass but she wasn't one of those steroid female body builders either. The Alliance and N7 had one thing right, keep your people in good physical shape and mentally tough. It was one of the first times Ty had ever looked at Shepard's body, like really looked at it, the definition of muscle in her arms and shoulders, the almost barely visible shape of four abs under her wifebeater, her legs were also well toned and you could tell since her tight jeans didn't hide much but she wasn't trying to hide it. Her apparel really showed off all her assets from muscles to curves and everything in-between, she knew who she was and she was confident in herself and really didn't care if someone stared because she knew if they tried anything out of the ordinary she could break them in half with brute force or slam them around with her biotic's, that to Ty was hot. Not the slamming with biotic's or breaking in half, the confidence was what was hot because she wasn't snooty about it either.

Shepard nodded but continued in a more choked up voice, "I know it's just hard since I don't talk about it that much, I try to block it from my mind and use work as a way to get away but not a day goes by that I don't think about those who I served with or who died under my command. They are the reasons I got this far and was able to do what I did along with my crew. I had to become better, stronger and not show weakness for them and continue fighting for their memories. I see their faces all the time from Toombs to Pressly, Jenkins and Ash and all before and in-between that I lost but I just keep pushing forward for them."

It hurt more than Ty thought it would to see Shepard the way she was now almost in tears and losing her fortress walls that protected her, he wondered if this is how he appeared to her or anyone else when he was in states similar to it, he wasn't sure but it was probably close. It hurt also because he asked the question, he knew from their shower talk that she had a lot of emotions that she hid away and that she was as fragile as he was underneath all the walls and defenses they had built to protect themselves. He didn't think that she'd go this far into description of what she lost and how she moved through, he honestly thought it was going to be her first sentence and then they'd move on but they hadn't, screw his demon Shepard was more important than that pain in the ass.

Before Ty was able to try and comfort her with a one armed hug and hopefully some words that would help she continued in her choked up voice, "When we lost Ash because of my decision I stayed strong for the crew, you know "the un-wavering Commander Shepard" and all but I was hurting badly. I stay focused though and tried not to think about it and tried not to kick the Councils sorry political asses back to their primitive lives before they found Prothean tech. I had my downs where it got to me in private but Kaiden was the only one ever aware of it, well him and Liara." "Why Liara?" Ty asked. "She melded with me to try and decipher the visions I was having and was able to usually sense my emotions pretty well, that and she had a crush on me and though I was tempted to try I stayed true to Kaiden and didn't flirt with her." Shepard said in a less sad tone. "There has to be some sexual tension between you two." Ty said in a joking manor knowing full well that there was.

Shepard grabbed his right hand and squeezed it a little and sent a slight biotic pulse through it then said in a less sad tone "Shut up." Ty was tempted to pull her forward a little and kiss her but he stuck with words for now, "Remember what you told me last time you were in here?" Ty asked. Shepard looked over at him with tears still welling in her eyes and asked "What part?" "When you told me that we both had our heartbreaks and tragedies but there wasn't anyone else you wanted to be with in this galaxy but me." Ty said. Shepard nodded and said "Yes I remember." "Are you sure?" Ty asked. He wanted to make sure that she was sure still, if she was having second thoughts he wouldn't mind because he knew that their predicament was going to be a tough one. Much to his approval Shepard nodded and said "Yes I am without a doubt."

Ty grabbed her hand that she was holding his with and pulled her forward so her chest was on his and they were face to face, Ty nudged her nose with his and said "Well your boyfriend has one order for you then." Shepard smiled a little and her eyes stared deep into his as she asked "And what is that, sir?" Though she still had tears welled in her eyes she was still Shepard and the way she said sir was so seductive that it would've made any Admiral in any military organization either tell her to push 'em out until she couldn't feel her arms or it would've made their toes curl and fall on their knees and worship the very ground she walked on, oh yes it was that seductive.

Ty smiled at the response and said "Keep fighting no matter what hell is thrown our way and if you somehow manage to get captured by someone like the mercenary's or the Alliance-" "Ty the Alliance wont-" Ty decided to interrupt Shepard since she interrupted him, "Shepard your heart belongs in the Alliance you'd turn yourself in if they charged you with something." "Ty." Shepard chided. "Am I wrong?" Ty asked. "No but-" Ty interrupted Shepard again "Then don't interrupt, if you ever are captured or if you are ever in danger I will come for you and fight whoever stands between us. I don't care if a giant ass Reaper is in my way I will rip it apart until you are safely in my arms again and out of whoevers grubby hands were holding you." "Aw you spoil me." Shepard teased.

She was teasing him because in a way he was teasing her by bringing her in that close and not breaking eye contact with her as they talked, much like the last time just with more conversation. "Shepard I'll make rescuing Haley look like I was stealing a candy bar." Ty said. "Since I'm not captured though what are your plans for me and you, sir?" Shepard asked rolling the r a little. "Well until word gets out we obviously keep this between us but once it gets out there will be some mountains to climb." Ty said. "I'm sure we can tackle it." Shepard said confidently. Ty smiled more and said "The crew finding out will be nothing to the Alliance finding out." "Yup but I don't care, I want you and I get what I want." Shepard said firmly. "Is that so?" Ty asked. "More than you know." Shepard said.

They stared at each other intimately for several seconds both getting lost in each other's deep eyes. Her last comment, as cliché as it was, didn't register in Ty's head to what her next action would be so as he opened his mouth to finally comment on it Shepard's lips were pressed against his, it all happened so quick that only his sub-conscious knew what it was doing by the time his regular consciousness figured out that their lips had met and her tongue not only asked for entry but he had allowed it and she had begun wrestling his for dominance. Apparently there would be no hesitation in this moment from Shepard or any longer for that matter, one time would be the limit to their almost moments from here on out._ What the hell did I awaken in her? I don't think I have ever seen her act so…Not really sure what the correct word for this is but whatever it is I like it,_ Ty thought.

Their tongues danced with one another for several seconds both not letting up their kiss assault, both enjoying all the passion and emotion they were putting into the kiss. After almost a minute of straight kissing without stopping Shepard stopped briefly, neither had closed their eyes the whole time they kissed and it hadn't changed still both staring intimately at each other. The only thing that had changed was that instead of the tears still being welled in her eyes a few had made their way down her cheeks, Ty knew that she no longer had any walls protecting her right now, this was the side of Shepard only one other person besides him had seen as far as he knew. Ty, being handicapped to one arm, brought his right hand out from behind her neck and caressed her face as he wiped her tears away.

She had let down all her walls for him and that had been hard for her, it was hard for him to do the same for her but he knew that she wanted him to see this so that he knew she was not kidding when she said she wanted him. He wasn't sure if she thought he had any barriers left, which he didn't since she busted those all down, but he was sure, even without her biotic's showing, that she was vulnerable right now something that was hard for her to show. That meant no sarcastic comments about it and not to screw up the moment, easy things to accomplish but still he reminded himself not to say anything about it unless she made jokes.

Ty caressed her face for a little while admiring her beauty at a face to face distance, admiring her beautiful eyes, admiring the cybernetic scars that were healing and nearly fixed but still had a very slight glow to them, the smell of her shampoo and or lotion, he still wasn't sure which it was but it could still be a combination of the two. "Damn you're beautiful." Ty said. Shepard smiled a little and looked away slightly but her eyes came back to him quickly, "Thank you Ty, for giving me a chance and being here for me." Shepard said. Ty nodded slightly not wanting to collide their heads into each other, that wasn't how he wanted to join minds with her since it would likely leave them both unconscious. "You're welcome, though technically you were here for me first." Ty said. Shepard nodded and kissed him again but this time instead of the feverent kiss they had just shared it was slow and passionate and lasted for several seconds. They parted again this time because Ty parted first so he could say something, "I lied by the way." Ty said. Shepard raised an eyebrow and asked "About what?" "I had more than one order for you." Ty said with a smirk.

Shepard rolled her eyes slightly in a, really now, way then planted her lips on his again as she rested her hands on his shoulders and pushed him down onto his back slowly while straddling him. They kissed for several more seconds then she stopped and sat up, she rested her hand on her legs and asked "What order do you have for me this time, sir?"

She purred sir this time which made Ty smile a little as he leaned himself onto his right elbow so he could look Shepard in the eyes as he spoke, "When you go down to do what you do best without me, be careful. My job on this ship, aside from being a crew friend for everyone to lean on when they need me, is to be the one who gets injured all the time. Graze wounds aren't that bad but I don't want you coming back on here all blown to shit like I was the first mission we were on together." Ty said. "Any last orders, sir?" Shepard asked seductively. Ty smirked and said "Actually yea I do, two things, one answer the first honestly and second will wait until the first is answered." "I'll be as careful as I can be just because you asked." Shepard said honestly but with a joking tone under it all.

Shepard ran her finger across his chest then tapped his right peck as she said "But I expect you to be careful as well, I don't want to have to have Chakwas or Miranda rebuild you like they did me." "I'm always careful." Ty said. Shepard looked at him sternly and said "Like jumping off the second floor down onto a Praetorian right." Well that wasn't his best idea by far but it had worked, better than the Thresher Maw on Tuchanka idea he had that's for sure. "Exactly." Ty said with a joking tone. Shepard's body glowed blue slightly then it went off her body and Ty felt a pulse go through his body, "Not to mention dislocating your shoulder before that." Shepard said in a chastising tone. Okay maybe he hadn't thought the damage to himself through but it did save Tali right, they couldn't complain too much. "Exactly my point I'm always careful." Ty joked.

Blue went around from Shepard's body to Ty's left arm slowly and controlled and Ty knew what was coming because Shepard's eyes had moved from his to his left shoulder. The aura climbed his arm until it reached his shoulder and hovered around it, Ty could feel the flow on his shoulder barely any force on it just enough to let him know it was there if he couldn't see it. "You know as cool as biotic's would be I think you look better when you have biotic's swirling about you, it doesn't really suit me." Ty said.

Shepard blushed a little and her focused diminished making the flow go away from his shoulder and across her body, not intentional but still funny for Ty, Ty chuckled a little then asked "So why does that happen when you get embarrassed or vulnerable?" "It always has, I asked Chakwas one time what she thought, had to go through a scan because of it." Shepard said as if it had scarred her. "What did she say?" Ty asked.

Her biotic's died down a little but the flow was still around her and slightly on him, "She said that my L5n implants react to certain feelings, rage, embarrassment, vulnerability or anything close to those, because of my "steel attitude" as she put it. Those I rarely let get to me so when they do my biotic's show it, I can control it ninety nine percent of the time but you're the lucky one percent that can make me feel vulnerable and cared for on a moment's notice and not be able to control my biotic's right away." Darian had nerves of steel and even when he was angry Darian would have full control of his biotic's but Tara was much like Shepard in this case because even though she could keep her cool, when she really got angry you would see it swirling about her. He had never made her that angry but he had seen their enemies do it and he was happy to only ever see her biotic's when she was tossing him around for fun or when she used them in the bedroom. He felt accomplished being a part of a one percent who could make her feel vulnerable in a good way, or at least what he considered a good way. "Go me." Ty said.

Shepard sent a weak pulse through him then wrapped her free hand back behind his neck and laid on the right side of her face with her ear above his heart and said in a barely audible voice, "Only one other person has ever made me feel like this." "What vulnerable?" Ty asked. "No, well yes but not what I meant." Shepard said. "Like what then?" Ty asked.

Shepard stayed quiet for a few seconds then took a deep breath and said "This is hard for me to talk about Ty since I haven't ever talked about it to anyone…not since it happened at least so it may take me some time to get it out." "Shepard you don't-" Shepard shook her head a little and said "No Ty I need to get it off my chest, I care too much about you to not tell you, back before Akuze I met-" The sound of EDI popping up got both of their attention as they both looked over to EDIs terminal, "I am sorry to intrude but Mr. Moreau has requested your presence in the cockpit Shepard." EDI said. "Why now?" Shepard asked laying her head back down on Ty's chest listening to his heartbeat again. "I detected an anomaly in the system we're in and Mr. Moreau would like to discuss stopping at the fuel depot in the system to pick up more probes and fuel, he would also like to discuss if you would like to look into the anomaly or if we should continue on our path to Illium." "Is it really that important?" Shepard asked. "That depends on whose perspective you are asking if it is important to. I tried to inform Mr. Moreau that your orders were clear to go to Illium and that you wished not to be disturbed at the moment but he continued to tell me that," EDI paused and Jokers voice came through, "Shepard might need to probe a few planets to pass the time," The recording stopped and EDIs voice continued, "and to tell you Shepard if you were talking with Ty that "getting laid doesn't come before the mission"." EDI answered.

Both Ty and Shepard sat in an awe of silence both because of the ornery bastard who flew the ship, the silence must've made EDI think it was because of her because she ended the silence, "Those were his words not mine." Shepard sat up a little, still straddling Ty, and said in a stern tone "Tell Joker I'm on my way up and if he keeps sticking his crippled nose in my personal affairs I'll break it and make sure to break his mute button." "You already did that in both yours and Garrus's retaliation to his constant comments on how you looked at Ty before you two became intimate and his calibrations." EDI answered swiftly. _So that's who did it_, Ty thought. "Oh right…hmmm…well tell him the first half and but end with I'll confiscate his Fornax collection." Shepard said. "I will inform him." EDI said then disappeared.

Shepard looked down at Ty with a saddened look and said "Joker really has a way for interrupting my affairs." Ty smiled and said "I bet though I am surprised you broke his mute button." "It was Garrus's idea." Shepard responded defensively. "Uh-huh." Ty said slowly. Shepard smiled and said "Okay it was both of our ideas we needed retaliation and that was the only way so while he was getting something to eat I took the time to make sure his mute button would be offline for a little while." "It's been more than a little while hasn't it?" Ty asked.

Shepard moved up on his body then leaned back down to him so they were chin to chin and said "Yeah but he has it requisitioned to be fixed, I've just delayed it a little longer by having Tali work her magic to make sure that it doesn't get fixed right away." "You are cruel." Ty said with a smile. "Don't you forget it either." Shepard said with a wink and a big smile. As much as he was enjoying this time they were spending together he knew that with Joker asking for her that meant business was once again at hand and it needed to be done. "I suppose business needs to get taken care of huh?" Ty asked. "I was going to have to go back to my room anyway so someone doesn't see me coming out of here in the morning." Shepard said.

_Figured that one out already,_ Ty thought_, can't do much as a cripple anyway_. "What was your last "order"?" Shepard asked. "To always remember that I will always be here for you just like you are for me, no matter what." Ty said. Shepard nodded firmly and said, "I will." Shepard planted her lips on his once more making the best of their kiss that would have to hold them over until next time taking their time and being passionate about it as they did.

After failing a couple times to leave each other and going right back into kissing each other Shepard finally started to make her leave but not before Ty got in one last comment, "Thank you." Shepard stopped in her tracks and turned to him and asked "For what?" "Helping me get control tonight for starters but for not only breaking all my walls down but letting all yours down as well." A slight flow surrounded Shepard, "I can't imagine how hard it was for you since I know how hard it has been for me but truly it means a lot, thank you." Ty said.

Shepard nodded and tried to find some words to say but couldn't, she jogged quickly back to Ty and tackled him softly to the bed as she planted a long kiss on his lips while a biotic flow enveloped them both holding them both together as they kissed. Their kiss burned with passion as their tongues danced with each other and Shepard tried fusing their body's together, she already had her body pressed hard against his but it seemed it wasn't close enough for her. After a few more seconds of kissing she sat up a little and started ripping her tank top off but Ty sat up and stopped her hands as he brought her tank top back down and brought their lips back together. She didn't resist the kiss though she did try getting her tank top back off only to be stopped by Ty again.

They parted and both were at a loss of breath but Ty got his back first and said "Shepard I know you want to 'cause I do to but you gotta work, it doesn't make either of us happy but you know you we can't do this right now." Shepard held him tight with her arms for several seconds while they sat together with her still straddling his lower body and Ty said "Go on you got an impatient pilot to deal with and you need to be on top of your game just in case you have a mission shortly." Shepard nodded but didn't relinquish her hold on him, Shepard leaned her forehead on his with her eyes closed as she breathed steadily. Ty used his right hand to caress her face and move some of her hair out of her face letting her get control of her biotic's and emotions, he hadn't expected her to do what she did figuring she'd have a witty remark but he was glad she had come back.

They sat for several more seconds the way they were until Shepard had found some words, "I wish I didn't have to leave." "I know but we both know you have to leave." Ty said. "I could always have EDI give Joker my orders." Shepard said. Ty smirked a little and said "We both know that he'd never let either of us live it down and he'd make sure the crew knew of you and me and right now is not the best time for that bomb to drop on certain members, like Jack or Miranda." "True but why Miranda?" Shepard asked. "Let me put this in a way that she would say it "bloody hell Shepard you're more worried about taking Ty to bed than you are destroying the Collectors"." Ty said in his best imitation of Miranda. It took a couple seconds but Shepard finally responded "Shit." "Yea that about sums that up." Ty said.

After sitting a few more seconds together Shepard gave Ty another long kiss than she got off his lap and headed for the door, as she unlocked the door she said "Good night Ty." "Night Shepard." Ty said not wanting to delay her any longer. Shepard left his room and the doors closed again, Ty worked his way to his pillows and put his pistol under it again, he was sure now that he would get to sleep without any problems and tomorrow he would get full control, at least that's what he told himself and as long as he believed it, it would come true.


	58. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Mental Battle

_He needed to stop and let her rest; he couldn't keep pushing her forward if he wanted them both to live. Ty didn't know this district of Omega well let alone the name of it but seeing what looked to be an abandoned apartment building and then a lot of open ground from there and on for what seemed like six blocks he didn't have many options. "This way, you need a break." Ty said motioning her to follow him into the building. Ka'Reena didn't argue with him as they took shelter inside the building and began looking for a room that wasn't in the view of the main hall, Ty kept his pace quick as he searched the abandoned complex for a room that wasn't blocked by debris, "Plea-…please can you-…can you just slow down a moment?" Ka'Reena asked through haggard breaths. There was a door that was closed so without replying to Ka'Reena Ty walked over to it and kicked it in, he looked in the room and felt no new energies of people being in the room recently and the room held no windows so Ty looked back to Ka'Reena and said "We'll rest here for now, sit down and catch your breath." Ka'Reena nearly collapsed to the floor as she entered the room but caught herself on Ty, "I do-…I don't think I'm going to make it." Ka'Reena said becoming dead weight in Ty's arms. "Hey stay with me damn it I didn't just have us run a few miles so you could pass out on me." Ty said as he began to bring her down to the floor._

_ After laying her down on her back Ty checked her vitals, aside from a heart rate that was above normal levels due to their run her body was fine, __**just exhausted,**__ Ty thought, __**she needs some rest before we set out again but this place won't be safe in a few hours.**__ They had been running since the Eclipse gunships had shown up and hadn't managed to escape the Eclipse members yet, for now they were ahead of them and their trail was hidden well enough that Ty believed they had a at least three hours before the Eclipse reached this sector but he wasn't holding on to too much hope of that. He sat down on the floor with his back against the wall with the door on his right side__**, we need a better escape plan, actually we need a plan in general or else she is gonna get killed, think Ty think**__, Ty thought. Ka'Reena's chest heaved up and down like it had been but it was beginning to relax and so was her body, __**adrenaline must have kept her going while we ran and the sudden slow down must have let the exhaustion set in**__, Ty thought__**, needs more conditioning to run away from mercs or maybe I just have to much conditioning from running away from people. Always possible.**_

_ Ty felt his heart rate begin to drop as he relaxed against the wall but even though he was relaxing he was in no way letting his guard down. In a building of silence it was easy to catch any noise since it echoed across the building like the loud boom of thunder rumbling through the open sky. __**I'm going to need help from Aria's guys and that means three people, Grizz, Gavorn and Murphy…Man Murph is gonna have a field day with this if he actually answers**__, Ty thought as he opened his omni-tool. He dialed Murphy first knowing the master strategist would have some ridiculous master plan already waiting for a situation like this, "Yo Ghost is that you man? Hey wait a minute I have to see this to believe it." Suddenly Ty's omni-tools vid-screen popped up showing the one and only Murphy with his usual long disheveled hair looking like he hadn't brushed it in months, which was highly likely, and his Sentry Interface head gear covering his eyes. "Well I'll be a Varrens chew toy it is you Ghost."_

_ Ghost had been a nickname that Murphy had given him due to his name being the only one without a G which ruined his nickname for the trio of Gavorn, Grizz and Ty. __**"Man the Three G's sounds a whole lot better than Double G and T."**__ As Murphy had put it when Ty asked. Besides for the nickname it also was because of his cloak letting him disappear that made Murphy come up with the name, it wasn't the worst nickname he had ever received so he didn't mind it. Murphy was a human under Aria's command though not many knew he even existed, he preferred the shadows and only a few trusted people, like Ty, Grizz, Gavorn and Aria, had ever met him face to face. For all Ty's tracking abilities he wasn't even sure where Murphy was located anymore, he never stayed in one spot for more than a week and all his tech consisted of was two omni-tools, his Sentry Interface and a few monitors which were all un-traceable thanks to the same program that kept Ty's that way but that was because Murphy had given him it as a gift to show his appreciation._

_ Murphy was a literal genius, he could come up with strategies faster than any Salarian Ty had ever met, he could calculate numbers like an A.I. and his loyalty to Aria was unwavering. His only drawback was that he was high all the time, he wasn't a red sand addict but he took some pill that made him so relaxed that it made Darian's natural cool look like a panic attack. Without the pill he was a mess, his thoughts were jumbled making him unable to think straight or perform anywhere close to how he performed when he was on it, he relied a lot on the pill and without it Ty was afraid he'd go insane. Ty smirked at what Murphy said, "Murph it's been some time, I see you still wear that thing on your face." Ty joked. Murphy brought his hand to his heart, "Oh man that hurts, we haven't seen each other in years and you already insult my gear." Murphy responded. Ty chuckled, "Ghost what's going on? You in trouble and need a hand?" Murphy asked. "Depends, are you higher than a kite right now or are you sober?" Ty asked knowing full well the answer just wanting to hear what Murph said. Murphy's smile turned into a full blown grin as he said, "Man I'm so fucking high right now, gotta stay that way to stay focused otherwise I end up scratching at my arms looking like some kind of red sand addict looking for my next hit."_

_**Well that's good**__, Ty thought, __**probably the only time I'll ever say that about someone using drugs**__. "Okay, I know you probably already triangulated my position so I'll skip asking that and ask if you know why I am in this…building if I can even call it that." Ty said. "This wouldn't happen to do with the Eclipse parading around in gunships and in a mass mob looking through Sev right?" Murphy asked. "Sev?" Ty asked. "Just short for District Seven as I call it, easier to remember numbers than names sometimes." Murphy answered. Ty nodded, "Yeah that's 'cause of me and my guest, Aria is pissed?" Ty asked. _

_ Murphy smirked and said "Pissed is an understatement, I've been trying to figure out what's going on since the camera feeds went down which I assume is you're doing to cover your tracks which I'll have you know took me a grand eight minutes to crack on my side so nice work. She'll lighten up when she hears it's you…I think. You need an exit and that building you're in will keep them unaware for probably another hour if you're lucky, let me work on this and I'll call you back. It'll take me a few minutes but I think it's time to get Murphy and his three G's back together." Ty groaned inwardly, he knew that Murphy had been waiting to say that. "Talk to you soon Murph, try not to burst with excitement." Ty said. "Man it's gonna be nice getting the gang back together, talk soon Ghost." Murphy said as he signed off._

_ A few minutes passed and Ka'Reena began to groan as she sat herself up, she brought her hand to her head and rubbed her mask, "Ughh…Where am I?" Ka'Reena asked. "Same place as you were when you passed out, been about twenty or thirty minutes give or take." Ty responded. "Did we lose them?" Ka'Reena asked. Ty shook his head, "Not fully no, they'll probably here to search this area in an hour or less so relax for a little while longer. I have a friend working on getting us out of here." Ty answered. Ka'Reena brought her hand back to her mask and said "Keelah, I'm sorry for dragging you into this." Ty waved her off and said "Don't worry about it besides this is probably mostly because of me sparing those two and for being…well me so I'm sorry for that and dragging you at full sprint through this district." _

_ Ka'Reena nodded slightly, Ty's omni-tool opened up on its own and Murphy appeared on the vid-screen again, "Ghost I got really good news and some really shitty news." Murphy said. "Ghost?" Ka'Reena asked. "Huh? Who the hell is that?" Murphy disappeared from Ty's omni-tool and then Ka'Reena's omni-tool opened up with Murphy on it, "Hmm a Quarian on her pilgrimage...some bastards screwed you and then the Eclipse mercs…hmm…Ghost?" Murphy asked. "How did you-" Ty interrupted Ka'Reena, "She's good Murph relax, I heard some Salarian loud mouth calling her a suit rat and snapped. She's under my protection until I get her off of Omega." Murphy nodded at Ka'Reena and said "Any one under the protection of Ghost is under mine as well." Her omni-tool shut down and Ty's reopened with Murphy showing up again, "Okay now that introductions are over, Ty good news your evac will be on the roof of your building. There is some debris in the stairways but nothing you can't handle; Grizz and Gavorn will be evacing." "And the bad news?" Ka'Reena asked. "Yeah one of those gunships is searching that area right now, you get on that roof and he'll see you but if he sees your evac ship he'll attack that first." Murphy responded. Ty clicked his tongue, "Means I have to take him out to evac safely, any ideas?" Ty asked. "Yes, their gunships will have shields and armor but there is a weak point in both." Murphy said as he began moving his hands around quickly, he disappeared and a holographic model of the gunships popped up with a red circle on the side of it, "You hit this with a round from your sniper and you can say bye bye birdy." _

_ It wouldn't be easy, the area was a large enough area that he didn't have to hit a pin sized mark but still the gunship wouldn't wait to be hit, "That sounds incredibly risky." Ka'Reena stated. Murphy sighed and said "I know, I wouldn't ask this of you Ghost if I had another way but Aria doesn't want a gunship going up in flames in her district so attacking it with another gunship was out of the question. If you can disable that thing like this there will be no explosion and no unnecessary deaths, let alone reconstruction if we're lucky enough that it doesn't crash into your building." Murphy said. "That is not comforting." Ka'Reena said. "Sorry." Murphy apologized. "Alright Murph I'll figure out how to take the bird down but get Grizz and Gavorn moving, hopefully this won't take long." Ty said. "On it…Oh and Aria wanted me to tell you to not get yourself killed or she'll-" Ty chuckled as he interrupted Murphy, "Bring me back and kill me again for getting killed, I know. Talk soon Murph." Ty said. "Roger that Ghost." Murphy said before ending the call. Ka'Reena let out a sigh as they both got up, "Well at least we aren't running anymore." Ka'Reena said. Ty chuckled and said "True enough, come on let's start our climb and get the hell out of here."_

* * *

Ty's room was filled with meditative music from a group that was once again from the 21st century, his taste in music was born out of his desire to learn about the human's life before Prothean tech. It was hard for some to believe but he did have a type of schooling growing up from his father between ages five and ten teaching him the core things he needed to learn that every other kid had to learn.

Through his studies he had grown a sort of knack for history wanting to learn other races history but mostly he wanted to know more of his own races origins and how they were long before they stumbled upon Prothean tech, during that time he experimented with the music of a generation that was long gone to see if they had any good taste, they did, much better than a lot of the stuff that was out now in his opinion. His brother shared the same taste in music as him but listened to some different groups than him though both were pretty open to all music. The music Ty was listening to now though was some good meditation music; he chose this music instead of the music he had recently because of how much more it helped him focus when he meditated. He could meditate to anything and block every noise out of his head if he wanted but this music would help him in his coming mental battle.

It had been many hours since Ty and Shepard had been together, about 10 hours and thirty seconds from EDIs calculation. Shepard went and searched the anomaly though Ty didn't ask what it was he did ask if everything went well, which it did. Ty slept for six of the hours and been up for the other four and thirty seconds, he actually had been meditating for the whole time but had just put the music on to try and help himself.

Twenty three years was a short time in the universe but he had experienced a lot of things during those years, he had a choice now though, a sort of cross roads either he could continue to let the bad experiences be all that he remembered or start remembering all the good he had experienced in that time while using the bad to make himself stronger as Shepard had done herself and as he had preached to many of his friends in the past. It was a simple choice, one that he was already full on making with the steady guidance of Shepard and his family.

Shepard had fought through loss and tragedies more than he had and continued to push forward, sure she was scarred along the way but she built herself up stronger and kept moving forward. It was inspiring for Ty to, as Aria had put it one of the last times they spoke, get his head out of his ass and back in the game. He'd never forget those he lost that were his friends but that didn't mean living through a self-inflicted hell for them it meant pushing forward stronger for them and remembering all the good times they shared because that's what mattered. Years and years he spent on revenge, a well fought revenge that he didn't regret but he could've and should've lived those years remembering the good instead of putting himself through a self-inflicted hell, it had taken him a long time to come to this epiphany.

He lost control of his demon so many years ago trying to right the wrongs that had been done to his friends but by trying to right the wrongs he let the very thing he fought against take control of him, Ty knew he was different from Scrum and the others but in a way Scrum had one valid point in his dying breaths. Ty had a sadistic side that was like them but the thing was he wasn't like them. That thought went back to what he had told Aria after the fight when she asked him why he spent so many years on revenge_, "__I'd run into the deepest pits of hell for anyone I care for and I'd murder without second thought anyone attempting to harm them."_

Murder was bad no matter how you put it, killing anyone no matter how evil they are isn't a good trait to have but Ty was fine with killing, it was a way of life for him always had been always would be probably so in a way he wasn't different from Scrum and the others since they had no problem with killing either but what separated him and his demon from them was what he had told Aria and the fact he'd never under any circumstance hurt an innocent, no matter who they were with. The amount of disdain for life that took was past his own demons disdain for his enemies and neither him nor it would ever commit such an atrocity intentionally and hopefully unintentionally, that would be a wound too bad to recover from.

His demon wanted pain, anguish and power, it got power every time he fully unleashed it and it caused Scrum and all the other Suns who encountered it pain and anguish before their end, it was sadistic but he didn't regret it, never would. Those people deserved the ends they had received for the pain and suffering they had caused everyone they encountered not just Ty, Ty said it himself when he lost complete control on Scrum, _"I__ am the spirits of all the innocent lives you have preyed on."_ At that point that's exactly what his demon had turned him into, a spirit of vengeance to be dramatic. That's what it had turned him into that time but now he was trying to turn it into that for good, he would fight it until that's what it was, an ascending demon that turned into a spirit of vengeance. He wouldn't be shackled by his anger he would turn his demon into something more powerful than what it was, it wanted power so he would give it more power by controlling it and feeding off the spirits of everyone around him, alive or in spirit form.

A lot of this change he was trying to make take hold was founded on his spiritual beliefs, he believed that the spirits of everyone who was living or dead could be felt by anyone, the Asari had in a way learned the living part by being able to "sense" others emotions and feelings sort of like the consort and her mysticism but Ty wanted to channel that into his demon. It was crazy to anyone who didn't have a deep of a spiritual belief as him or his brother and father. Are we ever truly alone? Ty didn't think so; he believed firmly that the spirits of those who had fallen were always with those who they cared for when they weren't relaxing in the spirit world. His path of vengeance was his own path but he believed that Ka'Reena and his squad were there giving him the fire to continue, he didn't believe he would've succeeded without their help. He had seen their apparitions back on Illium and then Ka'Reena down in the Cargo Hold though thinking that they were the apparitions was mostly just hoping they were instead of his conscious taking form as one of them. He would never truly know but he held hope.

_Darkness ceases to exist as long as the fire of hope still burns strong,_ that was one of Ty's many sayings that he had tattooed on his left side and probably where Shepard had gotten "_the fires of hope still burning strong_" when she was telling him what she saw after he killed Scrum. His hope had dwindled many times and had been almost put out but somehow it stayed lit and he gave all credit to the spirits of his fallen friends, lover and his dad, brother, Darian and Haley for being there for him to keep his fire still burning. Maybe that's what his demon would be after this change or maybe that's what it always was, the fire of hope burning in him.

What would his demon be afterwards, spirit of vengeance was kind of long but he liked the sound of it, demon was still good though since my demon is unleashed was a whole lot easier and quicker to say than I'm the spirit of vengeance. He'd come up with something if he didn't stick to demon, he would have picked Archangel but he didn't want to be accused of copying Garrus, he'd never live that down. Aside from the name change he wondered if it would still be triggered the same way, would he still blue up? That was probably un-doubtfully certain but he still thought about it.

Ty liked the feeling he was having thinking of his demon finally being under control and being able to maybe use it for better things than what it had been used for, was he finally coming full circle back to who he was? He was always who he was but was it the him without the constant sadness and anger that he had harbored so long on a daily basis. Would he finally be at peace mentally? What would it be like to even be at peace mentally? It had been so long since he felt that kind of peace he wasn't sure he would know if he achieved it or not even if it slapped him in the face and kicked him in the quad.

The only troubling thought Ty had was that every time life seemed to get a little better in his past something really bad was waiting around the corner to knock him down and yell "Happiness HA! Not today." Was he really in for another turn for the worse and if he was where would it strike? It might be a slight paranoia but he tried to think of how in the past when things turn for the worse who they hit and if there was really someone on an ant hill with a magnify glass getting ready to burn him on a moment's notice. If there was, judging on his past bad turns, the target would probably be Shepard since she was the one that started this turn for the good. He knew she could handle herself and was ready for anything but still he was going to keep a close eye on her and he was also going to make sure that his family, including Darian, Haley, and Jess knew to not grow complacent and to always be on their toes. They usually were but the extra security of telling them was one more precaution he hadn't used in the past.

This was the internal battle Ty was going through as he meditated, he was succeeding at the battle but as time went on he noticed there was another sound other than his music playing. There was a voice and he tried placing it as he came out of his meditation since he was certain it wasn't EDI, Joker or Shepard but drew blanks until he finally came out of his meditation and saw Samara's reflection in the glass window in front of him. Not every day you come out of meditation to see a Justicar standing behind you but Ty kept his composure, hard not to being completely relaxed from meditation. He nodded at her in the reflection and used his Omni-tool to turn the volume of his music down to a barely audible noise as he said "Hey Samara." "Ty." Samara greeted him with a nod then continued "I was wondering if I could meditate with you."

As off guard as it took him Ty waved her the same way she did to him and said "Yea you can I wouldn't mind company, sorry if you've be standing there for a while." Samara walked forward and sat down crossed legged next to him on his right and said "There is no need to apologize I had just walked in." Samara brought the biotic orb into her hands and looked over to Ty and asked "What is it that has you so focused?" "Trying to get my anger to turn into a good spirit, I promised myself and people who are important to me that I would." Ty said. "You seem to be doing well at that." Samara said. "You can tell already?" Ty asked.

Samara nodded and said "Yes it is in your aura, you are changing whatever it is in you for the better." "How do you read me so well?" Ty asked. Samara simply smiled and said "A near millennium of knowledge has something to do with that." Ty gave her a good point gesture, he couldn't argue with that in the slightest. If he had been around as long as she had he'd bet he'd be able to read people a lot better than he was already able to do. "Makes sense." Ty said. Ty looked at the biotic orb and noticed it wasn't as perfect as it was the other day, _hmm well isn't that curious,_ Ty thought. "Have a lot on your mind?" Ty asked. Samara looked surprised at his question but answered "Yes." "Well I guess a near millennium of knowledge would do that to us all." Ty joked with a smile. Samara smiled a little and said "You are wiser than your looks perceive."

It was a slight joke with a slight jab Ty assumed even though he was sure that it was also a truthful statement, he had heard many people's opinions of his knowledge and none thought he was above a sixth grade reading level, "You probably have no idea how much I've actually heard that haha." Ty said with a laugh. "How did you know that I have a lot on my mind?" Samara asked. Ty pointed at her biotic orb and said "When we last meditated your orb was perfect, today your orb is a little less perfect, not by much but I notice the small things." Samara nodded and said "I see, how is your shoulder recovering?" Samara asked. "Well enough, probably have this thing off tomorrow which will be great since I miss being able to move my left arm any way I liked."

Samara nodded and they both looked back out to the stars enjoying the silence and both lost in their own thought patterns, Ty was back on trying to finish getting control since he knew he was close now. They sat like this for three hours in silence until Ty finally used his peripherals to look at Samaras orb to see if it became more perfect, it still remained slightly imperfect and though Samaras face made it look like she was at peace Ty could tell she was troubled by something. He wasn't stupid enough to poke and prod a Justicar for information but he wondered what she was truly disturbed or worried about, he broke the silence "Hey Samara I have a question." "I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge." Samara said without moving from her spot. "Being a Justicar an all how come you joined this squad, I mean you knew Shepard has to work with Cerberus for now and Cerberus isn't exactly the good guys so why join?" Ty asked. "I'm sworn to the Commander not Cerberus." Samara said. "What does that mean?" Ty asked. "Her will is my code; her morals are my morals though if she commits anything that goes against my code I will have to kill her after I am no longer sworn to her." Samara answered.

_She dodged the first question I asked, no reason to push our luck she'll only be nice as long as she wants to since we're not exactly a good guy in the eye of the Alliance or the Council. _"Well I doubt that she'll do something that questionable, she isn't known for being bad." Ty said_. At least in the public, the Shepard I've learned to care for can be bad but not the same bad as we're talking about,_ Ty thought. "That is true, why did you join since your history with Cerberus isn't a good past?" Samara asked.

_Ah so she does know about my history, not surprising but I still wonder why she's been so nice. _"An old "girlfriend" I guess everyone would call her was kidnapped by the mercenary's that I used to run with in my early years that also killed my Quarian lover. Shepard told me she'd help me and that she needed me on the mission to save the universe…I wanted to do something that benefitted the universe so I joined on. I wanted to change I guess from what I was." Ty said. "I sense that you also care for the Commander." Samara said still not moved from her original position. "You are as wise as you are beautiful, yeah I do but we're trying to keep it a secret for now not to provoke some of the other squad members." Ty said.

Samara smiled at Ty's compliment and said "Your secret is safe with me, thank you also for the compliment." "You're welcome." Ty responded. "You are different from what the galaxy has said about you and your family, I'm happy I chose not to listen to the rumors." Samara said. Ty laughed a little and said "You also have no idea how much I've heard the first part of what you said as well though thank you for giving me a chance, its more than what most in the galaxy would ever give me." "You are welcome." Samara said.

They spent many more hours sitting and meditating making small talk here and there until Samara left to go back to her room, Ty enjoyed her company and hoped that their friendship they had formed in the past two days would last the remainder of the mission. "We're thirteen hours to Illium everybody, those who need supplies if you haven't made a requisition get it done quickly so I can get it while I'm down there. I know it's been a long road so far guys and I thank you for all the hard work you have all put in, it has not gone unnoticed but believe me once this is over you will all get a well-deserved break. Drinks are on me when we're done with the Collectors, stay strong guys." Shepard said over the comm. Ty smiled as he went back into meditation, he was happy to hear Shepard's voice and to hear her acting as a leader, she was born for it and no matter where they headed he'd follow her all the way there and back. _This is where I'm meant to be._


	59. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Planning the Heist

Ty and Jacob held each other's glares, Ty was burning a hole straight through his eyes and into his skull wishing that his eyes could shoot lasers just this once so he could incinerate the man in front of him. The pressure of Jacob's pistol pressing into his chest was a constant reminder of how both their lives were hanging in the balance at the moment. Ty had his one of his own pistols pressed against Jacobs chest while he held his other aimed at the terminal next to him, he was ready to pull the trigger even if it ended with both dead as long as he broke that terminal everything would be fine. Both had unwavering cold stares, this mission was too important for the Illusive man to be puppeteering Jacob into this but he did and it could very well cost the mission two valuable lives. Ty glanced down to the terminal, two minutes and thirty seconds was the remaining time Ty had left to get Jacob to either stand down or knocked out with neither pulling the trigger before he would have to kill them both and destroy the terminal. Shepard would be pissed at him for that and he hoped it wouldn't come to it but the Illusive man had gone too far, way too far with this and it could very well screw this whole mission up.

Ty's hood was down and his body was normal but now was going to be his last shot at ending this, he used his demon to change. His eyes turned fully purple and his arms tensed up with his veins becoming prominent, he had gained control sixteen hours ago soon after Shepard made her announcement to the crew so now it was just a switch he could flip without having to get angry or feel severe sadness. Now though Ty was using his demon to try and intimidate Jacob and, if necessary to use it to quickly end the stalemate. Jacob saw his body change and seemed to tense up a bit, fear showed over his features for a moment but the soldier in him pushed it down and kept him from wavering. He was dead set on making sure Ty didn't touch that terminal, _this wasn't how this was supposed to go down,_ Ty cursed. "Last chance Jacob, either stand down or be prepared to embrace death." Ty threatened in an angrier tone forced by his demon changing him. Jacob held his glare, he had balls Ty could give him that but this was not the time to be tough. "I'll hold the gates to hell open for you." Jacob said his tone cold.

_I should have reacted better, I shouldn't have allowed this situation to form__**,**_ Ty cursed himself again. On the outside Ty couldn't stop himself as an sadistic smirk made its way onto his face, he now knew full well how this was going to end, he wasn't truly happy about it but he had to protect his family, "Well I guess that's it then huh? I hope your conscious is clear." Ty said. Before either could react a blue aura surrounded both of their hands and tugged the pistols they had in their grip away and towards the wall, "What the hell is going on." Shepard's commanding voice was clear as day. _Well this isn't going to be a sparkling moment in our relationship_, Ty thought. Ty didn't have the time for this diplomatic discussion he glanced at the terminal and saw a minute and thirty left now_, good thing I came prepared_, Ty thought as he whipped out his pistol he slept with and aimed it at the terminal.

Much to his surprise Jacob moved in front of it and stood defiantly in Ty's way, _how loyal are you going to be to a man you never trusted so much in your life? Why didn't you just fucking listen to me?_ Ty raged within. This was ridiculous but that timer wasn't stopping so he had to react now, "Looks like you'll be holding those gates a long time Jacob." Ty said as he aimed his pistol at his head. "Ty what the hell are you doing?" Shepard asked still in her commanding voice. Shepard was the only way to end this without blood or death, he'd have to give her a chance, "This is the Illusive man's doing Shepard. He is playing the master puppeteer and tricked Jacob here to try and hack my Omni-tool for my family's location but Jacob thinks I stole Cerberus information and won't stop the download that has a minute and twenty five seconds left to get the information." Ty said not breaking his aim.

Ty stared long and hard at Jacob, he had put a lot of faith in Jacob not ever taking what the Illusive man said at face value and this happened, blind optimism and hope wasn't something he should have done for something that he held so close to his heart. The Illusive man shouldn't have done it in the first place since this mission was to important to try something so ridiculously stupid and think that he would get away with it clean slated. Ty shook his head in disbelief at the situation that they were in and said, "Shepard unless you want to convince him to move I'm sorry but I will shoot, my family's safety is one of the last things I have left to care about and I'm not going to let the Illusive man have that kind of power on me or my family. I'd die before he has that kind of information on those I care about." "You won't shoot me you know what's at stake." Jacob stated matter of factly.

In turn to his stupid assumption Ty barked out a laugh, he really didn't know who Ty was as a person. "You truly don't understand who I am and what drives me forward do you Jacob? You think I'd let your life stop me from protecting my family? Someone who I really don't even truly know over my family who I love and would do anything for." Jacob seemed to understand Ty's train of thought for a moment but still didn't flinch away from what Ty assumed he thought was his duty, "I'm going to count to ten to-" Jacob was interrupted by Ty grabbing Jacob and slamming his back on to the counter behind him with his left forearm and pushing his pistol against his forehead, enough was enough, "I'm going to count to three for you to get the fuck out of my way." "Ty-" Shepard was interrupted by Ty who was beginning to lose his temper, "One." "You wouldn't dare." Jacob said but his voice hinted the fear he was feeling. "Two." Ty counted.

Shepard steeped in before Ty got to three, "Jacob listen to me he wouldn't be here like this if he was lying, the Illusive man tricked you and that is truly the data on his family." Shepard said but then looked to Ty, "Ty you can't kill him and you know that. You know it will screw up the moral of the crew and have the Illusive man put a contract on you and your family before this mission is over and then you won't be able to focus. I know your family is important but let this be solved diplomatically. Please." Shepard pleaded. He didn't want Shepard in this position, spirits knew he had better intentions before this happened but he was forcing Shepard to play the middle man in a conflict that should not have arisen. Ty sighed inwardly forcing himself to take a step back but he still maintained his aim, "You've got four more seconds on the clock Jacob because of the Commander, use them wisely." Ty said.

Jacob didn't seem to waver from his decision of standing in the way, Ty could see Shepard figuring out how to solve this problem until she hit what seemed to be an epiphany, "EDI you have access to Cerberus records can you show Jacob that he is being tricked?" Shepard asked. "Yes but I will need more than four seconds." EDI said. "I hope you can bend the rules of your reality because that time is at fifty seconds, three." Ty said. Shepard moved between the two this time, with their pistols in her hands, she gave Ty a look of what the hell are you doing but Ty didn't waver on the outside though he hoped she wouldn't be too pissed at him if he had to kill Jacob. _Talk about screwing up the great moment we had, damn you to hell Illusive man for making this man your fool,_ Ty thought.

Shepard was in her causals now and looked great to Ty but he had to be stubborn, now more than ever. Jacob was beginning to show a waver in his earlier tough exterior, he was beginning to believe more in Shepard than the Illusive man. "Why would the Illusive man try to trick me into doing this? The mission is too important for him to do that." Jacob said. "He's playing you for a fool and you proved him right." Ty spat his tone still filled with anger. Jacob glared at him but looked to Shepard, "Why should I believe him he isn't trustworthy and this proves it." Jacob said. _Not trustworthy my ass_, Ty thought. "And you have a stick up your ass." Ty retorted. Shepard looked like she wanted to slouch and groan at their bickering but remained firm as she said, "Shut up both of you this mission is way too important for you two to be having this sudden lack of trust. I need you both focused so when EDI gets this proof I'm going to rip the Illusive man a new one for endangering this mission and I expect you two to be on the same page after this is over, no more bullshit." Shepard said in her commanding voice. "That should be interesting, four." Ty said. Shepard glared slightly at Ty, "You are a stubborn pain in the ass sometimes Ty, put the damn gun down or I'll take it away like I did before." Shepard said.

That was kind of a funny thought which made Ty chuckle slightly, "You're so cute when you're tough, you got the drop on me last time though I'll be ready for it this time." Ty said. Ty thought he saw her eye twitch at the word cute but focused back on Jacob, "You're unbelievable." Jacob said. He still hadn't caught onto what his real count was counting to six with and Ty doubted he would catch on either, "Five, next count will be echoed by three gun shots." Ty said. "EDI where the hell are you on the data mine?" Shepard asked. "Almost ready." EDI answered. "Ty please put the gun down." Shepard pleaded. He wanted to listen he really did, he didn't want to being forcing her to do this but he couldn't waver, it would grant Jacob and the Illusive man power over him and his family even if Jacob was oblivious, "I'm sorry Shepard." Ty said sincerely. "Jacob can you stop the download at least long enough for EDI to get the proof?" Shepard asked. "Yea but I'm not entirely sure I want to turn my back on him with that gun pointed at me." Jacob said. Ty smirked, _you are stupider than I thought,_ Ty thought. "Very poor choice of words, Six." Three gunshots echoed.

Ten Hours Before Standoff, Illium ETA: 7 Hours

"Really Karin do we have to do this scan?" Ty asked. Chakwas shook her head at him with a smile and said "You are as bad as Shepard, do you want me to put you on a sedative again?" Ty sighed; his hate for tests was overpowered by his hate for being on a sedative. Medi-gel was his only exception because it didn't have any effect on him other than doing what it was supposed to do but every other medication and every sedative he had ever been on always had some type of negative effect on him whether it was making him loopy or making him stuck in a bed because of how sickly it made him feel. He sounded like a scolded child as he responded, "No."

Chakwas smiled either in victory or because of how he sounded, he'd wager it was a bit of both knowing that she had probably heard that tone many times in her medical career and a lot more times while being a part of the Normandy squad. "Then yes, be happy it'll only take a minute and if the results are good you won't need the sling on anymore." Chakwas said. That was something Ty was looking forward to, _mobility how I missed you so_, Ty thought to himself. Chakwas started performing the scan on Ty's shoulder and as she said it only took a minute, she brought up the information from the scan on her Omni-tool and started to read it, she hmmed a lot as she read it all figuring out what she had to or what Ty was going to have to do. "Well I have good news and bad news." Chakwas said. Ty let out another sigh, "Great." Ty sighed. "The bad news is your shoulder still is injured slightly. I expected that much from it since two days wasn't enough for it to fully heal." Chakwas said. "And the good news?" Ty asked with a raised eyebrow. "You will not need the sling. Your shoulder still needs time to heal though so I'll have to recommend you not to go down on any missions." Chakwas said. "Well that's not so bad; I guess that'll give me time to work on the guns then." Ty said. "Did you finally get control?" Chakwas asked.

Ty couldn't help but smile at his recent mental victory, his demon was no longer parading around his being like it owned his body and soul. Now it essentially knew its place and would not be coming out unless he decided to use it much like his brother. Ty nodded and said, "Yea I did, took a lot of time but I did and I feel a whole lot better now that it is." Chakwas smiled genuinely, "That's great, have you told Shepard?" Chakwas asked. Ty shook his head, he hadn't seen Shepard since they last met and hadn't heard from her since she made her announcement over the comm but that was to be expected. She was giving him the time he needed to get control while also fulfilling her duty as the commander and friend of the rest of the squad, "No haven't seen her to tell her but I will." Ty said. "She'll be happy to know, she told me about your late night crisis that she helped you resolve and also that you two finally kissed but were interrupted by EDI this time." Chakwas said.

He wasn't at all surprised by Chakwas's knowledge since he knew Chakwas and Shepard were like mother and daughter and Shepard needed someone to talk to seriously about things like their relationship since the others didn't know and Joker likely made many jokes about it just because he was Joker. "She can't keep nothing private." Ty joked. Chakwas smiled and said "No she tries but I under my gaze and questions she always talks, that or get her drinking." Ty smirked at the thought of Chakwas sitting Shepard down and getting her drunk to get her talking, that was really motherly of her to do. "Now you're making me feel bad Karin because I just give up information." Ty joked. Chakwas rolled her eyes and said "Please you are anything but easy to get important information out of if I don't know it already." Ty felt himself smile as he thought about how Shepard and his friendship had grown so quickly, he didn't understand how it was possible that they had even allowed the thoughts to seep into their minds but he didn't regret it. He just thought they were bat shit insane. "It's crazy." Ty said. "What?" Chakwas asked. "Me and Shepard and how we are." Ty stated. "And you're saying you don't enjoy that?" Chakwas said with a knowing smile.

_Damn these people that know me so well, can't say anything without them knowing how I feel_. "I enjoy it and will stay by her as long as she can stand me but the mountains we'll eventually have to climb could be difficult. I'm looking forward to the challenge but I don't want to screw her life up." Ty said. "Trust me when I say that when Shepard wants something, no matter how daunting the task, she doesn't let anything get in her way." Chakwas said. _Yea I know she told me that, "I get what I want", _Ty thought. "True she can prove to be more stubborn than me, which was a daunting task in of itself." Ty said.

Chakwas sat down on the bed across from Ty and asked "With your demon in control will you still lose your temper like you have and go through those changes?" "Well if I get really angry because of someone hurting someone I care about yeah I will. That's just a side effect of seeing people I care about getting hurt but watch this." Ty said. Ty closed his eyes for a second and focused then opened his eyes as his body tensed out and his veins started to show more and more. His eyes turned purple as he said "Now I can just use it when I want without feeling the severe pain and sorrow I usually had to. It will probably help in fights." His tone was how it usually was when he changed but he refocused and turned his demon off like a light switch, now he understood why his brother really enjoyed the switch being in his control, scare tactics would prove to be a lot more interesting this way. Chakwas looked a bit surprised but she smiled at what she had seen from Ty, complete control. "Impressive." Chakwas said. "Thanks, I guess I see now what my brother has always said about being in control of his anger, it feels good being in control of it but it's always going to be there trying to break control and let loose on its own. Difference is I'll now be here to stop it."

Chakwas nodded a little and as she did the med bay doors opened, Ty looked behind him and saw Kasumi walk in while nervously grabbing her left arm, "Figured this was where I'd find you." Kasumi said as she walked further in. "That's 'cause I don't go many places and I'm usually injured." Ty joked. Kasumi nodded very slightly and Ty took notice of the little things in her movements, the nervous grip she had on her arm, the slight bend in her posture, no complete eye contact with anyone. These were all indications that he had seen a few times before, all when her heist plans were in the finality and had one last hump to get across. _Something must be a major hiccup in her plan_, Ty thought.

Ty looked back to Chakwas and said "Kasumi and I need to talk, am I good except for not going into the field for a little longer?" Ty asked. Chakwas nodded and said "Yes but make sure you're here for your next checkup in two days so I can see if you are ready to go back down into the field." Ty nodded and said "I'll be here, thanks Chakwas I'll see you soon." "Goodbye Ty." Chakwas said as she got off the bed and walked back to her table.

Ty knew that going after Donovan Hock was going to be challenging even for someone like Kasumi, the man was beyond normal paranoid when it came to security. He had three different security measures on his safe the last Ty knew and that was likely just the first part of it. Ty got off his bed and walked over to Kasumi and asked "Your room or mine?" "Mine is fine, I should've guessed you'd know what this was about. I guess forgot you knew me." "People do that sometimes." Ty said with a smirk. Kasumi smiled a little and they walked back to her room in silence, Kasumi rarely ever gave details to others on her heist and even more rare was asking for help but during Ty's time with her she had done both though the first time wasn't easy for her to just ask for help or give up the information on her parts of the heist. She still wasn't comfortable with it but she had an understanding that Ty knew, for starters, how to rob people without them knowing what he did and he also knew how to infiltrate anything without so much as a pin dropping to let someone know he was there.

She was the best thief in the universe and he was the most famous, or infamous depending on who you talked to, both knew their skills better than anyone else in their business though Ty's fame came from his wanted status he also gained notoriety for robbing many corrupt high uppers blind and living to hear his own tales be told by the people of Omega. Infiltrating was both one of their notable skills and though Kasumi was very good at it, hell Kasumi knew how to infiltrate any place and get past any security system without any effort. She was the best and Ty knew that better than anyone but Ty did have the upper hand on infiltrating merc groups, criminal masterminds and corrupt officials, those were his targets when he was thieving and Hock fell into those categories.

They got into Kasumi's room and she walked to her glass window which had drawings on it, it was easy to tell it was the schematics of the place and all the security points she had to get past, all with checks next to them indicating that she figured them out. The drawings she had reminded Ty of a mansion they once robbed but this one's security put it to shame not to mention the amount of guards she had marked which really put that corrupt official they had robbed to shame. Hock obviously had a lot to hide besides Keiji's graybox.

Kasumi walked away from the window and grabbed the marker she had been using then walked back up to the window as Ty gave a critical whistle and walked up to the window himself to get a closer look at what the heist was going to be like, "This guy thinks he has some tough security." Ty said. "Yea match all the low paid boneheaded guards with a security system that most people think is unbreakable and you got an easy heist waiting to happen." Kasumi said. "How long you been working on this?" Ty asked motioning to the sketch. "A few days." Kasumi said. "With no sleep." Ty stated. "I needed to focus on this." Kasumi said. Of course she wasn't sleeping, this was more than just a normal heist to her, this was personal and because it was Keiji she was not allowing herself time to relax. Ty understood why but he also now understood why she needed his help, her brain was likely fried and instead of getting sleep and thinking things over she was taking stims to keep her awake. _Even Murph knew his limits,_ Ty thought, _wonder if he still works for Aria. He'd jump at a chance like this to rob someone like this. _"With no sleep." Ty stated again.

Kasumi shook her head and said in a slightly serious tone "I get it I need some sleep but I'll sleep when I get it all figured out, you know me Ty and how I am about this stuff especially when it has to do with Keiji." He knew, he had been there before and pushed his body to the limits many times but Kasumi didn't train her body and mind to the point that Ty had his at not to mention that his genetic makeup also probably helped him push those boundaries even further. He had begun to worry a lot more about Kasumi since they met once he heard that Keiji had been killed, he always worried about her anyway just because she was a friend of his and he cared about her wellbeing but seeing that she was pushing her own limits made him make a mental note to watch her more carefully. "I know Kasumi I just don't think stim packs and no sleep is the best idea. It doesn't let your mind rest and makes you jumpy making it harder to plan." "I'm not jumpy." Kasumi stated firmly.

Ty tapped her arm and gave a loud yell making her jump a little before she punched him in the left arm, "You were saying." Ty said. Kasumi sighed and said "Shut up so you can help me." "Alright, what's the issue since it obviously isn't getting past security?" Ty asked. "True I got those systems down but the getting in part is how I'm stuck, the front door is guarded and so are all the other entrances to the point that even my cloak wouldn't get me in. The roof is out and so are the windows, it seems impenetrable." "Nothing is impenetrable." Ty said. "And that's why the ladies love you Ty." Kasumi joked. Ty smirked and said "True." Ty examined all the details out figuring out what was the best way in, "Hock get more paranoid?" Ty asked. "No same level of paranoia just likes to have more protection nowadays. He's going to up the security in three days so let's hope we get there before that." Kasumi said.

If he was upping security in three days then that meant his guards were going to be being trained harder these next three days so that they would be ready for whatever was in three days. That would make things difficult, his guard captains would want to prove their worth to him so he didn't fire them or kill them so they would become even harder asses than they already would. Ty looked over to her and asked "What's in three days?" "He's holding some I'm the king of the criminal underworld party and the only way in then is invitation." Kasumi said. _Well that would keep him distracted with entertaining guests but his guards would still be on high alert, still might be easier that way because it would be easy sneaking in with fake identities_, Ty thought. "Could you get an invitation with a fake name?" Ty asked. "Yea but what good does that do me? I'm not going to get all dolled up without a hood and you are easily the most noticeable dead criminal right now." Kasumi said. Ty nodded in agreement, he was dead in everyone's eyes but that meant in the criminal world his picture was in all their eyes so they could cheer or mourn his death_. Hock would know my eyes and my tattoos right away so I'm not going on this mission and though he doesn't know what Kasumi looks like he does know she would come for Keiji's graybox so she would be suspicious…how could we get in then?_ Ty rolled the question around in his mind until he stopped at an epiphany, "Whose one person you've never seen dressed up outside of armor and is also supposed to be dead but could easily pass as a regular person if you tied her hair up and dressed her up in a dress." Ty said.

It only took Kasumi a few seconds to see where Ty was heading and it brought a smile to her face as she started rubbing some of her drawing out new plans, "That is possibly the best idea you have had in the past few years, well that and dating Shepard." Kasumi said. _How the hell does she know this stuff_, Ty thought, _she is such a stalker_. "We aren't dating yet Kasumi." Ty lied. Kasumi stopped and gave him a really look as she asked, "So what do you call you two kissing the other night and all the other talks you two have had in the past few weeks since you helped Miranda out?" _Seriously? How does she know that? _Ty questioned mentally. "You are possibly one of the biggest stalkers I have ever had." Ty said. Kasumi looked over to him and said "Just because I didn't fall under your spell doesn't mean I'm blind."

Kasumi smiled and winked at him then continued back on her drawing, Ty would have questioned the wink but decided to move to the more important question, "So you stalk me?" Ty asked. Kasumi shrugged and said, "It's not stalking if you don't get caught." "I'm still a bit surprised that you find attractive. Me and Keiji aren't really that close in looks or personality." Ty stated. "I've always liked you and thought you were attractive but I enjoy our friendship and I don't think we would be great romantic partners. The way you were when we first met kept those feelings away and at the time I understood that friendship was a better idea than pursuing anything other than that…And I was with Keiji at the time so I was more focused on him for obvious reasons, didn't really realize those feelings until I thought you were gone." Kasumi explained. "You aren't going to start falling head over heels for me are you?" Ty asked in a jest. Kasumi smiled and said, "And fight you from Shepard? I'm not suicidal Ty." Ty chuckled slightly, "I didn't realize how attractive you were until I saw your face that one time but I still don't know if I would've been open to it even if Keiji wasn't around, didn't get my shit together until this suicide mission. Better this way I guess, our friendship has always been entertaining and enjoyable." Ty said.

Kasumi nodded in understanding and continued drawing out her plan, "So we dress up Shepard as some eccentric billionaire criminal and that gets her in but what about me?" Kasumi asked. "Personal bodyguard." Ty said. "And if that doesn't work out?" Kasumi asked. "Girlfriend." Ty joked. Kasumi rolled the thought around in her mind for a moment then said, "Might work but I don't know if Shepard would be okay with that." _You don't know Shepard, "I don't mind same sex relationships" I think her words were_, Ty thought. "Never know, if that don't work have Shepard bring you off to the side an-" Kasumi cut him off by slapping him in the arm and said "We are not going to kiss for your personal fantasies Ty."

Ty gave her a slight slap back not nearly as hard and said "That's not what I was going to say, I was going to say have her bring you off act like you leave then cloak and while she's walking in stay as close as you can to her and stay cloaked the remainder of the time coming out once in a while to do what you do best." "Oh right I knew that." Kasumi said going back to her drawing. "Getting in is the only issue right after that it's just figuring out how to work it with Shepard in." Ty said. "May be a bit more complicated then, this mission doesn't require much blowing stuff up." Kasumi said. Ty chuckled at the joke then motioned towards the drawing and said, "Alright run me through it from beginning to end what the original plan was and then we'll add Shepard into it as we go."

Twenty Minutes Later

The plan was finally set and stone with all the details for it going completely to plan laid out with a few back up plans if things didn't go to plan, Kasumi was getting her last ideas down as Ty said "So the plans not completely flawless but they never have been, there's one last part I wanted to talk to you about." "Which part?" Kasumi said. He wasn't one to skirt around the issue so he went in head first as he always did, "After you get the graybox, I don't know what Keiji put on it but it was obviously dangerous enough to get him killed. Whatever it is Kasumi are you ready for holding and having that information?" Ty asked. "Worried about me?" Kasumi asked nonchalantly. Ty grabbed her arm getting her to stop and look at him, "Yeah I am because you're my friend but don't dodge the question Kasumi. I'm not saying you have to decide now or have to do anything at all I'm just saying that whatever is on that graybox could be dangerous to you and make you become hunted more than you are now. You are going to have all of Keiji's memories at your disposal and as someone who deals with reliving memories daily I know the burden that holds, can you deal with something like that?" Ty asked again.

Kasumi nodded and said "I'll be fine Ty don't worry about it, anything else we need to go over?" Kasumi asked. Her answer didn't ease the worry had but that just meant he'd keep a closer eye on her when she received the graybox. "No I'm good but you should tell Shepard that your done planning and that you need to be there in three days so she can make sure your there." Ty said. Kasumi nodded in agreement, "You going to go work on guns?" Kasumi asked. "Yeah I need to finish that up and deliver the ones that are done." Ty said. "What about Jack?" Kasumi asked. He still hadn't come to a decision on if he wanted to go into the Varren's lair just yet, the longer he waited would either cool her off or make her much harder to approach. "I may wait I haven't decided yet I haven't talked to her since her and Miranda's blow out if you don't include talking over a comm link about my past seeing ability." Ty said.

Kasumi looked back at him and said "You should talk to her soon Ty, your friendship is at a very fragile state right now." "I know I'll talk to her, one last question how'd you know about me and Shepard kissing she checked the room for people and bugs?" Ty asked. "I overheard her and Chakwas talking and then you confirmed it." Kasumi said with a smile. _Hmm, gonna need to keep my mouth shut more often_, Ty thought. "Well least you aren't hiding in my room while me and someone else go at it." Ty said. "Who says I haven't." Kasumi joked. "Okay that's just kinda wrong Kasumi." Ty said with a slight laugh. "Go work on your guns and I'll worry about watching you." Kasumi said with a wave of her hand to dismiss him. "Later Kasumi." Ty said. "See ya Ty." Kasumi said.

Ty got to her door but stopped himself before leaving, she still needed a reminder, "And get some sleep after you talk to Shepard or I'll have Chakwas sedate you instead of giving you a stim pack." "Okay I will, geez you're persistent." Kasumi said. Ty left her room and headed for the elevator to get to work on the guns he had left, which was still a lot but it would only get done if he worked hard on it now while he was still being restrained to the ship.

**A/N: FORD B, thanks for the review and I agree it was a bit short but I am glad you still enjoyed it. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you next time.**


	60. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Where Your Heart Belongs

Three Hours Before Standoff, Illium ETA: Arriving

The Cargo Hold was silent as Ty finished up Miranda's predator pistol, he had finished the final touches to Mordin's a few hours before and gave the gun a special little surprise but after he finished it he put the gun to the side and started working on Miranda's. The pistol was now an iridescent black like the shell of a beetle with gold trim. On the left side Ty engraved Miranda "Miri" Lawson and on the right he engraved The Original Ice Queen. He had installed heavy warp ammo into it along with the kill counter and a pistol piercing mod that gave each shot more penetration against armor, or a thin enough wall or box.

As Ty finished the pistol he put it off to the side with the rest of the finished guns that were starting to pile up, he needed to deliver them but he lacked the motivation to do it and seeing as how current events were going he would likely continue to have a lack of motivation. He liked the guns and their designs a lot, they were much stronger than the normal variations but still not as strong as some of the weapons he had run into in his day as a merc. He was hoping that by some miracle he would get his hands on a N7 Valiant or the Krysae Sniper Rifle for his own new gun but he doubted that the Systems Alliance or the Turian's would give him one for use and not knowing any loyal black-market dealers anymore he lacked said miracle. He had gotten his hands on both on separate occasions and he enjoyed the feel of them but both had broken when he had to use them as makeshift bats to get out of the sticky situations he constantly found himself in.

He still loved his current sniper rifle that he had put a few hours of customization into and a few more hours making it so he could use it as a bat without it breaking but he wanted to get an upgrade from it. It was more powerful than any of the sniper rifles they had on the Normandy now exception of the Widow currently sitting on the ground next to him that he borrowed from the Collector ship but the Widow wasn't comfortable for him. It didn't feel right in his own hands and weighed him down a lot more than he was used to and it was likely that the Valiant and Krysae would be the same in that aspect now but he could make adjustments with those, the Widow he just couldn't get to work for himself.

Ty let out an audible sigh as he let his thoughts wander away from getting a nice new sniper rifle and back towards his current lack of motivation to deliver the weapons in front of him, what was the point of doing it all if he wasn't going to give them to the people he made them for? It was beginning to seem like every time he finished one something came up either mentally or between him and the rest of the squad. Today wasn't much different as he leaned forward and rested his face against his hands, after talking with Kasumi about her heist he headed down to work and as he worked in silence his thoughts trailed across Jack and what he needed to do about it. Jack and Ty hadn't physically seen each other and talked since she tossed his ass with her biotic's, Kasumi was right about them needing to talk because of their friendship and each day they spent not talking was just building up more tension. Yet here he sat not making any move towards her.

One of the perks, or curses depending on your outlook, of merging minds with someone for Ty was that he could feel their minds presence in his and their emotions. He could feel his dads and brothers stronger than anyone else from the multiple times they had either accidently merged minds or the times they did to give important information to one another since it was quicker than explaining. Haley and Darian were also present in his mind but they weren't as strong as his dad and brother. One of the major backfires of the ability was that when someone he had joined minds with died, like Ka'Reena, he received a crippling migraine that was either extremely painful making him have to lay down or made him throw up among other pains. After going through whatever pain he would receive he would then be fine except for the pain of loss that followed directly after it.

He could ignore the presence in his mind, which he did most of the time, but he could also focus on the presence and feel what mental state the person was in. It was similar to what had happened on Pragia where he was able to feel the presence of all the tortured souls that had been there but in this case the presence in his mind he was feeling were from people who were still very much alive. For instance his brother at the moment was tired but was happy about something, Ty didn't know what caused the emotions but he knew that's how he felt. Haley was exhausted and that was the only thing he could feel with her since she seemed to be sleeping. Shepard, as faint as the presence was, was determined and focused on something though that was because she was getting ready to go recruit the Assassin.

Though those presences were normal for the most part it wasn't where Ty's mind lingered, he had accidently let his mind stay focused on Jacks presence for longer than he should have. Her presence was abnormal, normally the presence was how Jacks personality was but since he let his mind linger on hers he could feel the constant flux of emotions she was going through, anger, sadness and worry were the top three of all of them. He needed to talk to her but just going into a Varrens nest with no weapons or defenses wasn't exactly how Ty got his kicks. Ty stopped his thoughts momentarily realizing that he had done stupider things for shits and giggles or to complete a mission like on Tuchanka but he shook off the thought. Jack needed to talk to him on her terms but knowing Jack the way he did he knew it would be a cold day in hell before she'd come to talk to him about "stupid emotional bullshit" as she would put it. There was going to be no easy way of solving this.

Ty let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when he felt Shepard's mind go from her usual work mode to a happy vulnerable mixed with concern, _well that means she's watching me,_ Ty thought, _Shepard never feels vulnerable around anyone else. Don't know why I make her feel like that though I guess it isn't a bad thing, makes her more human in a way or maybe it allows her to be more human or feel more human. Damn woman is like a machine sometimes, granted she's a good looking machine and one that doesn't lose her snark or emotions but her job doesn't exactly leave her much time to be a person. Or maybe it's the people like the Alliance and Council that caused her to be this way, she has to be the savior of the galaxy so she has to constantly Commander Shepard instead of…whatever her first name is…Strange I never came across that but then again that goes back to the Alliance and Council making her into an icon and symbol instead of a person. _

His thoughts came to a stop when he felt her finger tips run slowly down his arms and the scent of Shepard as Ty was beginning to call it, which was very strawberry like, swarming his nostrils with the intoxicating smell. How he wished to be lost in it along with losing himself in her eyes instead of being hunched over with his face in his hands as he contemplated if talking to Jack would be a form of suicide. "Hey Shepard." Ty said without moving from his hunched position. There was a light laugh but it wasn't a giggle, her tone was still very cheerful and light hearted and by what his senses were telling him she was mostly happy instead of the slight worried feeling he had felt before. "How'd you know without looking up?" Shepard asked cheerfully as she ran both her hands up to his shoulders and leaned against him. "Strawberry's. Besides who else is going to run their fingertips so lovingly up my arms." Ty said. He wasn't sure if he should have used the word lovingly but it fit the way it felt, he hadn't felt such a gentle touch in a long time. He forced himself to stay focused and not fall under the spell that was pleading him to lean back into her and forget about what he needed to do. "So you can tell it's me by smell? That's quite talented Ty?" Shepard asked with a laugh coming on. Ty chuckled a little and said "I know, if I told you the other reason you'd think I'm crazy or just bullshitting." "So I'd have normal thoughts?" Shepard joked.

Shepard ran her finger tips slowly up and down his arms, the touch was so tender and it actually sent a shiver across Ty's body though it wasn't visible to Shepard. Though he was genuinely curious to why she was down here now since they should've been docked already he didn't ask right away trying to get his mind away from Jacks. "You okay Ty?" Shepard asked with concern. "Yea just thinking is all." Ty said. "About?" Shepard asked. "If I should find a way to steal a N7 Valiant or a Krysae from the Alliance or the Turian's or just keep my current rifle." Ty said. "Uh huh." Shepard said in a disbelieving tone. She was definitely onto his slight lie but he did indeed wonder if he should find a way. Ty let his hands fall down and he straightened his back more with Shepard readjusting with him by moving to his side and leaning against his table.

As usual Shepard looked great but the only difference between today and when they shared their kiss was that Shepard wore her black gym shorts that went below her knees and much to his surprise a plain black hoodie that was zipped up to the bottom of her ribs, under it she wore what looked like a loose light pink V neck that showed some of chest but not much more than her wifebeater did. The shirt also happened to be partially see through only because of how thin the fabric was, how light colored it was and how dark black her bra under it was. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders and her sapphire eyes looked into his with a knowing look that spelt that she knew he wasn't being truthful. Ty couldn't stop his mouth as he saw her and said "You look great."

Shepard's look faltered as a smile crept its way to her face, he hadn't intended to try to distract her with a real compliment he just said what first came to his mind and that usually ended him in hot water not a beautiful smile. It had been a while since he received such a positive response from words he allowed to slip out his mouth before thinking through them but that was usually because it was sarcasm coming out of his mouth. "Thank you." Shepard responded. "You always look absolutely stunning but seeing you like this is different and also a good look for you." Ty complimented again. A slight blush made colored her cheeks, "Thank you again for the compliment and for the heat now rising to my face." Shepard said. Ty smirked, "It's what I'm here for." Ty said. Shepard nodded slightly but a flirty look made its way on to her face as she said, "I thought about wearing less to entice you to come up for some air but seeing as you have seen me in a bra and managed to keep your wits about you and your eyes off my chest I doubted it would work." "You succeed in enticing me just by being around and being you." Ty said with a smirk. "Good I'm glad my charm still works" Shepard said with a smile but it faded slightly and her face grew more serious as she continued, "What's bugging you Ty? Did you finish getting control?" Shepard asked.

Ty nodded as Shepard moved some of the mechanic tools he had been using making room for herself to sit down, after Shepard got comfortable Ty said "Yea I did and I'm happy about it but…I've been thinking about talking to Jack and figuring out how not to get my head torn off." Shepard nodded understandingly, she had a look in her eyes that she had also thought about it but instead of jumping straight into the conversation she smirked and asked in a joking manor, "You've been less than successful at that I take it?" Ty smirked in return and responded "Yea." Shepard stared at him momentarily, he had gotten used to the inquisitive look she would get on her face when she was trying to figure out how to ask her questions or what questions to ask. "Why are you two how you are? I know she tossed you out but did something else happen? You're not one to get pissed off at someone for something like that." Shepard said.

That was true, being tossed by Jack wasn't even close to enough to send him into a pissed off state yet here they were slowly drifting apart because he hadn't gathered enough courage to go face the problem he helped cause. "You could say that, as she left the room I was walking back to my seat and instead of throwing a sarcastic comment about being tossed, which in hindsight I probably should've done, I stayed quiet and she shoulder barged right through me and told me to "watch it dick"." Ty sighed and continued "If it would've been now I probably would've reacted differently but then I had a lot on my mind and the disrespect I was given didn't sit well with me at all so I just said "what fucking ever" and like a child I continued to my seat and sat down…I should've gone and talked to her sooner so it didn't accumulate to this but, well I'm not exactly smart about some things and we both acted childishly…not to mention I gotta break our relationship to her eventually and I have no idea how that's gonna work out or if she has those feelings for me." Ty let out another sigh, this was very troublesome but he would fix the mess he helped create. "I'll make it right but I just gotta figure it out." Ty said.

Shepard nodded slightly and looked up to the top of the cargo hold where the window in engineering was then looked back down at Ty, Ty couldn't read what she was thinking but she started moving by letting herself down slowly until she was sitting on Ty's lap as if she was sitting backwards in a chair and with her back against the table.

She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck as Ty rested his hands on her thighs, Shepard got comfortable and said "Listen you and me dating isn't going to go over easy with anyone outside of this squad but with Jack you need to be gentle about it. You are going to have to be the one to tell her because if you don't tell her she'll think you were too much of a coward, not something you want I'm sure. I wouldn't advise talking about us to her until you're sure she won't rip your head off for it but if you gave her the relationship stiff arm that you gave me you shouldn't have to worry about it since she's told me she isn't interested in that. On the odd chance that she happens to have feelings for you then you need to be careful…that or go with her."

That stung Shepard Ty could tell by the slight pained look that she quickly hid away; it sent a stinging pain to his own heart. He liked Jack sure but that was as a friend where his feelings towards Shepard were not just as a friend, they had grown into something so much more that he wasn't sure what to call them yet. He would not break her heart like that; he couldn't shatter both of their hearts like that. Ty looked at her and said "Sorry to ruin that thought of me leaving you but my heart already belongs to somebody else."

A blue hew showed around Shepard's arms and chest as she smiled and blushed, Shepard started taking deep breaths through her nose and out her mouth, _strange_, Ty thought, _I hope she's alright_. "You okay Shepard?" Ty asked. She nodded, there was a large amount of joy in her eyes and said "Yes completely my hearts just racing and feels like it's going to pound itself out of my chest and into your lap but other than that I'm great." That brought a smile to Ty's face, "So I take it my charming skills aren't as rusty as I thought they'd be." Ty joked. "They are still very potent." Shepard said as she started to laugh a little. After getting herself under control Shepard said "Okay I don't think I've ever had that experience before, where were we?" "You told me I could go with her and I said my heart already belongs to somebody else, meaning you." Ty said. Shepard nodded and said "Right." Shepard planted a kiss on Ty's lips then backed off and said "And my heart is yours for as long as you want it." He liked the sound of that but he didn't say it out loud, "If all goes well who knows maybe we'll end up retired on some beach front property living off your royalties for the vids they'll make and the money I stole." Ty said in a joking tone but he liked the thought.

The corner of Shepard's lip perked up into a smirk as she said "Oh so this is going to be long term? I thought we were just using each other to blow off steam. I had no idea you had retirement plans that included me." She was just yanking him around now but he was fine with the joke it meant he didn't have to worry about her taking his comment seriously right now. "Well someone has to plan ahead so I figured with my great run of plans that I would. They are there for if we make it out of this alive and if you don't stop falling head over heels for me." Ty joked back. "Who says I'm head over heels?" Shepard asked acting offended. "Well the constant eye contact with a flirty smile and trying to get in my pants since I joined was the first hint but the cementation of it was when Vic told me about your late nights where you pleased yourself while thinking of me." Ty joked. That joke earned him a hard punch in his right peck which actually sent a shock of pain through him, he wondered if her cybernetic enhancements made her stronger or if she was just so inhumanly strong before. "This is such an abusive relationship." Ty joked.

Shepard wrapped her hand back around Ty's neck, her look turned serious again but not in a bad serious way that would normally make Ty sigh. It was more of a serious let's talk about what you just said and if you were being serious look. "I'd count myself glad if you plan on retiring someday and then I'd count myself a lucky woman if that plan included me. One flaw I see though is that I don't know if sitting on a beach will satisfy our inner adventurers." Shepard said. He'd count himself the luckiest guy in the universe if she really considered being with him after the war was over but once again he didn't voice his thought. Now wasn't the time to say things like that, it was still early and a lot of things could still go wrong. "Probably true but Ka'Reena was right about a lot and she was dead on about the fighting and killing needing to stop eventually. I don't got much to care about in this universe except friends and family…and my new potential love interest but if I keep down this path I'm going to lose more friends and maybe even you and my family and if that happened…let's just say I'd probably be killed in a giant shoot out." Ty said.

He didn't want to think what his life would be like if he lost his family or Shepard but it was a thought that he had strayed on more than once, the galaxy would feel so much emptier without them and he knew for a fact that he would go out in a blaze of glory. Shepard nodded a little and glanced up checking to make sure no one was looking down at them, after she brought her eyes back down to Ty's she asked with a smirk "New potential love interest?" He wasn't sure where he had thought of that one at but it seemed to fit their predicament more than anything else if you didn't include boyfriend and girlfriend. "You like that one don't you?" Ty asked with a smirk. "I'm going to use that one." Shepard said still smirking.

Shepard moved her body forward more readjusting herself getting more comfortable on Ty and Ty rested his hands back on her thighs, "We at Illium yet?" Ty asked. "Yes and I was wondering if you could come with me today." Shepard said. Unfortunately that wasn't possible for the moment; he still had to recover as much as that upset him. "Chakwas said no, she said that I need to wait two more days for going into the field." Ty said. Shepard looked slightly disappointed but nodded regardless, he knew she liked having him in the squad with her just as much as she liked to switch it up all the time but she was going to have to make do without him for now. "Well looks like I need to think about who I'm bringing with me today." Shepard said. "Kasumi tell you about her plan?" Ty asked. "Told me where I needed to be in three days but nothing else, said it was a surprise." Shepard said. Ty chuckled a little, that sounded like Kasumi, "Yea I'm sure she did, I apologize now for her plan now since I was the one who came up with your part." Ty said.

A smirk graced Shepard face in response to Ty's response, before they said anything else Ty's omni-tool came to life and EDI popped up on it. Ty brought his left hand up between Shepard and him as he said "Hey EDI, what's going on?" "Shepard you asked me to tell you when everyone was ready to go since you hadn't decided who you were bringing with you down to recruit the assassin Thane Krios. Everyone is ready to go when you need them." EDI said. "Thanks EDI, after I armor up tell Grunt and Mordin to meet me in CIC by the galaxy map fully armed and ready to go." Shepard said. "Yes Shepard." EDI said then disappeared with Ty's omni-tool. "That's really convenient having her on there." Shepard said. "She can still hear you now though; she's a part of the ship still." Ty said. "True, I like her a lot plus she gives Joker a hard time so that's a double plus in my book." "You gotta go?" Ty asked.

Shepard nodded though she looked less than please at the idea and if he was honest Ty was enjoying their time together more and more, "Yeah I should but I don't want to. I also don't want one of the squad seeing me like this on your lap until we let them know we are dating then I won't give a damn if they see us kissing or being like this. I'll stop by your room when I'm done down there and I'm finished figuring out where to go next." "I'll see you tonight then, hopefully I'll already have Jack finished by then and I'm still alive." Ty said. "You better be I haven't even got to start training yet for our main event." Shepard said sarcastically. "We'll start tonight if I'm not dead." Ty said.

Shepard came in slowly for a kiss and it remained slow but passionate as their tongues danced with each other. Ty brought his hands up from rubbing her thighs to her sides and then finally to her boobs which he touched and slightly played with all the while kissing Shepard and making her let out slight moans of pleasure into his mouth. Though neither wanted to they stopped themselves, after failing three times, and as they did Shepard said "I wish we were able to get past this without interruptions, I may have to drag you to my room and tie you down to the bed so we can at least have a little more fun if this keeps up." Ty didn't entirely like the tie down part but he chuckled regardless knowing she'd never really force him to do something like that, "Jeez they really run you Alliance marines tight don't they?" Ty joked. "Just makes for more hellcats in the sack." Shepard said with a wink. Ty chuckled again in response, Shepard smiled and continued, "I'll see you tonight for that "training" you mentioned, don't get killed while I'm gone." Shepard said. "I won't, stay safe down there." Ty said. Shepard gave him a quick kiss then said "Don't worry I will, bye Ty." Shepard dismounted Ty and Ty said "See ya Shepard."


	61. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

No Longer Shackled

Ty looked down at the finished pile of guns he had, Mordin's was on the top of the pile staring back at him like some kind of menacing eye trying to hypnotize motivation into him. _I should really get to delivering these guns,_ Ty thought. He was hit by another thought; _tell Grunt and Mordin to meet me in CIC by the galaxy map. Hmm Mordin could try it out while recruiting that assassin…wait why am I still sitting here Shepard is about to get in the elevator and get armored up to leave meaning I would have to wait for that damn elevator to come back when I could just tag along. Why am I still sitting here? _Ty shook his head shaking himself out of his thoughts and grabbed Mordin's Tempest, "Shepard wait up!" Ty yelled as he started walking quickly to the elevator. Shepard was standing in front of the open elevator with a raised eyebrow as Ty approached with the Tempest in tow, "Miss me already?" Shepard asked with a cocky smirk.

The look on her face, as cocky as it was, still held a puzzled look as to why he suddenly was making his way towards her. Ty smiled and rolled his eyes slightly at her comment, sure he actually wished that they could have more personal time together but he knew business had to come first. This mission was to important for him to steal too much of her time, as much as he wished to actually steal more of it. "Don't get to big of a head there Shepard you still need to fit through the doors on the Normandy." Ty retorted. "Ouch." Shepard said with her smirk turning into a smile. "I finished Mordin's tempest and I figured since your bringing him with I might as well give it to him before he goes so he can try it out…plus I haven't seen Grunt in a little while and I miss that berzerkopath." Ty explained. There was just something special about Grunt and his childlike enthusiasm over ripping things apart.

Ty walked into the elevator and turned around to see Shepard still standing out of it with a big smile on her face, "What?" Ty asked. Shepard chuckled a little as she walked in and pressed her cabins button and said "I just find your friendship with Grunt funny…so what's special about the Tempest besides the paint job?" Shepard asked. "Ammo can be converted to inferno rounds; I installed a kill counter into it." Ty said as he unfolded the tempest. "Kill counter? Like that thing you installed on Garrus's viper?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded, he wondered how much Garrus was actually using that now and if he was rubbing it in Shepard's face. He figured Shepard kept a mental count of her own kills but if anything she probably would throw the Reaper in just to cement her dominance. "Yeah same thing just Mordin's. Grunt has one to and I forgot to tell him about it so I'll have to inform him if he hasn't figured out already." Ty answered. Shepard looked at him with a questioning look as she asked, "How did you forget?" "I had more pressing concerns at the time I gave it to him." Ty said.

The memory of the fear frozen Shepard on Tuchanka played through his mind momentarily and judging by the realization and quick shake of her head Shepard remembered it too. She recovered quickly as she turned a flirty eye towards him and sarcasm dripped in her tone, "You were concerned about me, that's so cute." Shepard said in a sarcastic voice. It was a defense mechanism or just an attempt to get out of the conversation, Ty wasn't going to continue on the serious path the conversation could take out of respect for her own privacy and want to not talk about it. She had cried and berated herself enough that night and she didn't want to do it any longer, now she would fight that fear. "Well if I wanted to bang the top of the Alliance N7 first human Spectre and Reaper killer in her spare time I had to get her back in the game." Ty retorted.

Shepard punched him in his right arm hard which sent another spike of pain through Ty, he saw a smile playing at her lips as she tried to remain serious but in the end she failed and it made itself known which in turn made Ty smile. Her smile whether it was a full blown grin showing her teeth or just a normal smile always found its way into his soul and brightened it. It teased him with thoughts that he wished to see come true, it gave him dreams that he wished to dream. It was just so magnificent, so full of life and happiness even though she was faced with all the worse parts of the galaxy. Seeing her happy made him happy, seeing her smile made him want to dare to dream again, to chase the dream to the ends of the galaxy and make it come true but for now he was just happy seeing it. Now wasn't the time for those dreams, now wasn't the time for the emotion called love.

The elevator came to a slow halt at Shepard's quarters and the doors opened, Shepard motioned him to follow as she said, "You can tell me the rest inside my room." For some strange reason Ty found himself frozen in place in the elevator, she was going in to armor up which meant she was going to have to strip off that hoodie and nice shirt for whatever she wore when she was in her armor. Now he wasn't frightened by the aspect of Shepard changing her clothes, hell he had seen her in her bra and shorts with water cascading down her skin but even then he looked her in the eyes. The problem he foresaw was her lingering threat of tying him down and having her way with him, he knew the tying down part wasn't a worry it was that they might literally go further than they had thus far. It wasn't frightening that they might actually end up doing more, after all he had had sex with many people in his short life but this was Shepard. That changed everything for Ty.

He didn't just want to blow off steam or have a quickie. If he wanted something like that he could handle it all by himself or have ruined his friendship with Jack and have the best rough sex he probably would ever experience. He wanted it to be better than that, hell he wasn't even sure how Shepard would be as a partner sexually though that really never bothered him because of how much he enjoyed being with her. He doubted her being a go through the motions kind of person, she was passionate in what she did and passion wasn't something you could fake, not real passion at least. Maybe his thoughts weren't valid and he was overthinking as he was known to do from time to time but he wasn't sure if he should follow her into that bedroom even when he promised to follow her into the deepest pits of hell. "While you armor up?" Ty asked with uncertainty laced in his tone.

Shepard came to an abrupt stop; she turned back to him with a look that made Ty's heart pump a bit faster than normal. She passed him a flirty smirk and wisecracked "Who said anything about me armoring up by myself? Since you're so experienced at helping people dress whether it be enviro-suits or clothes I'm sure my armor will be a cake walk." Shepard sauntered towards him, he kept his thoughts clear as they attempted to drown him with her beauty and her scent but that was not an easy task and one that was going to prove to test his stubborn will. She brought her left hand to his empty right and ran her finger tips down the palm of his hand until her fingers stopped at the middle of his fingers, he knew what she was doing as she started walking with her back to her room and her fingers hooked his pulling him along with her. To be fair though Ty was walking with her willingly but if she ever made a sarcastic joke about something he did he'd say _"at least I don't forcefully pull my eye candy to my bedroom so they can help me "armor up"." _

Her bedroom doors opened as she got closer to it, as she got in her room she let go of Ty's hand while she still wore her flirty smirk. This was likely going to be some kind of joke or test of stubbornness, or at least that's what Ty was forcing himself to believe in an attempt to not put the Tempest down and go with her to her bed. She turned around and pulled up her omni-tool as she walked further in the room, "So what else can the gun do?" Shepard asked. Her tone held genuine curiosity but Ty could still hear her seductress still under it all. He had to keep himself from falling under its sway no matter how much he'd enjoy it. "Besides shoot bullets? I added an enhanced aiming mechanism shaped like the two things on his head, or one and a half thing. The sight itself can be adjusted to be used as a sight or brought down to charge electrical pulses that can disable close range shields, organics with no shields, and synthetics." Ty said as he walked to her table and looked at the model ships while she fed Vic. If he kept up with the mechanic in him everything would turn out just peachy. "Wow did you test it?" Shepard asked this time with genuine interest and less seductiveness. A mental jolt went through Ty as he remembered how it got tested, "Yea it works." Ty said shaking off the feeling. "How'd you test it?" Shepard asked as she walked next to him and sat down at her private terminal.

The reminder of his shields being dropped and the jolt shooting him back and to the floor was a painful reminder to always have some other kind of safety net so something like what happened to him wouldn't happen. "I was working on installing it and I had put my shields on low so I wouldn't get jolted since I didn't think I had put the power of the gun high enough to lower my shields but that was my only safety net…it failed and I was shocked out of my chair and ended up on the floor for a few minutes with a nasty headache and my body hurting with a shorted out omni-tool. Luckily I was able to repair it and none of my information was lost…I increased the power of the gun after that so it should have more power now so yea I tested it and hopefully Mordin doesn't deem it necessary to test it on me 'cause I'll be in the med-bay for a very long time."

Shepard had been staring at Ty since he said that he ended up on the floor with a look of wow mixed with a what the fuck look, "Why didn't you have EDI get Chakwas or me to help you up off the floor?" Shepard asked. "My jaw was clenched shut because of the electricity that flowed through my body so I couldn't talk and besides it wasn't life threatening I've had worse jolts than that…I can't think of any at this moment since that one is fresh but I know I have." Ty said. Shepard sighed and said "Sometimes I wonder how you've made it this far in life without getting yourself killed." Ty chuckled and said "Luck I guess but I've heard that many times."

Shepard typed something on her terminal and then got up and said "I'm not surprised." Things had seemed to be looking up for a moment but as Shepard walked passed she did she ran the pad of her finger across the back of his tank top across his shoulders and neck,_ just don't drop the gun, just don't drop the gun and allow her to bring you to the bed_, Ty thought_, I have self-control but damn does she know how to make me want to relinquish that control so we can have fun. I have not fallen under the sway of a woman before and I will not now…unless I have already and am just trying to deny it…damn that was not helpful_. "But how about you drop that gun and follow me so you can help me get my armor on, I may need an extra set of hands." Shepard said seductively. _Damn Shepard must be enjoying this, too bad she has to go down and do what she does otherwise this could have turned out to be different…hmm I know how to fight this but I'll just play along for now._ "After you "Commander" I'll help you armor up, do you prefer to be wearing a bra and shirt or just a bra?" Ty asked while teasing.

Shepard's face lit up with surprise and happiness, maybe she really intended this to go further than it would but Ty knew better. Something or someone would interrupt them at some point if he didn't stop it from happening. "I usually wear my wifebeater and these shorts; sometimes my jeans but maybe I'll try something new today." Shepard flirted as she disarmed Ty and put the tempest on her desk. Well that was an objective failed from the previous mission, now he really was going to have to play along. She intertwined both of their hands and started pulling a little towards the bottom part of her room.

As Shepard got to the stairs she let go of his left hand briefly to turn around but kept a firm grip on his right as she walked down the stairs still "dragging" Ty along. Though Ty was in the moment of walking with Shepard to her bed and with what was about to proceed for a short amount of time of teasing that he was about to take part in just to get Shepard, in only a few words, horny as hell he also couldn't help but marvel at their relationship. He'd thought about it once or twice but as she guided him to the bed he really realized that they had formed a strong bond that started out rocky as hell. He had pointed a gun at her and thought for a mili-second about pulling the trigger and treated her like she was a complete bitch. He treated her like all others had treated him and in that moment he wasn't any better than those he cursed for treating him so badly just by the sight of him. Maybe he had redeemed himself from that moment when he almost got killed and almost had her kill him. She had the doctors bring him back and ever since then she had done many things for him for at first getting him straight for the mission and then friendship and now finally the care they had built for one another.

There was something about Shepard that reminded him of a time he thought was long gone from him, a time of peace, love, and happiness that he had longed for so long ago. The dream that he couldn't reach anymore, the one he wished for them but was too soon and not that time for. She helped reignite a flame that was getting close to being extinguished…she reignited his fire of hope. That's what Shepard was, she was a symbol of many things to many different people but a symbol of hope is what she was to almost everyone who really knew what was going on with the Reapers. It's what she was and always would be to Ty no matter what. She did so much for so many and she always gave all of herself to those who needed her, she forged bonds with everyone she came in contact with whether they be good or bad bonds.

She helped bring him back, she was a reminder now that good things did happen in the galaxy and that life wasn't just fighting and killing and surviving it was meant to be lived with people you cared about without pain or negativity. "…Ty…Ty you okay?" Shepard's voice made its way into Ty's thoughts. Ty came out of his thoughts and realized that he was on his back on her bed and she was on top of him straddling him, "How'd I…" Ty started getting his bearings, "You sat down with me and then I pushed you over and straddled you when I realized you weren't there…Ty I don't mean to push too far if yo-" Ty sat up and met Shepard's lips with his own interrupting her sentence and bringing her down to him. Now wasn't time to think about the relationship, now was the time to be in it.

Shepard and Ty got in the moment for a little while with the kiss becoming more passionate and heated until suddenly Shepard stopped and backed off and said frantically "Wait wait wait this isn't right I'm being too pushy." Ty smirked as he relaxed on his elbows and said "The hell you are now stop worrying and get back here." Ty said. Ty sat up and tried to get her back but he was stopped by her hands grabbing his and she intertwined them, "Ty I don't want to be pushing you, this is just so different for me I haven't felt like this in so long." They both hadn't felt like this in so long, Ty could feel his heart beating as it once had with so many feelings he thought he had lost through the pain. Was this what being alive had felt like so many years ago? Was this really how being in love felt? If it was it felt damned good. "I know I haven't either but this whole taking it slow thing that I conjured up is just not working anymore Shepard. I can't continue to hold back my emotions because of my failures in the past. Right now is what I have to live for and putting myself through hell and not allowing myself to find happiness isn't going to happen as long as I remember what is important to me." Ty un-intertwined his left hand from hers and put it against her face as he said "And if I ever forgot all I'd have to do is look at you and I'd remember."

It sounded so sappy as it came from his mouth but all together it was so true, he couldn't keep letting himself be held back by the past and forcing Shepard to hold her own feelings back while he kept his locked away in a cage. He couldn't keep them caged because she had broken its lock and opened them up for him again. Shepard pressed her hand against his and closed her eyes as the tension that she had built up in herself over thinking she was being too pushy melted away at Ty's words, "You are such a flatterer." Shepard said. Ty chuckled slightly and watched Shepard carefully as she started breathing slowly, her chest moved with each breath bringing it against his and then away, closer and away again and again. "Shepard." Ty said. Shepard opened her eyes and gave him an apologetic look as she said "Sorry just trying to stop my heart from beating out of my chest." His own wanted to do the same but he was more subtle about keeping it in his rib cage, "That's not why I said your name. I wanted you to open your eyes for a second." Ty stared deep into her gorgeous sapphire eyes and said "When we first met I gave my life to save yours, you gave me it back." Shepard shook her head and said "Ty you-"

Ty used his right hand to cover her mouth, he had to say what he was about to say now before things got out of hand. "Shush and let me finish, shits going to get intense in the months to come after we finish off of the Collectors and getting through the Omega 4 and back is going to be hell…I don't know what will happen while we are there or what will happen in the days before it so this could be my only chance to actually say this." Ty stopped and let his hand fall as Shepard nodded allowing him to continue "You gave me my life back and since then with your help and my families ranting from the past and now finally catching up with me I've finally gotten control of my anger and myself and hit the epiphany I should've hit when I lost my friends and Ka'Reena."

Shepard shifted on Ty leaning back a little as she listened to him, Ty thought about all his friends' faces and their smiles from his visits on the ship with them. He thought about Ka'Reena and her smile and everything she had ever tried teaching him about how precious life was, he listened to her every time she spoke and understood what she tried to get him to see but back then was different, he was different. He had so much accumulated hate at such a young age and he didn't know what to do with it except the only thing he knew how to do. His thirst for revenge blinded him to the truth she spoke and everything he had learned from his family and friends. Second chances were given often in life and he had his with Ka'Reena but he squandered it and her death hit him harder than a Krogan headplate. This was likely to be his third and final chance, three strikes would likely end in his death. "I've been shackled and blinded by so much hate and anger for so many years now that those around me dead and alive have tried bringing me back to light and though I listened I never saw what I should have. It cost me dearly from losing myself to losing everyone I've loss but it's finally sunk in, life is too precious to worry about what I could've done better or spending years hunting a murderer for what they did while pushing away everyone I care about. Life is too short to not spend time and make memories with those you care about. I've preached this to so many people but never did I put it into practice."

Ty put his hands on Shepard's shoulders, he felt his own emotions boiling up but for once it wasn't anger boiling in himself, it was sadness and pain. He finally realized his own truth and it hurt him but here he had Shepard, the unmovable force, his unmovable force. "I will not lose you like I lost Ka'Reena and I will not lose you because I was too blind to see that the best damn thing that has happened in my brief existence was straddling me." Okay his plan to tease the crap out of her wasn't going to happen now but his secondary plan to tell her how he felt was going to happen. Shepard looked at him with care, her heart was likely bursting with joy from what he said but he saw her gentle side coming out to console him. "Ty…" Shepard started but Ty shook his head stopping her than he said "I mean it Shepard completely. I've spent too long running blind with revenge being the only thing on my mind. I've got an incredible family and an incredible girlfriend who all care as deeply about me that I do them so it's time to get my head out of my ass and start living life before it's taken from me. I need to be here with you as you are with me constantly." Ty dropped his hands from Shepard's shoulders as he said "I want to be happy and eventually get to retire from all this killing young so I can experience all the universes wonders in peace…and I want that with you."

* * *

If it wasn't for her chest cavity and her self-control Shepard's heart would have pounded itself out of her chest and she would have grabbed Ty by his tank top and pulled him into a forceful kiss and done a great many other things but she was in control of everything, even her biotic's. His words were echoing in her head as she started smiling at what he had said. He meant it all she could tell and it was making her heart jump and melt, it didn't make sense how they had both fallen for each other but Shepard didn't have a care in the galaxy for that. She was excited that he wanted this and he didn't have any reservations anymore. "I want that with you to Ty…no matter what happens between now and the Reapers and after I will do my best to make this work out." Shepard said softly. "Shepard as long as you be you this will work out." Ty stopped and slowly grabbed her hands and intertwined them, he put one set on his chest over his heart and the other over hers, "I promise I will always be here for you." The promise sent shivers down Shepard's body and made her heat up but she grasped control of her biotic's before they showed anything. Ty liked it when they did but it was such a natural habit to try and stop it, maybe she'd get better control so she could let them show for moments like these with Ty. Ty had laid his heart out on the line for her as she did for him and now only time would tell how their journey would proceed and how the promise would hold. Shepard left her thoughts before the moment passed and softly said back "And I will be for you."

As they un-intertwined their hands they rested their foreheads against one another taking in the tender moment and letting their feelings for one another radiate off their bodies and into the other. Much to Shepard's surprise Ty was the first to move in and plant a kiss onto her lips, she had planned to at the same time but he had acted first. It was a gentle kiss one that demanded nothing of her in return but she wouldn't contain herself now, now felt like their moment. She returned the gentle kiss but allowed her tongue to grace against his lips asking, no begging for entry. She wanted their tongues to meet once again; she wanted to embrace an everlasting eternity with him. Liara would have laughed at that thought, Garrus would have as well but Shepard didn't care. She just wanted to be with him and as her tongue asked his mouth opened up and her tongue met his once more.

As grand as the feeling was that it gave her he parted from her and began kissing at her neck searching for a spot to suck on. _If he goes much further down he's going to_, Shepard's thought was interrupted as he began sucking on one of the tender spots of her neck. She had once had a scar their but with the Lazarus project it was removed but the tenderness it had was still there and it felt glorious as his tongue tickled the spot. Shepard let out a gasp of approval as she ran her hand into his hair and closed her eyes allowing herself to enjoy this simple pleasure. He didn't suck on her neck for much longer likely not wanting to leave a hickey and as he ended he began planting kisses across her neck that soon lead down to her chest. She wanted this; she wanted this so badly as she felt his tongue gliding across her skin but a sudden thought hit Shepard so she brought her hand out of his hair and to his shoulder. "Ty…can you please stop?" Shepard asked gently. He stopped immediately and looked to her with question but understanding; he knew something was amiss within her just by looking into her eyes.

He likely saw that part of her was damning herself for stopping them but he also saw that she had something she wished to say. Shepard wanted nothing more than to lockdown her room and tell EDI she wasn't going on a mission so she could spend more time with Ty but she couldn't. She needed to tell him about her and Lizzy. It had been eating at her and eating at her that she hadn't told him, she felt like she was lying to him, that it was like some dirty secret that would ruin their relationship. It wasn't but her lack honesty about it was starting to make her feel bad. Ty hadn't noticed the picture of her and Lizzy and he told her to keep it to herself but she couldn't. Not anymore. She had held it in all these years since it happened and never told a soul, she needed to talk to him about it. "You know all you have to do is say stop and I will. I won't force you into anything." Ty said.

Shepard smiled, she knew he would but his understanding was loss in that he was thinking she didn't want to continue. Her lower half was kicking her in the ass for stopping him; she wanted to continue she really did. She was yearning to say fuck it and continue on but she had the courage to talk about Lizzy for the second time and she needed to tell him now. Shepard's smile faded as she said in a serious tone "I know Ty and I want you to know I wanted to continue but I've been trying to get the courage to tell you something for a while. I can't continue to not tell you, it's been eating at me like I've lied to you." Ty didn't even have to examine her for more than a second to know she was truly bothered by something and in deep contemplation about it. Shepard saw him search her eyes in that short second analyzing her facial features and body language.

He gave Samara a lot of credit for reading him so easily but in Shepard's eyes he was second to her in being able to judge someone in a slight glance and look in the eyes, even without his past seeing ability he could read people well. Maybe his time with Ka'Reena was a big help in that, knowing Tali had helped Shepard pick up on a lot of body language and how to judge tones. Ty nodded silently letting her gather her thoughts,_ Okay, just tell him about Lizzy,_ Shepard steeled herself, _you can do this_.

Shepard's determination kicked in as she took a deep breath and let it out, "I-" "Shepard Grunts on his way up to CIC you probably should get there before he tears out a bulkhead with his bare hands." Joker interrupted. _That crippled bastard was eavesdropping and I said to wait until I was armored up to send him up, _Shepard thought_, He's doing this on purpose!_ Shepard's head snapped up as she said "Dammit Joker who the hell told him to head up so quickly?" "Uhhhh…me." Joker said a tinge of uncertainty in his tone. _He probably was wondering if he should tell the truth_, Shepard thought. It was time for some serious punishment Shepard had decided, "That's it you're suspended from your Fornax collection for three days Joker! I said wait until I was armored up to tell them to meet me. I was very particular with my words for a reason."

Joker cursed quietly than said "Sorry Shepard but too late now to have him turn back, get armored up…Ty Jack wants to talk to you." "Did you send her up as well?" Ty asked. "Nah I told her you were showering and that you'd be down soon." Joker said. Shepard's jaw dropped in shock which made Ty chuckle,_ I've known him for…I've been his friend for…oh he's going to pay_, Shepard couldn't keep a straight thought due to her sudden rise in irritation at her favorite pilot. "What the hell Joker you cover his ass but not mine?" Shepard asked with a slight irratance. "…sorry Commander but I figured you needed to get to work anyway, I'll let you get ready. Joker out." Joker said then shut off the comm. "Oh I'm going to shove my foot so far up Jokers ass that every bone in his body will break." Shepard said. "Shepard." Ty scolded. "Don't Shepard me I'm here about to tell you something very important and our ornery bastard of a pilot interrupts, on purpose to." Shepard said.

Ty chuckled a little, he was clearly getting enjoyment out of this and despite Shepard wanting to stay mad seeing him smile was making her begin to smile. "Tell me tonight when you come see me, I should head down first while you armor up so we both don't come out of the elevator at the same time since we'd be on different floors." Ty said. "But-" Shepard was interrupted by Ty kissing her and continuing the kiss for a few seconds letting their tongues dance with each other, as they parted and Shepard caught her breath since she forgot to breathe through her nose Ty said "But nothing we'll talk tonight. Now go on, get your nice sexy ass armored up." Ty said. Hearing him compliment her ass, no her nice sexy ass to be exact, was nice but Shepard was formulating a plan to pin him down and get him with a better kiss and it required her to still act upset. She dismounted Ty with a huff and went over to her armor letting him get off the bed, Shepard took off her hoodie and pink shirt and had half a mind to take her bra off as well and drag Ty back to the bed but she stopped herself. Thanks to Joker that wasn't an option now, she got her wifebeater out of her drawer and put it in her waist band then looked to see where Ty was.

* * *

Ty got up the stairs and picked up Mordin's tempest, "Ty can you help me a second." Shepard asked. _Well I suppose I could lend her a hand with her armor if that's what it is about, might be fun_, Ty thought. Ty put Mordin's tempest down and looked over to Shepard, she had taken off her sweater and pink shirt already so her bare back was facing him with her angel wings and back strap of her bra clear as day since her hair was hung over her shoulders. He brought himself away from wishing to run his hands across her soft skin and undue the bra since he noticed she was looking around for something, _hmm maybe she misplaced something_, Ty pondered. Ty walked down the stairs with that thought in mind, "Sure what do you need my help with." "I can't find my damn wifebeater, I had it right here." Shepard said as she looked through her drawer. Ty got behind her and looked over her shoulder to see that her wifebeater was hanging from her shorts waist band, _It's a trap! _He screamed inwardly. "Hey wait a-" "We weren't done yet!" Shepard yelled playfully as she tackled him onto the bed and resumed in kissing him. It was about the only trap that was rewarding but though he was enjoying the trap he knew that he was about to walk into a very hostile zone in a few minutes and then his loyalty would be tested soon after.

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews FORD B and cainchaos :) I'm glad you liked that last romancy chapter FORD B and I hope this one is just as good for you. cainchaos I'm glad you enjoy the story and can't wait for more of it, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. As for all the other readers who read this I hope you all enjoyed it as well and thank you for reading this story and sticking around for the sixty chapter thus far or sixty one including the prologue but still my point stands. Thank you for sticking around and reading the story, still more to go since plans are moving into place *evil laugh*. Anyway have a good one and I'll see you all next time.**


	62. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Rebuilding Trust

After tumbling to the bed laughing and then kissing one another Ty and Shepard kissed passionately for another minute before Ty broke her strong grip. Okay maybe he let himself linger a little longer and really wasn't being forcefully pinned down by Shepard but it made for a better defense to say otherwise. Before leaving Ty re-ponytailed his hair since it had gotten a bit messy from Shepard running her hands through it and his head resting against the bed when she tackled him. This way no one would be none the wiser about his hair looking like sex hair, or almost sex hair in his case since they hadn't had sex.

As the elevator descended Ty's omni-tool lit up indicating a call, instead of looking to see who it was Ty just answered as always, "What's up?" Ty answered. "Ty something is stirring on Omega." Arias voice came through. "That just sounds so pleasant. How bad?" Ty asked. "Bad and getting worse every second. Someone has it out for your father and through him your brother. They don't know you're still alive but it seems that they are planning on attacking your brother and father at some point." Aria answered. Arias tone held stress and anger in it, someone was planning something big and she didn't have enough information on it to ward it off and that pissed her off.

He shouldn't have felt as surprised as he did with what Aethyta had warned him of back on Illium but then it was someone on the Citadel aiming for his dad not both his dad and brother. This wasn't going to bode well for anyone involved. "It's originating from the Citadel." Ty said. "What? Are you sure? Why would those tight assed stuffed shirts risk it on Omega? They have to know you would…Wow." Aria stopped herself. Ty knew what she was finally realizing, aside from Ty his brother and father didn't have much to do with Omega and if Ty was dead that means whoever was stupid enough to attack his family would think Omega no longer had any ties to his family. A costly misstep but not a big enough one to find who was behind it.

Even if Ty had been killed Aria still would have warned his brother and father, she respected Ty's dedication to his family and his family's dedication to him and wouldn't allow anyone to snuff them out as long as she had the power. "Yeah someone doesn't realize the number one rule of Omega." Ty stated. "That just means I get to remind them, before I put a bullet in their heads. I'm going to get to the bottom of this and remind whoever it is on the Citadel that not only do you not fuck with me and my station but you do not fuck with my allies." Aria seethed. Ty smirked slightly as the elevator came to a slow stop, that was as close as he was going to get to her calling him a friend but he was fine with it. "Warn your old man and brother so they know, Murphy! We've got work to do. Stay safe out there Ty." Aria said. "You too Aria. Tell Murph I said hi." Ty said. "Will do." Aria responded before ending the call.

As Ty walked out of the elevator he sent a message to his brother and father of the warning Aria had given him to pass on, he also mentioned to talk to Aethyta to see if she had anything else since she was the first to bring this to his attention._ It's been a while since someone tried to move against us in force_, Ty thought, _too bad they think I'm dead they'll be so disappointed when they see me, right before I kill them. Probably should tell Shepard about it…but I don't want her to worry if we handle this before it gets out of hand or making her want to divert more time for me. We'll be fine and we'll handle this as we always have._

Ty left his thoughts behind as he saw Grunt fully armed and standing in the CIC near the elevator_, if it isn't my little berzerkopath, well not really little_, Ty thought. "Hey Grunt how's it going?" Ty asked. Grunt nodded his head in greeting and said "Just waiting for Shepard Ty, what are you doing up here? I thought you were being chained in the med-bay after ramming yourself into a wall?" _He says it like I did it on purpose_, Ty thought as he walked to Grunt. _But he does have the comparison of bed rest and being chained in the med-bay right_. "Still technically on bed rest under observation. Chakwas is letting me go about my business as I normally do without a sling; I'm not allowed to fight for at least another two days." Ty explained. "Hmph that sucks, I can't imagine being told that I can't rip apart something with my own hands for as long as you have." Grunt said. Ty saw a flash of the Varren Grunt had snapped the jaw on back on Tuchanka, it sent a sickening chill down his spine but he nodded for Grunts sake.

Mordin walked out of the lab and was also fully armed as he did; he saw Ty and said "Ah Ty glad you're here wanted to speak with you." "Be careful Ty he might stick another needle in you." Grunt said in a humorous tone and then poked Ty's arm imitating a needle. "I'm going to kick Garrus's ass." Ty said knowing who obviously told Grunt and probably everyone else. Grunt laughed deeply as Mordin reached Ty, "No needles actually wanted to speak to you about becoming an experimental project. Your four nervous systems and being connected to the Prothean's would prove to be an excellent dissection and could prove to create great opportunities for all human kind." Mordin responded. Both Ty and Grunt looked at him with dumbfounded looks as they tried to figure out if he was joking or not, _dissection? Experimental project? Oh fuck that_, Ty thought. "Hmm shocked expressions mean you believe I am being serious. Should have delivered it better."

Both Ty and Grunt let out audible sighs of relief before both smirked at Mordin, "Sorry Mordin you just sounded so serious." Ty said_. And your protégés experiments and what you did really didn't make me feel much better, _Ty thought. "No harm done, should have considered your fear of needles into equation. A scalpel may not be the same but you would likely see them the same." Mordin replied. _A scalpel,_ Ty shuddered visibly. Grunt snickered next to him and Mordin wore a broad smile at his own sick sense of humor. "Ah that's fine, I get enough of knives jabbing into me when I let lose my anger." Ty said. Mordin nodded and said "Okay, I did wish to ask if you had thought more about letting me run more tests on your abilities, nothing invasive I assure. No needles or scalpels just some tests that may discern where you get your strength from."

That really didn't sound too bad but Grunt beat Ty to the punch, "Only a fool would question where he got his strengths from." Grunt said. Mordin seemed to roll his eyes a little as he shook his head, "To satisfy your scientific curiosity I assume?" Ty asked. Mordin nodded briskly and said "Yes, though I have much work right now with trying to find out more about the Collectors."

Mordin started pacing in a small space as he said in a slightly energetic tone "But I have so many theories on how your change affects your bodies and so many ways to test it. Physical examines or maybe a neurological one I'm not sure yet but it may give us some useful information or if there are any side effects to using your abilities." That was an interesting proposition and Ty had often wondered if his abilities would cause problems in the future. If the tests could help find that out it would be worth it so if there were any problems Ty could warn his brother and prepare himself. Mordin stopped and Ty nodded and said "Sure I'm game. When we finish with the Collectors we can do it, preferably after my head-butting contest with Grunt here." Ty said motioning to Grunt with his hand. Grunt slammed his hands together and said "I can't wait to battle you again."

Ty smirked and Mordin even smirked a little at Grunts almost childlike excitement, "I can't wait either Grunt, speaking of which Grunt would you mind-" Before Ty could finish request Grunt slammed his head into Ty's, as Ty regained his senses after shaking his head a little, he nodded to Grunt for fulfilling his request and said "Thanks I needed that one." "Ha I could do that all day." Grunt said with another slam of his hands punctuating on day.

That got a smile out of both Ty and Mordin again but Ty soon focused back on why he had come down with the Tempest, Mordin needed it and Jack was anything but patient so he said "Hey Mordin this is your new Tempest by the way, you can mod your ammo to inferno rounds by using this dial on the side and if you want to check how many kills you've gotten with it just click this." Ty showed off the submachine gun to Mordin and looked at Grunt as he did and said "Your Avenger has that as well, if you have used it a lot I'm sure you have a high kill count." Grunt nodded sharply and said "Good I was wondering if you added that to mine, any chance you can add it to my claymore after this mission?" Ty nodded, he figured Grunt would want his Claymore customized as well. "Sure, you want another custom paint job?" Ty asked. "No just the kill counter and inferno rounds, don't want to have my enemies cower before I have the chance to fight them." Grunt said.

Ty nodded and turned back to Mordin and flipped the adjustable sight on it so it was horizontal as a Cerberus serviceman was walking by, "And there's this." Ty pulled the secondary trigger he built into it and a visible bolt came shooting out of the gun from under the barrel and connected with the Cerberus serviceman, his body stiffened and he fell down to the ground like a rock as Ty readjusted the adjustable sight back up so it was in its safety mode. Being on the other side of the bolt was better than getting zapped himself but he knew that it was painful and slightly felt bad for the guy he zapped who had done nothing but walk by at the wrong time. _Well the bright side is that I lowered the power all the way to its minimal for that, still looks like it hurt like hell though, _Ty thought_, ah he'll be fine._

Aside from the shocked look on Mordin's face that was turning into a smile slowly Grunt was bellowing with laughter, "HAHAHA DID YOU SEE THAT PYJACK FALL!" Grunt roared as he continued laughing. Ty gave the grounded Cerberus officer an apologetic look as he said "Sorry dude but I already got zapped by it earlier and knowing Mordin he would've tested it on me, nothing personal really." "An effective weapon for sure, no one will see it coming." Mordin said. Grunts laughing continued as Ty handed the Tempest to Mordin and said "My gift to you Mordin, I hope it serves you well."

Grunt got his laugh to a chuckle and Ty looked up at the ceiling, EDI would know what to do with the shocked Cerberus officer. "EDI what's your recommendation on what to do with this guy I just zapped?" Ty asked. "I'd request to have him brought to the med-bay, would you like me to send for help?" EDI asked. "Yea I gotta go talk to Jack so that would be much appreciated, tell Dr. Chakwas that if his heart didn't stop there shouldn't be any permanent damage, I only put it at enough to stun him." Ty said. "It can be stronger than that?" Mordin asked curiously. Ty nodded and Grunt bellowed "HA could you imagine what you could do to one of you squishy species with one of those, you could fry the flesh off their bones!" Mordin seemed to consider it than looked to Ty for an answer Ty shrugged and said "I dunno I didn't want to kill myself when it accidentally went off on me and I didn't want to kill him either." Ty motioned to the motionless Cerberus serviceman then continued "I know there are enough volts to stop the Krogan's redundant systems because of the amount of volts packed in it but frying flesh…it's highly possible." "They should put you in charge of the Krogan's weapons program, all of the Krogan's way to kill mixed with your improvisation, that'd make one big dangerous bomb." Grunt said with a smile.

The elevator doors opened and as they did Ty half expected to see a rescue team for the poor bastard on the floor but instead it was Shepard fully armed and armored up and ready to go, "Sorry." Ty apologized before she had taken a step out of the elevator. Shepard raised an eyebrow and asked "What did you volunteer me for this time?" _This time? Oh right the drink off between her and Grunt that was my doing_, Ty looked over to the downed Cerberus serviceman and said "Well Mordin would've tested the electricity on me so when this poor bastard walked by I figured…" Ty trailed off as Shepard walked out of the elevator to see his work, "You should've seen it Shepard it was glorious the way the electricity hit him and he just fell flat on his face like a dead pyjak." Grunt said.

Shepard knelt down next to the guy checking his pulse first and then turning him onto his back, "Hadley can you hear?" Shepard asked. The man named Hadley blinked once in response and Shepard nodded and said "Alright help will be on the way and I'll make sure this doesn't happen again, okay?" He blinked once again in answer, Shepard turned to Ty, she wasn't angry or agitated he could tell that but she seemed upset, "Ty I guess I can empathize on why you didn't want to get zapped but I'd like it if you didn't ever do any sort of threatening or anything physically or mentally harmful against the crew unless it happens to be sparring or a head-butting contest between you and Grunt, okay?" Shepard asked. Ty couldn't resist, he tried but he just couldn't keep his sarcasm in check, he snapped a salute and said "Yes ma'am Commander ma'am." "Ty." Shepard scolded.

Ty let down the salute and said "Alright I won't do it again, I apologized don't know how sincere it sounded with Grunt laughing his ass off but I still did. I gotta go down and talk to a certain psychotic biotic, am I dismissed?" Shepard smirked,_ oh no that look spells disaster for me,_ Ty thought as he wished he could disappear before she said whatever she was about to say. "Dismissed Specialist Rhoddy." Shepard dismissed. His inner self began screaming no as he grabbed his head at how ridiculous it sounded, his outer self-maintained his sarcasm. Ty mocked a salute again and said "Yes ma'am." Ty let the salute down, he had set himself up for it and now he was wishing he could have kept his sarcasm in check. Now he sounded like those uptight military guys who sir'd and ma'am'd everything. He wasn't sure he could take being called Specialist.

As his arm found its way back to his side he decided to make a point out of not keeping up with the nickname, she could definitely come up with something better than that or just stick with Ty. "But please don't make this whole "Specialist Rhoddy" thing a habit it just sounds sooooo stupid." Ty said. Shepard's smirk stayed as she nodded her head and replied, "Noted Specialist." Ty rolled his eyes and said "Later guys, later Shepard." Grunt nodded to Ty and said "Ty." "Thank you for the new gun Ty." Mordin said. "No problem." Ty said. Ty got in the elevator and turned around to hit the button for the engineering deck, "Good luck Ty, and don't get your head ripped off." Shepard said. "Duly noted "Commander"." Ty said.

The doors closed and Ty went to the back of the elevator and leaned against it as he relaxed, he hoped recruiting the assassin would go well and that they would all get out unscathed but he didn't need to hope to hard knowing Shepard, Grunt and Mordin. The elevator started to slow down before its intended stop so Ty just closed his eyes and waited for whoever it was, the doors opened and he heard a very distinct high heel step forward as the Aussies voice entered his ears, "Ty, you look troubled." Miranda stated. Ty smirked with his eyes closed and once again couldn't resist;_ this might not be a good idea but hell it will still be funny_, Ty thought. Ty's body tensed out, his veins became bluer and as he opened his eyes they were solid purple "Do I?" Ty asked voice sounding angrier, Miranda looked shocked but before she responded Ty switched it off and said "I'm just fuckin' with you."

Ty started laughing at Miranda's look of shock but when it finally faded she asked with shock still in her voice "How the hell did you do that? I thought you had to lose your temper to change?" "You going up or down?" Ty asked. "Down for some target practice, where are you going?" Miranda asked. "Jack wants to talk to me." Ty said. Ty could see a momentary disgust for the spoken woman before Miranda resumed her professional attitude, "Oh that sounds interesting, so how did you do that?" Miranda asked. "I got control of it and now it's like a switch." Ty said as he "reactivated" it. "See." Ty said. Ty turned it off again and Miranda held an impressed look at the new ability. "Hmm I guess that would be helpful in a fight seeing how you ripped those mercs apart back on Illium." Miranda said.

That would prove to be a useful tool but Ty was just happy he wasn't going to be changing without his own consent unless something bad happened. "Yea I can't argue there, so speaking of Illium have you-" Miranda cut him off with a glare, it was a deadly look but Ty still pushed, "Not even a little?" Ty asked. The glare got more deadly, _geez I'd hate to, wait no I have pissed her off before,_ Ty thought. "Okay fine I'll drop it, just let me know when you do." Ty said. A small moment of silence passed then Miranda let out a sigh and said "I've thought about it I'm just…" Miranda stopped and Ty said "I know just let me know alright." "I will." Miranda said confidently.

The elevator opened and Ty took his leave after saying goodbye to Miranda and headed down to where the Varrens nest was. He knew he could handle Jack even if she used biotic's as long as he was quick he could get the hell out before she did something permanent to him. As he descended the stairs he consulted his friends spirits,_ Hey guys thanks for the help recently but mind making sure I get out of this alive and with her friendship and trust rebuilt…thanks for the confirmation guys_. Ty rounded the corner and saw Jack sitting, waiting and looking like she was in deep contemplation, "Hey Jack." Ty said. "Hey." Jack answered in what seemed like a not so hostile voice as she turned to him. Ty looked around and said "You know I half expected you to start decorating down here with Christmas lights or something." Jack smirked and retorted "Yea and I half expected you to stop being sarcastic." "Only when I stop breathing…actually even in suffocation I'd have more than a few sarcastic thoughts I'm sure." Ty said.

Jack shook her head in amusement as she stood up and walked over to a group of pipes and leaned her back against them as she looked at Ty, she seemed to be examining him or sizing up her prey if you were pessimistic. "So I need a straight answer out of you." Jack stated. _Not a great start_, Ty thought_, at least it wasn't the dreaded four words of we need to talk_. "And I need a question from you so I can give you straight answer." Ty retorted as he shifted his body so he would be facing Jack.

He wasn't really sure what kind of question she'd ask but if somehow she heard a whisper about him and Shepard and she actually had feelings for him…these pleasantries wouldn't last much longer he assumed. "What's the deal between us?" Jack asked. Well that was a better question than "what's the deal between you and Shepard" so Ty shrugged and said "I don't know last I knew we both acted stupidly and we were supposed to be pissed off at each other and not talking to each other." Jack nodded and said "Yea that's last I knew as well but here we are." "What do you want to happen Jack?" Ty asked.

Jacks face contorted into an emotion he hadn't seen on her since she broke down when she talked to him about the guy who stayed behind to let her live, it was of confusion, sadness and anger all mixed together. So it wasn't one emotion but he still hadn't seen it in a while, "What do I want? I want to know why the hell I am worried about why the hell we haven't talked; I want to know why the hell I care about you being my friend."_ Oh this is not going to go well,_ Ty thought. "I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU DECIDED TO GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ME!" The switch of emotions warned Ty of his impending destination of being tossed against a wall but he wasn't able to prepare for it.

After seeing the blue orb hit his chest and being sent airborne backwards and cracking against the wall Ty got on his hands and knees and glanced over to the stairs, he saw Tali standing at the steps. _Not the time Tali she probably doesn't know you are there so just stay up there._ Ty shook his head for Tali to realize not to intervene and said "Jack that was really unnecessary but I get why your mad I thin-" "You don't understand anything!" Jack yelled staying where she was with her biotic's glowing. "I think I do." Ty said as he got back on both feet. "No you don't!" Jack yelled and before Ty knew it he was being slammed against the wall he had just impacted against again and falling to the floor. He grunted in pain outwardly, he had promised to be a punching bag if she needed him to be but he didn't think she'd take it so literally. _Guys I asked for you to help me not let me get my ass kicked,_ Ty thought. "Then explain to me what I don't understand so I can understand." Ty said.

Ty glanced over at Tali again and saw she had sat down but looked like she was ready for anything, Ty got on his knees and looked back to Jack who still had her biotic's swirling about her. "You have no idea what it's been like for me all these years having to go through everything I went through and surviving it all." That was one of Ty's raw nerves, when someone told him he didn't know what it meant to go through a tough road but there was no reason to get mad. She was just pissed and venting…hopefully. "I fail to see how I don't know anything about living through hell and surviving but being at the Teltin facility…seeing and hearing the memories of the tortured souls, seeing the remnants of that hell hold. I know you've gone through some really bad shit Jack, I've seen your memories from the two times we joined minds." "You have no idea!" Jack yelled again. She wasn't thinking analytically as Ty was, she was thinking emotionally and that wasn't good for him. "Well I could always join minds with you and look if you think that-" Ty was tossed hard again into the wall.

Fifteen Years Ago

_"Come on Ty keep fighting." Z ordered as he and his brother sparred. Ty was eight and his brother was eleven and they had been sparring for four hours straight and this was Ty's first real training session not the usual easy training he was accustomed with. At the time Ty didn't understand why his brother was pushing him so hard, his body was so tired he just wanted to collapse and sleep but his brother kept pushing him. "Can't I have a break?" Ty asked as he ducked under a punch. "No your enemies won't let you rest and neither will I, fight harder." Z said continuing his offensive. Ty ducked and dodged two punches but then his brother scored two punches to his face and then went in for the finish as Ty stumbled. They had protective gear on, padded gloves and padded guards from ankle to mid-thigh, but no helmets so it hurt and as the pain echoed in Ty's head he started feeling needles pricking his skin. _

_ His brother followed the attack with knees to his chest until he finally knocked Ty to the ground, Ty was breathing heavily face down on the ground trying to get back up. The first attempt ended in him face planting to the ground again. His muscles ached and were shaking from being pushed to their limit; breathing was becoming harder to control as it became faster and rougher. The floor felt so nice and cold though, maybe if he just stayed there he could fall asleep and his brother would let him rest. "Ty you have so much power and strength but you aren't releasing it and fighting like you mean it. I know you are strong but you hold back too much against me. Your enemies won't hold back and neither can you." Z lectured._

_ He didn't want to fight his brother let alone have enemies in the future, he just wanted normalcy for once but all chances of that had been stolen from him, from all of them. He enjoyed the peace and quiet, the way the wind blew on certain planets he had been on and how it whistled through the trees. The way the sun would shine and warm his body, the feel of grass under him as he stargazed. He didn't want to become accustomed to the sounds of his fist hitting someone or the sounds of gunfire. Ty's shaky limbs were able to push himself up a little but he was hurting everywhere, "I don't want to hurt anyone. Why do I have to fight? I just want to live peacefully." _

_ He heard his brother sigh audibly, he knew his brother understood his wishes, hell Z had wanted it too once but he had come to grips with the situation they were presented and adapted already. Ty wasn't adapting to it quickly, he didn't want to. "All chances for that were stolen from us Ty you know that." Z said his tone heavy with sadness. Ty didn't even hear his brother as his body felt the needles again, his vision began to blur slight as the needles made their way over his eyes. This wasn't right, he was just a kid. He hadn't even done anything wrong but apparently his whole family was going to be hunted including him for something that was a complete lie "All this fighting is pointless all it does is hurt people and that's why we lost grandpa." Ty said bitterly. _

_ Energy started surging through Ty's body as he felt sadness and anger coming over him, his grandfather had been killed and for all the hard work he did for the Alliance they swept it all under a rug and called them criminals. They were just liars and murderers that had no morals, who enjoyed fighting and killing like it was bred into them. Like their sole purpose was to fight and kill innocents. Ty didn't even like the idea of sparring he preferred a pen and paper to doodle on while he enjoyed nature or just the big open endless space. "I don't want to do this, I don't want to fight." Ty said. "Ty we don't have a choice." Z said. _

_ Ty shook his head, it wasn't right there had to be some way for them to not have to fight. "No I refuse to believe that this is what my life will be." Ty spat angrily. "Ty you-" Ty's body tensed out as his veins got bluer, "No this isn't fair!" Ty said angrily as he slammed his hand into the ground cracking his knuckles open even with the gloves on. "Ty cal-" Ty slammed his hand again breaking open his knuckles more, "I'm not you Z I'm not strong and I don't want to fight it isn't-" Ty felt a surge of energy blast through him as the pain of thousands of knives pierced his body and his voice went from angry to a full out scream "riGHTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"_

Back in the Present

Ty shook his head getting the vision that flashed before his eyes out of his mind for the moment, the vision only took seconds to Ty but it was a reminder of the first time he lost control and how different he was now than he was then. After the scream he got on both feet and then his body went back to normal and he passed out from exhaustion. The next day he killed his first man and that, that was a hard memory. He pushed it from his mind focusing on the task at hand though he was happy he had control otherwise he was sure that would've triggered his demon quicker than seeing his hand covered in blood. Seeing his hand covered in blood was about as quick as it came.

Jacks voice was becoming more prominent in his mind as he got back into the present, "Why do I care Ty explain that to me since you think you understand!" _My charming personality and good looks, _Ty wisecracked mentally. "Do you think if you still had biotic's and you were raised in a home of people that cared that you'd be different? Do you ever think about what could have been different if fate could've dealt you a better hand?" Ty asked knowing he knew what his own answers would have been through all of the stages of his life he had gone through to now. "What? Does that really matter? Answer my goddamned question!" Jack said angrily but the confusion she was feeling was taking control as the question seeded its way into her mind.

Ty thought for a second about what to say, he wasn't sure where that had really come from except the remnants of a question he had once asked himself years and years ago. "I'm trying. The reason why the question mattered though was because I thought about it from time to time. I always wanted a different set of cards, I always wanted peace but I always had to fight…I always had to survive and lose things that were important to me. Now though I don't want a different set of cards, I mean I wish some things were different but if it wasn't for all that I never would be here with you pushing me around and yelling at me. I may have never met Tali and Garrus or Grunt and Mordin or Shepard and Kasumi or any of my other friends. Maybe I've grown more than I give myself credit for but I've got to tell you if I somehow got blasted back in time and was given a choice to not meet you all I'd go through all those hells again so I could be here."

The look on Jacks face was of shock, he was a bit shocked knowing the amount of pain he would have to relive. The faces of all the friends he would have to watch die on ship or his lover murdered right in front of him. The pain he had felt was, well he wished to have died many times in years passed so he didn't have to feel it anymore but here he was saying he would go through it again all so he could meet the Normandy squad again. All so he could meet Shepard, Jack, Grunt, Garrus, Mordin, Miranda, Kasumi, Samara, Joker, EDI and everyone else again. Ty continued regardless of how crazy and truthful he sounded, "You all have been great friends and just to get here again would be worth it…I don't know why you care Jack but I know why I do. We all wander through life aimlessly some of us questioning what lies beyond life others just living this life while they cannot worrying about what comes next. We all have problems along the way, we all meet people who we care about or that we hate. I've faced so much in just ten years that somedays I wonder if I really am just twenty three or if I somehow missed out on a few years. Despite all this though we all deal with it differently, Tali is a prime example." Ty said. Ty saw Tali freeze for a second but Jack said "What about her? She can't have had problems she's so nice."

_Well that was actually kind of nice of Jack_, Ty thought, "So you're saying that when bad shit happens we should all be like me and just push everyone away and put ourselves through a self-inflicted hell? Yea that makes total sense because no one would pull the trigger and end their lives then." Ty said sarcastically. "What the hell happened to her that you know about?" Jack asked. "Ka'Reena was a sister to her, her mother passed on, I think she saw Shepard get spaced and she lives on the motherfucking Flotilla. Now don't get me wrong a home is a home and the Quarian's actually have some good interior decorators but they are always one virus or some type of mechanical failure from dying." Ty explained. "So you're saying that she basically lives in hell." Jack said. Ty could have sworn Tali scoffed but he shook his head and said, "Jack what I'm saying is that just because someone is nice or doesn't seem like they've been through some type of hell doesn't mean they haven't and I'm also saying that it doesn't matter who someone's origins are and where they come from. It's who they are as an individual that matters. That they never give up on themselves no matter what is thrown at them, that they strive to be the best them they can be." Ty said for both Jack and Tali to hear.

Jack looked like she was thinking again, she needed to say why she cared not have Ty explain her feelings for her though he could easily he just wanted her to finally just admit it, "Why do you even give a damn about me? Why haven't you just walked away?" Jack asked quietly. "Haven't we talked about this? You need a friend Jack and not one that's going to use you so me being me decided I was going to be said friend." Ty said. "So that's it just 'cause you thought I needed a friend?" Jack asked. _Okay here comes making sure that I word my words correctly so A she doesn't kill me and two she doesn't think I want a relationship,_ "Jack I admit I've been staying away since I tried stepping between you and the princess because at first I was pissed at the whole shoulder barge thing and all the other shit that was on my mind. After that though I just couldn't figure out how to come down and talk to you without you ripping my head off. I thought you were extremely pissed at me so I figured I'd let you cool off but I should've came down and talked to you earlier."

She nodded again, it was always good to admit your downfalls so that's where Ty decided to start but now it was time to get to her question, "So you wanna know why I give a damn about you? Because despite what you'd argue you're a good person. You have been a true friend in this short time we've known each other never once taking advantage of my trust and having my back out on the battlefield and here on the Normandy. Despite your badass exterior I know you care about the people here because we are the first thing you've had to a family that hasn't and will not turn their back on you like you prepared yourself for. Not to mention that I am going to be a stubborn asshole until you finally refer to me as your good friend."

Jack sighed as she sat down on the floor and brought her knees up to her chest and rested her arms on top of her knees, "So what about you? Why do you give a damn Jack?" Ty asked still staying seated where she had tossed him. "I don't know." Jack said quietly. "You really expect me to believe that." Ty said. Jack glared at him and said "I don't know I just do. I don't understand all this emotional bullshit I just know what I know." "Emotions are easy." Ty said. "No death is easy a fucking on and off switch." Jack stated. "Yea I guess but if you wanna understand your emotions just listen to your heart and not your brain. Silence all the other storms within yourself and you'll know what you feel…Even if that sounds cheesy as all hell." Ty said. "What do you want from me Ty?" Jack asked.

Ty chuckled slightly; of course she'd still think he was looking for something. It's all she ever knew before meeting this squad, users and abusers certainly did their number on her but Ty wasn't easily warded away. He'd fix what they had done. "See that's what your problem is right there Jack, you assume I want something from you." Ty said. Jack glared a little at him so Ty asked "Have I ever asked anything of you sexually, mentally or emotionally Jack?" Jack looked away and said quietly "No." "All I ever wanted from the friendship that formed between us or any friendship I have made was for the other person to be happy 'cause the second that being my friend no longer makes anyone happy I will personally leave to stop fucking up their lives." "God if I didn't know better I'd think you were such a pussy right now." Jack said. "Emotions don't make you weak Jack and neither do friends. Those two things helped me keep going for a long time. Now I'm not saying you gotta get all lovey and mushy because that'd be such a buzzkill just take your emotions into account for once." _And Spirits don't let those emotions be her wanting to kill me_, Ty thought.


	63. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

We're Being Hacked

**A/N: Kind of a short one today but its meant to set stuff in motion.**

The pair sat in silence for ten minutes, Ty wasn't going to rush Jack into speaking what she felt since that would likely lead to another problem. That and Ty didn't want to be biotically tossed again. Jack sat in contemplation with her eyes closed as Ty rested his head against the wall behind him; Ty glanced over to his side when he saw Tali trying to get his attention. Her body language was the only indicator of her question since she wouldn't dare to speak, her body language was asking him what was going on, or more specifically what the hell was going on but Ty just gave her a look that read stay quiet and be patient while Jack was thinking.

The body language that she responded with told him that she was going to call him a bosh'tet later and probably hit him. If she was a human she probably would have given him the finger but since she lacked the fingers she couldn't and since Ty was keen on Quarian body language he knew he was going to get hit. "I'm sorry." Jack said quietly.

_She's what? _Ty thought, _did she just say sorry_. Tali's frozen form in the corner of his eye told him she heard it to and it shocked her as well, "The cheerleader got under my skin that day and then you tried stepping in…trying to be a good friend to us both. Even if you had no reason stepping in." Jack said. Ty gave her a smile as he said, "Sure I did, I didn't want you two to kill each other because I would lose a friend either way. Though I know you probably would've beaten her anyway." Ty said. Jack didn't seem to acknowledge what he said just going back to being quiet for a second. _Guess it is a bit early for jokes,_ Ty thought_, can't blame her though she probably hasn't open up to anyone in a long time_. "Ever since Pragia I've felt different. Changed really, most of it being yours and Shepard's doing by coming down and talking to me, never turning away like I thought you would. I actually care about if you and her survive; hell I care about all of us getting through this alive even though I hate the cheerleader. I've always thought I was alone but…"

Jack stopped as she looked up to Ty and made eye contact, to say that she was about to break into tears was an understatement but she also looked like she could kill him if he said anything or got to close so Ty shut his mouth and stayed where he was, "You and Shepard showed me differently…for what it's worth I'm willing to try this whole friendship thing out again and I'll try to not screw it up again." Jack said. Ty nodded, this was better than he could have hoped for but still not as flawless as he wished. It was a start and that's what counted. "And I'll do my best not to make you want to rip my head off." Ty said. Jack chuckled and said "Yea like that'll happen." "Let me rephrase that, I'll do my best to make you not want to rip my head off because you're angry at me." Ty said.

Ty got up and walked over to Jack, _well this went well,_ Ty thought, Ty put his hand out for her to grab and asked "So we're good?" Jack nodded and grabbed his hand, "Yea we're cool. I still feel like killing everyone I see though, no offense." Ty lifted her up and said "You ever need to talk just ask." Jack gave Ty a friendly hug which was surprising but he still hugged back.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised about Jack being the one to hug him before he could himself but he was grateful to see her extending an olive branch for their friendship. Jack chuckled into Ty's chest and said, "I know where to find you dick, thanks for coming down." The pair separated as Ty smiled and said, "No problem. I finished the pistol I was making for you so whenever I end up in the Cargo Hold doing guns again I'll call you down so you can try it out or I'll bring it up to you." "No shit you actually made one for me? Is it badass?" Jack asked. "Of course I made one for you I told you I would but as for it being cool that'll be for you to decide. I didn't make it a girly pink if that's what you think." Jack punched him in his left arm and said "Good I'd hate to have to break your arm for that."

Ty rubbed his arm, _why do all the women on this ship punch so damn hard and why do they always punch me? It just had to be my left arm as well,_ Ty sighed, "Gee I think I get hit by women more than I do by the people we fight." Ty mumbled. _That's probably because I actually dodge those attacks where these I don't see coming or am smart enough to not dodge knowing it'll probably be worse if I do_, Ty thought. Jack frowned slightly, "That was your bad arm wasn't it?" Jack asked. _Great now I probably made her feel bad,_ Ty thought. "Yea it was, don't worry about it." Her frown changed to a smirk as she said, "Oh in that case." Jack punched Ty in the left arm again. _Ouch._

Jack sat back down on her cot and after saying goodbye to each other Ty took his leave and when he rounded the corner he saw that Tali wasn't there anymore. _Must have headed back up, should probably speak to her before I head up to my room,_ Ty thought. He walked up the stairs to the top and took a detour to the Engine room. The doors slid open and Tali was working on her terminal, as Ty got closer he took notice of Ken and Gabby on the other end and said "Hey Tali. Gabby. Ken."

Gabby and Ken let off individual greetings and Tali turned around and as Ty guessed it he received a punch in his left arm again, _seriously the left arm? Three times?_ "Ouch." Ty said flatly. "That was for telling me to keep it down and be patient." Tali said. Ty chuckled despite the growing pain in his left arm, "Yea I figured. So did you just go down to talk to me or Jack or were you worried about a fight breaking out?" Ty asked. "You first but then making sure a fight didn't break out. I'm happy you two finally worked it out, Shepard and Garrus were taking bets on who would talk to whom first and if there would be a fight." Tali said. _Of course they were_, Ty thought. "And who won?" Ty asked. "Not them." Tali said in a cheery tone.

Ty was surprised, _I helped Tali win but I wonder what the conditions of the bet were. We didn't technically fight she just pushed me around_. "Wait so you bet Jack would ask to talk and we wouldn't fight?" Ty asked. Tali nodded and said "Yes, I knew you'd be stubborn and then worried that she'd rip your head off but Garrus and Shepard thought you'd go down and talk to her and then you'd probably spar a little until you convinced her to stop. I figured she'd ask and then if anything she'd just toss you once or twice and you'd work it out."

_Can't believe she guessed so damn accurately_, Ty thought, _can't be completely surprised though she does know me_. Ty leaned against a terminal next to Tali encouraging her to do the same so she did and Ty asked "So what did you win?" "Besides the shocked look on their faces when I tell them? Between the two of them they offered up five hundred credits each and so did I." Tali answered as crossed her arms under her breast and relaxed a bit while enjoying her victory. Ty nodded and said "Damn nice a thousand credits between them and your original five hundred, I guess your female intuition is still rocking and rolling." "What?" Tali asked as she looked to him. "Uh sorry human saying basically I was saying that your female intuition is still great." Ty said. _Last time I use that saying_, Ty thought. "Oh, yes it is which is why I wanted to speak to you about our last conversation when we were working."

_Oh this is so going to be who am I dating I know it is,_ Ty thought, "Gotta be a little more specific than that." Ty said. "So who is it that you like or are already in a relationship with?" Tali asked. Ty chuckled and said "I swear we settled this Tali, there isn't anyone…you know just out of curiosity, are you interested in me?" Ty asked. "What! No!" Tali panicked. "Ouch, that makes me feel wanted." Ty replied sarcastically. "Damn you Ty you bosh'tet that made me sound like I didn't like you." Ty chuckled again; giving Tali a hard time was always fun. "Damn you? Ouch Tali." Ty said. Tali punched Ty hard in his left arm again, _damn it to hell I should have seen that one coming, _Ty thought. "Oh shut up, I like you as a friend Ty and I trust you with my life…but as a romantic partner?" Tali asked.

Tali looked over to Ty and they both started laughing, it was a ridiculous idea thinking that the two of them could be anything but friends. Ty loved Tali, he truly did but that was a sister and friend nothing more. They got control of their laughing and Ty said "Yea we make better friends than romantic partners. You're like a sister to me so that would just be awkward." "Agreed. Ka'Reena would chastise me for dating you after she did anyway." Tali said.

Ty smiled,_ that she would, another reason that it's out of the question_. "Yea she would be like "Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Ryya you can do better than that bosh'tet, all he does is cause trouble" and then she'd say to me "Tyler Rhoddy you are trying to corrupt a young innocent Quarian, you should be ashamed of yourself"." Tali started laughing as she said "Yea that sounds just like her." "I heard it a plentiful amount of times." Ty said. _Ka'Reena was the innocent Quarian I was apparently corrupting though she always tended to have me pinned down at the point of telling me that,_ Ty thought. "So who are you interested in?" Tali asked. She still hadn't dropped it. "Really Tali you're still on this?" Ty asked. "Yes and I will be until you stop lying to me." Tali said sternly.

_Man she can be really stubborn, I aint telling her 'cause if she mentions it to Garrus then he's gonna tell everyone…hmmm actually I'm surprised Joker hasn't told the whole crew…probably afraid of the reprisal from me and Shepard_. "How about this I tell you yea I am interested in someone but I leave it at that." Ty said. Tali brought her hand to her face mask and said, "That's even worse because now I'm going to have to think about who you'd be interested in." Tali said. _Works for me, _Ty thought. "Yea well that's now for you to figure out and for me to keep to myself." Ty said. "You are such a bosh'tet, have you at least told whoever it is about your feelings?" Tali asked. "No and that's not for you to worry about, I'll tell when I'm ready." Ty said. He wasn't completely lying he was just keeping her a few weeks back in information, like back to Tuchanka in information, actually probably before that.

Tali shook her head and stopped leaning on the terminal and said "Well I'm happy you're coming back around, guys like you are hard to come by." "And the other ninety-five percent?" Ty asked with a smirk. "Are reasons why women should stay single." Tali answered. Ty chuckled in response and said, "Later Tali." "Next time we dock and you're on board we need to finish those upgrades." Tali said. "We will." Ty said as he stopped leaning against the terminal. "Bye Ty, don't hurt yourself." Tali said. "I don't it's usually you all that do it for me." Ty said as he walked out.

_What to do now_, Ty thought as he walked to the elevator, Ty checked to see if Miranda was still down shooting but she wasn't so he walked into the elevator to go to his room to relax. He missed going down for the last couple missions, being stuck sitting around wasn't how he liked to spend his time but Shepard liked to rotate her crew anyway so he would have likely been benched anyway. It kept everyone fresh and all their skills sharp which made sense to Ty. He had rotated his crew out but he was on every mission they ever went on just like Shepard was, that was a bonus of being a leader you got to go deep into the muck for every mission and get shot at…well saying it like that didn't sound fun but it was good for keeping your skills sharp.

As the elevator slowed to a halt and opened up for Ty he thought about the memory that flashed before his eyes of him and his brother sparring that lead to him losing control for a second. It happened a few weeks after their grandfather was killed and they had all been upset, well upset was an understatement but it triggered Ty's demon to start releasing itself. Before that Ty only had one or two instances where it would show but he never hurt anyone, the day after that sparring though he killed his first man. Actually he killed three but he always called it the day he first killed a man.

Looking back on the things he said to his brother during their sparring was as ironic as it was still true in certain parts. The fact he refused to believe that fighting was what his life was going to amount to was both ironic in the sense that it is what it was and it was also still true because he didn't believe that he'd always be fighting, he wanted what Shepard and him talked about. It was still a ways away with the Reaper threat getting closer and the Collectors still but if they both got through the fights he planned on retiring from killing and only fight when he was needed or if he saw civvies getting hurt.

_Civvies getting hurt, that's what caused me to kill the first time,_ Ty thought_, well that and getting my ass kicked. Either way I will stop civvies from getting hurt when I see it, I promised I wouldn't just stand by and I keep my promises_. Ty walked into his room and saw Kasumi standing looking out his window, "You know you got your own window right?" Ty asked. "What you don't like my company?" Kasumi asked acting offended. Ty rolled his eyes with a smirk, "Of course I do but most people don't just invite themselves into people's rooms." Ty said walking to her side. "Most people aren't me." Kasumi said with a smile and a glint in her eye.

That was true and for that Ty was thankful for the sake of his privacy and being the friend of someone so one of a kind. "What's up Kasumi? I thought you were going to get some sleep?" Ty asked. "I was but…something's wrong Ty I can't figure it out but something is." Kasumi said. Ty raised an eyebrow in question, had she caught onto what Aria had talked to him about as well? Was there really such a big buzz going on in the criminal world about killing off his brother and father? He hoped not, he hoped she hadn't heard yet for the sake of not wanting anyone to worry just yet. "What do you mean?" Ty asked. "After we talked I went on my omni-tool and a signal popped up." Kasumi opened her omni-tool and a screen popped up showing Ty the signal bouncing all over the place, "It was trying to hack something somewhere on the ship but it wasn't my omni-tool, I traced it but it keeps bouncing around the Normandy." Kasumi said.

_Hmm that's really weird and that crosses out it being Omega, no one thinks I'm alive still so they wouldn't be trying to hack me_. "Your omni-tool is even more advanced than mine Ty, I want your help." Kasumi said as she turned to Ty. "You think it's something serious?" Ty asked. Kasumi shrugged, "Maybe someone is just trying to hack cameras and watch you and Shepard or catch Miranda changing but the fact it's just getting bounced around makes me suspicious. Definitely with the Illusive man's threats to your family." Kasumi said.

Ty rolled his eyes at the first comment and fought back saying really so she could finish talking but he nodded at her final comment, the Illusive man's threats were still valid and Ty doubted he was going to wait until after the mission was over. If the Illusive man was smart he'd be trying to get information while Ty was on the Normandy away from his family and not focused on watching him move in the shadows. Ty was used to being hunted but even with his opinions of the Illusive man being in the minority to act as if he wasn't a threat would lead to the death of him and his family.

Cerberus may be incompetent on most days but Ty wasn't one to underestimate a shadow hunter like the Illusive man. "Good point but you weren't even around for that, it was the day of but you weren't onboard." Ty said. Kasumi smiled and said "Don't forget who you're talking to Ty, hacking audio recordings and video surveillance is easy no matter who set it up and since Cerberus thinks it's really high tech." Ty chuckled and said "Makes it easier, I tried pointing that out to him." "So you up for helping me out and figuring out who's hacking something on the Normandy?" Kasumi asked.

As if it was really a question, it was about time something popped up that allowed him to work instead of sit on his ass. Ty gave a sharp nod and said "I'm game; it'll be like old times just without a big cash load on the other end." Kasumi sighed and said "It's a shame really. When did I become so noble?" Ty shook his head with a smirk and said "You always have been even if you are a thief." "I have Garrus and Tali trying to get a better trace on it but I know your omni-tool and how advanced it is so you may be able to pick it up easier." Kasumi said. "You're just jealous you haven't figured out where I got it from." Ty said. Kasumi back handed his chest and said "I know and when I see your dad I'm going to drill him for answers because I know it's by his doing you three have them."

Before Ty could say anything his omni-tool flared to life and started beeping, "That could either be a normal call or something very coincidental to what we are talking about." Kasumi said. "No such thing as a coincidence Kasumi." Ty stated._ I've only drilled that into my own head a few thousand times yet here I'm hoping for once that it is a coincidence_, Ty thought. "What's up?" Ty answered. "Ty we got a problem." Darian answered back. "This wouldn't happen to do with-" Darian interrupted Ty, "No this is a new problem but we're researching into that." _Of course it wouldn't be coincidence_, Ty thought. "Hold on Darian I got Kasumi here with me and I have a feeling we're talking about the same thing…alright what kind of problem?" Ty asked. Darian's voice now came out of the omni-tool as he said "Someone just tried getting through your brothers systems trying to find the location of your home." "No shit." Ty and Kasumi said in unison.

Though it was weird that they said it at the same time it was more weird she even used the word shit, she barely ever used profanity if ever at all._ I don't think I've seen her so shocked before_, Ty thought. "Before he sent them so much junk data to choke an army of Krogan's he was able to trace the source to a docking bay in Illium." Darian said. _Well well this just keeps getting more interesting,_ Ty thought with a shake of his head. "Ty we're at a docking bay on Illium." Kasumi said. "I know, they didn't get very far did they?" Ty asked. "Your brother stopped them so quickly I'd be surprised if they tried his again and your dad sent a virus to shut down whatever they were using for an hour before that." "Explains why it just disappeared earlier." Kasumi said quietly.

_Well at least they learned why not to try and hack their omni-tools, _Ty thought, "Me, Jessica and Haley don't have that type of information on ours but we've been keeping a close eyes on it that leaves-" "Me and my omni-tool and whoever the Illusive ass is using as a puppet on this ship." Ty responded already connecting the dots. "Exactly, they might not know what exactly he is having them hack but how they got your dads and brother's omni-tools is beyond me." Darian said. "Your omni-tool is linked to Shepard, the rest of the squad and EDI. They could either just ask her for files, if she'd even give it up, or scurry through your tool for contact information." Kasumi said. "She's got a point Ty." Darian said. "I know, only one way to find out." Ty said.

Ty looked to EDIs terminal and said "EDI you have access to my logs from my omni-tool now right." EDI popped up and said "Yes Ty, I have been listening to your conversation though and I have not given up that data or have had it taken from me. I would not betray your trust Ty." He didn't doubt EDI in the slightest; she was a friend that had yet to turn her chess piece on his trust. Kasumi nodded to Ty and said "I believe her." "Me to." Darian said. "I just needed to ask EDI, sorry for even partially considering it." Ty said. "I understand, your family is of great importance to you and I do not see it wrong of you asking me. Your friend is right though the signal was on the Normandy and it came from a terminal but the signal was heavily encrypted and I could not find its exact location." EDI said. "Well if EDI couldn't find it that means the Illusive man is pulling out all the stops on this one." Kasumi said.

That they could agree on, the Illusive man wasn't going to play around with this at all. "Alright I guess it's time to go hunting then. Darian do me a favor and tell everyone to stay on their toes and not grow complacent. With everything going on right now we are all in danger including you with your association to me. Until the Reapers and Cerberus aren't a threat we are not safe." Ty said. "Alright, what about the Suns?" Darian asked. Ty chuckled and said "Stay on guard but we finished off everyone so we don't need to bother them unless we get really bored or they strike at us. Or if they have to do with the problem." "Alright I'll tell them all, stay safe Ty and if they happen to be a crew member don't kill them. Mildly hurt them maybe but don't kill them." Darian said. "Good advice, oh and tell them all I got control." Ty said. "Somehow your brother knew already but alright, stay safe." Darian said. "You too, later." Ty responded. "Later." Darian said then hung up. _Time to hunt me a puppet._


	64. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Hunting a Hunter

That's how it all started, that call and Kasumi needing help led to this hunt for a puppet that was proving to be more than a challenge. While they searched through their omni-tools for the signal they conversed on every person in the squad and on the ship that would do something like this, Kasumi took the liberty of his bed and sat crossed legged on it while Ty paced and searched his. They narrowed it down from the whole ship to a few petty officers that Ty didn't know and Miranda and Jacob. The petty officers or Jacob would only do it if they didn't know better since the officers would, or should know better than to cross Ty. From what Ty knew of Jacob the man didn't do things for the Illusive man that he thought was extremely suspicious and knowing the Illusive man he probably pitched it very suspiciously…Miranda though she'd do it out of loyalty to Cerberus and that would really fracture their friendship.

If she was doing it, Ty sighed internally, that was going to be an ugly can of worms when he found out. He felt glad that he had gotten control of his demon because if he hadn't this probably would have led to him storming to Miranda's office and making a scene or torturing the petty officers for answers. Not something that would go well for anyone. There was an underlying agitation that he felt; he could barely believe the Illusive man would do something so moronic. He might have been glad if it was whoever else was trying to kill his family that way it didn't impact the mission so directly. He wanted to be angrier with the Illusive man, he wanted to imagine himself torturing the idiot before killing him but his anger would blind him. This had to be done the right way. He had to make sure there was no backlash to Shepard.

Shepard had just got Jack and Miranda back to a working relationship and Ty and Jack were once again on the same page for the most part, the crew was at a mellow center for the moment. Now something else was trying to go wrong and he was going to try to prevent it. He really didn't want something to bad to happen because he handled it wrong; he really didn't want to piss Shepard off. She could be damn scary when she wanted to. Ty smirked innerly, it was kind of a funny thought but still not something he wanted. Ty paced a little longer until he sat down in his plush chair still trying to find the source of the original signal. The signal was indeed heavily encrypted and the fact it had been being bounced from terminal to terminal surprised him how far the Illusive man was going to hide this.

Most wouldn't even pick up on what he was doing, hell Ty would be surprised if Miranda even knew what was going on if she wasn't a part of it. The Illusive man's main problem was underestimating Ty's family's tech skills and someone like Kasumi not picking up the signal. He was lucky Ty hadn't picked it up sooner but he had been preoccupied since working on Miranda's gun, Ty thought he was close to hacking it when it changed suddenly, he swore outwardly, "Little shit." "Switch up on you?" Kasumi asked. "Yeah." Ty said as he started working again. He wasn't going to give up so easily though, stubbornness was something he had a surplus of. "Does the same to me, Tali and Garrus. I don't know about you but this is the biggest hack challenge I've had in a while. It's exciting." Kasumi said cheerfully.

Ty smiled, Kasumi had always been able to make him smile in such a way do with her almost innocent nature. She only had an almost innocent nature because of her kleptomania which wasn't an innocent task but she sure made it seem like it. Ty focused back on the encryption and tried to decipher it and decode it before the signal started again because if it did it would be trying to get into his omni-tool. Not something he wanted. He tried another way at hacking it getting almost all the way through until it once again switched its coding so he couldn't decode it. _Fucker_, Ty thought.

Things went similar to this for a half an hour until both Ty and Kasumi were starting to curse loudly every time it switched its coding. "Fucking piece of shit." Ty cursed. "Bastard." Kasumi spat. "Son of a bitch." Ty cursed again. "Little shit." Kasumi spat angrily. It almost sounded like they were arguing with each other and they'd probably would've laughed if they realized that but they were so focused on trying to crack this code it didn't click with them. How was the Illusive man out smarting four tech jockeys like Ty, Kasumi, Garrus, and Tali. "Argh we've been doing this for half an hour and got nothing to show for it." Ty groaned. "Not even with both our omni-tools and Garrus and Tali. I can't believe that even on our own we can't do this, we're supposed to be masters of this art." Kasumi said clearly exasperated.

Ty took his ponytail out and ran both of his hands through his hair as he closed his eyes, every time we get close it changes and we almost had it once, _Kasumi's right I can't believe we can't do this on our own it's like trying to hack a Geth or one of daddy's training lessons_, Ty thought. Ty stopped himself from scratching his head and his eyes flung open, _that's it!_ "EDI call Tali and Garrus to my room." Ty said. "Yes Ty." EDI answered. Ty got on his feet as Kasumi gave him a confused look,_ how could I be so dense_, Ty scolded himself. "Ty what are you thinking?" Kasumi asked. Ty went to his nightstand and started going through the drawers, _come on all I need is, damn not in there._ "Ty?" Kasumi asked. "I can't believe we sat this long doing this and argh! I just can't believe my own idiocy sometimes." Ty spat.

There had to be one in here, he stole it but maybe Kasumi stole it from him that'd mean he'd have to find one. "What are you talking about?" Kasumi asked. "Four different people staring at the same thing not getting a damn thing out of it and I didn't even consider, I didn't even think…" Ty cut himself off as he slammed his third drawer shut, come on just be in this last drawer, "What are you talking about Ty?" Kasumi asked. _There it is_, Ty thought. Ty pulled out a rectangular vid-screen he had lifted from Shepard's room, he wasn't sure what he'd use it for when he had done it but its purpose was clear now. "Would you stop for a second and just talk to me, I hate it when you do this." Kasumi said. "All this time wasted 'cause I didn't think through how we were working." Ty said as he brought the screen up to his window and used one of his tech tools to get it to stick on the surface.

The door opened behind him but he didn't look at it as he pulled up his omni-tool and activated the screen trying to get the signal coding onto it. "Hey Kasumi what's going on?" Tali asked. Kasumi let out an exasperated sigh, "I have no idea he just spouts stuff of randomly, something about four different people staring at the same thing not getting a damn thing out of it. If it wasn't for the fact I've seen him do this I'd think he was losing it." Tali chuckled and Ty heard Garrus's voice "With all the hits to the head he's taken I wouldn't be surprised if he was actually losing it." Ty gave him the one finger salute as he thought about what the next step was, _what now what now, ah yes that's it_, Ty thought as he started pressing buttons on his omni-tool.

Ty finally got the screen with the signal on it and he turned back to the three tech experts in his room, the Illusive man would outsmart them no more. "What's going on Ty? What did you figure out?" Kasumi asked. Ty's omni-tool let out a warning beep, _so now it really beings,_ Ty thought. "Well aside that whoever it is just started trying to hack my omni-tool I think I figured out how to decipher this thing." Ty said. Tali shrugged, Ty could tell she was very agitated with this signal. "How this signal is becoming a bigger bosh'tet than I ever thought was imaginable?" Tali asked. "We've all failed separately, many eyes looking at the same thing but from different perspectives. It's time we take a card out of the Geths books. No offense Tali." Ty said. Tali waved him off but confusion was etched in Kasumi's and Garrus's faces. "You lost me." Kasumi stated. "Many minds looking at the same thing." Tali clarified.

Ty nodded in confirmation, from what little he understood about the Geth they had something like a hive mind and each unit was a group of Geth minds all looking through the same eye. They might have different outlooks in the end; Ty wasn't completely savvy to how the Geth mind really worked but the general idea of the group looking through the same looking glass at the same thing was what he was going for. They'd all see it in a different perspective still but compiling their minds into one room and making them look at the same thing was the main concept he needed.

He had only trained with his brother to do this multiple times so he still couldn't believe it took him this long to figure this out. _Better late than never_, Ty thought. "Exactly I've gotten close to hacking this thing but as I'm about to finish it just changes its coding so I can't do it. My mind was so focused on the hack itself that I didn't think that the answer could be within the code we are already trying to hack." Ty said. "Okay I'm seeing patterns but you still have me lost." Garrus said.

Ty pulled up the hack on his omni-tool and started it again and said "I have to focus on the hack but if I have your three expert eyes watching the signals coding we may come up with its location." "What makes you certain in this plan?" Kasumi asked. "Nothing other than I tried everything else. That mixed with me and my brother having something similar to this as a training exercise that my dad made to work on teamwork and hacking skills." Ty answered. The trio nodded in understanding, he'd be able to focus on the signal itself but if they could see where in the code it changed he'd be able to counteract it.

Counteracting it would then lower the amount of locations it could bounce off of and slim down the number of leads they would have to chase. In theory. If they were lucky they'd single out whoever it was, if they were unlucky there was going to be a lot of shaking down to do. "How long until they break through your firewalls?" Tali asked. Ty checked his omni-tool, "Two hours. Could be longer if I wanted to block them but I don't. If I do then they'll probably flee and now the signal is stronger. Even if they did my omni-tool has an automatic delete if someone breaks through so no worries no matter what." Ty said. "Delete?" Garrus asked. "Better to be pissed about having to re-input all your data then it is to have it stolen." Kasumi said getting her cheery manor back. "…That's a really good idea. Tali do you have something like that?" Garrus asked. "I will after today." Tali replied. "You guys ready?" Ty asked.

All three of them gave sharp confident nods and got closer to the screen Ty put up to watch the signal as Ty tried hacking it. It took twenty minutes to get back to being close to finishing the hack when Tali shouted "There right there!" Ty jumped a little because of how focused he was but when he saw what she meant he finally saw the Illusive man's trickery._ You evil, snide, egotistical, smart man, you warped it to look like the end, _Ty thought_, Cerberus just got raised from incompetent pricks to a brain fart away from a lack of intelligence. _

Ty quickly fixed the signal and started hacking the new signal that popped up. _Perfect,_ Ty thought. Just as he suspected several of the original spots the signal was bouncing to disappeared. "Well that certainly is progress, how many more do you think we have left?" Garrus asked. "Need to calibrate something?" Ty asked sarcastically. "You may to recalibrate your arm after I pull it out of its socket." Garrus retorted. "Keelah that hurts just thinking about it." Tali said. "How about some recreational yoga in the meantime, anyone?" Kasumi asked jokingly. "Focus ladies." Ty said.

An Hour and Thirty Minutes Later

With ten minutes on the clock until his firewalls were down and five more backdoors through the coding they had finally narrowed the signal to a few rooms, but as they did Shepard's voice came over his rooms intercom, "Ty what's going on down there that you have Tali, Garrus and Kasumi with you?" Shepard asked. "An orgy." Ty responded subconsciously since his conscious mind was too focused on the signal to really respond. "Ewwww." Tali retorted. "Yeah I'm with Tali on that one." Garrus replied. "Fun killers." Ty mumbled. "We're working on a tech project." Kasumi answered innocently. "That's…a bit sketchy on details." Shepard said suspiciously. "We're trying to figure exactly how much the other upgrades that Ty has in mind will affect the Normandy mixed with Garrus's constant calibrating. We're trying to even out the main guns output with the engines-" "Alright I get the idea, way above my head there Tali." Shepard replied confusion clear in her tone.

Ty chuckled and smirked because of the beautiful amount of bullshit that just spewed out of Tali's mouth. That was probably a future project mixed with an ongoing project seeing how easily she spouted it off but she also knew technology so stuff like that came to mind quick for her. "I'm just here for the fun." Kasumi said. "Yeah that sounds like a real party Kasumi. Ty you have time to come meet our new recruit?" Shepard asked. Kasumi stuck her tongue out at the intercom because of Shepard's sarcasm, _I don't got a lot of time but these three can figure it out while I'm gone_, Ty thought. "Sure but why?" Ty asked. "Hard to explain but long story short he heard your last name and asked if you were related to Timothy Rhoddy. I told him you were and he wants to meet you." Shepard answered.

Everyone in the room got quiet and looked at Ty, Ty looked at the intercom, _that was a bit sketchy on details Shepard_, Ty thought_, if he wants to kill me your blind optimism is sending me to a death sentence._ "He doesn't want to kill you. I don't know what exactly he wants but I told him I'd have you two introduced when he got aboard." Shepard said. _Maybe not._

_A Drell assassin that I don't know wants to speak to me because he knew or knows my dad, now normally that would sound really off but considering my mother was a trained assassin maybe…_"Alright I'm on my way." Ty said as he started getting up. "See you soon then." Shepard said then shut off the intercom. "What do you want us to do?" Tali asked. "See if you can slim it down more as quick as you can, if you get it down to three we'll check those, if you find the exact location just call." Ty said. Ty went to leave but stopped at his guns and thought, _if they hack it and I go see who it is I may need some back up…no tomahawks though_. Ty grabbed his two pistols and got them on then walked to his bed and lifted his pillow up to grab his third pistol, as he put it on his lower back Kasumi asked "Expecting trouble from the assassin?" "No but if you guys find who it is and I need a weapon then better to be safe than sorry." Ty said. "It won't be that bad." Kasumi said. _That's just tempting fate_, Ty thought. "With Ty it's always that bad." Tali said sarcastically. _Not much help there Tali,_ Ty thought. "I'll be back or I won't if you guys are done soon, later." Ty said as he walked out.

The elevator took its time coming down and going up as usual, someone needed to fix that or put a "go faster' button on it. Ty walked out of the elevator and greeted Kelly as he walked past her and through Mordin's lab, Mordin was back to work again but as he saw Ty he said "Ty glad you're here found something interesting on the Normandy an-" "Let me guess a signal being bounced across the Normandy." Ty interrupted with a smirk. "Hmmm knowledge of signal before I told him…option not considered. Are you the one doing it?" Mordin asked. Ty shook his head and said "No but I'm going to be the one who finds out. Me, Kasumi, Garrus and Tali are working on it…they're going after me and my family." Mordin brought his hand up to his chin and said "Hmm sounds like the Illusive man is more short sighted than I thought, this could affect the whole mission if it is as you say." "It won't, trust me." Ty said as he walked through the door.

Ty walked into the comm room and saw Shepard, Jacob and a Drell with his back turned to him, "I don't like mercenaries and an assassin is just a precise mercenary." Jacob said. "Geez aren't you a ray of sunshine today, but don't worry I'm not offended since I'm technically an ex-merc. Never liked being called a mercenary anyway, it sounds so dirty." Ty said sarcastically. Shepard smirked a little but Jacob just scowled at him, it was more than he did when he tried interrogating Ty but Ty shrugged it off as the Drell turned to face him.

As they made eye contact Ty took in how he looked, although his colors were different than Grissom's they both held the patented Drell physiology and physical form. He seemed to be in great shape but he was an assassin and all assassins Ty had met were at peak physical form. Now Ty hadn't come across more than a handful of real assassins instead of the bunch of dolts that thought wearing spray painted armor made them cool and a killer but all the assassins Ty had met, every single one of them were at his own skill level. They had pushed him to become a better fighter himself after each death fight that always almost ended in his own death and he felt stronger after all those experiences. Looking at this Drell Ty knew that if he himself could last five minutes against the Drell he'd be lucky. He still had a long way to go to be the best fighter he could be it would seem.

This Drell had such a cold confidence in his body language that didn't go unnoticed by Ty. Ty would likely be able to put up a fight for a few minutes but just by sizing him up Ty knew that this man wasn't one to drag out fights. He'd use his skills to get Ty off his footing and before Ty would be able to react he would probably snap his neck. He wouldn't make it painfully slow; he'd finish it nice and quick. Ty never doubted his own skill in a fight but fighting this Drell would mean death no matter how hard he fought.

The Drell looked him up and down with his arms behind his back, Grissom was the first Drell Ty had been acquainted with but Grissom was younger than this one, this Drell was weathered and had seen things, done things that had affected him. Despite all this though this man was very distinct and Ty was prodding his memory for why he seemed so damn familiar. They had never met personally but there were shimmers of memory that weren't his.

Glimmers of things that happened in a time Ty hadn't been alive for. He believed the memories came from his father but he was beginning to wonder if the imprint of memory that his mother had left on his father were coming to life. Was his mind looking through his father's memories and into the memories of his mother from the time they had once spent together? Was the time he spent with his mother as a child allowing him to access her memories despite never having access to his ability then? Did he actually merge his mind with his mother as a child and he just didn't know it? Or was he accessing the Drell's memories just by looking at him?

There wasn't any strong energy coming from the Drell just the normal amount each person held, there were so many questions he had but the answers that he came up with didn't make sense. Why could he vividly see his mother and this man speaking to one another? Why could he vividly see his father at a bar counter holding a knife in a man's hand with his mother standing in disguise next to him? Was that the fight his father had mentioned to him that led to his mother and father meeting? It was so damn confusing. The Drell examined him for a good minute until he nodded and said "You are definitely the son of Timothy Rhoddy and Kaskandra Kalia." "Kas what?" Ty asked. "Your mother Cassie, her name is pronounced Kas-kahn-dra Ka-lia." The Drell answered. _Kaskandra, no wonder why Daddy stuck with Cassie_, Ty thought. "So you know my mother and father?" Ty asked. "Your father by name and reputation. Your mother and I were trained by the same people; I guess you could say she was the only friend I had until she departed from her body." "I hope you don't have a grudge against me and my family." Ty said.

The Drell shook his head with an amused look, _so he isn't looking for vengeance; thank the spirits_, Ty thought. "Not at all. Your mother spoke highly of your father and grandfather and loved you and your brother dearly. I always wondered what would become of you and your brother; she told me you two would make the world a brighter place."

An image of his mother dying and talking to him flashed before his eyes remembering what she had told him in her dying breaths, _great strength comes from the love you have for those you fight for, never stop fighting for what you believe is right and just in this universe._ Ty shook off the memory and noticed that all three had seen him go into the memory, "I see you have the Drell's perfect memory." The Drell stated. Ty nodded, "Yeah mixed with the Asari mind meld thing, I apparently have some Prothean in me but I don't know what that even means yet plus I can see any past moment around me or from someone else's past." Ty said.

The Drell hmmed in acknowledgement, Drell's knew what it was like to carry the burden of seeing their own past memories in clarity. "That is quite a burden that you bear though I can't imagine anyone but the son of Kaskandra to be able to bear it. You have your mother's and father's will I can see that much. If you wish I can tell you more about your mother though I'm sure your father has some knowledge I don't." "He didn't explain a lot but we didn't ask. It's sort of a long story but yeah I'll drop by to talk, I have some questions. I'm Tyler Rhoddy by the way but everyone calls me Ty." Ty said extending his hand. "I am Thane Krios." Thane said shaking his hand. "Ty you mind staying in here to finish the debrief, I need to talk to you." Shepard said.

Ty nodded seeing that she truly did have something to talk about and it wasn't a flirty conversation she wanted either. Ty leaned against the wall on his left and waited for Jacob, Shepard and Thane to finish debriefing. Jacob was being an ass to Thane because he didn't trust him because he was an assassin, and probably because Ty was there. Ty could feel the dislike Jacob had for him radiating towards him but he ignored. He wasn't a fan of him but Shepard needed cooperation and pissing off Jacob wasn't a good idea to keep the cooperation working. Thane bowed and nodded to Ty then left, Jacob left shortly after without so much as a glance at him; the last time he was even remotely kind of nice was back when Ty asked him about what gun and ammo he wanted. Maybe he was just impatient or maybe the stick that was wedged in his butt cheeks was making him constipated.

Ty smirked at his last thought and looked over to Shepard and said "So "Commander" what's up?" Shepard waved him over to her as she leaned against the desk with both hands and stared down at it, that worried Ty a little. She looked like she had a huge weight on her shoulders and something was really getting to her, she looked like she did when he went up to her room when she had her breakdown after Tuchanka. Ty got next to her and asked "You okay Shepard?" "No not really but I'll be fine, we're heading to Bekenstein in the Boltzmann system." Shepard said without looking up. "Kasumi?" Ty asked. "Yeah, we'll be there in two days and an extra day for preparations. The stealth systems should keep us hidden long enough in case this guy has some scanner that could pick us up." Shepard said. "Then where?" Ty asked as he rested the back of his waist against the table and looked down at Shepard who still was leaning against the table with her head down.

Shepard didn't answer right away, she was just staring at the table and it looked like she was starting to sweat. Ty wasn't one to breach someone's mental barriers, after all a person's mind was their temple and if you breached their temple without the right safeguards you could break them. He collected his own consciousness and put up barriers to stop his mind from overpowering hers and destroying it, this was one of the exceptions he'd make. Ty put his hand against hers and brought Shepard into his consciousness. The world around them faded to black, Shepard looked around as the world slowly changed into a Zen garden with cherry blossoms and a pond with koi fishes that were swimming around.

This mental connection was different from anything Ty had ever done in recent times, this wasn't a memory this was his literal consciousness, he only visited this place when he meditated and never shared it with anyone else because of it being his private sanctuary. It would now also serve to allow them to talk privately without the worry of time constraints or someone listening in. Time seemed to move normally within his mind but inside his mind an hour was a mere second in the real world. When he meditated here he meditated for days at a time but in the real world it was only a few hours or a whole day depending on the time he had.

In the real world they were still just leaning there but in his mind he was standing on a small red bridge going over one of the koi fish ponds, Shepard was looking around amazed at the place. "Welcome to my home of meditation. Kind of a home away from home really." Ty said. Ty waved Shepard over and continued, "Shepard so you don't freak out this is similar to a mind meld like what you experienced with Liara just and me just on a more personal level. Thoughts and emotions can be heard and felt here if you don't barrier them from washing out of your head like a waterfall. I have a barrier around my mind and yours so you have no fear of me just breaking into it to scurry around for information. Doing that can break people." Ty said.

Shepard walked towards him and her thoughts became audible, there were dozens thoughts that came pouring out that Ty couldn't keep up with so he put his hands up in a slowdown motion and said, "Just focus Shepard don't release all your thoughts at once. Think of it more like voicing your thoughts but keeping the ones you don't want heard silent." Her thoughts calmed down until it got down to one, "Ty is this place real?" Shepard asked.

Ty shrugged, what counted as real in this galaxy now that Reapers and Collectors were real? "Depends, do you mean have I ever been to a place this tranquil then the answer is no but I did see a holo of the trees and pond one time. The rest though is all based from my vision of tranquil. The sounds, the smells, everything is my mind here; this is also an access point to my memories. If your question about real is asking if it's the real world than technically no but then again what is real? In a galaxy that Reaper's exist I'm beginning to think that even what we think is impossible could be very well real." Shepard nodded and Ty continued, "You could bring yourself to a place like this yourself with enough meditation, with the way Samaras eyes glow when she does I sometimes wonder if it is possible that this isn't just something I can do."

Shepard leaned against forward on the bridge next to Ty and looked at the fish swimming, "Are we moving around in…real life I guess?" Shepard asked. Ty smirked at Shepard's question and began to explain, "Shepard this is real and you will have complete knowledge of this happening when I break the connection but no we aren't. As I said you are legitimately in my mind." Shepard looked to him and asked "Aren't you going to pass out now?"

Ty shook his head; one of the perks of getting control was now he wouldn't pass out from melding his mind with others. That opened a lot of options from passing information to a great many other things. "No I gained control so I won't." Ty looked around as he heard wind chimes going off in the distance, "No one has actually ever seen this before, not even my family. No one knows I created this." Ty said thoughtfully. He felt kind of selfish for not ever telling his family and when the feeling hit him Shepard looked to him and asked, "Did I just feel your feelings?" Ty nodded as he looked around, it was a beautiful place it was a shame it wasn't "real" but maybe he'd build it in the future, he could only hope.

A candle was in a bowl floating across the pond when Ty looked back down at the fish, he knew the candle, hell he put it there in the first place but the purple flame always made him smile, "What's that in there for?" Shepard asked. "It's pretty." Ty answered with a smirk, he received a smirk from Shepard mixed with a look that was asking him to explain more than that. He nodded and continued "After Ka'Reena died I started going deeper into the studies of meditation and my mind until I was able to make this place. I added to it slowly because the more I added the more control it took to uphold it, the candle was the first thing I made and when it got to this size I put it in the pond. My guiding light." Shepard looked to him and asked, "Your fire of hope?"

Ty nodded and used his thoughts to direct the candle to them and then had it float to their level until he grabbed it and gently put it on the wooden railing that Shepard was leaning against. "This place was dark once but-" Shepard interrupted him with a knowing smile as she said, "Darkness ceases exist as long as the fire of hope still burns strong."

Ty nodded and used his thoughts to guide it back down to the water and let the current take it, Ty turned to Shepard and grabbed her hands in his, they weren't here for him, he brought her here for her. He worried about her and taking on all the weight of responsibility she did. Maybe he was just being silly but he didn't want her to break herself and drive herself to a point of no return like he had. "I don't know what's bugging you but I respect your privacy so I won't push into your mind and find it. I brought us here because I don't like seeing you so burdened and torturing yourself mentally."

Shepard looked away slightly and stayed silent momentarily. After a few moments she finally spoke, "We have so much riding on us Ty, so many lives and the Reapers aren't even here yet…I just let it get to me I guess." Ty released one of her hands and cupped her face as he said, "You're human Shepard you can't be blamed for being affected by everything but you can't dwell on it. You are a strong leader; you just have to trust your instincts with this. Loss is inevitable with the Reapers but for every life they take we'll make them pay by extinguishing their very existence. We will survive, we will endure and they will die and you are going to be the one to lead us to that victory. No one else has the will and drive to do this but you and you aren't alone."

Ty used his memories of the Normandy crew and let mirages of them sitting around or standing around inside his place of Zen come to life as he pointed Shepard to them. "You've got all of this squad ready to help you in this fight and we won't back down. Don't let them take your will by thinking the worst, when we destroy their assess we'll make every sacrifice worth it."

The mirages disappeared as Shepard turned back to him, she let go of Ty's other hand and used both to bring his hand down from her face. She grabbed his other hand again and walked herself up to his chest and put his hands on her hips. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug and rested the right side of her face into his chest; he felt her will strengthen as he hugged her back.

She would be okay; he wouldn't allow anyone to break her. He felt a range of emotions begin to pool into his mind as she spoke up, "We are going to win and then you and me are going to live off the royalties I make somewhere this peaceful…at least for a little while until we get bored." Shepard said. "As normal as we can be but still making it fun." Ty mumbled to himself. He felt Shepard smile into his chest, "I like the sound of that." Shepard said. He hadn't meant for her to hear it but then again they were enveloped in a hug so there wasn't really any point of trying to hide it. "Look into my eyes for a second." Ty said. Shepard looked up at him and using his thoughts he enveloped her into his emotions, Love, trust, happiness. The wind blew sending the chimes off again as Ty could feel Shepard's emotions changing; it was time to get back though. Shepard brought her face close to his as she said, "You're an awesome boyfriend." Ty smirked and responded, "I know you don't gotta tell me that." Shepard smiled and rolled her eyes at "Shut up and kiss me." Shepard said.

As their lips connected Ty let the connection fade away, the world went black and then they were back in the Normandy. The environment changed and so did the way they had been leaning, Shepard was still leaning forward but her neck was craned towards him and they were both still holding the kiss they had initiated in Ty's mind. As they started parting the mental connection being gone got to Shepard leaving her slightly breathless, surprisingly Ty had no side effects and due to him getting control his side effect of blacking out wasn't happening. Ty ran his hand up Shepard's back slowly tracing his fingers all across in an attempt to help her regain her composure and also because he enjoyed touching her and giving her shivers.

It didn't take long for her to regain her senses when she looked over to him with a smile on her face, "Feel better?" Ty asked still tracing her back. Ty was succeeding in getting her to shiver a little; he could feel her body tremble for a moment under his touch. Ty traced her shoulders with his finger tips and then back down her back to her waist where he let his hand glide around her hips and then up her left side and onto the side of her breast.

He let his fingers move slowly to the front eliciting a gasp from her as she sent a hungry look his way. "My my are you thinking of ravaging me right here in this room, that would be very naughty of you Commander." Ty teased. Shepard grabbed his hand stopping him and said "You are doing it on purpose." It wasn't a question she knew his plan so Ty just gave a lopsided smile to which Shepard responded, "Well in that case why don't you and the others put your science project on hold so we can have some fun, you did say we were going to work on training."

Before Ty could answer his omni-tool lit up making Shepard frown a little as she said "Figures." Ty answered his call in his ear piece and said "What's up." "It's Jacob and you don't have much time left. Get moving and don't bruise him." Kasumi said. Luckily Ty had control of his face being able to put on a slight frown as he said "Alright I'll get on it." "Do your best not to hurt him Ty, those abs are too precious to be taken away." Kasumi said. "I will no need to get bossy, see you Kasumi." Ty said. "See ya." Kasumi responded. "Duty calls?" Shepard asked. Ty nodded and said "Yea, she needs me to talk to Jacob though so that's my first stop." "How come?" Shepard asked. "Originally I'm sure it was to deliver one of her haikus but now something to do with the project. I don't know the specifics but he's supposed to tell me something." Ty lied. Shepard nodded and said "Alright I'm going to talk to Joker in the meantime." Shepard started walking past him but not without running her finger across his chest and sending a slight biotic pulse through it as she said "But I expect some training tonight." "Don't worry we will." Ty said. Shepard left and Ty started towards the Armory; _well let's hope this goes well and I can convince him to stop but if he doesn't I'll make sure he doesn't finish the download._

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews FORD B, I'm glad you enjoyed the last two chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and if there are any questions that you have about the whole Zen garden mental area Ty has just shown for the first time don't be shy about asking. I'm not sure if I made it complicated to understand or if there are any lingering questions that I did not answer I just know I can be poor at explaining certain things that I make up late at night so just ask if you have any questions about it or any questions in general. Otherwise thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.**


	65. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

The Stand Off

It was hard telling Shepard a lie about what he was doing. He wanted to tell her that the Illusive Man had convinced Jacob to try and steal his family's location from his omni-tool. It was her business as their leader to know that something was getting fucked sideways without her knowing and Ty had a rule about lying to his friends or in this case his girlfriend.

So as he walked into the Armory he was feeling crappy about lying but on the other hand the protective part of his mind told him that this was his family and his problem and no one, especially Shepard with how she was feeling, needed to bear his burden.

She had a lot on her mind and adding to her stress wasn't something he wanted to do and the other half of his no lying rule said that he could if it was to protect someone from something. _"You have all these rules that you live by and you think they protect you from becoming what you are."_ Ty shuddered as the voice played through his mind.

Hearing that voice again was disconcerting, that was Tarak back when Ty was in the Suns and likely the warning he should have realized. It should have been a hint at his betrayal but he pushed it from his mind, that was in the past now and all of the assholes were dead.

Jacob stood across from him with his back facing him, _well here goes nothing._ _I've got to try doing this peacefully_. "Hey Jacob can we talk?"

"Depends on what you want to talk about." He answered without looking at him.

_Oh you know, just want to know why you're hacking my omni-tool for my family's location, nothing serious or life threatening to you if you are honest_, he quipped mentally. "Listen Jacob we're both adults here-"

Ty was interrupted by Jacob chuckling, "You're barely an adult and you're lucky if I think you're worth my time right now." _I'm barely an adult and that's how he responds? That was almost as childish as someone burping their ABCs…and it's sad that I compared it to that. Guess I am childish, heh no surprise there_.

The former mercenary shook off his thoughts and continued, "Okay so how about we cut the bullshit and you explain to me why the Illusive Man is having you hack my omni-tool."

Jacob tensed up, "I don't know what you're talking about."

_Really? Really? Is that the best lie he could come up with? Fuck it just keep cool_, Ty nodded slightly in response, "Okay so your saying that my omni-tool is getting hacked by someone else on this ship who happens to be Cerberus, dislikes me, answers to the Illusive Man and happens to be using your terminal right now as a cover." He chuckled and continued in his sarcastic tone, "That's a really impressive tale, maybe I should go question Miranda then since she happens to be on this ship, is Cerberus, answers to the Illusive Man and probably could put the signal I tracked on your terminal. If she doesn't come clean I'll just kneecap you both and figure out who it is that way."

After the words left his mouth he immediately regretted it. _What the fuck is my problem? I wanted to keep things cool not threaten them both! Spirits I really can be an idiot._

Jacob turned around and landed a huge punch to Ty's face that sent him stumbling back into a table, it didn't hurt as bad as anyone would assume but that was likely due to the fact that he had been injured so many times that he rated pain on a different scale. Perhaps that was a bad sign in general. "I've been slapped harder by seven different women." He retorted as he shook the fuzzy vision he had off.

He had just initiated a war. Nobody had ever landed a punch on his face and was left unscathed. Ty stopped his train of thought again, _wait wait wait. I don't want to hurt him or bruise him. Turn your sarcasm off brain, you dumbass. Just focus on trying to talk him-_

His thoughts were interrupted by Jacob running the short distance to him with his fist back. _Great. Just great you instigated a fight with sarcasm and Shepard's so going to be here any second now…_The warrior sighed inwardly_, so much for handling this without her or trouble_.

Ty dodged under the punch and kicked Jacob in the back of the knee, as he went down the instinct driven sarcasm spewed forth more sludge, "Lawson could barely beat me in hand to hand, she had to use biotic's. What chance do you think you have?" _Really again with the stupid comments? Argh, fuck it. I'm sick of his shit and he's threatening my family by being a puppet._

Jacob responded with a kick to the side of his knee that brought him down to his knees. Thankfully it wasn't broken or hyper extended, but it hurt like a bitch now. Now the Cerberus Operative was beginning to register on his pain scale even if it was at the bottom of it.

His opponent turned around and tackled him to the ground, landing a hard fist to his face as he did._ Okay game on motherfucker. No more holding back._ Before Jacob was able to get in position to start hammering away, Ty used his momentum from the tackle to flip him over and onto his back.

The purple eyed mercenary kipped up and turned around waiting for his opponent to get up. Jacob got up and started throwing punches but Ty's hand to hand experience was far greater than his. He blocked the man until he got a grip on both of his wrists and pulled them sideways so they were crossed, he found himself grow an evil smirk as he said, "My turn."

Ty kicked Jacob hard in the stomach making him fall into his desk where he worked but he pushed himself off of it and back at the hooded man. Something no one on the Normandy had seen except Miranda was Ty's acrobaticness while he fought. Garrus and Shepard had seen him flip on Horizon sure but any hand to hand or tomahawking was mostly grounded.

This meant when Ty jumped spun and used his momentum to land a hard kick to Jacobs chest the 'oh shit' face he saw as his kick was about to land was understandable. He was a brutal fighter, he liked to end the fights quickly with broken bones or limbs but he could use walls or any solid object as a platform to do attacks, which Jacob met firsthand.

Jacob recovered from the kick but as he began moving back into the fight his opponent turned quickly to the weapons bench, jumped onto the edge of it and then pushed off back towards him. He was very quick in the air as he turned around and landed a hard kick to the Cerberus Operative's face sending him stumbling to the ground hard.

Ty's stamina was unmatchable except by his brother and father and probably soon to be Jessica and Haley knowing how his brother and dad trained. That momentary thought brought a smile to his face while he let the man try to get back to his feet. _I'm going to have to start training harder so I don't get out matched by them, I'd never live it down if they ever managed to beat me_.

There were a few fighters that he had sparred with that could almost go nearly as long as him, but none could keep up the stamina as long as him. His demon added a whole nother playing field to fighting though, but Ty wasn't going to use it against little ol' Jacob. That would end in blood, something he didn't want.

After recovering from the shock and pain of Ty's kick, Jacob got up despite what the warrior assumed. He now likely had a rocking headache to manage but he came back throwing and blocking punches again. Ty felt his senses expanding as he continued to fight allowing him to perceive and almost predict every move his opponent was doing.

He began deflecting with ease and the ease he felt showed on his face while his opponent's began to show irritation. He likely couldn't believe that he was being beat by such a little nuisance, or at least that's what Ty assumed Jacob was referring to him as mentally.

Though his perception was great it didn't stop the kick that landed against his side that sent him tumbling into a table, "You low life scum. I can't believe you thought you could actually steal the information on Miranda's sister's location and not expect us to find out!"

_What in the fuck is he talking about?_ After everything he had been through from saving Miranda on Omega before he even liked her to calling his brother for extra help to ensure the safety of Oriana just in case, Jacob had the audacity- _no no no it was the Illusive Man's doing_.

How that man had the audacity to play Jacob into thinking that he would do something so sick, it was insane. He could never hurt an innocent let alone go after someone's sister that he knew for a stupid reason.

"Are you fucking serious? I would never go after Oriana let alone innocents in general. The Illusive Man is playing you Jacob." Ty tried to explain.

"Bullshit."

The Illusive Man had his puppet strings in deep and the Cerberus Operative was being played to his music like a great little puppet. "The Illusive Man has me counteracting your hack. I saw the data and I know your past, you're a worse than a mercenary or an assassin, you are the worst scum there is."

The first half caught Ty by surprise, he knew that the Illusive Man would lie but this was a huge lie. Making Jacob think he would go after Oriana, creating enough fake data to make it look undisputedly real to convince one of his most suspicious followers.

He was damn good at being a puppet master.

The second half sent chills down Ty's spine but not in a scared way, his anger was rising. Jacob didn't know anything about him and to call him the worse scum there is, it was like Kaiden comparing him to Saren all over again.

"You don't know shit about me." Ty said starting to think about using his new found demon switch to kick Jacobs face in. _No_, he stopped himself_, the Illusive Man is just playing him. He isn't a real threat. He doesn't know what's really going on._

"You're nothing but a two-faced coward who failed all his so-called friends and let an innocent Quarian die."

Ty felt something snap in his mind, that was one line that should not have been crossed. _Failed my friends?_ He saw their smiling faces and then their deaths as the ship crashed into the ground on fire. _Let an innocent Quarian die?_ An image of himself lying on a couch with his head on Ka'Reena's lap as she ran her hand through his hair played through his mind. The happy bliss written on his face and her body language was clear as day. It was followed by him holding her corpse in his hands on Omega.

_Oh his face is getting kicked in._

He could feel the pain of blaming himself and of loss coming back, but instead of bringing him to tears it brought out a side of him Jacob was going to dread bringing out. Not only did his body change quickly, but he moved so swiftly that Jacob hadn't registered having his throat in Ty's grasp until a few moments afterwards.

He could feel Jacob's and his own heart beat beginning to race faster, he would not get away with such an insult. To say that Ty's tone was very pissed off was an understatement; it was the same as it had been in Scrums final moments. "DON'T you fucking DARE! You have no right to talk about that shit like you know what happened! You have no fucking right!" The former mercenary lifted Jacob off his feet cutting off his air flow even more, "I TRIED my goddamned hardest to be a good friend to all of my friends and the one time I wished they didn't follow my morals THEY DIED!"

He had given them a choice, he knew deep down they wouldn't take it but he had to give them an option. They could finish the job and he would leave them or they all could damn themselves and follow his morals. He had worded it that way as well, he knew something bad would happen but he hadn't anticipated what actually happened.

"I TRIED giving my life to the Suns so they'd let my LOVER go free…" Ty felt his controlled emotions abandoning ship as the hurt made its way into his tone, "…and they killed her right in front of me…they murdered her to break me." His anger took the wheel again, rising substantially as his eyes burned into the man's soul. He shook him a little and continued in his angered state, "I DON'T BREAK! All it does is PISS ME OFF! Especially when you push my buttons and hurt the people I care about!"

Jacob had a look of fear in his eyes as he tried kicking Ty, but none of it worked. The warrior could barely feel the pain over his own mental pain. "You have no right to judge me. You have no right to call me the worst scum there is when you have no fucking idea of what my life has been like! You think I am some type of child that knows nothing of the pains this galaxy can bring? You are wrong. You know nothing of pain, real pain. Until you've found yourself sitting alone with a pistol in one hand and a tomahawk in the other wondering which would be the least painful way to go. Until you've watched your friends die over and over again for a thousand nights and still counting."

Ty felt tears burn down his cheeks as he stared into Jacobs soul, "Until you've cried yourself into oblivion and then fought your way back through a Thresher Maws stomach in an attempt to continue to live then you have not felt the pain I have lived with."

He let his grip loosen only slightly to let Jacob get some air, this man knew nothing of who he was. He knew nothing of pain. He had daddy issues and that was the extent of it all. It was time to drive the point home, "I am not trying to go after Oriana. I would never hurt her or Miranda for that matter unless she attacked me first. Your boss is trying to get leverage on me to kill my family. He has convinced you that I'm doing the very thing he is trying to do and you. Are. Falling. For it. You are going to step away from the console and I'm going to deactivate that download. After that we're going to go back to staying the hell away from each other, Understand."

Before Jacob could answer Ty tossed him to the side letting him land hard on the ground as he walked to the terminal. He wiped the tears from his eyes as he reached it, _just keep those memories locked away, no need to wake up the old pain_.

Before he could deactivate the download he felt a pistol touch his back, he sighed to himself despite his irritation, "He really has those puppet strings in deep Jacob, you know that right?" Jacob walked to his side, "But one thing you underestimated."

He smacked the gun to the side as he spun on his heels to face the Cerberus Operative and pulled both his pistols out, pointing one to Jacobs's heart as he turned back around and the other to the terminal.

This was going to end one way or another as Jacob put his pistol to Ty's heart.

* * *

Shepard sat down with Joker in the seat next to him and relaxed as they conversed back and forth about the good old days and stuff going on now. One major topic was his insistence to interrupt her time with Ty.

Joker was the only one aside from Chakwas she ever talked to openly about the former mercenary to. He was also the only one aside from EDI as well that knew and EDI had never intentionally tried separating her from Ty or asked about their relationship though she was sure she'd have some things to say about it.

"So am I getting this right?" Shepard started then stopped as she looked at her friend, "You interrupt me and Ty on purpose because not only do you find it funny but you don't want me to get heartbroken…again."

"Yup." Joker answered.

"And how long did it take for you to figure out that lie?"

"About five minutes, but the first half is true."

"And that's why I confiscated your Fornax collection." Shepard said starting to chuckle.

"Admit it Shepard, Ty's gonna owe me one when your finally able to let loose on him."

Shepard blushed a deep red and if she hadn't gotten a grasp on her biotic's so quickly they would have shown as well. He was right of course, the longer they prolonged it the more likely she was going to be more of a hellcat in the sack than ever before. She looked over at her pilot, "Joker do you like using your hands to fly the ship?"

Joker looked at her timidly and said in a tone that matched his look, "Uh, yeah?"

"Do you want EDI to fly the ship?"

"That's a no." Joker said still timidly.

Shepard smiled at him with her eyes closed, "Then unless you want your wrists broken next do yourself a favor and-" She opened her eyes and her look turned stern, "Stop interrupting me and Ty." She spoke in the best calm and polite voice she could despite her hard look.

A bead of sweat ran down his face but she lost her stern look and began laughing at his nervous look, "You are such a hard ass."

The Commander got control of her laughter, seeing her sarcastic pilot sweat was always entertaining. It was only fair that she could give him the same amount of the crap he shoveled her every day.

She found herself smirking, "Oh I'm sorry, I've just been dead for two years, my other boyfriend dumped me and the guy I'm dating now makes my knees want to collapse under me. Not to mention that he intentionally teases me any way he can to get me more riled up so excuse me for wanting to spend some more intimate time with someone I care about. I forgot that my personal relationships are voided when you said they were."

Joker got his cocky smile back, _here it comes._ "That's what I'm here for Commander. Reminding you of what is important."

Shepard rolled her eyes, "No that's what Kelly and EDI do, you're here because you're the best god damn pilot in the Alliance fleet and one of the few people I trust and call my friend."

Joker smirked, "Ah, you're not going to get all touchy feely now are you?"

She shrugged, "I can punch you if that makes you feel better?"

"No thanks I'm good." He shook his head then paused for a moment, "…can I ask you something Shepard."

"Speak freely Joker."

"It's about Ty."

Shepard raised an eyebrow and nodded. If Joker had any concerns about him she would listen, it was the least she could. "Go ahead Joker."

"When this is over with the Collectors and Cerberus…what's he going to do if we, you know, end up back in the Alliance?"

That was a question the N7 had been asking herself and dreading all at the same time. There was no way she could convince anyone even with Spectre status to let Ty stay on the ship. There was too much propaganda about him, too many misconceptions about who he really was.

She had Wrex last time but even though he was mercenary he wasn't Ty. Mercenaries were frowned upon, but a most wanted criminal that no one except this crew really knew well was more likely to be lynched than allowed to join her. She would find a way, she wouldn't give up so easily and she knew he wouldn't either.

"I don't know yet, but if we do I'll make sure he doesn't get arrested. I have Spectre authority so when we start fighting the Reapers I'll just convince them to let me bring him on as a freelancer like we did Wrex and Garrus."

"Yeah but the Alliance's and Council's most wanted on board your ship isn't going to sit well with, let's say Al-Jilani or the brass at Arcturus or the Council or really anyone who knows him by propaganda."

Shepard kind of chuckled, he was right of course but that didn't change her stubbornness or Ty's. "Yeah not to mention me and him being in a relationship becoming public eventually. That'll really cause a shit storm…we promised each other we'd figure it out when we get there and I promised him I wouldn't dwell on things in the future that I can't control right now. Let's just say if or when that comes I'll be throwing around my Spectre status and making sure he doesn't land in a prison or executed."

Joker chuckled, "Yeah I can see that. I'm happy you found someone else to throw your own ass on the line for…not to mention Garrus or Tali or me or Liara or Wrex or-"

"I get it Joker and thank you."

"No problem Shepard."

It was time for Shepard to shake her head at him, he always called her by Shepard or Commander and never by her first name anymore despite the fact he used to all the time before the original Normandy was destroyed. That moment had seemed to change everything in more ways than one. "You can call me by my first name you know. You used to all the time."

"I know, but with all the cameras and the A.I. spying on us I didn't want it to get out."

That was a ridiculous lie and Joker knew that, her name wasn't some big secret that no one knew. Everyone just called her Shepard for some strange reason. "Because it's a big secret?" Shepard asked with humor in her voice.

"Well, kinda." Joker said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"EDI what's my name?"

"Vanessa Shepard. You were prompted to Commander while in the Alliance."

"And who else knows my full name?" Shepard asked pleased with Joker mocking her as she asked.

"…Shepard your inquiry is easy to answer, but there is a problem on this deck." EDI answered.

Shepard raised an eyebrow; there had never been any problems in the CIC. _What could possibly be going on right now?_ "What kind of problem?"

"See for yourself." EDI disappeared and a video stream popped up.

It started out as static but it soon changed and the Commander's eyes grew wide as she saw Jacob standing over Ty. Her love interest was leaning against a table and looked to be in a slight bit of pain. Before she could move Jacob said something she that froze her in place, _"You're nothing but a two-faced coward who failed all his so-called friends and let an innocent Quarian die."_

_Oh no, no no no no. Jacob what the hell are you doing? _

The video barely caught Ty's movements as he spun around and had Jacob by his throat, "He didn't just say that." Joker said in astonishment.

Ty's body changed so quickly that Shepard didn't notice until she heard his voice his voice, _"DON'T you fucking DARE! You have no right to talk about that shit like you know what happened! You have no fucking right!" _

Shepard was frozen, she couldn't believe what was happening and couldn't understand why they were fighting or why Jacob would be stupid enough to say that. Ty lifted Jacob off his feet, _"I TRIED my goddamned hardest to be a good friend to all of my friends and the one time I wished they didn't follow my morals THEY DIED! I TRIED giving my life to the Suns so they'd let my LOVER go free…"_ She winced as she heard the purple eyed man's tone change to such a hurt tone; she needed to go stop this. She needed to stop him from hurting himself with the memories. _"…and they killed her right in front of me…they murdered her to break me."_

This was one thing you never talked about with Ty unless he was the one talking about it and you weren't trying to piss him off. _Come on Ty, stop, just…please stop._ She hated seeing him like this, filled with so much pain and anger. _"I DON'T BREAK! All it does is PISS ME OFF! Especially when you push my buttons and hurt the people I care about!"_

Jacob attempted kicking him but none of it worked. The kicks hit the former mercenary in the legs, but Ty didn't even flinch. _Stop Ty, you need to get control and stop, _Shepard tried willing him but it wouldn't work. She needed to get her body moving but it was stilled with shock. _"You have no right to judge me. You have no right to call me the worst scum there is when you have no fucking idea of what my life has been like! You think I am some type of child that knows nothing of the pains this galaxy can bring? You are wrong."_

Shepard managed to shake her head, why would Jacob call him the worst scum there is? Did he really question Ty? _Move Shepard, Move_. She demanded of her body. _"You know nothing of pain, real pain. Until you've found yourself sitting alone with a pistol in one hand and a tomahawk in the other wondering which would be the least painful way to go. Until you've watched your friends die over and over again for a thousand nights and still counting."_

Her own heart beginning to crack as she saw tears beginning to roll down Ty's face, _Please stop Ty, please. Come on body move, I can't take this anymore. I don't want to watch this I need to stop it_. She could feel the shock beginning to wear off but it wasn't enough to get moving, _"Until you've cried yourself into oblivion and then fought your way back through a Thresher Maws stomach in an attempt to continue to live then you have not felt the pain I have lived with."_

Joker looked to her with question as to why she was still sitting there but he then saw the frozen shock she was working herself out of. _Get it together, come on damn it MOVE!_ _"I am not trying to go after Oriana. I would never hurt her or Miranda for that matter unless she attacked me first. Your boss is trying to get leverage on me to kill my family. He has convinced you that I'm doing the very thing he is trying to do and you. Are. Falling. For it. You are going to step away from the console and I'm going to deactivate that download. After that we're going to go back to staying the hell away from each other, Understand."_

The N7 finally got control of her body as she clenched the arm rests of the seat. _That son of a bitch is trying to go after Ty's family NOW! Is he fucking stupid! Calm down, just calm down. You need to get in there defuse the situation and get them back to a working relationship…and then I will rip the Illusive Man a new one._

Shepard stood up with full control of her body, "EDI make sure no one goes in there. Joker when it's over be ready to get a comm channel to that prick, of all the stupid things he could do this has now put him squarely at the top of my shit list." Shepard said sternly.

"Good luck Shepard. I'll keep watching in case something happens."

"Thanks Joker." Shepard said as she started walking at a quicker pace than usual.

As she walked she kept her outer composure normal but inside she was a bundle of different emotions, confusion was one of the main ones though. Ty had always been honest with her, but why hide this? Maybe he didn't think it would have ended in a fight or that he could convince Jacob to stop. Or maybe he didn't want to add onto what her stresses had been, but he knew she'd willingly help him or anyone if they asked.

He trusted her and she trusted him they both established that in his mind and out of it so that wasn't a worry of Shepard's. It was his family after all and he'd die than give up anything on them but she could've helped, she wanted to help him and through him them.

She rounded the Galaxy map on the left side figuring to get the drop on them both if she could, this was just like Jack and Miranda except now it was Ty and Jacob. _Never easy, is it?_ Even though Jack wanted Miranda dead, Ty was more liable to kill Jacob now more than ever with what the Cerberus Operative had said, and since when did he become that stupid?

That boggled her mind as well. He was always level headed and always questioned the Illusive Man when he didn't think something was right.

Why would he so willingly do this against Ty of all people? Why would he believe he would go after Oriana and Miranda? Ty of all people who held family higher than anything.

He had a huge temper that most didn't know that he could control now, but he was in control or at least Shepard thought he was_…His body changed but…he's in control, if he wasn't he would've killed Jacob right then and there._

The Tech-Lab doors opened letting the Commander cut through Mordin's lab. He gave a nod upon entry, "Good you're here. Was about to have to go stop them myself, might have used new stunner."

Shepard smirked; of course he had considered stunning them both. He had used it more than once on their last mission and it was guaranteed he'd use it so much more now. "You really love that thing don't you?"

"Ty is very tech smart. Must congratulate him on this weapon, very efficient and experimental technology brings me back to my STG days."

"I'm sure he'll love to hear some praise aside from Grunt's maniacal laughter every time he sets people ablaze."

Shepard had almost allowed herself to believe things couldn't get worse as she approached the last door. When the doors opened she knew she was wrong since both Jacob and Ty were about to kill each other with pistols, "Well I guess that's it then, huh? I hope your conscious is clear."

_The hell it is Ty, you two aren't killing each other today_, Shepard thought as she created three very small Pull fields on their guns and tugged them away towards the wall, "What the hell is going on?" It wasn't even a question it was purely a statement that was telling them to talk. Whatever this was, it was about to end.

Before anyone answered Ty whipped out the pistol he slept with and aimed it at the terminal, Jacob moved in front of it and stood defiantly in his way. _It can't get much worse than this_.

"Looks like you'll be holding those gates a long time Jacob." Ty said as he aimed his pistol at his head.

_Okay that got worse_, "Ty what the hell are you doing?" Shepard asked still in her commanding voice.

He didn't look back at her which wasn't a good indicator to her, but she saw hesitation in his body language. He didn't want to be doing this, "This is the Illusive Mans doing, Shepard. He is playing the master puppeteer and tricked Jacob here to try and hack my omni-tool for my family's location. Jacob thinks I am going after Oriana's location to get at Miranda so he won't stop the download that has a minute and twenty five seconds left to get the information." Ty did not break his aim as he spoke.

The former mercenary stared long and hard at Jacob in silence for a few moments until he spoke again, "Shepard, unless you want to convince him to move I'm sorry but I will shoot. My family's safety is one of the last things I have left to care about and I'm not going to let the Illusive Man have that kind of power on me or my family. I'd die before he has that kind of information on those I care about."

"You won't shoot me. You know what's at stake."

Ty barked out a laugh, _that's a stupid assumption Jacob_. _You don't know him in the slightest_.

"You truly don't understand who I am and what drives me forward do you Jacob? You think I'd let your life stop me from protecting my family? Someone who I really don't even truly know over my family who I love and would do anything for?"

_Understatement of the century Ty. _The Cerberus Operative seemed to understand Ty's train of thought for a moment but still didn't flinch away. "I'm going to count to ten to-"

Shepard was shocked as Ty grabbed Jacob and slammed his back on to the counter behind him with his left forearm and pushed his pistol against his forehead, _not good_, "I'm going to count to three for you to get the fuck out of my way."

Things needed to get back under control, she hadn't come this far to allow them to kill each other, "Ty-"

"One."

_Damn it he is losing his temper and there isn't much sense I can talk into him. What the hell do I do?_

"You wouldn't dare."

"Two."

_ Think dammit, you have to stall him so you can to figure out how to get this so it's a win-win for both of them_.

"Jacob listen to me, he wouldn't be here like this if he was lying. The Illusive Man tricked you and that is truly the data on his family." Shepard said but then looked to Ty, "Ty you can't kill him and you know that. You know it will screw up the moral of the crew and have the Illusive Man put a contract on you and your family before this mission is over. If he does then you won't be able to focus. I know your family is important, but let this be solved diplomatically. Please." Shepard pleaded.

She saw hesitation once again, she was getting through to what rational part of his mind still existed, "You've got four more seconds on the clock Jacob because of the Commander, use them wisely." He moved a step back and let him go but maintained his aim.

It was a start towards the right direction, but four seconds wasn't a lot of time with the way Ty counted. Jacob didn't seem to waver from his decision of standing in the way either. _Okay, think how can you prove this is the Illusive Man's doing. Shit, think, shit, think, EDI!_

Shepard nearly shouted her name aloud, "EDI, you have access to Cerberus records. Can you show Jacob that he is being tricked?"

"Yes, but I will need more than four seconds."

_Okay good_, "I hope you can bend the rules of your reality because that time is at fifty seconds. Three."

_Not good_. The sapphire eyed woman moved between the two this time with their pistols in her hands while she gave the purple eyed man a look of 'what the hell are you doing' but Ty didn't waver on the outside. Despite that she could tell he didn't want to be doing this. His heart was torn between his duty to his family and not wanting to put her in this situation.

Being this close to Ty again while he was…transformed? Shepard didn't think the word fit but it's what she was going to use. Either way, it was a little intimidating. His veins and muscles bulged out, his veins being bluer across his arms and though she had seen it a few times now she had never noticed that a few veins crept out from his tank top at his shoulders and going up part of his neck.

The first time she saw it back on Illium at Scrum's base it scared her because he looked so foreign. He didn't look like the man she had begun to have feelings for, but now it seemed different. He was still him despite the change and though she preferred him as he always was, she didn't feel scared or disgusted by this transformation.

She liked his eye color even if they were modified when he was, created? Saying it didn't sound right but that's what he was, just like Miranda in a way. Shepard preferred his eye color when they weren't fully purpled, but even when they were she thought it looked good, almost reminded her of Liara's and Shiala's "Embrace Eternity" that turned their eyes black.

It made sense though he had qualities from Asari and Drell's so why wouldn't it kind of look like that. She wondered what the Prothean part of him did, she'd have to ask Mordin when he gathered more data.

Shepard brought herself away from checking Ty out even if it was just looking at his transformation, "Why would the Illusive Man try to trick me into doing this? The mission is too important for him to do that." Jacob questioned.

"He's playing you for a fool and you proved him right." Ty spat his tone still filled with anger.

The former Alliance soldier glared at him then looked to Shepard, "Why should I believe him, he isn't trustworthy and this proves it."

"And you have a stick up your ass." Ty retorted.

The Commander stopped herself from slouching and groaning on the outside but groaned in her mind at Ty's sarcasm. Sure it was slightly funny and probably true from his perspective, but he wasn't helping her try to defuse the situation. "Shut up both of you. This mission is way too important for you two to be having this sudden lack of trust. I need you both focused. When EDI gets this proof I'm going to rip the Illusive man a new one for endangering this mission and I expect you two to be on the same page after this is over, no more bullshit." Shepard said in her commanding voice.

"That should be interesting. Four."

She glared at the hooded man, "You are a stubborn pain in the ass sometimes Ty. Put the damn gun down or I'll take it away like I did before."

Shepard saw him smirk and it even looked like he looked in her direction in the corner of his eyes passing her a flirty look, "You're so cute when you're tough. You got the drop on me last time though. I'll be ready for it this time."

The first half almost got her to smile; the second half she knew was him keeping his asshole status on, "You're unbelievable." Jacob said.

"Five. Next count will be echoed by three gun shots."

He wasn't counting numbers; he was counting Jacobs stupid comments! The epiphany hit her like a brick wall and sent worry through her, "EDI, where the hell are you on the data-mine?"

"Almost ready."

"Ty please put the gun down." Shepard pleaded. She could see him almost letting it down he was really contemplating it._ Please Ty, come on. I just need a few more seconds to help,_ "I'm sorry Shepard." Ty said sincerely_._

_ Damn it. Can't say I blame him, let's try Jacob for some help_, "Jacob can you stop the download at least long enough for EDI to get the proof?"

"Yeah, but I'm not entirely sure I want to turn my back on him with that gun pointed at me."

Ty smirked, _oh no_. "Very poor choice of words, Six."

Shepard froze as three gunshots echoed.

The three bullets impacted on the wall behind Jacob making him flinch and raise his arms up, "The use of fire arms is prohibited on this deck Ty." EDI said calmly.

"Sorry forgot that rule EDI. I won't do it more than one more time if I have to, I promise."

_Forgot? Oh right Mordin almost made him sterile when he tested his shields._ Shepard had to suppress her smile at the thought, now wasn't the time for nostalgia. "What the hell are you thinking?" Jacob asked in shock.

The N7 couldn't agree more but she couldn't stop staring at her love interest with disbelief. Had he actually considered killing Jacob just then? "No more bullshit Jacob. Pause the download if you aren't going to stop it without proof or I swear I will hit my target this time."

"Wha-"

Jacob was interrupted by Ty raising his voice "Do you think I'm playing Jacob! You don't understand me at all! There are no boundaries, no limits, no lengths that I won't go to protect my family and friends. I can't believe we are here right now Jacob."

Disbelief was clear in his tone but the Commander had to agree with him. How did it seriously come to this? "I thought you would question a stupid order like this since you question the Illusive Man all the time for being a psycho, but all of the sudden you think he's right because the order is against me?"

Ty's tone was questioning on the borderline of accusatory, but once again he had a point. Why the sudden vendetta against him? Protectiveness over Miranda? It was possible.

"I don't want to be here holding you at gun point, I don't want to be putting Shepard in this predicament and I certainly wouldn't even consider hurting Oriana and through her Miranda. All I care about is my family and friend's safety and all of this crew getting through this mission. Pause the fucking download now before it reaches ten seconds. I don't want to kill you, but if you don't stop it, I will." His tone was steely and didn't hold any hesitation, he was at his limit and one more push would be lethal.


	66. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Conflict of Interests

Shepard was mentally praying for Jacob to not be foolish and pause the damn download, hell she was trying to will him mentally to just turn around and pause it. If she was able to use her biotic's to control his body without anyone noticing she would have considered using it just for the sake of making sure no one died.

This was so crazy, it made Jack's confrontation with Miranda seem like child's play, though that was not something Shepard would mention to the tattooed biotic for the sake of her own health. Barely a moment more passed before the prayer got through or his common sense and self-preservation finally kicked back in as he turned around and paused the download.

There was a silent sigh of relief that suddenly swarmed the N7 as she thanked both his common sense for finally realizing what kind of situation he was in and whoever granted her prayer. The Spirits, as Ty called them, were definitely present for this confrontation.

_They should have stepped in a little sooner, but I won't complain for the sake that we are going to get through this without death_. Ty watched very carefully until he saw it pause, the same relief that she felt seemed to fill him as well judging on the slight satisfied look he wore.

As Jacob turned around Ty lowered his pistol and put it away, even more good news as far as Shepard was concerned. "See? Was that so hard?" Ty asked.

_You have no idea Ty_. His body changed back to normal immediately which was an odd sight since Shepard had never seen him change so quickly. She had seen the change before, but even back in the Cargo Hold when he was all "blued up" it wasn't so sudden. It was slower to fade away, like someone was draining out the color.

Now it just happened spontaneously like he switched it off, it seemed they had a bit of catching up to do. Jacob gave him a slightly suspicious look, "If this really is the data on your family, why aren't you still holding me at gun point?"

Ty smirked, his normal personality was becoming much more prominent which made Shepard smile internally. "I figure you aren't stupid enough to restart the download after our little fight." He glanced at the Commander sending a smirk her way as well, "Besides I don't want Shepard having a heart attack from the stress of seeing her crew holding each other at gun point."

Shepard inwardly sighed as she fought back a smile. At least they weren't about to kill each other anymore but now EDI had to give them the information. Hopefully it would show Jacob what this was all about and then she'd have to figure out how to make this so it wasn't just about proving Ty right. It had to remain a win-win for both no matter how biased she wanted to be towards Ty's side. "Okay now that the guns are down, I want to make myself perfectly clear."

The purple eyed man looked like he wanted to sigh as she turned to him. He knew she was about to scold both of them but it looked like he thought better of making a comment. "Ty, over the course of you being on the Normandy you have essentially made yourself a balancing point for the crew." _And myself._ "You are their go to person when they want to talk or you go to them and lighten the mood for everyone because that's what you do."

Shepard motioned between the two men, "This fight was the least bit helpful to everyone and you know that. Threatening to kill the crew is not what you do, ever. Understood?"

His agitated gaze nearly cut through her, his stare stopped short of going straight through to her soul likely due to his respect, trust and feelings for her. "So, what? I was supposed to sit back and let him take my family's location? Just let the Illusive Man whisk that away?"

Maybe that wasn't her best start seeing as he looked very aggravated at her_. Okay he thinks I'm taking Jacobs side even though I'm not, time to clarify_. Her gaze hardened against his, "No. What I want you to do if there is a next time with something like this come to me and tell me. You've been open about your past to anyone who ever asked except when it was something really close to the heart and I know this is one of those things, but we're all in this together. I need to be in the loop when something like this is going on otherwise what happened just now would've ended in someone, if not both of you, dead. FUBAR wouldn't describe the morale of the crew if that happened."

Before Ty could acknowledge Shepard's request she turned to Jacob, this wasn't over yet, "Jacob, I don't know what your problem was with Ty that made you question him more than the Illusive Man, but I want to be very clear on something: he will never backstab this crew or hack Cerberus files." Shepard said her tone very clear and precise.

"I did hack them once." The former mercenary mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that." Shepard said her gaze going back to him. Ty looked slightly shocked but he wasn't the only one with really good hearing. "I know you did and that was to help me so that's the only exception I'll ever make."

The sapphire eyed woman brought her attention back to Jacob with that interruption now handled, even if it was in good nature she was laying down the law and did not want any distractions. "Now as I was saying, I don't know where your sudden distrust came from but it was targeted at the wrong person. Ty has put his ass on the line countless times for this crew and has scars to prove his trust worthiness. If that's not enough he has the names of some of the crew tattooed on his damn arm."

Jacob seemed to consider that now as he looked at the warrior's arm, "So the next time you question his loyalty think before you act…and for the love of everything sane don't try pissing him off by targeting the people he loss." Jacob casted a downward gaze obviously ashamed that she had seen it. "Stupid does not even describe that move."

There was a slight humor in Ty's eyes at her last comment; he obviously thought it was funny that she saw what he had done once he snapped. She turned her gaze onto both of them, "Now I'm not expecting you two to hug it out or something ridiculous like that, but when we are down on the ground I expect full cooperation. No bullshit unless it's harmless banter. You've both got good heads on your shoulders; don't get a bullet lodged in it because of something stupid the Illusive Man tried setting up."

"Shepard I wasn't able to get any documents saying that it was his family's location due to both the hack being unsuccessful and Ty keeping heavily encrypted data logs. However I was able to get this audio recording." EDI came over the intercom.

It wasn't a bad compromise as long as it proved that the Illusive Man had been tricking Jacob. EDI wasn't one to give them a pointless recording so she held faith in her decision to let them hear the recording.

The Illusive Man's voice came through loud and clear, _"Miranda I want you to get hard information on Mr. Rhoddy's base of operations so we can strike them."_

_"No."_ Miranda answered curtly.

_"What did you say?"_

_"I said no."_ Irritation was clear in the Cerberus Operative's tone. Shepard had to admit she was impressed that Miranda told him no. _"This mission is too important to be going after a personal vendetta against Ty's family."_

_"His family is a threat to Cerberus and this mission. He could go after your sister for all you know."_ The Illusive Man said matter of factly.

There was a sudden pause of silence followed by a snort of annoyance, _"You clearly don't know him as well as you think. I don't see how they are a threat to this mission or Cerberus. Ty has put himself in harm's way for almost everyone on this ship without a care in the world for what pain it will cause him or if he will walk away."_

Her tone was like she was giving a speech to someone far below her intellect and for once Shepard believed The Illusive Man was below her intellect in this field. She hated the bastard, but he wasn't an idiot. He could be incompetent, but not a literal full blown idiot.

_"Outside of the mission he does his best to keep the mood light and has helped me on a few occasions. He wants this mission to succeed and wants everyone to survive, that includes everyone here that is Cerberus. As for my sister, he would never go after her. My father he would kill in a heartbeat, but he would never touch Oriana."_

There was a serious surplus of trust in Ty coming from Miranda and even the warrior looked a bit shocked by it. She had certainly grown more trustworthy of those outside of Cerberus, maybe even considered them friends. That trust had begun to form a certain distrust for Cerberus as well which was shown through her actions in this recording and things Shepard had begun to notice.

Miranda may have not liked it, but hearing Ty speak of how he was created, how his childhood was ruined by Cerberus and even seeing what happened to Jack had really began to eat at the blind trust in Cerberus. She was beginning to see things she hadn't before or just ignored because they were not in her control or under her command.

There was silence for a few seconds before the sound of the Illusive Man breathing out the smoke of his cigarette filled the recording. Ty rolled his eyes and mumbled something about shoving the cigarette up his ass while it was lit. A small smirk made its way onto her face as she remembered hearing him say that to the Illusive Man via the QEC.

_"You don't have proof of that Miranda. He could be playing you."_

Another snort of annoyance from Miranda was clear as day, _"Ty doesn't play people, he either likes you or he hates you. He is very up front and black and white about that. I also can read people very well and I've been around him since this mission started. He has done nothing to make me distrust him other than grate on my nerves when he doesn't listen."_

That got a chuckle out of all three of them. Ty shrugged to himself as he mumbled something about how it wasn't his fault she didn't listen to him either.

"_Whatever your reasons for killing his grandfather aren't my concerns, but your reasons for wanting him and his family dead are a conflict of interests. Shepard is a great leader and she could do this regardless of who she had with her as long as they were good, but she is just one woman. She doesn't always have the time to talk with everyone every single day. Ty is as much a balancing point for the crew as he is for her. He keeps both in high spirits and is willing to sacrifice himself for anyone he happens to like enough." _

The sound of The Illusive Man exhaling undoubtedly after inhaling smoke from a cigarette again was clear, _"That may be so, but I still want that data."_

_"Find somebody else to do it then. I am not going to sacrifice this mission so you can threaten or kill his family to get at him for being the sarcastic asshole that he is."_

Now the Commander was severely impressed by the gall her XO suddenly grew, that was her way of saying "_go fuck yourself_" in a much politer way than the way Ty had. _"Fine. I'll just ask Jacob then since you're putting your emotions in the way of the mission."_

Shepard could practically feel the fury irradiating off of Miranda through the recording, _"No I'm putting the mission ahead of a vendetta unlike you. I have to file some reports."_ There was the distinct noise of the comm shutting off.

Ty was nearly busting out in laughter, the N7 could see it. It would only be a few more seconds before he actually did lose it. Shepard herself was holding back her smile trying to stay neutral at the moment, but within the recesses of her mind she had already lost control of any semblance of neutrality. _Ha! That's right Illusive Man; she likes us a lot more than you right now_.

Before she could speak, the purpled eyed man lost it and started laughing hysterically. Between laughs he attempted to speak and breathe obviously having no control whatsoever now. "She…She shut hahahahaha…she shut the comm off on him…she shut the comm off on him." He continued to laugh and repeat that line clearly thinking it was glorious.

She let a side of her mouth quirk up in a smirk as the warrior was holding his left side with his laugh started dying down. Even Jacob had a smirk on his face at Miranda shutting the comm off on the Illusive Man.

As Ty's laughter died to a slight chuckle he began to speak, "Oh spirits that's just fucking glorious. I gotta congratulate Miranda on that, I never once thought she would say something like that to that asshole…Ah damn my side hurts from that kick Jacob, nice I'm impressed."

"Sorry about that." Jacob said and it almost sounded sincere.

He shook his head, "No harm done. So what did the Illusive Man say to you since it wasn't that?"

Jacob crossed his arms, "Told me something similar only change was that he wasn't going after your family, it was you had begun getting the information on Oriana. He believed you intended to have your family hold her hostage to get Miranda to betray Cerberus."

"And me saying I'd kneecap you both didn't help my case did it."

"Yeah, you could say that."

Ty nodded to himself then looked to Shepard, "So, anything else?"

There was a lack of hostility between the two now and to be honest Shepard was a little shocked at how quick the former mercenary was able get over the fight. She half expected him to still want to kick the former Alliance soldier around or storm off, but here he was as calm as he usually was and Jacob his normal self as well.

"You two are okay with each other now? I don't need to worry about that download restarting or anyone being held at gunpoint?"

The purple eyed man shook his head, "I'm good as long as Jacob doesn't finish the download."

Jacob turned around canceled the download, "We can consider this like it never happened. I'll need to think of something for why I didn't get the information."

Oh that was going to be solved right now as far as the Commander was concerned, she had a few words for the Illusive Man, the first being you and the second being bastard. "I got that handled Jacob though he's going to know I had you shut it down." Shepard told him.

Ty looked to Shepard, his mind seemed to be already formulating some kind of plan but it was really unnecessary. It was about time the Illusive Man understood that he was not to screw with this mission and her friends.

"That's not necessary Shepard. You don't need to stick your neck out for our fight." He began pressing buttons on his omni-tool, "I can just send a code into his terminal that makes it look like I fried his terminal and then have him put a requisition in for a new one that never gets through."

That would solve the problem for a little while at least, but the N7 wasn't going to just let it slide. This was downright idiotic on the Illusive Man's part and he needed to know that she knew. She was not going to stand for this type of shit on her ship and her mission. He may have been funding them, but she didn't like him or Cerberus exception of this team, if it wasn't for the Collectors she'd have pirated the Normandy and left his ass in the solar wind.

"Sorry Ty, but this almost ended in blood because of his doing. He's going to get an ear full from me." Shepard said.

The man rolled his eyes as Jacob took a step forward, "Listen Shepard, I don't like the fact that I got played and put a rift between me and him, but that could cause an unnecessary problem."

Well wasn't this a role reversal. Her confusion was gone but now she was frustrated with the Illusive Man for what he tried. Putting her crew at risk and at ends with each other, threatening her boyfriend's life and putting her friend's life at risk because he played him, oh she would not stand for something like that.

"Guys I appreciate the cooperation that you're doing, but I've made my decision."

Ty once again rolled his eyes as he looked to Jacob, sarcasm dripped from his tone when he spoke, "Well I guess we can't overrule the boss can we? I mean 'cause I've always just bowed down and listened to orders." Shepard attempted to interrupt him and remind him that she was still standing there but he continued, "What do you think? Let her go or do it my way?"

"The Illusive Man is going to expect a report sometime soon. Think you can get that code in?"

He pulled his omni-tool up, "Give me a second."

"Guys didn't I jus-"

"Done. EDI mind telling me if I did it right?"

"Your code has gone through successfully, Ty. Mr. Taylor would you like me to send the report that your terminal has been terminated?" EDI asked.

The purple eyed man raised an eyebrow in question as the N7 stared at them with slight disbelief at them ignoring her wish to rip the Illusive Man a new one. "Can you do that EDI without him knowing I set this up?"

"As I have told you before Ty, I am bound by Cerberus protocols but I have some operational freedom when I deem it necessary to not follow those protocols. If I was to tell him you set this up it would cause him desire your termination which would not help the mission carry on. As Miss Lawson said, he has a conflict of interests when it comes to you, as do I."

Shepard paused momentarily, could EDI have a conflict of interest with Ty? He had released part of her onto his omni-tool and bike which meant some of her protocols would be severed so it was very much possible. "You're protecting me EDI?"

"You are surprised?"

"No, but just hearing you say it so openly caught me off guard. Thank you EDI, it means a lot."

"You are welcome. Would you like me to send the report Mr. Taylor?" EDI asked.

"Go ahead EDI." Jacob answered.

Aside for the shock that EDI was protecting Ty and skipping around certain Cerberus protocols, Shepard couldn't believe what was going on. They were cooperating and going against what she wanted all at the same time, and the ship A.I. was helping them. She was just standing there taking it too. She couldn't even get a word out in retort as they made the decision and got it done.

"Well now that you got a cover-up you just gotta follow through with it. Put a requisition order in and call it a day. If he tries to get you to do it again just tell him you don't want me to fry all the terminals on the Normandy and get someone else to do it. If Miranda can, you sure as hell can."

Jacob nodded and said "Good idea, so you almost done with that shotgun?"

They were just acting like she wasn't even there and like they hadn't been fighting. _What the hell is going on?_

"Uh guys I though-"

"It's done just haven't found the time to bring it up. It's in the Cargo Hold if you ever go down for target practice and I haven't gotten it to you." Ty was doing it on purpose, he wasn't even been sneaky about it. There was a shine of glee in his eyes from riling her up right now and even Jacob had a humorous look on his face.

"Alright. I'm going to get back to some actual work if that's alright with you."

"Go ahead. Later Jacob." Ty said as he walked away.

Jacob looked to Shepard with a smirk, "Need anything Shepard?"

_HE IS DOING IT ON PURPOSE TOO!_ _I can't believe this!_ "No I guess I don't. Here's your gun back." She said calmly as she put his gun on the table.

Ty was her target now, not in a bad way though. She had his guns and he instigated this little 'let's ignore Shepard's orders and her want to rip the Illusive Man a new ass' so that left him with her sights directly on him. As she left the Armory she saw him waiting in front of the elevator talking to Joker and Kelly at the same time, "I'm just sayin'." He commented.

"You're always 'just saying'. Kelly I'm surprised you haven't counseled him yet."

"It isn't as if he is coldblooded Joker. He cares about all of us."

"Yeah, as I said he likes to fight and almost get killed a lot. Isn't there some psychiatric thing about that?"

"The one you're looking for is called feeling like you haven't got anything left to live for because of your past but that's not true in my case anymore." Ty responded.

For that Shepard was thankful, he was no longer in that state of mind of having a tomahawk in one hand and a pistol in the other contemplating suicide. He found that life was still worth living and she was happy to have played a part in that.

"Not exactly the most technical of terms." Kelly said with a teasing smile.

Ty smirked in return, "I haven't been known for being smart about terms."

"Or much of anything else." Joker retorted.

"Says the man who likes to irritate Shepard." The warrior replied.

"Yeah that may not be my best self-preservation choice, is it?"

"No, it's not." Shepard said making her presence known as she approached Ty.

Joker mumbled something about being a hard ass as Ty and Kelly looked to Shepard, "Commander, Samara would like to speak with you on the Observation Deck." The redhead informed.

"You sure are popular Shepard, first me and Jacob, now Samara." Ty teased.

He was really just egging her on now, it was officially fair game. "Yeah, you and I need to talk after I'm done talking to her." She mocked a stern tone that even caught the former mercenary by surprise.

Ty let out a sigh, "Geez, what did I do now?"

"Do you want my input on this?" Joker asked.

"No." Shepard and Ty said in unison.

They looked back at each other with smirks on their face; Kelly smiled in return, "You two are so cute."

The warrior breathed out a chuckle and as he was about to make a sarcastic comment, but the N7 couldn't let him have the last laugh, "He couldn't last ten minutes with me."

"Ouch." Her pilot laughed.

"My sentiments exactly. I think I'm a little insulted actually."

"Well I think it could work though, who you both represent would be an issue eventually, but you two could work it out. You both like to go head first into problems like that and you're both stubborn enough to get through it." Kelly said in a nice but chastising way.

"Kelly two points, Shepard and Ty nothing." Joker continued to laugh.

Now she was getting relationship support from Kelly? She was oblivious to the fact they were in a relationship, but still. She could see her love interest was laughing it up mentally judging on the look he had on his face. "You know Shepard, she of all people knows what she's talking about." He smiled evilly.

"I can't believe you're jumping in on this." Shepard said in disbelief.

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad."

"Yes you are." Joker, Shepard and Kelly said in almost unison.

"Okay maybe I am." The warrior chuckled.

"You need a ride in the elevator and I need to talk to Samara so let's go." Shepard said.

"Fine, fine. Later Kelly. Joker, don't break anything."

* * *

Ty said his goodbyes and headed into the elevator to wait for Shepard, who was still holding his pistols. He purposely resolved things with Jacob and ignored her at the end to get a rise out of her, but the whole "_you and me need to talk_" made him think he may have pushed too far with it.

He'd find out soon enough and while she talked to Samara he'd talk to his family. They needed to know that everything was fine now, all they had to do was solve their other problem and then it would be back to normal…or as normal as they could get.

He also planned to stop by Miranda's before that to say a few things about what she said to the Illusive Man. The former mercenary smirked inwardly, the memory now of hearing her shut the comm off elicited a chuckle out of him. He couldn't believe Miranda of all people would basically tell the Illusive Man to fuck off over a conversation about him, he who grated on her nerves when he could for fun over her boss for however long she had worked for him.

Perhaps their friendship or her like for his brother was stronger than he thought or maybe she was talking strictly from a business point of view. He didn't know, but he still thought it was hilarious and wanted to say thanks for saying no.

Shepard got in the elevator with him and he pressed the Crew Quarters button, as the doors closed the woman next to him let out an audible sigh. He felt bad for putting her in that position, he hated being stuck between his loyalty to his family and Shepard and having to piss her off to protect them. _At least it all worked out in the end_.

"Sorry for all that shit with Jacob. I didn't want that to happen." Ty said sincerely.

"I know, don't worry about it. Here, these belong to you." Shepard handed him his guns. Ty put them on and leaned against the back wall. "Make sure your room is empty by the time I get there."

That really didn't sound any better than before, it definitely wasn't a "_clear your bedroom because I want to 'train'_" tone.

"We need to talk?" Ty asked.

"Yeah, you could say that."

Her tone didn't give off any hint of anything. Ty hated those four words of "we need to talk" a lot. It was never for anything good, it was always bad things that someone who said that wanted to talk about. This time wasn't going to be different. _Great, how did we go from letting her in our conscious to pissing her off?_ _Oh right I picked a fight with Jacob and held him at gunpoint in front of he, I ignored her pleas to put the gun down and then ruined her fun idea of ripping the Illusive Man one because my idea was safer._

"It'll be clear."

The doors opened and they parted ways. He headed for Miranda's office but as he did he stopped in the Mess Hall since Garrus, Tali and Kasumi were sitting there talking amongst themselves, "Hey guys, everything worked out."

"Oh that's a relief." Tali sighed.

"Did you kill Jacob?" Kasumi asked.

_I probably shouldn't mention the kick to the face._ "No but he may have a bruise or two. We are at an equitable working relationship now."

"Well at least the Illusive Man didn't get his hands on that data." Garrus said.

"Yeah otherwise we'd have another mission to go on." Tali said with a bit of sarcasm.

"Or we'd lose Ty completely." The thief quipped.

Ty smirked at the jokes, "Thanks for the help guys."

The purple eyed warrior walked into Miranda's office and as he did she looked up from her terminal without breaking her hands away from typing whatever it was she was working on. She nodded at him in greeting, "Ty."

"Hey Miranda, you got a short amount of time to talk?"

"Sure, just filing reports anyway." Miranda answered.

That almost sent him into a laughing fit but he controlled it to the best of his abilities. "There's no listening devices in here are there?"

"I already took them out. Why?"

"Good." Ty nodded, "Figured you wouldn't want that asshole watching you strut your shit. Anyway, I just got done fighting with Jacob about trying to steal my family's location and wanted to let you know it all worked out."

The Cerberus Operative shook her head, "Idiot. I can't believe he did that. I told him it was a stupid idea."

"He told Jacob I was going after your sister."

"Of course he did." She said with irritation in her voice.

He couldn't blame her; the Illusive Man had used her sister's safety to leverage Jacob into going after Ty. "My other reason for being here is that EDI played a recording of your conversation with the Illusive Man. I wanted to give you a thumbs up for shutting the comm on him and not doing what he asked."

"It was nothing."

Ty rolled his eyes, "Take a compliment Miranda, and it means something to me that you didn't just give that info up, so thank you."

She sat quietly for a second then spoke up, "You're welcome."

"I gotta go inform my family that everything is cool so I'll see you around."

"Bye Ty."

Ty walked back to his room after a few short jokes from the three sitting at the table. When he got in his room he disarmed himself and put his third pistol back under his pillow. It would still be a little while before Shepard would get there so he sat down on the ground crossed legged and looked at his reflection in the window.

His purple eyes stared back at him for a moment staring deep into his own soul, but then he looked away and to his omni-tool to call his family. He made sure all their comms were hooked in so when it finally got through he heard simultaneous greetings from Z, his dad, Haley, Jessica and Darian. "So how'd it go?" His brother questioned.

"We're clear for now. Jacob was deceived by the Illusive Man. The Illusive Man falsified reports making it look like I was going after Oriana and used it to convince him. He shut it down though after Shepard was able to stop us from killing each other and EDI showed him he was deceived."

"Well that's great news." Jessica said.

"You sure he wasn't lying Ty?" Haley queried.

For once he was sure, there was no way Jacob would risk Shepard's wrath and Ty's own again if he found out he went after his family again. Now the man knew how pissed he could get and that he would know the moment someone tried to hack his omni-tool. "Yeah and with Shepard there he wouldn't lie to her and expect to live to see the reprisal."

"How's it going there with the mission?" Mr. Rhoddy asked.

"Good I guess. We're almost done recruiting and getting everyone level headed, we're so close to the end of this fight."

"And then the Reapers are coming?" His father inquired.

Yeah that was true, that's what was coming next. After the battle of the Citadel Ty and his family knew the Reapers were real and coming, but none knew how to prepare. When they heard Shepard was being brought back to life they knew only one way to find out how to fight them: Help Liara and then find Shepard. Granted his friendship with Liara was deeper than that now, but that had been his mission at first.

That's why he joined the crew at first aside from the obvious reason of Haley being kidnapped and trying to right his wrongs. His reasons for staying and the friendships that were formed had grown deeper than he planned as well but he didn't regret it in the slightest. "Yeah that's what's next…Are you guys still preparing?" He asked while his mood fell a little.

"As best we can for the end of the galaxy sentient assholes." His brother commented.

"Don't worry about us being ready, we're always ready. We'll bring Darian out of retirement if we have to." His father reassured.

"Aren't I already with all this training?" Darian asked dryly.

"You enjoy it." Haley teased.

"I enjoy spending time with your sister more than getting tossed around by you." He fired back.

_I wonder why Darian_, Ty mused as a smile made its way to his face. It was nice to know they were still training and preparing as best as they could for what was really impossible to prepare for. "How is training going?"

"Really well, exhausting but really well." Haley answered.

"She ate all our food we had stock piled within the last few weeks. I had to go shopping for more Ty. Shopping. I hate shopping." Z mocked his complaint.

"And she's still in shape, better than before." Jessica noted.

Ty smiled and thought about the turnaround she was making from what had happened. It was better this way anyways so she wouldn't end up as he had, so lost in the past that he lost sight of the present. "We'll have to see each other soon so I can see the training with my own eyes. I gotta go though, I was just checking in so I could hear all your voices at one time."

"Yeah don't worry about us. We weren't sleeping after a long day of getting my ass tossed around." His brother said sarcastically.

"Stay safe Ty, we'll talk soon. Love you." Mr. Rhoddy said.

"Love you all stay safe." Ty said then shut the comm down.


	67. Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Letting Go

Ty sat perfectly still as he went into his memory banks thinking about the long day he had. It all started with Chakwas scanning him and getting him out of that sling, from there he planned the heist with Kasumi which took a few hours and then he worked on guns…_Shit. I forgot to tell Miranda about her gun,_ he felt the need to smack himself in the face.

He really needed to get those guns to their owners and he continued to forget, hopefully he would get them to the correct people before they took the fight to the Collectors. _To my own defense I did get sidetracked with Shepard afterward…Twice…and then got to talk to Jack about our friendship which we're going to try and fix. It isn't like I haven't been busy_,_ just lazy and forgetful._

He shrugged off the forgetfulness and continued to surmise his day to himself. It wasn't that he needed to; it was just something to pass the waiting time for Shepard. He had spent the rest of his night dealing with Jacob and the hack which made his usual carefree day turn into a very, very long day and night.

Unfortunately it wasn't over yet the way Shepard worked. He originally had planned the "training session" they had been talking about but plans might have changed based on the dreaded "we need to talk."

What exactly did they need to talk about? The purple eyed warrior really didn't know. It was either not telling her about Jacob, ruining her ass ripping fiesta plan on the Illusive Man, some weird combination of the two, or something else entirely.

There really wasn't any point to worrying about it so Ty decided while he was waiting for the N7 to go into his mind to decompress a little from the day's events. Now he wouldn't really spend only a little while there since time moved differently inside his mind, it was likely he could meditate for a full day mentally before she finally made it to him.

That wasn't a bad thing though; a full mental day of meditation would ease what nerves he had left over from the fight and leave his mind clear for the conversation she had planned. He focused on his place of meditation as he closed his eyes and when he started hearing the chimes he reopened them, releasing a deep breath as he saw his Zen garden.

It was such a place of peace that he couldn't help but feel the stress of everything that took place just wash off like he had stood under a waterfall.

For hours on end the former mercenary sat perfectly still in one of his grassy fields under the cherry blossoms letting his mind clear itself of everything that even held the slightest bit of negative effect on him…or almost everything.

A loud scream cut through his Zen Garden making his eyes jolt open. _A memory awakening,_ he thought, _and judging on that scream it is the one I don't want to deal with in the slightest right now._ So not wanting to ruin his Zen he attempted to ignore where that scream had come from_, ignorance is bliss right? _

It didn't last longer than a few minutes when the echo of gunfire pierced through his Zen Garden yet again. Ty sighed, there really was going to be no escaping it this time. Either he was going to confront it himself or it would continue to flash randomly.

Control over himself only could hold so much back and while he got his most prominent bad memories under lock and key so they wouldn't do this, this memory was way too strong to be caged without confrontation. He looked around at the place before deciding to take a walk to the bridge to hope it would relax him more and keep the memory away.

Blind optimism was in a larger supply than usual and he could only blame himself for allowing Shepard to impart that onto him more than it had been already. The warrior walked slowly and relaxed himself as he did taking in all the senses that were here in this place he created.

It was a bit amazing when he thought about it that this mental place actually imparted senses onto him like if it had been real. The mind was an amazing tool so maybe he shouldn't have been surprised, but he still felt a little awed by it all. If he allowed himself he could probably get lost in it all only to come back and find that a few minutes had passed.

Everything felt so real in this place but in reality it was just something he conjured up, an illusion basically yet he allowed himself to find peace in an illusion that was worth getting lost in.

He stopped on the bridge and watched the koi fish swim in the pond, _maybe Shepard should get some koi fish for that tank she has,_ Ty thought but then chuckled to himself_, not my room so I wouldn't see them anyway. Besides I have these ones so that's good enough_. After a while the fishes swam away and he found himself staring at his reflection in the water. His hood was up at the moment but he just felt like being free of it all so he took it off and allowed his face to become visible.

Altogether his face obviously hadn't changed all that much save for the scar on his cheek from when Jentha had attempted to impale his face…yet one thing he did notice was that his face didn't look so weathered.

During his self-inflicted hell he had noticed himself looking older in the face even though there were no wrinkles. He constantly looked and felt drained back then. Now though he felt a bit more his age, if not younger than he actually was and his face didn't show the stress and depression he had once felt.

A red and white striped koi fish came swimming by which broke him out of his trance and he continued on his way to the door that was a short walk away. He had to confront the memory no matter how much he didn't want to.

If all went well he could confront it, master it and then meditate for a little while longer before Shepard reached him. If he was severely unlucky he would feel trapped inside the memory and his mood would damper from feeling sprite to feeling like he had just gone through all the pain that was behind that door again.

The path he walked on went straight between another group of cherry blossoms and some of their leaves flew through the air in front of him with the wind sending off the high toned chimes off in a pretty beat.

Ty smiled letting the stressful moments of the day just wash off with the wind, this peace was almost foreign to him, but not unwelcome. If he was smart he would have just enjoyed the peace and ignored the memory as best as he could, but he wasn't feeling to smart right now.

The door got closer with each step and he wondered if his whole Zen Garden and old Japanese houses still existed back on Earth, it was doubtful to the point he was almost certain there wasn't any, but he liked the look. Maybe there was a place on Earth where it wasn't all neon lights and environments that were full of people or animals trying to kill him on a daily basis.

He'd have to visit someday and see it before the Reapers wrecked everything, the devastation they would leave would scar Earth and all the other planets they touched. What Ty wanted was to have a memory of what it looked like before to keep his hope up when things got down.

The purple eyed man got up the stairs and stopped on the patio staring at the door as he did. He could almost hear the memory behind the door, his screams and the sounds of feet connecting against his young ribs and stomach as they kicked the crap out of him. He could almost feel the emotions of pain, fear and sadness that had welled up in him, he took a few steps forward and he started to feel everything. The gunshots, the taunts, the woman who he had promised to defend with his life telling him to stop_. _

_ One last memory to conquer._

His first kill was a haunting memory, the kill marked him but what he endured before and letting his demon free had scarred him in ways he didn't wish on any child or person for that matter. He was an eight year old child who had just lost his grandfather and then after trying to stand up to a three man gang beating on a woman they hurt him. Not just physically though, they did knock him around and kicked him until he wished he hadn't ever stepped foot on the Citadel, but they also taunted him as they did.

All he wanted was for them to stop hurting the poor Asari, but they wouldn't so instead he tried to stop them by force only to receive a beating. At first it wasn't bad because the woman had stopped screaming in pain, but then she began screaming in terror as they hurt him so they continued to do so knowing it was hurting them both.

Ty took a deep breath and thought_, I have to do this_. He reached for the door handle when a sudden tingle went across his thoughts, "I seriously hope you aren't planning on sneaking away to a memory so you can ignore me." Shepard piped in.

The former mercenary stopped his hand and felt for her presence. She had entered his mind through the same connection he did before but he hadn't initiated it. "I didn't know how long you were going to be so I figured I'd conquer my last memory." He responded.

There were footsteps on the boardwalk and then Shepard was at his side wearing her wifebeater and shorts. That was an outfit change for the shorts at least, "Last I saw you, you had jeans on." He stated in question

The N7 shrugged, "I went to my room to change. I was tired of wearing the jeans." She motioned to the door with her hand, "So what's behind this door?"

'_My eight year old self committing his first kill_' didn't seem like an appropriate response to her question. Unfortunately he suddenly stiffened a little as a few of the sensations of the day and sounds rolled through his mental blocks.

Fear and anger swarmed both of them which was followed by the sounds of kicks connecting against a body. There were cries and the final icing on the cake in the form of two gun shots.

Shepard's face changed from being normal to something between shock and fear, fear mostly because it had swarmed him and since she was in his mind she felt it. "What the hell is that?"

Ty shook his head and stepped away from the door, he couldn't put her through that memory. She had seen enough bad shit; she didn't need to see what happened that day. "It's nothing let's get back t-"

She grabbed his arms spoke with a tone that could have cut a Reaper in half, "Are you fucking serious! That is in no way nothing Ty." She was really pissed at that attempt to escape explaining what they heard and felt. Feeling suddenly smart Ty broke the mental connection to get her away from the door knowing her stubbornness would lead to something he didn't want.

As the connection broke the warrior found himself still on the floor sitting crossed legged but now he had Shepard sitting in front of him cross legged with her hands on his.

He looked down at them as she lost her breath and, with reluctance, he slowly slid his hands out from under them to stare at his palms. His eyes traced the lines of the hands of healing tattoo hoping it would help heal the wound slightly if he willed it hard enough to. After a moment of not feeling better Ty sighed knowing it didn't work. "We needed to talk I recall." He said as dropped his hands and looked back at Shepard.

In her eyes he saw a look of fire. She was not letting this go without a fight. The sapphire eyed woman grabbed his wrists aggressively, "Don't you dare try to change the subject. I want to know what the fuck I just felt and heard or I swear I'll wring it out of you."

The wringing it out of him was funny, the other half wasn't. Ty shook his head, "It's not important."

Shepard glared at him, "Was that Ka'Reena getting shot?"

She was going to try the guessing game and she never would guess so Ty shook his head, "No, long before that."

"Why don't you just tell me Ty?" She asked with an edge. The edge in her voice didn't sit well with him. He wanted to say it wasn't up for discussion, but the man knew she was probably worried about him. Shepard felt all his feelings which included the pain it caused even if he didn't mean for her to hear and feel any of it.

Ty didn't want her to know about it and now she wasn't going to stop asking until he finally told her. That didn't mean he wouldn't try. "You don't need to bear my burdens Shepard." He told her sternly.

"Don't give me that crap when you damn well know I'd bear all your burdens if I could." She responded with anger in her tone.

The former mercenary looked away. He couldn't in good conscious put Shepard through what he went through when he himself didn't want to go through it all over again. He wasn't ready to conquer the memory and he now knew it. "Please Shepard…you don't need to worry about anything. I'll be fine." Ty said without meeting her eyes.

Shepard still had a firm grasp on his wrists but it slowly loosened making him think she was going to leave it be. Blind optimism was getting the better of him yet again. Her hands didn't leave instead she just started tracing designs into the back of his hands and forearms.

The pads of her fingers moved slowly, tenderly, creating something that Ty couldn't figure out but it gave him goosebumps. The move succeeded in bringing his attention back to her. Her face had softened a little although the fire was still in her eyes as she was really paying attention to whatever she was tracing on his arm.

"I might be a bit rusty at relationships, but I do know from having a great squad that when we work together we accomplish more."

"Shepar-"

The sight of her shaking her head silently made Ty stop his attempt to stop her, "No Ty, you are not alright with whatever that was. I know you and I felt everything you felt and heard everything you did." She looked into his eyes with her sapphire eyes cutting through all his defenses with ease, "I want to help you and you aren't going to be able to convince me otherwise."

She let go of his hands and uncrossed her legs, standing up a little only to sit on Ty's lap with her legs going past him as she clasped her hands behind his neck. Her eyes continued to bat away every sensible and rational defense that he had. "So what was the memory?" Shepard asked leaving no real room for debate.

"It's nothing Shepard." Ty tried to convince her.

The woman gave a smirk that he had only seen when she was either being really sarcastic or talking to people she didn't like; his defenses stood no chance now. "How about this, let's make a promise right now that we never break." Shepard unclasped her hands and grabbed his. She intertwined them and put one set over his heart and the other over hers, "From this moment on we do not lie to each other or pretend that we are okay when we aren't."

If that wasn't one-sided Ty didn't know what was, of course that wasn't to say that it wouldn't play in his favor in the future. It was just now that it was going to suck if he went through with it. "That's a little one-sided at me."

"It's for both of us so say it. I already did and that counts for me."

"I know I'm going to regret this somewhere down the line. From this moment on we do not lie to each other or pretend that we are okay when we aren't." Ty repeated.

"Say I promise."

Now he was going to be bound to it, this really was going to suck. "I promise."

"And I promise as well. I want to help you Ty, so what is the memory?"

Ty sighed already regretting the promise since he didn't want her to see it. It was a painful memory and one he wasn't keen on sharing with her or anybody else. "My first kill." Ty muttered not feeling at all enthusiastic about what he was about to say.

Shepard nodded slightly, "What happened?"

There really was no way around it, "I was eight years old."

He broke eye contact from her to hide some of his emotions knowing he'd do better at holding them back if he wasn't looking into her eyes, granted he didn't need to hide them from Shepard of all people. She was someone he really cared about, not to mention someone who had seen probably about every emotion he had, but he didn't want her to see the pain the moment in his life had inflicted.

Shepard sucked in a sharp breath hearing his age; it was a real shock even to Ty when he really thought about it. At eight years old he wanted nothing to do with fighting and killing, but every person had their limit and he had been pushed passed his. He could say he wasn't in control and his demon was, but he was in full control and very aware of what he had done in the name of protecting a woman who he didn't even know. "Ty, I- I'm so sorry." Shepard said shock in her voice.

The warrior looked back at the Commander; there was a string of emotions in her eyes other than shock. Guilt was there for making him speak was amongst them but he could already see it being overridden by her want and need to help him. She didn't need to bear his burdens, he would get through it eventually if she didn't push it, but there was no way she was going to back out now.

Once Shepard committed herself to something, she wouldn't back out of it. Ty still gave her an out regardless. "One last chance Shepard. This moment in my life changed me from the child I was to the man I would train to become. I don't want you to see this because you have enough to deal with without me putting my own personal issues in your head."

It was a terrible thing to see a child hurting and crying, Ty couldn't stand the thought of it even though he knew it was going to be himself he was going to see. He hated the helplessness he had felt before finally snapping, but even then he hated the men that caused him to finally break even more than that.

Shepard leaned her forehead against his and stared deep into his eyes as she said in a caring tone, "I want to help you." Stubborn as always. He didn't like that he was about to share the memory with her, but he felt honored at the same time that she would risk seeing this for him.

"I know, but things like this shouldn't b-"

Ty was interrupted by Shepard's tongue entering his mouth as her lips pressed against his. She broke the kiss off soon after not giving Ty enough time to really savor the taste but she leaned her forehead against his again, "We work together Ty."

Without any more words Ty put his hands on her biceps even though their foreheads were touching and let her into his mind and memory.

Fifteen Years Ago, Citadel Wards

_Ty had been on the Citadel with his father who was going to meet Ty's Aunt Aethyta for a reason his father wouldn't tell. He had wandered off though and stumbled upon a group of men who were hurting an innocent woman and instead of continuing on like most would have, he tried to stand up for her. _

_ His brother would have wanted him to fight but he didn't want to fight as he told him, it was wrong and not something he wanted his life to amount to. On the other hand he wasn't going to just stand by and let the obvious gang related people hurt the woman. He may not have been old enough to really fight them, but he was old enough to know right from wrong and this was wrong. _

_ That is how he found himself on the ground getting pummeled by the three men like some type of punching and kicking bag. Ty had tears rolling down his face as the pain continued to worsen with each blow but he wouldn't cry out, he would not give them that satisfaction. Behind his curled form, the same Asari was immobilized with her own injuries crying at the men to stop hurting him and go back after her. The child couldn't hear much over his own pain but he knew they were just getting a load of it all. He heard laughs and taunts directed at them both but nothing except the pain registered._

_ A hard kick landed into his gut again but for a moment the beating stopped. Ty was grateful to have a break from being hit, but the bruises on his body hurt so much. "This is why you should mind your own business kid." The leader said._

_ Tears continued to roll down his cheeks as he lay motionless on the ground, "Leave the boy alone you merciless bastards!" The Asari screamed behind him. _

_**I don't want to fight. Just take the beating and they'll go eventually. No matter how much pain it causes you, fighting will making it worse. It's stupid and all it does is hurt and take life away.**_

_**"Not always kiddo, sometimes you have to fight to preserve life and help others. That's what we fight for, it's who we are. In our hearts there is a drive to help others and stop them from being hurt. You'll find it in yourself someday that you can't stand by and watch anymore. You have the power kiddo, I can see it raging inside you and someday you'll let it all out and find something worth fighting for."**__ The voice of Ty's grandfather played through his head._

_ Ty remembered that day but he couldn't find what his grandfather was talking about; he couldn't find the power he told him about or what power his brother was talking about. __**You say I have all this power, Z, that could help me defeat people like this…I want to help her, I want to defend her, bu- but I can't, I'm not strong enough. I'm just a kid**__, Ty clenched his fists and brought them to his chest as his thoughts continued__**, I don't want to do this alone…But I have no other choice.**_

_ "Stop it." Ty mumbled. His eyes burned with tears as anger set in his eyes. _

_ The leader of the human group looked down at him amused, "Or what?"_

_ "Check it out boss, the kid just doesn't take a hint." One of the lackeys said. _

_ There was something burning within Ty's body other than pain as he felt his body begin to shake from both the pain and anger and his eyes had tears streaming out of him, "I will kill you and your friends to protect her. This warning is your last, leave or I. Will. Kill. You." Ty barely recognized his own voice. It was full of so much hate that the child part of his mind wasn't sure it was him who spoke. _

_**"Kiddo listen. It is not a crime to fight for something just. You have a remarkable spirit, you are a gentle soul and you don't like to hurt, but there are some people in this universe that words alone will not stop. It is because you love that you must fight. Let go of your restraints and free your spirit, don't hold back against those people and show them…how merciless a pissed off Rhoddy can be."**__ Ty's grandfathers voice played through his thoughts again._

_ His veins started flashing brightly making the mercs stare at him in shock at his curled up form, "You will pay for what you did to her." Ty's statement was a promise. Energy started flowing through Ty's body like it did with his brother, his skin tingled like needles touching his skin, __**I won't watch this ANYMORE!**_

_ "Shut up kid." The leader went for another kick. The needles suddenly all jabbed through him like knives and an unknown energy surged through him. The kick was stopped by Ty's hands gripping the leader's boot, "I am going to kill you all." He growled._

_ With his strength growing the child stood up as quick as he could with the foot still in his hands bringing it up with him as the leader stared at him like he was the devil. His body had just transformed making his eyes fully purple, his veins bright blue and his muscles bulge out to the point they looked like they were going to pop. _

_ Ty kicked the leaders other knee in breaking it before he kicked him hard in the gut sending him falling back. The other two had enough sense to have one grab his arms from behind as the other stood in front of him to start pounding his face and chest again. Ty took the punches but showed no sign of going down before they finally tossed him to the side next to the Asari._

_**I will not let them hurt her,**__ he promised himself. His body may have felt stronger, but his injuries weren't blocked out in the slightest as he tried to get back on his shaky legs. "Stay down child. Please." The Asari pleaded._

_ He shook his head and wiped blood from his mouth, "No way…I am going to protect you from these people…even if it kills me." The child said with determination set in his tone. _

_ "Get that bastard child! He broke my fucking leg!" The leader cried._

_ The men ran at Ty but Ty's training instincts kicked in, he dodged their punches with ease and got behind them both allowing him to kick the first one he turned to in the back of the knee and then follow it with a kick to the head as he fell to his knees. The remaining man punched Ty in the face before he could continue knocking him to the floor again. __**Get up. You will not let them continue this. I will kill them all, **__he thought as he began to push himself up again._

_ A hard kick landed in his side stopping him from getting up. Immediately he began forcing himself onto his hands and knees again as the pleas of the Asari for him to stop were drowned out by his own determination to protect her. As the next kick came he saw it coming and stopped it by grabbing it once it connected in his side. He stood up again with foot in tow and gave the man a hard kick right to the quad. Ty's murderous eyes saw a gun on his side as he collapsed to his knees so he grabbed it off his side and shot the man in the back of the head._

_ As the body thumped to the floor his eyes cut through to the others who were staring at him in shock from the floor, "Didn't I tell you I would kill you all. I gave you all one warning." Ty stated as he walked towards the man he kicked in the head. The man attempted to grab for his gun but the child was quicker as he shot him in his gun hand and shoulder. _

_ Ty strolled up to him then stamped on his wounded hand sending out shrill screams. He then leaned down to the screaming man as the man began slamming his other hand into Ty's foot. "You beat not only a woman, but a child as well all because he wanted you to stop. You don't deserve to live for that. _

_ His tone was murderously cold. He straightened his posture and shot the man in the face,__** that's' two down and one to go- **__Ty let out a scream of pain as he dropped the gun and fell to the floor face first. He grabbed at his thigh trying to get the burning pain to stop only for it to worsen as blood seeped onto his hand. "Not so tough now are you punk." The leader called out. _

_ The child looked up and saw him struggling to his feet with a pistol in his hand. The pistol he had confiscated skidded off to the side and was a few good crawls away. _

_ Using his remaining strength he reached out towards the gun and pulled himself forward as he began his slow crawl towards it. A gun shot landed right in front of his hand stopping him. "Ah ah ah, little boys shouldn't play with guns." The man taunted. _

_ He aimed his pistol at him. The Asari let out a scream for him to move but he had no chance to do so. Instead the child closed his eyes as the rounds were fired. _

_ With no new sudden pain Ty opened his eyes only to see a blue orb surrounding his prone form and a certain Matriarch standing in front of him with her hand glowing blue. "What type of man are you picking on a harmless child huh?!" Aethyta called out. _

_ "That is no harmless child; he is a demon who just killed two men." The leader retorted back. _

_ "And I'm not done yet." Ty mumbled as he inched closer to the pistol. _

_ Aethyta looked down at him for a moment with a caring look, just by the look the child could see she was hurt seeing him in such a bad state. Not only his wounds but his attitude being completely one eighty of his usual self. "Leave him kid, let your father deal with him." Aethyta tried to sooth Ty but then continued, "You really fucked up now you real shit for brains. If it weren't for his father's direct orders not to rip your spinal column out with my biotic's, you would be dead right now."_

_ "Oh like I'm real scared of that demons father." The leader retorted._

_ With a force of will Ty inched himself forward again and his fingertips graced the grip of the pistol but not enough to get it to move to him. "You should be." An angry voice came from behind the leader. The child looked over at the last second to see his father stab a knife into the man's elbow making him drop the pistol as he let out an agonizing scream. _

_ Aethyta dropped her biotic barrier and turned to look at Ty who was still stretching for the pistol as tears were rolling down his face. A blue hand grabbed his hand gently making him look up to see her giving him a caring and scolding look, "Your fight is over kid. You did good."_

_ "I have to stop him. I promised her I would stop them."_

_ Aethyta gave him a smile as she activated her omni-tool and started applying medi-gel to his wound while the screams of a man were echoing on the other side, "And you did kid. You stopped them from hurting her and now it's time for you to rest. Let your old man work seeing you like this out of his system." she said with humor reaching her tone at her last sentence._

_ Ty looked back to the pistol still within an inch of crawling but he let his arm go slack and his body returned to normal. His body ached and he felt so tired, his father would finish the man and that was a good enough compromise as any. Aethyta lifted him up in her arms and walked over to the injured Asari. "Don't worry little one, Aunty Aethyta will take care of you." She soothed._

_ After making sure the other Asari was okay and getting a big hug from her, the screams of the man finally stopped and his father joined them. His father helped heal the woman as best as he could and told her that if anyone asked to blame him for the deaths. _

_ He wanted her to make up a story that didn't involve his son being in it protecting her to protect Ty from having an even worse record than he already had. His dad helped the woman to the closest clinic while Aethyta brought him back to the room she was staying at. _

_ Ty never found out how they found him but he never asked. His only focus was on becoming stronger so he could protect more people._


	68. Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Staying the Night

As the mental connection faded between the two of them Ty could feel sadness welling up in him. How anyone could be that sick and twisted to not only beat a defenseless woman, but also hit a child and the taunt to the point of crying as well while laughing about it baffled him.

He shook his head a little trying to get the feelings off of him without succeeding as Shepard caught her breath and stared at him with compassionate eyes. Neither said a word, what could be said anyway? I'm sorry you lost your temper and killed three men? I'm sorry you had to kill someone at eight years old?

There wasn't anything to talk about with it, it just was and Ty had learned to leave certain conversations unspoken. She had wanted to help him and maybe she had, being able to get through the memory was a start to mastering it, but overcoming it would still take time. Time and a lot of will power.

"Ty…" She started but trailed off. She wasn't sure what to say or do to help and he felt bad that in her effort to help him he had made her feel helpless to doing it.

Helplessness wasn't something he ever associated the N7 with and from his knowledge of her own personality, she hated it. She hated not being able to help her friends, hated that no matter what she did there were some things not even she could fix right away. "I don't know what to say." Shepard stated lowly.

Ty forced a smile not feeling particularly happy because of the memory but also because deep down he wished there was something she could do for him. He wished she could work her magic and make what happened only seem like a distant memory instead of one that felt fresh as the day he went through it.

Even though he wished these things deep down, he also did not wish them. He didn't want Shepard to feel obligated to fixing all the problems of the galaxy. He didn't want her to feel she had to fix all of his problems or that he was incapable of fixing himself, granted he hadn't been capable for a few years but now he was on his road of recovery.

He would handle the heavy lifting parts of fixing himself while he and Shepard could work on the parts she was able to help with. "That usually means you shouldn't say anything at all then." Ty said solemnly.

"I'm sorry." She said compassionately but also with sadness. Helplessness was like an acid to her; it ate away at her being and made her feel weaker than her will truly was.

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault."

"At least you saved her and your father and the Matriarch saved you." She attempted to find the silver lining in a very dark cloud.

He stiffened momentarily and by the changed look on her face she had seen and felt it, "Happy endings depend on where the story ends." He mumbled.

Shepard's look became sadder, he could feel her pity for what happened and for him radiating off of her. "…Dead?"

The purple eyed warrior shook his head; this conversation really put a damper on their day. "Paralyzed from the waist down…My dad tried to find someone to help her, offered to pay for anything that would allow her to walk again but…she wouldn't take it. She remained paralyzed on her own whim and became some type of politician or advocate for inter-species public relations. She wanted to improve relations between humans and all other species with her story of how a group of men attacked her and a young man saved her on his own accord." Ty explained but stopped short.

There was a brief look of relief on the Commander's face hearing that the woman hadn't died, but she also knew he had stopped himself from finishing the tale. She let out a sigh, "Someone didn't like it?"

"Turian's from the First Contact War…threatened her a few times according to her assistant before a crazed member shot her in public as she was on her way to a meeting. Sad thing is she was actually making head way. People took her seriously and not just because she had tits, but because of those fucking crazed Turian's a good woman died. A woman who had a vision for peace instead of war…My dad said they didn't die peacefully."

Silence filled between the two of them before the N7 leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder as she hugged him tightly. If it wasn't for the tight control over his emotions at the moment Ty was sure he would have shed tears with the amount of sadness gripping his chest.

If it weren't for Shepard being there he would have likely been drowning in his own sadness, but she was here making all the water evaporate while she pulled him out of his pit. Her hugs were much like the hugs he received from his brother, Tali, Haley, and Ka'Reena. The hugs made everything seem a little bit better while reminding you that no matter what they were there for you and if you wanted to cry it would be okay.

The warmth of the hug nearly made the warrior allow himself to shed tears, but he had made himself a promise to not shed tears for her until he achieved the peace the both of them wished for. It probably wasn't healthy, but he refused to break that promise.

Ty hugged Shepard back and the pair sat quietly except for the steady breaths from them both and the heartbeats he could faintly hear from himself and Shepard. "Can we lie down together?" Shepard asked.

There was nothing more that he wanted right now, he honestly didn't want to be alone now, but he also knew there was one kink in that plan. "What about the crew in the morning?"

They had been keeping their relationship as secret as possible from the crew and if they happened to see her leaving his room early in the morning that would spoil that plan completely. "Don't care." Shepard responded without hesitation.

That made him chuckle slightly only because he figured if she could she would allow the whole galaxy know they were together. She wanted them all to know that they were together and was saying to hell with the consequences all because she cared about him. That fact was humbling to know, to know she would put it all on the line to be with him…there were no words that described how truly honored that made him feel.

There had only been a handful of women he knew that were like that and three of them he had been with, the first two being Tara and Ka'Reena and the last being Haley. There were a few others he knew that were like that but they had passed through his life only as friends before going forward in their own lives.

All the other women he had been with were just looking for fun and he knew they would never have stayed around because of what his life was, but he held no grudge against them because truthfully he had just been there for the fun as well.

Young and dumb described his relationships before Tara and between his lapse before Ka'Reena and after until Haley. They all just wanted a good time or to add a proud notch on their bedpost because they sacked a most wanted criminal, that wasn't the same as Shepard.

She was different than them all with only paralleling similarities to Tara, Ka'Reena and Haley in not giving a damn about his status in the galaxy and, in her case, willing to deal with the consequences of her choice.

His past trio of lovers didn't have consequences to worry about except their lives being in danger since the Flotilla really didn't know or care about him before Ka'Reena died. Shepard on the other hand had the Council and Alliance to deal with.

The sapphire eyed woman released her hug on him to look into his eyes; she wasn't looking for anything other than what she was asking. She really just wanted to lay down with him and that was it, just time for the two of them to spend in each other's arms. "I'll think of something if I have to….I just want it to be us tonight, to be together without any problems. No wars on the horizon, no troubles of the outside world."

It was a plan worth following and one Ty was behind fully, that didn't mean he couldn't make a joke or two. "That sounded a lot like an order." He jested trying to lighten the mood.

Shepard smiled softly, "Get to it, Specialist. You don't want to disappoint your Commander, do you?"

Even though somewhere deep down the sarcastic asshole in him was brewing about the name Specialist, he actually was kind of warming up to the nickname. It made for fun banter and the way she said it didn't make it seem so bad. "No ma'am, in fact I think that is one of my biggest objectives. '_Don't disappoint Commander Shepard so she doesn't toss your ass in the brig or space you._' It is a very important mission."

She shook her head a little as she let go of him and scooted herself a little off of him so they both could stand up. Shepard was on her feet first and helped him the rest of the way up from where he was in his process of getting up.

They somewhat naturally intertwined their hands as they walked the short distance to his bed together. The former mercenary enjoyed the feel even if it was only slightly awkward due to her having five fingers instead of three. Being with Haley allowed him to readjust to the two extra fingers, but he still found it a little awkward at moments where his mind made him think there would be three.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of her chuckling a little. To his confused stare she pointed to the holo of Joker and him with Miranda over his shoulder, "How long has that holo of you, Joker and Miranda over your shoulder been there?"

"Sometime after you got laid out by the memory wipe thing. You ever see it before from Joker or your trips here?"

"I saw Jokers and laughed pretty hard, but never in here. I've seen Miranda have it on once in a while, I'm not sure if it's on to make sure she doesn't like you more than she does or if she actually likes it."

"I'm sure it's a bit of both depending on the day." Ty said as he pulled his hood off and pulled his ponytail out, placing the hair tie around his wrist.

He turned back to her and asked, "I assume you locked my door and checked for intruders?" Shepard nodded then grabbed the bottom of her shirt and started to pull it up only to stop short and smile devilishly, "I think using my biotic's to pull your gun away today strained my ability to lift my shirt up. Can you help me?"

There she was, the flirty devil he was waiting to show up. So why not tease back? "Sure though I think training might need to be postponed if you're not feeling your best."

Her look changed as she furrowed her brow,_ bingo_. She had not seen that one coming in the slightest which left her off guard and unable to retort. "Tha- Ty bu- that's not what I meant." She stammered trying to form a good retort.

Seeing the opening, he decided to push a little further, "I don't want you to over exert yourself because your injured, _Commander_. You need to be at a hundred percent and if you somehow got injured while training there would be severe consequences."

Shepard looked like she was going to throttle him but instead of that she grabbed him and used her strength to toss him onto the bed. It wasn't a hard toss but it had caught him off guard. She had also hooked one of her legs behind his to make him lose his balance easier, or at least that was part of his excuse if it ever got brought up.

Ty couldn't help but wonder in his daze how often she used her combat training to get people onto a bed. _Probably not that much._ He got his bearings about him and found the N7, now only wearing a bra and her shorts, straddling him, "Well I guess that stops that one."

She wore a proud smirk on her face, "Yup. Here let's get your shirt off so you can get more comfortable."

The purple eyed warrior started getting his tank top off as he spoke, "I have a beautiful woman straddling me and you think I'm not comfortable because I have a tank top on?"

He tossed it to the side then turned back to the woman straddling him who now wore a flirty smirk. It was a bit scary if he was honest, which he was. "That smirk scares the crap out of me sometimes because it makes me think you're going to shackle me to my own bed and gag me."

Shepard leaned in and brushed her lips against his cheek and then whispered into his ear, "I might just do that."

There was such a thing, in his eyes, as to much when it came to anything really kinky. Being tied up and gagged was one of those things he was never ever going to try willingly, and now he was hoping she was just joking. "Let's not, unless you'd like me to have Chakwas sedate you and restrain you to the med-bay so she can run thorough tests on you."

The woman was taken aback by the threat with a tinge of fear in her eyes, "You wouldn't dare." She challenged.

"I might just do it." Ty wisecracked.

Shepard attempted to hold back a smile only to falter and smile big at the banter they were having. She looked down to his right arm then began running her fingers up it tracing certain designs. Her touch was so soft and tender, just her finger tips were grazing his skin and it made his muscles relax while giving him goosebumps. "Are you going to get everyone in the crew tattooed on this arm?" She asked quizzically.

He looked at the tattoos, "I don't know if all will fit there, but yeah I'll get something for everyone on me."

She ran her finger tips back down to his right hand and picked it up tenderly as she examined the tattoo on the back of his hand and the empty space of the other badge, "You explained some of your tattoo's to me before, but you never explained this empty one. Why is empty?"

Ty shrugged, "I haven't figured out what to put in it yet, but I'll fill it out probably the next time I can to finish it all up."

With a nod she let go of his hand. After a brief second of silence she took a deep breath and released it, "Okay, you know how we talk about blowing off steam."

"Yeah?" He nodded with a raised eyebrow conveying his curiosity and confusion to the new question.

It was a strange way to start a conversation but he was ready to answer any questions or wishes she had. The purple eyed warrior had a very open door policy about sex unlike a lot of the people he met where they would get themselves all nervous and speak in circles around what they wanted to talk about. Unlike them he was very to the point.

Sex was like any other subject of conversation for him, there was no reason to get flustered over asking questions about it in his eyes but too many people couldn't bring themselves to talk about it normally because it was somehow to taboo.

Why it was too taboo he did not understand when talking about your likes and dislikes could help both parties in understanding one another better sexually. Then again he was different than most people in that aspect where he was looking to please instead of pop one off and be done in five minutes.

"I…I really don't know how to ask what I want. It seemed so much easier in my head." Shepard said getting flustered.

In an attempt to comfort her, he rested his hand on hers, "Ask how you did in your head, Shepard. I'm an open book when it comes to talking about anything, and that includes sex. Haley could vouch for that if she wanted to help me out."

Knowing Haley though she'd say she had no idea what he was talking about as a joke and keep doing it for a while until she finally decided to tell the truth. He watched her carefully as she seemed to juggle the thought around in her head figuring out how she was going to ask whatever her question was.

Ty was curious due to how she started the conversation, but he was letting her say it on her own without interrupting her thought pattern. "Okay, I wouldn't mind blowing off some steam with you." Shepard started then stopped.

There was a '_but_' coming and that only intrigued Ty further. What exactly was Shepard looking for? "Is '_but_' the next word?" She nodded quietly and hung her head a little. Ty put his hands on both sides of her neck, "But what Shepard?"

"You're going to think I'm stupid when I ask." She mumbled.

He moved his face under her bowed head and gave her a tender kiss on the lips, holding it for a few seconds. She began to relax immediately leaving him to move away, "I'd never think you were stupid. Now what was your question?"

Shepard continued to look down as she mumbled something under her breath that he couldn't make heads or tails out of. To his questioning silence she let out a sigh, "I wouldn't mind blowing off steam with you. I've wanted to do that but…I-…I just want the real thing to be special, not just casual sex. I know it probably sounds stupid."

_Not in the slightest._ He was beginning to wonder if he had forgotten to tell her that he was hoping the same thing.

For the life of him he couldn't remember telling her it which meant it was unlikely that he had, but he did remember thinking about it if that counted for anything. "I thought about it in the elevator after talking to Samara and I don't want you to feel that you need to do this because of me. I don't want just to have sex to have it. I want it to be right, not just blowing of steam…" She began to grow even more flustered until she finally shook her head, "I'm sorry, I should go."

Shepard started to move off of him apparently really embarrassed at herself. Before she was able to go anywhere, Ty put his hands on her arms gently and kept her in place though she wasn't making eye contact with him._ Why is she embarrassed about something so innocent? Probably a bad experience,_ he thought which irritated him.

He knew of several instances from friends of his when they attempted to talk to their partner about their sexual relationship only to be shot down and embarrassed by the person. That infuriated him so much. "Shepard, look at me."

Shepard didn't for a second but then she looked up slightly, a few strands of hair had fallen in front of her face yet her blue eyes pierced through the strands as she gazed at him, "Why are you embarrassed over this? You didn't even allow me to say anything before deciding you should go." Ty said in a calm tone.

She looked down momentarily which told him enough about a partner that she once had way before Kaiden, possibly all the way back to her teenage years before she was a marine. To say that he wanted to find said person and punch them really hard in the face was an understatement. "I don't know. I just feel weird talking about this."

"Someone made you feel like so stupid years ago, didn't they?" Ty asked though it was not even a question.

Either way she responded with a nod. _Stupid fucking morons_, Ty cursed. "So you haven't talked about sex so openly with your feelings since then have you?"

There was a slight nostalgic smirk that made its way to her face which was a good sign for the most part, "Only once but I'll spare you the details and say that I was much worse at it then. They made me feel safe though….You make me feel safe too." She whispered.

The purple eyed warrior smiled proudly, "Good. It's okay for you to want those things Shepard. To be honest I'm actually glad you helped me get this out of the way early because that's exactly what I was thinking."

A look of shock crossed her features at the revelation; he wished he would have at least hinted at it to her so she wouldn't have been in this situation. "Really?" The Commander asked, a little hopeful at the prospect.

"Really." He nodded. "I've never been a fan of boring everyday sex that everyone seems to think is wondrous. If you're going to have sex it needs to have something more than just going through the motions because frankly that is boring as hell. It doesn't matter what you add whether it is angry, kinky, rough, passionate, or a mixture of them all."

He chuckled at the sudden memory that crossed his mind, "What?"

"Aunt Aethyta told me once that if I wasn't having sex for more than an hour I shouldn't be having sex. Said if I didn't that she was going to make me watch sexual help videos performed by her and my dad to help…I wasn't sure how she would find out but the threat was enough to make sure I paid attention to her thorough explanations of how to have fantastic sex. I'll have to thank her for that eventually."

The N7 smiled, "I have to admit it is still weird to hear her called Aunt Aethyta by you."

"Don't let her hear you say that or you'll get the 'Why I'm his Aunty you ignoramus' lecture I've heard her give so many times."

It was a bit off topic but to get back on topic he grabbed her hands, "If you want to blow off steam, I know a few ways to help that so you don't have so much pent up sexual tension. I'll be fine without having to get off, I'd be perfectly happy just helping please you…but for anything else I want it to be special when it can just be the two of us for a few hours before we throw ourselves into hell for everyone we are fighting for."

"I want that too Ty."

It was great to be on the same page, it made things so much easier, "All right so what's the plan for the rest of the night then? Would you like to blow off some steam or just enjoy each other's company, or both?"

She contemplated the question for several minutes with Ty just sitting there patiently awaiting her answer. One way or another he was going to be happy just to be with her so it didn't matter to him what she picked. Ty watched her eyes trying to figure out what she wanted most, he enjoyed looking at her eyes because of how stunning they were but the only other part of her that was over ruling them was her lips.

He had so far only been able to have them twice since she got there and now he was craving them. She bit her lip a little obviously weighing the two options out intently but after a few more seconds she spoke up, "I don't know. Part of me wants to blow off steam but the other tells me just to wait a little while longer."

It was decided then. They would wait though one of the reasons the warrior was choosing that was so he could finally kiss her, "Let's wait then since you're undecided. Now come here, I want to kiss you."

Shepard smiled a little and leaned in but stopped right before connecting. She simply sat there and waited just staring into his eyes. In a battle of wills Ty and Shepard would always die before breaking, but in this battle of wills he would always outlast her no matter how much he desired to kiss her. He had trained himself to never lose this kind of battle and, as with many others, he succeeded when she finally caved, "Damn you, I can't wait any longer."

Her lips gently engaged his, capturing them and sating the desire to kiss they both had. Ty rested his hands on her hips as their kiss grew from gentle and passionate to fierce and exploding at the seams with passion. Shepard had her hands around the back of his neck as the kiss grew hungrier like they hadn't seen each other in ages.

They broke off the kiss in an attempt to suck in some air since during the heat of the moment both had forgotten to breath. "Maybe we should try not kissing like we're about to have some really hot sex." She quipped with a smile.

"Eh, where's the fun in that." He responded between breaths.

Shepard looked down at the bed then back at him, "How are we going to get under the covers and sleep if you're sitting on top of the covers?"

"Easy." He wrapped an arm all the way around her waist, "Hold on to me for a few seconds."

"I thought you'd never ask." She teased with a flirty tone as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and started kissing on his neck and cheek.

Though the former mercenary felt distracted by the sapphire eyed woman, he was still able to get off the bed and stand up with her on him like a monkey. He pulled the covers back and then sat her down on the bed. "Are you going to sleep on the floor?"

"No, but unless you want my boots in my bed, I would like to take them off." He pointed to his boots before starting to take them off. Shepard huffed a little but didn't retort as she got herself under the covers and leaned on her elbows. Her eyes fell upon the glass window above her giving her something to stare at while awaiting him to get back into the bed.

After he took his boots off, he got back into the bed and leaned back on his elbows next to Shepard and stared up at the stars. It was such a beautiful sight no matter how many times he looked at it. Shepard put her hand on top of his to which he turned his over and let their hands intertwine with each other.

It felt so normal and natural to him, like the pair had been together like this longer than they really had been.

"I have one question before we just enjoy the rest of the night together." The N7 spoke.

"Shoot."

"…Does it always hurt?"

Ty knew exactly what she was asking about; she unfortunately had to feel the mental needles and knives that seemed to pierce him every time he lost control while they watched the memory. "Only when I lose control." He spoke softly as if speaking louder would ruin the serenity. "When I turn it on and off now it doesn't hurt, but Illium and Scrum and any time before that… yeah it does…always."

Shepard turned onto her side and used her other hand to grab his chin and turn his head to her. They kissed slowly and tenderly both enjoying every second of it making it last as long as they could. After breaking it off they laid down fully with her resting her head against his chest and wrapping her legs around his while resting her left arm on his chest.

They laid quietly relishing each other's presence, trying to find that peace and quiet without the worry of the war coming or any other worry either had. The purple eyed man missed being in the comfort of another person while he laid around. It was nice just to have the warmth of another person that you cared about there with you whether in silence or talking.

It almost felt normal or gave him a sense of normalcy even though there was a war coming in the far future and a fight coming in the near future; it was nice just to be kind of normal for once. No wars, no problems, no bullshit. "I've got a question for you." He broke the silence.

"I guess that's fair."

"What's your favorite color?"

The Commander looked up to him with a smile, "You're serious?"

That was a fair question, when he recalled all their previous conversations they were always talking about something that caused either some type of emotion that was usually unhappy or they were serious talks. Tonight he just had a simple question, "No I just asked 'cause I didn't care." He replied sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at him, "Yes I'm serious. We hardly ever talk about anything besides my past, your past or the fight ahead of us. Sure we know each other personally really well, but I feel like I still don't know a lot about you, such as your favorite color."

Shepard still smiled at him but she began to think of her answer, "I honestly never thought about it that hard. Purple is the first color I think of though."

"My ego just grew a little bit bigger." He jested.

She rolled her eyes at his joke, "Although I really like your purple eyes, they aren't the reason I love purple."

"That hurts and deflates my ego a little, but do explain."

A kiss was pressed on the bottom of his chin before she started, "One time I was in Vancouver as a kid and there was this beautiful necklace made of amethyst gems and other little silver pieces, ever since then I loved the color."

"You ever go back as an adult and buy it?"

"It wasn't there anymore when I went back, though on a military salary I don't think I could afford it anyway."

_Hmm and my guess is Spectre's didn't pay her much better either_. "So what about you?" She queried.

"A dark blue but not too dark, a little bit of purple in it isn't bad either."

"Aw you flatter me." She quipped.

"As a kid we moved around a lot, never staying in one spot for too long or planet side very long, so the times we were planet side and I got to see the sky I was excited. There was this one planet that I can never recall the name of no matter how much I think about it that had this really groovy dark blue sky and ever since that color has been my favorite. The closest comparison I can make that you would understand would be your own eye color, but only a slight shade darker."

"You must think about that place every time you see me."

Although her eyes did remind him of it now, he hadn't spared that sky any thought since…Actually he hadn't thought about that place in so long he wasn't sure how long it had been. "I haven't thought about that planet in…shit it's been eight years now, sometime before my guys died I remember talking to Tara about it."

"You don't have to answer this one if it will lead us down to a sad story, but what were your friends like, I mean like their personalities? Darian reminds me a lot of Garrus exception of the calibrations and a more laid back attitude which I actually thought impossible."

Ty chuckled; Darian and Garrus certainly had some similarities in their laid back attitudes and dry sense of humor. "If Darian and I or even just Darian by himself was sitting on a bomb trying to disarm it or waiting for someone to come and help him, he'd be cracking jokes and laughing. He would go about as if it was normal routine and even if a painful death was imminent he'd go out without being scared. Even if there was a person who was going to be giving him his painful death he'd go out being the sarcastic laid back Turian I am so proud to call my friend and second in command."

"What about the others what were they like?

The former mercenary didn't really know where to start. Each of his friends had made some sort of impact on his young life at the time, each were great friends and had awesome great personalities, "Where to start. You also gotta remember two things, one I was between the ages of thirteen and fifteen when I met them and it was all individually except for Tara and Valera who were sisters. The second thing to remember is that I was the youngest of the bunch but I somehow ended up in charge."

How and why that happened he was still unsure of, he was a nobody at the time exception of being the son and grandson of legendary criminals. Darian was probably more suited for the leadership position yet he was the one put in charge. "It's your personality." She smirked at him.

Ty smiled a little, that was the same thing his friends had told him. "Probably. Well I guess I'll start with Kar. Imagine Grunts size and love for battle mixed with Wrex's headplate and dream for the Krogan people. Plus extra badass points."

Kar was a badass and there was no doubt about it, regenerated like a freak, held loyalty high and when you thought he was out of his mind, which he usually was, you were surprised by his intellect and dream to save his people. "Damn that sounds actually kind of scary."

A chuckle left him, "Imagine being thirteen, slightly smaller than I am now and no real run-ins with aliens."

Intimidated didn't cover how Ty had felt the first time they met. Darian luckily had his back and that had been a huge help. "He was the second recruit with Darian being the first. I should say now that after recruiting Darian me and him came to a decision to form a group of elite badasses that only did the toughest high paying jobs so that's how this all started, but it turned out more than that in the end."

Shepard nodded in understanding; it had started out as a plan to gain the whole squad notoriety and credits so they could all move on from being mercenaries quickly and onto bigger ideas, but that changed when the friendships began to form. "I don't imagine Kar fell in line right away with a Turian second in command and a tiny human as a leader." Shepard stated.

_"You think I'm just going to follow some fool Turian who probably doesn't know which end of the gun to hold and some little squishy human who likely doesn't know what it is to take on real fights."_ Kars voice echoed in Ty's head.

_But you ended up befriending us both big guy_, Ty thought, _guess your presumptions of us were farther off than you thought._ "You imagine correctly. He wanted proof that I was going to be leading him to good battles and that I could not only handle myself, but handle a crew as well. After taking down a huge stronghold for Aria that had lots of enemies and racking up the most kills, Kar decided he'd join in. Nearly crushed me with the giant blood covered hug he gave me."

The Commander breathed out a laugh at the last tidbit of information. It was funny now but then it felt like it took weeks to get the blood and smell off of him. The purple eyed man continued, "Next recruited was Gallick."

"What kind of name is that?"

Not a real one that much was certain from the way Gallick spoke. "Not sure. He was a Batarian but I think it was more of an alias. He escaped from becoming a slave or tried to fight the Hegemony from what I could pick out of certain things he said, but I don't think anybody knew his real name once he became a Blue Sun. Despite being a Batarian and having a deep resentment for being put under my charge by one of the higher-ups in the Suns since he had been in for a while, we eventually respected each other. Later we became friends. He was good with a Revenant, technology and armor creating."

Well actually he loved the Revenant much like Zaeed loved Jessie just without that much of an attachment to the gun. The man knew his way around hacking and tech attacks while armor creating was just a side hobby of his, but he didn't build armor for just anyone. He would only build armor for those he deemed worthy.

Ty was honored to have been one of the few.

"He actually built me some armor once, took a tank top like the one I wear now and padded it with armor and did the same with a pair of my shorts though they had less armor for flexibility. Saved my ass a few times, but I lost it when the ship went down."

"What was the name of your ship anyway and who flew it?"

"I was about to get to that but since you asked we called it The Setting Sun."

Real irony or not Ty thought the way it went down was its own twisted sense of irony. "It's a bit ironic now since it was blown during a sunset by the Suns, but at least we didn't call it The Broken Arrow, that's just asking for shit to happen. It was a frigate probably the size of the original Normandy but not the same design. It was a Turian design and our pilots pulled double duty with the ground crew. Our pilots were Carson, the other Turian in the squad, and the second was Valera, but we hadn't recruited her yet."

Two of the best damns helmsmen he had ever met and likely were as good as Joker together under stressful circumstances. "Before Carson we didn't have a name for the ship and I just hired pilots on for certain missions or asked Aria if she knew someone who'd be willing to stick for a few weeks of credits. I met Carson during a bar fight on Illium. Some asshole was bothering the old bartender there before Aethyta and when Carson stepped up to tell him to fuck off, the guy and his crew tried attacking him. Me and Darian decided to join in and help Carson out."

He chuckled a little and Shepard smirked. For all his hate of bars, he found himself there often and almost every time he went he got into a fight. "I'm never taking you to a bar. You just seem to pick fights there."

"It wasn't like I went looking for a fight. Anyway we kicked ass completely and even got to throw their asses out. Carson wanted to repay the debt to us since we saved him from a nasty beating and I asked him what he thought of joining our squad. Promised him credits and that he only answered to me since the Suns didn't really have any control of my guys."

_If we weren't so damn good they probably would have betrayed us earlier._

"He joined on, said he had lost his ship in a bet anyway and could fly just about anything and had been a part of the Turian military like most, if not all Turian's. We were lacking a pilot anyway so it really worked out in the end for us all."

Coincidence most people would call it, but as a nonbeliever in coincidence Ty saw it as a chance to get off of Illium faster before the Eclipse mercs found him and Darian hiding in a bar.

"He was solid in combat and while flying, kind of a tech guy mixed with training in just about every class of weaponry. When he wasn't in combat he was really nervous, always stumbling over himself, always speaking his mind but not sure if he should. He never had an ounce of confidence in himself but he had so much confidence in the crew."

The sapphire eyed Commander traced her fingers across his chest making designs that Ty couldn't figure out, "What about the two humans I heard about at the Dark Star, Brad and Whitney was it?"

"Yeah that was them. They were my next recruits after Carson. Brad was a human that loved to party with every fiber in his being and I learned a lot about that from him, but he also loved customizing guns. He actually gave me the parts and paint to do my sniper and taught me how to do it. He was a good sniper too but was a quick shot with a pistol. A hot head above all else though."

Brad just loved to fight with people. Loved picking fights, loved getting people to fight each other, loved fighting in general and that always caused problems. Especially with Whitney.

"What you heard back at the Dark Star was an understatement though. His biggest problem was with Whitney. Whitney had so much fire in her; nothing could tame her except my calming skills when she really went off. She laid out guys left and right. She could brawl with me for hours and even when she knew she couldn't win she'd continue to push herself until I'd actually have to knock her out because she wouldn't listen to me telling her to stop."

She was born with a warrior spirit, and that spirit never rested. "On and off the battlefield her spirit raged, but she really cared about the universe what needed to be done to help it. Brad on the other hand was in it for credits and fighting."

Ty chuckled again thinking about the constant fights between the two then continued "Whitney and Brad would talk for approximately fifteen seconds before that dumbass would make a stupid comment that would send her into a rage. It got so bad that the crew would start taking bets on who would come out on top before Darian would tell me what was going on."

_And that was when he wasn't in on the betting._

"It would always end in fights that became bloody before I got to them and then they wouldn't talk for a day until they would say sorry. They would have it out again, it was a guarantee." The crew often questioned if it was just sexual tension between them but never spoke it to either to avoid facing the reprisal.

He and Darian still debated the point now and then wondering if in the end they really had any other feelings for each other besides the anger they constantly showed. "It got worse each time, but we all enjoyed it until it got bloody then only Kar enjoyed it and would chastise me for stopping it."

_It was just getting good he said, let them fight it out he said and then I got punched in the face_, Ty thought, _guess he was right that time_.

"Did you have feelings for Whitney?" Shepard queried.

The question caught him off guard completely, "Wha- no! No way, she was like a sister to me."

"So Tara was the only one you had feelings for?"

Ty nodded, "Yeah but I'll get to that in a second. The next guy I recruited was Grissom, the Drell of our crew. He knew his way around fist fights and shotguns but he also had medical training. He liked being in a crew of different races and was super nice, but one thing we had in common, exception of memory flashes, was how quick someone could piss us off."

Brad and Whitney may have been quick to anger, but neither held a candle on the cold calculated look Grissom had once he snapped. They feared pissing their Drell teammate off despite him assuring them he would never hurt them. Ty feared pissing Grissom off much like he feared getting on Thane's bad side.

Same circumstance different people.

He snapped his fingers, "It was a like a switch for him. He could be really nice one second, but one wrong word and bam! You were on the ground unconscious because he just kicked your face in without jumping. Super nice guy though, cared deeply about the crew and was quick to call us all friends. We had good talks and he took care of the armory with Brad and Gallick."

The pair of them had many talks about their spiritual beliefs; Grissom imparted a lot of wisdom on the young thirteen year old. "Our last recruits were Tara and Valera; they were sisters but were only a few years apart in age with Tara being the youngest at one hundred and Valera being the eldest at one hundred and three. Both purebloods and orphans but they were incredibly nice…when they weren't tossing me and Darian around for giving them shit about being strippers."

Shepard snickered at his expense obviously thinking the same thing Darian, Ty, Tara, and Valera had thought: they totally deserved it. "Valera became the co-pilot off mission while Tara became the engineer. I swear you think Quarian's know engines, Tara could have taken our drive core apart and put it back together for shits and giggles if she wanted to and somehow it would be improved."

_Tali and Tara would have gotten along great with one another had they had the chance to meet._

"We had a few helping hands on the ship to keep it flying really well, but I was only really close with my ground squad. I suppose that's a fault of mine, looking back though it was probably for the best seeing how it all ended."

_Their lives are already on my conscious, but at least my heart wasn't torn apart even further by their loss. _It was cold of him to think that way, but the pain he had following him by losing his crew was enough without more names to mourn over.

He shook his head to get away from the thoughts, "I did my daily rounds and talked to the crew like you do. After we recruited Tara and Valera, me and Tara started talking a lot." Being friendly turned to playful flirting, playful flirting turned to serious flirting and then serious flirting led to their relationship.

"We had a on and off again relationship going on. If you ask Darian he'll tell you we were head over heels for each other and could never decide if we wanted to stay together so we'd just stop and start back up again…not far from the truth I suppose though neither of us ever said anything until the end…" Ty trailed off.

Shepard looked down a little, "I'm sorry, Ty." Her compassion was appreciated, but it was not her fault and not something she needed to apologize for.

"Stop saying that." Ty shook his head, "It wasn't your fault and I've healed from that already. I miss those bastards sure, but I got this crew now to watch after and if I spend too much time dwelling about my friends I'll miss out on the ones that are alive now."

"Yeah I guess that's all we can do." The N7 said in a sad tone.

"You okay Shepard? I hope I didn't just bum you out."

"I'm okay. Hearing you talk about two heartbreaks kind of got to me."

"Something you wanna talk about now or no?"

"I-…I'm not sure. I don't want to ruin our night together talking about something in the past." Shepard said tensing up a little.

Ty had been trying to put it together ever since she started trying to tell him something and he had so far been unsuccessful with it, until now where all the pieces laid together at once. The slideshow in her room, why a woman named Elizabeth Armstrong had bothered her badly, her mentioning being okay with same-sex relationships, two heartbreaks is what brought all the evidence together for Ty.

Was this something he should ask about or try to help with? Would he want someone probing him for information? The answer was no so he did the smart thing and kept quiet, he would let her talk about it when she wanted. "Just tell me when you're ready Shepard. I'll listen and be a shoulder to punch or cry on."

"Thank you." She thanked as her body relaxed a bit.

The purple eyed man relaxed himself more letting his drowsiness take some hold on him so he would get his few hours of sleep that he usually got while Shepard still seemed a little jittery, "You need to relax a little bit Shepard and get some sleep." He told her quietly.

"I am relaxed." She retorted.

"That's why I can feel your muscles tense and see your brain working in the form of your hand drawing out battle scenarios?" He questioned after finally figuring out the designs.

"You figured that out?" She sounded surprised by it.

"It took me a while, but when you drew a line mimicking a line of people to push back and then a circle, which I assume was you, with an arrow going straight through the middle of them I started piecing together the others."

"I'm just a little jittery."

"No, you're a lot jittery. Relax a little, don't worry about work or anything fighting related just let it all go."

"It's not that simple."

"And I've never killed a mercenary in my life. Okay now that we got that lie out of the closet, close your eyes and inhale a deep breath."

"_Ty_." Shepard chastised.

"Do you trust me?" He asked.

Shepard looked up at him with steely eyes, "Of course I do."

He leaned in towards her and whispered, "Close your eyes then." Shepard closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, "Let it out through your mouth." She released the breath, "Again." She inhaled again and exhaled, "One last time."

The Commander inhaled her breath yet as she exhaled it Ty kissed her on the lips, her warm breath entered his mouth for a second but it stopped shortly after and her tongue soon made its way in. As they kissed he could feel her body relaxing against his as she got lost in the kiss with her eyes still closed. They kissed for several more seconds until he broke it off to see if she was going to relax now.

She smiled with her eyes closed, "I don't remember that being a part of the deep breaths training."

"It's my version."

She opened her eyes, "I enjoy it much better."

"Good, are you relaxed a bit more now?"

"Are you going to continue kissing me until I say yes?" Shepard asked in return.

"Maybe. I may resort to other ideas to release tension if you don't relax."

"Mmm, then maybe I am still a little tense."

"Your funeral." Ty said then tickled her side.

Shepard jumped and yelped a little, as she tried to relax again Ty got her again getting a repeat of what she did but this time she started laughing a little. Unmercifully he tickled her side nonstop for a good twenty seconds making her squirm, laugh and try to get him to stop.

Eventually he stopped letting her regain her breath, "Better?" He queried with a laugh.

"Holy crap, that's not what I expected." She said while catching her breath.

"I get that a lot." He continued to laugh.

The N7 shook her head in response and laid back down resting her head on Ty's chest again. She seemed less tense than she was before so he took it as an opportunity for them to catch some shut eye. He started to relax himself while running the tips of his fingers across Shepard's bare skin either on her side with his left hand or her arm with his right hand.

They laid in each other's embrace for several minutes in silence until Shepard's quiet voice reached his ears, "Ty?"

Ty kept his eyes closed and responded, "Shepard."

"I-…Good night." She said softly.

"Sleep well Shepard." Ty responded.

They fell asleep shortly afterwards in each other's warm embrace.


	69. Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Nightmares

_Shepard stood alone on a barren Earth surrounded by a mass of husks. With intent to kill they rushed her while she attempted to beat them back with her biotic's and shotgun trying to hold out for reinforcements to get to her, but no matter how many she killed more would come. It was as if the entire Reaper army was right in front of her trying to solely kill her and her alone before harvesting the rest of the galaxy. _

_ The loud roar of her shotgun resounded around the area as she shot one of the closest husks; she followed it by launching a pull field into the group on her right ripping them apart. They were not going to take her down so easily, with a grunt of effort she launched a huge a shockwave into another set getting close to her. "Shepard, we're fifteen seconds out hold on." Ashley came over the comm._

_ That was a relief, but the N7 couldn't help but feel as if something was wrong, like fate was about to have a good laugh at her expense. "You make it in fifteen seconds and I'll buy you drinks back on the Citadel." She said letting a smirk creep onto her face. _

_ She bulldozed another set of husks with a shockwave, "That sounds sort of like a date Skipper. Are you trying to pick me up because you know Liz wouldn't like that." The Gunnery Chief shot back in a joking tone._

_ "I'll bring her with us and the rest of the Normandy squad, maybe you and Kaiden will finally stop ogling at one another."_

_ "Shut up, ma'am." _

_ Shepard could hear the shuttle in the distance and even though something felt seriously off about this whole setting, she kept fighting whatever instinct was telling her to stop Ashley from coming. She pumped a few more rounds into three separate husks before her heat sink began to vent informing her she was out of thermal clips._

_ This wasn't exactly the ideal time to look around for ammo and she doubted the husks had any spare thermal clips on them so Shepard tossed her shotgun to the side and pulled out her pistol. She aimed a few precision head shots before sending out another pull field ripping apart the husks once again. If this was going to be the end she was going to take out as many husks as she could. _

_ The shuttle was flying overhead now and gunfire was erupting around her from it mowing down all the husks, a turret was definitely the source and knowing how good of aim it was it had to be Ashley manning it. The shuttle set down behind her with gunfire going around her as she backed up towards the shuttle still firing off shots trying to take down the husks._

_ She got closer to the shuttle believing she was actually going to make it when the unnerving sound of a Reaper came from above. Here came fates evil cackling. The Commander saw a red light glow behind all the smoke and clouds in the air and as she did she turned around and yelled at the shuttle, "Get out of there!" _

_ Before Ashley responded a red beam cut through the smoke and clouds, impacting on the shuttle and resulting in it blowing up like it was nothing all the while sending Shepard flying. She tumbled across the ground until she slid to a stop far away from where the shuttle had landed. Her body felt broken, parts of her armor were scorched to her skin while other pieces like her gloves, gauntlets, her shoulder and leg pieces were falling off it revealing her scorched skin._

_ It took all her strength and will power to push herself up off the ground, but when she looked around seeing the fiery wreckage of the shuttle in one direction and the Reaper in the other along with more husks her strength ceased. This was always how it was going to end wasn't it? Saren hadn't been right in his ideals but saying that it was all futile to fight the Reapers and expect to win had been. _

_ Earth was a barren wasteland crawling with husks and she had finally lost all hope after failing to save her friend. Just giving up seemed like the best option now, what was the point anyways? There was no way she could fight off the husks now, not in this state. _

_ As she watched the husks approach she was ready to meet her fate, or at least she thought she was until she heard something that was really familiar to her but also seemed so out of place in this moment. The Normandy came in hot but then pulled up at the last second releasing something behind it. Curiosity peaked for Shepard but she didn't have enough time to see it as she was set upon by husks and tackled down by one._

_ The sound of gunshots filled the air as the husk on top of her got a bullet lodged in its skull. The N7 pushed it off of her then saw a person using tomahawks as he took down husk after husk with ease, "Ty?" Shepard asked. _

_ This wasn't right; something was seriously off about this all. If Ty was here…how the hell was Ashley still alive…and Liz? "I know you were about to meet your maker, but you don't need to act so surprised. I told you I'd be at your side for this battle." He spoke as he continued to strike down husks. _

_ The Reaper in the distance took notice of him fighting and started charging up its beam, she had to do something. She had to stop it from taking Ty's life as well. "Ty get out of there now!" She yelled at him. _

_ Ty kicked a husk in the gut knocking it away before lodging both his tomahawks in one that tried to charge him from the side. "No way. Not until you do. I'm not leaving you to this fate when we can win this."_

_ He was so blinded by his faith in her he couldn't see what was happening, they were losing. They couldn't fight something of this size, not alone. "Ty we- I can't win this one." Shepard said solemnly. Her faith had dwindled not only in herself but in her ability to bring a war crashing down on the Reapers. _

_ The hooded man looked over at her as he lodged his tomahawks into another husk and spoke with confidence, "Yes you can. All you have to do is believe that you can and you will." _

_ "Bu-"_

_ "Never lose hope Shepard. No matter what happens to Earth, the squad, me or anyone else, never lose hope. You can win this, I know you can."_

The red beam engulfed Ty's area and with that Shepard snapped awake from her dream and sat up quickly with no control of her breathing. She was damp with sweat and her body felt so cold, as if flying into a sun couldn't even heat her up. That was a new part to her nightmare, she always was overtaken by husks and almost killed when she'd wake up, but this time was different with the ending.

Never had Ty shown up in her dream and fought off husks to help her. It wasn't that she doubted he wouldn't, it just never happened in her nightmare. "You alright Shepard?" A voice asked from behind her that made her jump.

She took in her surroundings and noticed she was in Ty's room now. _Safe, I'm safe._ She had snuck in during the night before while everyone else was asleep, she had thought he was asleep but when she got closer to the bed where his sleeping form was he spoke up, _"You just gonna sneak around or come and rest."_

They were in orbit of Bekenstein now and only had a slight detour on the way in the form of a Blue Sun mining facility that she took Ty and Garrus to go take out. It had been three days though since she had originally came and slept with him. She had gotten a nightmareless sleep that night and there were no incidents with the crew after that. Even Kasumi seemed unaware of it and she usually made jokes to her about those things when she knew.

The usually hooded man was leaning back on his elbows staring at her with a genuine confused look, as she looked over to him fully some of her sweat covered hair fell in front of her face, "You didn't come into my mind while I was sleeping did you?" She questioned sternly.

That got an even more confused look from the man. Shepard knew he wouldn't invade her mind without her permission. He had told her that before but she had to know if the nightmare changed because he changed it. "No why? You look like you've seen hell Shepard. Are you okay?"

With a critical eye he examined her for a few seconds. At the same time the sapphire eyed woman pulled her legs up to her chest and held onto them tightly as she contemplated what to say. She had only her black bra on and black gym shorts since they usually were comfortable to sleep in, but now she felt exposed and vulnerable to outside forces. "It was just a nightmare." Shepard whispered to herself.

Ty caught it and looked at her only a second longer, putting pieces to a puzzle he couldn't see fully together, "It was more than that, wasn't it." Ty stated not even questioning the possibility.

She remained quiet and still as her mind ran through all possible scenarios to this conversation, lying would provoke him to question her further and tell her that she can't lie anymore. Telling the truth meant he'd probably worry about her. Both scenarios meant telling the truth in the end and he'd likely worry even if he didn't prod her for an answer.

This was a no win situation.

"When you were leading your squad, did you ever know of a mission that was coming that gave you nightmares before it?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"I never went up against something as scary as the Reapers, so no. The Thresher was scary, but before taking it on I was just worried about my guys." He answered honestly.

Shepard smiled wearily, that was a quality they both shared. Both put their crew at the top of their worry list and did their best to try and take care of them. The weak smile faded away as she thought of Ashley on the shuttle, "Have you ever seen one?"

He nodded, "I was on the Citadel fighting when Sovereign, Saren and the Geth attacked. Me, Darian, and my brother were rescuing civilians and fighting off the Geth in the Presidium Commons while getting orders from my dad and Bailey who were fighting in Tayseri Ward. My dad followed everything that you were doing with Saren closely, and when he showed us vids of Sovereign on Eden Prime we believed and took action."

_If only all the others would have believed so damn easily_. The whole Council and probably most of the Alliance Brass still denied the Reapers existence and that likely wouldn't change until the Reapers showed up. "We went to the Citadel after you guys stole the Normandy and we gave word to Bailey what was going down but before we could get any civilians moving the Geth showed up. We started fighting as many Geth as we could while rescuing as many civilians as we could."

Shepard was a bit shocked at that revelation. It wasn't that Ty had fought on the Citadel; it was that it seemed no one did anything to arrest them. Most C-Sec officers would have liked a shot at bringing them down, yet somehow they managed to not only fight the Geth and save civilians but also not get arrested. "How did C-Sec not notice you or any of the civilians who you rescued? Someone had to notice three notorious criminals going around shooting Geth?" Shepard asked.

Ty chuckled slightly and rubbed the back of his head, "We were noticed, but Geth blowing up the Citadel has a way of…persuading people to let go of petty grudges and fight side by side with an enemy. Before you ask, we disappeared as quickly as we appeared after you killed Saren and Sovereign was defeated…and I've been rambling a bit when you clearly have something on your mind."

It wasn't her intention of deflecting the topic at hand, but now it seemed nearly ingenious as a way to not talk about it. That moment was spoiled now by Ty realizing he was off topic, but it was still ingenious before they realized it, "I'm just shocked you believed the Reapers just by seeing…the." A sudden realization hit her, "…that video was top secret. How did you-"

Shepard cut herself off because of the grin on the former mercenary's face. Of course they managed to get their hands on it. "You sneaky bastards." Shepard said with a smile.

"It takes a thief to know a thief, Shepard." He was clearly suggesting something.

"What are you implying?" Shepard asked.

"I'm just saying that all those storage lockers and crates didn't go empty because the weapons, upgrades and armors grew legs and walked out." He teased.

"How did you-" They really were sneaky bastards. Shepard cut herself off again at Ty's huge grin, "I admit, I'm impressed."

Ty nodded in gratitude, "Thank you, but what was this Reaper talk all about? What was your nightmare of?"

Well it was time and Shepard knew it, there was no more avoiding it. "For the past few weeks, I've had this nightmare every few nights where Earth has been ravaged by the Reapers and it's a barren wasteland full of husks. I'm there alone fighting them off when a shuttle comes in…Ash is in the shuttle and we always joke about me and her going for drinks and then some other banter." Shepard stopped deciding that she didn't have it in her to tell him about Liz yet as she tried to get the courage to finish her dream.

The visions of the dreams popped in your head but she shook them off as she shook her head. Sadness was starting to overwhelm her, "The shuttle lands after mowing down the husks and I start moving towards it…I always almost make it but then I hear the Reaper as it descends and I see a red circle behind the clouds like it's about to fire its beam. I yell to Ash to get out of the shuttle but then the beam comes and blows it up and sends me flying…I tumble until I stop and my body aches so much, my skin is scorched and my armor is falling off in a few places while some of it is melted to my skin."

Her skin felt hot but remained icy cold at the touch as all the feelings of the nightmare cascaded onto her, "All I feel is pain as I force myself up and when I get to my feet and look at the carnage around me I just…give up." Ty's look grew serious but he remained quiet, "The husks usually come and attack me and I wake up, but this time the Normandy came flying in and drops something off. I get tackled but then I hear bullets as the husk on top of me dies. I get him off and I see a hooded figure that is blurry, but then I see your tomahawks and you fighting the husks off."

She gulped down her nerves to prevent a breakdown, "…you and I say a few words to each other and I see the beam charging up again and I tell you to leave, but you won't because you won't leave me to the fate I tried to accept…I tell you I can't win this and as you continue fighting you're looking at me telling me that you believe in me and you keep fighting telling me to believe I can until you…"

Shepard lost all her breath as she stopped herself, seeing the sight of Ty getting vaporized by the beam made her heart feel like it stopped and shattered. Her body trembled and she felt exposed and vulnerable to everything now, "Until I die?" He queried.

A lump had built in her throat, to say the next words took an extreme effort on her part, "Until you get incinerated by the Reaper beam."

There was an eerie silence that followed making Shepard want to curl up further into a ball to try and shield herself from the terrible feeling she had. "…Wow." Ty said in a shocked tone.

Silence followed again making the N7 squeeze her legs tightly with her arms trying to comfort herself; it wasn't working in the slightest. "That was the first time you were in it, but everything else always repeats." She looked over to the man and her voice became extremely shaky, "I'm afraid, Ty. I don't know if I can pull this off anymore."

"Come here." Ty sat up all the way and beckoned her to embrace him.

Shepard threw her arms around him and held him tightly as he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. She wanted to cry, she wanted to just let go of all her remaining composure and cry like there was no tomorrow. Ty wouldn't judge her for that, she knew he wouldn't care. It would probably stoke a fire in him to physically rip a Reaper in half with his bare hands, but she didn't allow herself to crumble completely.

Being in his arms made her feel a bit stronger than she really felt inside right now. "We can do this Shepard, but you don't have to take this whole Reaper thing on your own. You're not alone in this fight." He comforted.

Her grip tightened around him, he had such faith in her ability to bring people together and fight while also knowing when she needed comforting and reminding of her own strength. "The Council won't even act or they won't until the Reapers are destroying every planet. How are we supposed to prepare then?" She questioned not out of anger but sadness.

"Then you go in there, you kick their asses and get them to listen. If the Council doesn't listen you go straight to their militaries and speak to them. We are not all going to die because the stupid Council has its head up their asses."

Ty stopped rubbing her back and put his hands on her arms dislodging her from himself so they could look each other in the eyes. He poured out as much comfort as he could from his eyes and into hers trying to make her feel better.

"You can do this Shepard, I know you can. Everyone one on this ship believes in you. The Reapers will not end our cycle and they will not kill you or me or any of our friends. You wanna know why?" Shepard nodded in response, "Because you are the best damn leader in this galaxy and there is nothing that can stop you when you put your mind to it." He smiled teasingly, "And as an added bonus you have me here watching your back making sure nothing happens to such a beautiful woman such as yourself." He brought his hand up and guided strands of her hair behind her ear.

Shepard blushed a deep red and her biotic's glowed around her but she didn't care to make them go away knowing that Ty enjoyed it. He knew how to comfort her and make things seem so easy which was just another reason she cared for him. "Thank you Ty."

She had so much more to say, but she didn't want to ruin the moment. Instead of using words she kissed him on the lips passionately savoring it while also trying to express her feelings through the lip lock.

She had a silver tongue when she needed it, but trying to express her feelings in words had always been hugely difficult for her. As the purple eyed man had put together himself, she had had a bad experience as a teenager. Now every time she wanted to express feelings she reminded herself of that moment and lost all confidence in what she was about to say. It was stupid since she knew that he wouldn't react the way she feared, but some things stuck with you no matter how old the wound was.

Her biotic's died down as they parted, Ty opened his mouth to talk but Joker's voice echoed in his room, "Not to interrupt or anything, but we're in orbit of Bekenstein and you do have to attend a party Commander at a specific time, just throwing that out there."

_Right on cue._ "I know I know, geez you're like my mother." Shepard fired back.

"You've spent enough time together. It's time to get back to work. We've got colonies to save and Collectors to kill, so get moving." Joker said then shut the comm off.

Ty and Shepard chuckled a little because of the pilot. Despite the fact he had a good point about her needing to go, the sapphire eyed woman didn't want to. She could get lost just being with the usually hooded man like there wasn't a war going on, "He's probably right about us needing to get to work. We've been together for days now. Not that I don't enjoy it, but we still got work to do."

"Yeah I know." The N7 admitted reluctantly. "We're heading to Omega next to get the mercenary and do something for Samara. Are you going to finish those upgrades then or tag along with me?"

There was a thoughtful look on his face but he seemed to resign from whatever the thought was. It seemed there was something going on that he wasn't going to tell her about just yet. "I don't know. I'll have to talk to Tali about it and then also see if Aria has any work for me, she may have something for me to do. My loyalty is to you, but me and Aria have a lot of history and I won't turn my back on her after all she's done for me."

Shepard nodded understandingly, she understood that he was loyal to her as well as Aria and he wasn't one to turn his back on anyone. "I understand. Find that stuff out, in the mean time I need to get my wifebeater on and go get ready for a party."

He gave an apologetic smile, "I'm really sorry ahead of time."

"I probably shouldn't ask otherwise I might not do it." Shepard said and moved to get out of the bed.

* * *

Ty got off of his bed and stretched out his back as Shepard's form appeared next to him stretching herself out as well. He stopped stretching to look at her as she reached her arms into the air and arched her back.

It wasn't as weird as it first was seeing her wearing only a bra as a top, now it allowed him to see her without the armor shell around her and examine her body better. She had a great form with her muscles and curves adding to the shape that made her body great.

His eyes moved to her face, unfortunately her eyes were closed but she had a slight smile on which made up for it. Her facial features still astonished him even after all this time, her facial structure enhanced her beauty and her sapphire eyes brightened everything she looked at.

Her hair was free and parted down the middle at the moment going off on both sides and draping over her shoulders, Ty had met many beautiful women, but the Commander really took the cake the more he stared at her. He snapped himself out of his gaze and grabbed his tank top and her wifebeater from the floor; they had work to do still.

As he stood back up Shepard was looking at him with at first a smile but then it changed to a slight frown. Her hands came to his chest and began moving across his scars on his chest. It felt like a lifetime ago now that he gained them but it was still worth it all in the end.

Her mind was working though and he could see exactly where it was heading. She was worrying way too much about his scars right now. He grabbed her hand with his free hand to try to urge her to stop worrying, but she spoke first, "I upgraded the Med-Bay so if I ever needed to heal my scars I could. I'm sure you could use it if you ever wanted to get rid of those."

Once again Ty looked at her face to examine her scars and actually take notice of how they looked. The orange glow on her face was gone now but the scars were still slightly visible. "You still have your scars though." He pointed out.

"Chakwas said if I keep a positive mental attitude they will go away and so far they have. I was just thinking that if you ever wanted to get rid of them that you should have the choice instead of thinking you were stuck with them."

"Thank you, but I want them Shepard, just like I want you."

Shepard blushed slightly and gave him a kiss on the lips that they held for a few seconds. After they broke it off the purple eyed man handed her the wifebeater, "Get dressed, you got a party to get to."

"I always hated formal parties." She frowned as she started putting her wifebeater on.

"You just never been to a good party or had a great date to go with." He jested.

Ty put his tank top hoodie on and put the hood up, there was no need any more since everyone knew his face but old habits die hard and this one probably wasn't ever going away. His hair came out of the hood around his neck since he hadn't tied it back but that was okay, it didn't bother him too badly.

Shepard got her head through her tank top and pulled her wifebeater down and readjusted the shoulder parts since they were kind of crooked then looked at him, "Is the hood necessary?"

"Nope, but I've been doing it for years so it's just natural habit. Come on, I'm going to see what trouble I can get into." He motioned her to follow him as he started walking to the door.

He walked around the bed and got to the doors when Shepard's arm grabbed his suddenly and spun him around. Ty raised an eyebrow in surprise, "What's up?"

"Before we go out there back to acting like we're just friends, I need to know something."

He gave her a nod to continue, "Ask away."

"When I woke up you looked like you had been up for a while. Why were you up already?"

Ty had slept well the night before and the last two nights, but sleeping for long period of times without waking up was something he didn't do. He was a light sleeper and the slightest noise or movement that was out of place woke him up, sleeping with Shepard or any female companion helped not make him wake up at the slightest twitch in the air because he knew he was safe at that point, but he still didn't sleep long.

The hooded man counted the hours from the night before and it equaled out to five hours and thirteen minutes. He was fully alert and awake despite that though, "I sleep like I eat." He said without thinking.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

Ty didn't realize it until the words left his mouth that he had just said something he shouldn't have. _Shit. Now she's gonna worry about that, nice one why not just say that you could feel her distress while she was asleep because when you join minds with people you can feel how they feel. I'm sure that would go well too_, he scolded himself. "

I sleep five to six hours, sometimes seven and I feel like I've slept a normal amount. I had been up for a good hour just watching the stars and you sleep when you woke up. If I meditate for extended periods of time it also gives me energy like when I sleep." He explained in hopes of steering the conversation away from his slip up.

"When was the last time you ate anything?" The N7 questioned.

That was a really good question judging by the sudden growling of his stomach. Ty sighed not wanting to lie to her and also realizing that with their little pact they made he really couldn't, "Honestly? I don't know. It may have been a few days it might be a week or more for all I know. I eat scarcely; always have and the crew here needs food to operate where I can go without for a little while."

She looked like her jaw was about to drop off the way her face looked stunned, "And the last thing you ate?"

"A bowl of ramen."

Her jaw dropped that time, "What?"

It wasn't like there wasn't a lot of ramen in the bowl, but then again it was just noodles so maybe her shock was warranted. "I don't really eat that much Shepard. When you infiltrate and go sneaking around you tend not to eat much except the small amount of rations you have to spread for a however long you are there for so I kinda trained myself not to eat for extended periods of time." He clarified while he started shifting his weight from one foot to another under Shepard's confused look turned glare.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, "I want you to go get something to eat this mourning and then I want you eating every day since you aren't on an infiltration mission."

Ty chuckled to himself, "That sounded a bit like an order." He said in a teasing manor.

"It was." Shepard stated as she looked back at him with serious eyes.

Another chuckle escaped him, there wasn't any way of getting out of this and his stomach sounded happy at the idea anyway. "Fine, alright, I'll eat more than I am now, but don't expect it to happen overnight…come on, let's go see what the others are up to."

The former mercenary went to turn again but was stopped again by Shepard who pulled him in close to her so they were chest to chest and face to face, although her head was tilted up to look him in the eyes.

She brought one of her hands to his face and cupped it while the seriousness was replaced by softer, caring eyes. "I don't mean to be pushy…I'm just trying to make sure you're okay."

In response he gave a small nod. He knew she was just looking out for him and she would have done the same for anyone else in the crew if they had his scarce eating plan.

To be honest he wasn't even fazed by her "pushiness" if you could even call it that, she was just looking out for him better than he was for himself. "I know you are Shepard. You are right, I should eat more to be healthy. My family has preached that to me for years but living the way I forced myself to live made it habit and not a very good one."

"I know. I just worry about you sometimes."

"Aw you do care." He jested.

"I'm just using you for your skills." She fired back.

"And I was just using you to become innocent from my charges." He retorted.

Shepard rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Heh, just shut up and kiss me like you mean it and then we can be on our way."

"With pleasure."

They both moved in and kissed each other passionately as they always did. They parted with smiles on both of their faces and headed out the door to the mission before them.


	70. Chapter 69

Chapter 69

A Little Training

"So Shep, how is everything working out between you and Ty?" Kasumi asked. Shepard shifted a bit in the shuttle seat feeling slightly uncomfortable with that question. Kasumi, Joker, Chakwas and EDI were the only four who ever talked openly to her about it. That they knew didn't make her uncomfortable, it was just strange to talk about her relationship.

Even though she and Kaiden had been together openly, despite it being against regulations, Shepard always became a bit bashful when people asked about it and it was no different now when the four asked her about Ty.

Samara had mentioned she knew of her feelings for the purple eyed warrior and she wished to talk more on it at another time. Apparently she had a near millennium of knowledge to impart on her, which was not going to be a fun conversation in the slightest. It was probably going to be just like the time her mother sat her down for the "sex talk" just skipping the sex part and going straight to her heart strings, blush city in other words.

As for the others they either knew and didn't say anything or didn't know. It was an understatement to say she wished it was the second so she could tell them on her own accord, but there was a part of her that wanted them to know already. She wanted them to know without telling her they did so it wouldn't come as a huge shocker to anyone or hurt any of her crew's feelings. None had shown anything more than just friendship but if somehow she hurt one of them she'd feel bad about it.

Between the four of them that did know, excluding Samara, she had different conversations about her relationship. Joker was usually good hearted jokes about their relationship, Chakwas usually had some what seemed like parental advice and EDI inquired about their relationship once in a while trying to "understand the behavior they exhibited" as she put it.

Kasumi on the other hand was more or less straight up about the whole thing, she was like that on everything which was a good quality and made the N7 laugh on more than one occasion. This wasn't one of the funny moments though. When she delved into her relationship it made her slightly uncomfortable. The lithe thief had made her opinion known from the start, _"I like you Shep, but if you hurt Ty his brother won't get the chance to make you pay_."

Kasumi's look was always relaxed and happy but she had given Shepard a very cold and murderous stare. She was watching out for Ty like she was an older sister looking out for a younger brother and Shepard understood the threat, or promise depending on how you looked at it. The thief had seen Ty at his absolute worse and did not want him to go back.

The age thought grabbed Shepard's attention next, was Ty the youngest of the whole entire crew? She ran through everyone that was in the crew and all were either mid to late twenties or early thirties with the exception of Samara and Thane who were the elders of the squad.

Tali was the second youngest being only a year older than the hooded man, but their friendship was more like he was the older brother and she was the younger sister. He was twenty-three but mentally he seemed older, it wasn't like he acted older than he was but with everything he had seen he was very mature when he needed to be.

There was around an eight year difference between him and the Commander, that thought made Shepard smirk in small amusement.

"What's so funny Shep?" Kasumi asked.

Shepard shook her head getting back to the mission and questions at hand, "Nothing important. We're still figuring out things as we go and opening up more to each other, so I'd say we're doing good."

"Does he make you feel good?"

She squirmed in her seat a bit at the question trying to avoid blushing, "Yes." Her answer was simple in an attempt to avoid over explaining her feelings.

Kasumi looked over to her with a smile, "Good to hear. I'd hate to inform him his charm needed to start getting practiced more." Shepard chuckled at that knowing it was possibly impossible for that to ever happen for her. "He just better continue to be good to you so I don't have to knock some sense into that thick head of his."

Again the N7 chuckled in amusement at the thought of the thief smacking Ty along the head to get him to stop being thickheaded. "You be good to him as well Shep. I don't want him to go all crazy again, you saw slight bits and pieces of the remainders of it, but I had the opportunity to see what it was before it started to fade." The thief continued with seriousness.

It was still hard to imagine how much worse Ty could have been, but if there was anything Shepard had learned in her time in the Alliance and as a Council Spectre it was this: things could always get worse. "I can't imagine it being worse than what I've seen from him. I mean at Illium it was like the person I met wasn't even there. He also showed me his first kills at eight years old and those were shocking to say the least."

The thief's chuckle seemed forced, "Yeah I found a tape of Illium and I've seen that last one before as well, accidently granted but that…I really don't have a word for that. None of those compare to when he was out of complete control years ago. I didn't see the full extent because, as I said, it was fading at the time, but I saw him go one time and…it was an emotional experience for us both."

_"I can play the devil pretty damn well." _Ty's words rang through her mind._ He never showed me that, but that is probably for good reason_. "What happened?" Shepard asked.

Kasumi shuddered visibly, "I'll explain another time Shep…just be good to him, okay?"

"I will." She responded with a firm nod.

"We're getting closer, let's focus on the mission."

* * *

"You gonna fold, raise or check Donnelly, 'cause no matter how many times you look at your cards they won't change." Ty said sarcastically.

Garrus chuckled, "What's the rush Ty? Do you want to get this hand over with since you're about to lose it?" He questioned coolly.

The hooded man shrugged, "Nope. I was just thinking those guns probably need calibrating since you've been gone an hour or so. I figure that the sooner Donnelly is done the sooner I can take your credits before you take the walk of shame."

Jack snorted in amusement at their trash talking. Skyllian Five had turned into a trash talking game once Donnelly began taking all day to figure out what he was going to do with his cards. "Shut up you dumbasses. Face it you aren't beating my hand this time and I'm going to take all your credits." Jack said.

_She's bluffing._ "I'll check." Donnelly finally decided.

There was a sudden and audible sigh relief, "Geez that only took you ten minutes Ken. I'll check." Gabby said.

It was Ty's turn now as he looked at the table and thought about his own cards. So far things had been pretty even between the group of nine that were playing which included him. Everyone was sitting at the table in the Mess Hall spread out and in a circle formation for the most part, Ty was leaning his chair back with one foot on the table with the top of his chair hitting the wall behind him.

He couldn't figure out if he was trying to hide his cards or just make sure no one snuck up on him. His hood was up still as he looked across the table at Garrus who had been so far the biggest challenge in this game of Skyllian Five poker. The Turian was one of the hardest to read aside from Tali, who was on his right, since she was the without a doubt the hardest for everyone to read.

Ty on the other hand knew Quarian mannerisms well but she had really done well to hide that from him. On his right was Gabby and then Donnelly next to her, Jack was on his left with a slightly nervous looking Joker next to her which was probably due to the threats so far he had received from the psychotic biotic when he won a few hands.

Needless to say Joker let Jack win a few rounds out of fear though he couldn't tell that it was her master plan to use threats to get the others to fold when her hand wasn't good.

The pilot was probably the next best player to Garrus, next to him was Mess Sargent Gardner who was taking a break from his duties to play a few hands; Gardener was in-between Tali and Joker and on the other side of the table was the guy that Ty zapped. Hadley or something and he was pretty good at the game.

The former mercenary wasn't really good at the game but he knew how to bluff his ass off and he also knew a losing hand when he saw one. He wished the rest of the crew he was familiar with had joined in; Grunt didn't want to sit around playing a stupid card game when he could be thinking of or physically ripping apart something with his bare hands, as he had put it to Ty.

As for Miranda Ty didn't even ask since Jack joined in and he also knew the Cerberus Operative wouldn't play. Jacob was busy in the Armory doing something that confused the warrior. It was something about modding the Collector beam gun that Shepard had snagged back on Horizon to have more juice and power or something like that, he had just shrugged helplessly when it was explained.

Kasumi and Shepard were down on Bekenstein, Samara and Thane expressed they wished to meditate but were thankful for the request. Mordin was busy running tests for a new biological weapon which he clarified wasn't being tested on the crew since Joker had gotten nervous. Last was EDI and she couldn't hold cards.

Ty came down from leaning back and looked at his cards real quick, he had an ace and a ten of spades and on the table was a queen, a nine and a jack and one card that still needed to be put down.

Looking at it now he didn't have anything that was an immediate win, but there was a chance to get a straight flush if that last card was a king. He couldn't bluff ridiculously yet, he needed to wait and see if it was a king and then if it was raise the stakes higher and see who stuck around. "I'll check for now." He said as he pushed himself back.

Everyone around the table checked and Ty watched as the last card was put down on the table, a king_. Why am I not this lucky out in the field?_

He had it now; all he had to do was wait for the bet to get back to him. Lucky for him was that he had bet big once before and lost so people would surely follow this time, "You look like your sweating over there Vakarian." Jack taunted.

"Trying to hold in my laughter for when I see all your faces after I show my cards."

"That or you're trying to keep that stick up your ass tightly." Joker smarted off.

That got a laugh out of most of the table, "Oh Keelah we're back to this again." Tali groaned as she shook her head.

"Well at least it's a stick instead of a full blown pole." Ty jumped in.

"Yeah he worked that one out already, though now he's going around beating people with it." Joker fired off.

The purple eyed man laughed at the slight twitching coming from their resident Turian, "Why are you always talking about poles up people's ass Joker?" Gabby asked.

"I would guess it would be personal experience, Gabby." Donnelly said cheekily.

"Is it, Creaks?" Jack queried with a smirk on her face.

"Creaks? Really?" Joker sounded offended by the new nickname.

Ty began laughing at Joker this time, "It fits, don't ask questions." Jack retorted with a laugh.

"I'll check." Gabby said.

Ty came down slowly and looked at his cards again just for looks since he knew the table cards and his own. _Okay let's not get astronomical here but let's raise the stakes. We capped the bets off at fifteen hundred so…_ "I'll raise 500." He said as he activated his omni tool and sent his credits into the pool.

"Asshole I was hoping to do that first. I'll call." The tattooed biotic agreed.

"Call." Joker followed.

"Argh dammit, I'll fold. I aint going to win this round." Gardner said as he pushed his cards away.

"I'm going to fold." Tali said pushing hers away.

"Aw come on Tali, what happened to team dextro?" Garrus teased.

She shook her head, "You're on your own this time Garrus. I know a losing battle when I see one and I am not one for butting through like a stubborn bosh'tet."

_That is aimed at me and him for sure_, Ty thought with a smirk. "Fine, I'll meet the bet and raise the stakes a little higher to seven fifty."

"Crap." Joker muttered. He had been doing well but the hand before left him with only seven hundred and fifty credits. Garrus had almost all the credits with his amount adding up to two thousand. Ty had fifteen hundred and Jack had a thousand, the pot now was three thousand two hundred and fifty since everyone had made relatively small bets until now.

Hadley folded and Donnelly looked at the stakes long and hard, "I'll call since this is my one chance to get all those credits back." He sealed his fate.

There was a snort of amusement from Gabby, "Good luck with that. Every time Garrus and Ty have gone against each other with others involved, we've all lost. I'm folding." Gabby pushed her cards away.

Ty shot her a humored smile then turned his eyes back to the Turian, "Well since you raised the stakes, why don't I raise them a bit more? I'll raise to a slight thousand two fifty."

Garrus's mandibles gave him a grin as he nodded slightly. "Fuck this. I'm not losing all my damn credits to you two this round over a fucking bluff." Jack clearly decided to fold.

"All in since that's all I have anyway." Joker mumbled.

"Well Ty I'm impressed, but how about we raise the stakes even higher? I'll go all in since Joker is. You don't have to if you don't want to lose all those credits."

The pot was now at five thousand five hundred, Ty had a straight flush and he was almost positive that it was the best anyone could get, but Garrus's taunts actually bugged him. He did his best to not show it while moving to put his credits in, "And I thought you were getting boring Garrus. Alright, I'll go all in."

"Buggar there's no way I'm going all in. I fold." Donnelly backed out of the final round.

"So who has what?" Gabby asked curiously.

"Wait before any cards are shown, who wants to bet on a winner here?" Jack prompted.

"Two hundred on Vakarian." Gabby bet.

"Three hundred on Joker." Donnelly chose.

"I'm not betting on this, I barely have enough credits to finish this game." Gardner grumbled.

Hadley turned to Gardner with an incredulous look on his face, "You have tons of credits."

The cook scoffed, "Not in this game I don't. I'm not taking out anymore credits to give away."

Jack set her eyes on their resident Quarian, "Zorah?"

She waved off the biotic, "I'll pass."

"Alright, I'll put a hundred on Ty." Jack said.

"Thanks Jack that means a lot to have the least amount bet on me." Ty drawled sarcastically.

"I could always bet on Vakarian if it bugs you that much dick." She fired back.

"I'll help you out here and tell you that it wouldn't be wise, but do what you please."

She ignored his comment and turned to the pilot, "Joker your first to flip."

Joker flipped his cards over as he muttered about it being a bad idea, he had one jack and one nine, "Two pair not bad, but how about this." Garrus said as he showed his cards. He had a full house three queens and two kings, pretty good hand and Ty knew if he hadn't got lucky Garrus would have won the round.

"Damn it." Joker muttered.

"I'll buy you in the next round Joker." Garrus promised.

"Don't count on that Vakarian." Jack said as she saw the hand Ty had flipped over.

The purple eyed warrior grinned as Garrus saw his cards, "You have got to be kidding me." His voice relayed the level of disbelief he had at the sudden loss.

The whole table erupted in a mixture of laughter and shouting as Ty took the credits from the pot, "Joker you want in the next round?" He asked over the shouting and laughing.

He shook his head and waved him off, "Nah, I gotta get back to waiting for Shepard and Kasumi, but thanks anyway."

"Hand over the credits Donnelly." Jack ordered while she laughed.

Ty's omni-tool lit up as everyone continued joking with Garrus; it was a call so he answered it, "What's up?"

"What's going on out there?" Miranda's voice came in his ear.

"Well I just won a huge pot in Skyllian Five after an intense showdown between me, Garrus and Joker so everyone is having a good time I guess." Ty responded.

"Hmm…not bad. I didn't know you were good at something like that." Miranda commented.

"You obviously don't think very highly of me in general." Ty retorted in a joking manor.

"_Ty_." She chided.

He chuckled in response, "To be honest I bluff a lot and hope to get lucky."

"Doesn't surprise me." Her voice held a light laugh to it before she let it fall, "You have time to spar?"

"You asking me on a date? That is _so_ cute." Even though he couldn't see her, he could feel her roll her eyes on the other end at his comment. "I'll be down there if you want to."

"I'll be down in five minutes." The XO told him.

Ty shut his omni-tool down and pushed his seat back so he could stand up, "I'm leaving on a high note, later guys." There was a series of goodbyes as he started to leave but before he was able to take two steps a wrenching grip grabbed his wrist stopping him fully, "Where you off to?" Jacks voice came from behind him.

He turned around to meet her eyes "Cargo Hold. Princess wants to spar. I'll bring your gun up after I'm done."

A sadistic smirk pulled onto her lips, "Sounds like something interesting to bet on. My credits are on you crushing her head in."

He rolled his eyes with a smile, of course she'd bet on him beating Miranda. Like she would ever bet on Miranda winning anything. "I said spar not rip each other's heads off. Despite your hatred for her she actually can hold her own in a fist fight."

"Sounds like some of you humans have a Turian sense when it comes to venting frustrations." Garrus observed.

"Blame my Turian second in command, he taught me it. I'm sure that the great and mighty Archangel wouldn't back down from a fight from little old me." The purple eyed warrior challenged the Turian.

Said Turian cracked his neck a little, "Sounds like a challenge."

"One of many Garrus, one of many." Ty turned around and lifted his hand up in a goodbye wave, "If you all get bored of the game, come watch the fight."

Knowing how last time went the fight would definitely be a show for those watching. An added bonus was how nice it was going to be to stretch his legs while he waited for the next time he was brought down planetside. After he got in the elevator and hit the button he relaxed against the wall behind him as he let his thoughts wander.

He thought about what he was about to do with Miranda since he was sure it was going to end how it did last time, which was to say with him flying through the air and crash landing. It was sure to hurt again, but it would also be a time to use his now controlled demon and see how well he could use it in a fight.

Miranda was very good at hand to hand though she relied on her biotic's more which usually would be helpful in a fight. But it is hard to hit something that was moving fast and dodging your moves.

The elevator started to slow at the Engineering Deck which could only mean one person, Grunt. The elevator doors opened and Grunt's hulking mass stood in the doorway. "Hey Grunt, you going down or up?"

The tank-bred thumped his way in, "Down for some target practice."

Ty nodded,_ at least the shooting range is being used by someone._ "Nothing wrong with a bit of practice." He stated as Grunt stood next to him and the doors closed.

"Yeah I just wish they weren't flipped over crates. I'd rather use a fight simulator instead of crates." Grunt said_. That may be a little hard to pull off and get a hold of for me but…maybe, maybe not_.

"True, that would be pretty sick."

"So what are you heading down for?"

"Miranda wants to spar so I agreed." The hooded man explained in short.

Grunt grinned hearing that, "That will be a good fight. I may watch that instead." Grunt said.

"You could be the main event too." Ty joked.

"The what?" Grunt questioned in confusion.

"The awesome final fight." Ty restated.

"Not a bad idea, but if Lawson can keep up with you then it wouldn't be a hard fight afterwards." The Krogan stated matter of factly.

A chuckle escaped Ty, "I think that was half a compliment and half telling me I would be too tired to fight you."

Grunt gave a low laugh, "Heh, it seems I did head-butt some brain cells into that brain of yours."

Ty smirked as the doors opened letting the two leave the elevator and go their respective ways. Grunt moved to the shooting range on the left and Ty stopped at his workbench to pick up all the finished guns and put them on the table so he could start delivering them to everyone.

He placed all the guns on the table and as the roaring rounds of the Avenger Ty had given Grunt echoed in the Cargo Hold, he remembered that the tank-bred Krogan wanted him to customize his shotgun with inferno rounds.

In an attempt to get his attention, the former mercenary raised his voice and yelled, "Hey Grunt!" Grunt stopped firing and turned around, "You wanted inferno rounds on your shotgun right?" He gave a nod so Ty walked over to him, "Alright, let me see it real quick. I'll get it done quickly and add a quick engraving."

"If you can do that quickly, why does it usually take you hours to do guns?" Grunt asked as he gave him his Claymore.

Ty smirked, "Paint jobs take a lot of inspiration and time you know."

The hulking Krogan just shrugged at him. The warrior brought the Claymore to the table and started adding the modification for the rounds and the kill counter as quick as his hands would let him. It took three minutes to add in the modifications and as he finished he heard the doors of the elevator open behind him over Grunt's burst fire.

He grabbed his engraving blade and turned the gun so the left side was facing him and started engraving the words _Thresher Killer_ into the side of it. The gunfire halted and was replaced by Grunt's deep voice, "Lawson."

"Grunt." Miranda responded.

Ty assumed they probably both nodded at one another; they had a respect for their separate battle prowess which went a long way for the Krogan. As he finished the _Thresher_ and started on _Killer_ Miranda's voice aimed at him, "Ty you still up for sparring?"

"Yeah, just doing this real quick. It'll take me another minute or two." He responded without looking up.

"You've been busy I see."

He inclined his head knowing she was talking about the guns, he had finished a lot in his spare time but he still had more to finish. "Yeah, still got a lot more to do though. I have one for you in this pile somewhere and I gotta start working on one for Kasumi, Thane and Samara still. Maybe even one for Joker should he need it."

"I thought about that, but his brittle bones complicate that." Miranda said thoughtfully from behind him somewhere.

"I'll think of something."

"Speaking of you thinking of something, in all your years in the criminal underworld have you ever meet anyone who could supply us with better armor?" The Cerberus Operative queried.

After finishing the word Ty flipped the shotgun over as he rolled the question around in his head trying to figure out if he still had any armor contacts. Gallick was his main one for the time period he was alive and after that he never had armor himself.

Darian would probably have some solid information on someone he could trust which meant he'd need to contact him, "I had one in my crew, but he's dead unfortunately. Damn Batarian knew that shit better than anyone I ever met, but I didn't meet a lot of armor creators so that might not be saying much. I'll ask around, I'm sure I could find a supplier or two that'll even customize them at an extra fee. I'm sure I could cover it unless Cerberus wants to cover it…Why are you asking anyway?"

It was a curious question to say the least. Why go to him for this instead of ask the Illusive Man? _That bastard probably knows people that could manufacture armor for the crew._ "We need the best of everything and that includes armors. Obviously not everyone will want some and none will wear anything with a Cerberus insignia exception of me or Jacob. I figured you'd know someone." She replied.

Ty chuckled slightly at that just because of how much of an understatement the last half was. There was one guy he remembered from a long time ago but if he wasn't dead or working for the Suns it would be surprising.

"I'll have to ask around and see if my friend Darian knows of any. There's one that might still be alive, but he also might be working for the Suns which would obviously be hazardous to my health and his after I got done killing whoever he sent after me." Ty informed as he finished the final engraving which read _Clan_ _Urdnot_.

It wasn't painted, but it was still good work for working in a short amount of time. The hooded man picked up the gun and walked over to Grunt now seeing Miranda, which almost made him stop walking completely due to the change in clothes. For the first time in probably years for her, but for the first time since Ty met her she wasn't wearing a spandex catsuit.

She had on a wifebeater that was black with a Cerberus insignia on the left side at her breast, black gym shorts that went slightly below her knees and sporty looking shoes which contrasted her catsuit and high heels completely. "Wow Miranda you look different, good but different." Ty said in surprise.

"Thanks I guess." She responded halfheartedly.

"I'm just surprised you had something that wasn't a catsuit in your closet. It's nice to see you with let your hair down, figuratively speaking." He tried to explain his comment as he reached Grunt.

"That was quicker than I expected." The Krogan said as he turned to Ty.

"Told you I'd be done quickly. You've got a kill counter on this one as well so keep up the kills and don't miss."

Grunt gave a firm nod and turned around to proceed in shooting at the targets. With the Krogan taken care of, the former mercenary waved Miranda over to follow him to where they had sparred the first time. Ty had committed himself to Shepard but he wasn't blind and Miranda looked great. If he had really thought about it she always looked great because of naturally great looks, well her genetically modified looks. Then again his looks were also genetically modified and he didn't care about that genetic mutation crap.

In his eyes they were still both normal human beings with natural looks and natural everything else. His personal feelings on that matter aside, Miranda really looked great outside of the catsuit, she looked great in it too but he now preferred the more natural clothing look.

Ty stopped in the center and turned to Miranda who was still walking into their makeshift arena. She still had her usual confident strut as she walked towards him. The warrior couldn't stop the smirk that came to his hooded face as he thought about if she'd ever take his brother up on the offer that was there.

It was hard to gauge what was going to happen with it but he was going to try and help them out any way he could since he was a sap for budding romances between people. "What are you smirking about?" Miranda asked catching his smirk.

"If I told you you'd get angry and that would ruin the fun of our sparring."

"Are we still going to do this without protection?"

The smirk stayed on his face with new potency as he thought back to the hard days of rigorous training with his brother with protection and then the insane days that made the hard days look simple without protection.

Though he was all for full contact and didn't mind safety, he did care if Miranda or anyone else wanted to be safe definitely for this mission. "Up to you. I assume you want to put the mission ahead of fun, right?"

Miranda allowed a smirk to grace her lips as she walked closer, "I think sparring without protection would be better for the mission than the other way around."

A fist came flying at Ty's face but he could tell in her posture that she was winding up for it so he dodged to the side and took a few steps back as he got ready, "Same rules as last time?" He questioned.

"Yep."

With that conversations were over. Miranda charged Ty and went for a right hook first and had a left uppercut following it. He blocked the right hook with his left forearm and as the uppercut came at him he pushed it to the side and brought his knee up. The Cerberus Operative dodged back then came at him with repeated lefts and rights.

The former mercenary blocked as much as he could, falling on the defense and using his forearm to block or his hand to guide the momentum away from himself.

A right hook came flying at his face as he had actually caught a grip on Miranda's left arm. With little choice he let go of the arm and used his hand to try and get the punch at least away from his face since he couldn't dodge it.

The punch landed hard in his side and was followed by a left jab and another right jab to his gut. It hurt, but not as much as the throw Miranda detonated on him sending him flying back.

Ty hit the ground but as he began to roll he used his spinning momentum to roll himself onto his shoulders and then off as his toes hit the ground and gained traction.

He slid backwards maintaining balance on his toes while his hands glided across the ground until he stopped. She was finally using all her skill for once, Ty was a bit impressed at her letting go of her formality bullshit and looking to actually enjoy the fight, then again it was a happy surprised.

The purple eyed warrior looked up at Miranda from his position expecting her to be following him and getting ready to kick his head but she was actually just waiting in her fighting stance for him.

Her punches were quicker than he remembered them being so maybe she had been going easy on him last time around to figure out his fighting capabilities, but he hadn't gone all out either. He had gone pretty hard on her, but he could've pushed himself farther which she was completely unaware of at the moment. Underestimation would lead to downfall but she wasn't one for underestimating.

Honestly, Ty wanted to see her true strength now though and everything that came with it. He didn't want a good fight and end sweating and sore, he wanted a great fight where he ended soaked in sweat with bruises and maybe even scrapes that hurt so badly that you could barely walk without feeling pain.

"Last time was fun Ty, I'll give you that. But I want a real challenge this time, unless you don't want to push yourself." Miranda taunted.

Two things happened as the taunt ran through Ty's head; the first was the oddity of hearing her taunt. Maybe she just wanted him to go full and thought taunting was the only way to achieve that, but it was just weird to hear the professional "Miss Lawson" taunt. The second thing that happened was Ty's body changing, his veins became a dark blue, his eyes became fully purple and his muscles bulged. He was getting his wish now.

"Let's see how much of a chance a top Cerberus Operative has against me."


	71. Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Pushing Past Your Limits

An hour had passed since the start of the sparring and both Ty and Miranda were still going hard. Ty had a lot of energy on standby still but he was pushing his opponent to her limits. She had knocked him around good through the fight with physical blows and biotic's, but he just kept bouncing back like it was nothing. To say the look on her face had grown agitated more than a few times was an understatement. Ty was actually impressed by her skill, he hated Cerberus sure but he respected her ability to go toe to toe with him and make him actually have to try.

They were circling each other now both balls of sweat and breathing heavily; Miranda had thrown everything she had at him, literally. Crates were scattered across the Cargo Hold and some Ty had unfortunately been unable to dodge.

Needless to say he was going to be bruised.

Despite taking crates head-on, the warrior had not stayed down or let her have a breather. She was being forced to fight the whole time and her energy was draining quickly with each passing second.

He watched her posture and how she was moving as they made a circle in the arena trying to gauge what the next move would be and who would make it. _If I sweep her legs out from under her I could end this fight with one more move if I move quick enough_, he considered.

A blue aura surrounded Miranda's body as she sprang her attack; she closed the distance between them and started throwing biotic fueled punches at him. Those punches were very dangerous but luckily Ty managed to dodge most of them so far, she managed to get him a twice with biotic punches before now, but he wasn't going to allow anymore.

He began dodging backwards and sideways making sure none impacted on him sort of like a dance just one where your partner was trying to break you or cause internal bleeding. The Cerberus Operative threw a left straight at his face making him dodge to his left but as he did he saw her leg coming for a kick to his side.

Ty let it impact making Miranda think she had an opening but as it did he grabbed it tightly and landed two hard punches to her gut and followed it by using his right foot to trip her left leg out from under her.

She fell to the floor but upon landing she sat up quickly and extended her arm and hand out sending a surge of biotic's at him alongside a wordless yell. The former mercenary managed to dodge most of the energy only getting hit in his side which sent him spinning through the air.

After he landed and rolled to a stop, Ty kipped up and looked over to Miranda who was now standing on wobbly legs. _That's it, she has reached her limit. This fight is over_. "Yield Miranda. You're pushing yourself past your limits." He told her though his voice was abnormal since he was changed.

"I don't have limits." Miranda responded in a shaky tone as she took up her fighting stance.

This was definitely reminiscent of Whitney. Miranda was pushing too hard and she knew it, but this was only going to end if Ty walked away or she was knocked out from lack of energy.

The warrior wasn't one to walk away especially on someone who could toss him around or slam him into oblivion so he charged back over to her and went for a kick; she barely dodged it and went for a sweep kick. He jumped back avoiding the kick but she met him as he landed with a knee to his gut. Before the XO continued her offense Ty kicked her left leg out making her fall off balance.

She tried to regain her balance but he was on her before she could, nailing her with a punch to the gut then bringing his right leg back and using his strength to sweep both of her legs out from under her. Ty's reflexes were quicker than normal so as her legs left ground he had his left elbow coming down slamming into her gut and sending her quicker into the ground with a hard smash.

If it wasn't for his knowledge of Miranda's stubbornness Ty would've assumed that would have taken her down, but before he knew it his legs weren't planted and he landed hard on his back. The fall hurt but Miranda's leg came swinging over at his sternum. _Shit!_

He had enough sense about him to be able to grab the leg and send it back over to her before it could do any damage. He could have mounted her and ground pounded her as she could have done the same to him, but they both kipped up at the same time and got back to fighting.

Miranda landed two kicks to Ty's gut and chest knocking his footing off and making him stumble backwards while she remained on him throwing a punch. The former mercenary caught it and gripped her hand tightly as she tried to pull it back, not being able to get her hand back she threw another punch which he caught as well.

He twisted her so her back was facing him with both of her hands still grasped now twisted at an awkward angle. She didn't waste time to get away, her leg came flying back at him landing square in his chest once again knocking him back and making him release his grip on her.

It was a surprise that she hadn't collapsed yet. Last time they had fought hard, but this time she was pushing to her limits and she was barely standing. Her muscles were shaking and her legs looked like they were about to give out, to prevent further injury he was going to have to end this quickly.

As Miranda charged him with her fist cocked back Ty came up with a set of moves within seconds that would put her on the ground and out of commission quickly. He dodged the fist and left kicked her in the hip making her grab it then he followed it up with a quick right kick to her gut. She stumbled and the warrior could see the complete an utter exhaustion and pain that finally was giving her a faraway look in her eyes.

It was time to knock her down for the count so Ty roundhouse kicked her in the gut and followed it with a sweep taking her legs out from under her, she landed hard but this time instead of sweeping his legs out from under him or bioctically tossing him she remained still and closed her eyes.

The former mercenary wasn't sure if she was feigning defeat and waiting to spring a trap or not so he waited patiently for a few seconds. Nothing happened so he concluded she finally passed out from exhaustion. Ty heard Grunt's bark of laughter as he brought his omni-tool up to check her vitals and contact EDI at the same time.

Her vitals were good according to his readings, but she was definitely in need of a nap, "EDI you there?"

"I am here Ty. Should I get Doctor Chakwas?" EDI questioned.

"It wouldn't hurt. Her vitals are fine, she's just exhausted and in pain so I'd suggest rest and something to dull the pain."

"I will have Doctor Chakwas head down."

"Thanks EDI. By the way how is that card game going with the rest of the crew?"

The others would have definitely missed out on a good fight if they didn't stop their card game. "It ended right when your fight started." _Or maybe not_. "All of the squad including those who were not present during your card game watched from the engineering floor. Some placed bets."

"I assume there were pretty even bets between me and Miranda."

"Actually more betted that Miranda would win because of her biotic's. Jack, Tali and Garrus bet on you winning." She informed.

"I don't know if I'm offended by the lack of bets on me or not. Talk to you later EDI, I need to rest a little before Chakwas gets down here." Ty grabbed at his ribs, "I think she bruised me pretty badly."

"Logging you out Ty."

Ty sat down next to Miranda's dormant body and let his body return to normal as he looked over to Grunt who gave him a firm nod with a smile, "Good battle Ty. You and Lawson know how to fight hard. Now how about that main event?"

He smirked and shook his head, "It wouldn't be that much of a challenge for you to knock me out."

The tank-bred Krogan grinned in victory leaving the warrior to begin mentally assessing the damage to his body. His body was beginning to ache badly in different areas where she had hit him with punches and the impact points of biotic thrown crates, punches and detonated throws.

It wasn't the worst pain he had ever felt, but he was definitely not going to be up for much physical work for the rest of the day and probably part of tomorrow._ Rest and recovering sounds like a great plan right about now_.

"Did you push yourself too far?" Ty snapped his head up in the direction of the new voice entering his ears. Thane stood with his hands behind his back near the workbench, he seemed to be intrigued by the fight that had happened. _Maybe I could actually stand a chance against him. Doubt it but hey it could be possible_.

"Actually no. I only went about seventy-five percent on her. I could've pushed harder but I didn't want to seriously hurt her." He responded surprised at how quiet the Assassin had been.

He was an assassin but still, Ty always thought he had good hearing since he could hear Kasumi's footsteps and she was as quiet as they came. His heart was beating hard in his ear so that might have something to do with it. "Hmm I see. You put up a good fight though you could have ended it earlier."

Ty chuckled because he was right, he could have ended the fight quickly and efficiently if he wanted to. He had let more than a few opportunities pass just so the fight would last longer.

"Where's the fun in ending a fight early when you are training or sparring with a friend. If I want to end a fight quickly I can, but I like to fight for extended amounts of time as hard as I can or almost as hard as I can."

"An interesting training technique, if a bit un-orthodox." Thane responded thoughtfully.

"Un-orthodox can be fun." Ty smiled.

"I am interested to see how you fight at one hundred percent."

"Does now suit you to find out?" The warrior asked wanting to test himself further despite the growing pain in his body.

"This would not be a good time for you two to fight."

Ty looked around Thane as Thane himself turned around to see who had spoken. Samara was walking with Doctor Chakwas towards the down paired and looked serene as she usually did. Though he assumed it had to do with the fact she probably thought he would lose and was too tired to fight, he actually wanted to fight the assassin to see how well the he could fight, but something stopped him.

It was in the way she said what she said that made him wonder if everything on Bekenstein was still doing okay or if his and Kasumi's plan had fell through. "Hey Samara. What's going on that now isn't a good time? I think I have enough in me to fight still."

Chakwas got to Ty and Miranda and started running a scan on him, "Be that as it may, there are other matters that need to be attended too." The Justicar said, stopping at the workbench near Thane.

"I didn't just break some part of the Justicar Code and need to hop on my space bike and run for my life, do I?" He queried partially joking partially not.

"Heh. With the bruising you've sustained I'd be surprised if you could stand without help now that the adrenaline has worn off." Chakwas commented.

The doctor had a valid point if Ty could gauge his injuries well, which he usually could, "You have not done anything unjust now, but I understand your concern and attempted jest about it. Joker received a message from Shepard and Kasumi and it seems Donovan Hock has a gunship."

_Slimy bastard_ was the only slightly censored thought Ty had. The rest were filled with every conceivable part of the language of profanity and about every curse on himself for not thinking that the guy would have something like that. "Well, shit. What's the plan then?"

"Right now we're hoping the Commander can hold out long enough for us to come up with a plan to help."

"When did this all occur?" Thane probed appearing stunned.

"After you went down Joker told everyone on the engineering floor." Samara answered.

"Well we can't just sit here. My battlemaster and the hooded one need our help." Grunt said.

"My thoughts exactly." Ty agreed with the Krogan.

But how the hell were they going to stop a gunship? The warrior looked at his space bike and then at Chakwas's medical supplies she had on her, "Any chance you have an adrenaline shot?"

It was a stupid plan, but one that would provide an immediate support and relief for Shepard. The doctor stared at him sternly, "What are you thinking?"

"I have weapons on my space bike. I can fly down blast the gunship and hopefully take it down if not just get it damaged enough for Shepard to finish it off."

Ty attempted to stand up but the soreness of his muscles brought him down to his knee. _Shit. This is not the time body._

"You are not in good condition Ty despite what you think." Chakwas tried to argue.

"Yeah and Shepard and Kasumi need some support before they are in worse condition than me." He responded seriously. He let out a sigh as he sat himself back down, "If I can at least get the heat off them for a few seconds before the adrenaline wears off then even if I don't take it down it'll at least buy you all time to think of a new plan and use the other shuttle to execute the plan or just blast him with the Normandy's main gun."

The doctor didn't seem to like the plan and judging on the looks on Thane and Samara's faces they were questionable on the plan as well. It wasn't that Ty thought it was the only action possible; it was just the quickest one that could solve the problem. "I'm open to other suggestions believe me, but that's the quickest way to get them help and no one knows how to fly and shoot on my space bike like I do. Sure EDI could help anyone who got on, but I know that bike as well as Joker knows the Normandy."

The others shared a moment of contemplation while Ty began wishing Miranda didn't go unconscious. She would have actually had a plan for a situation like this and one that didn't rely on him taking an adrenaline shot that would have a negative effect on him after it wore off.

"We do not seem to have many other options." Samara finally said at length.

"Not now we do not, but if Ty can give us more time or at least grant Shepard the chance to destroy the gunship, then it is worth a shot." Thane agreed.

"Sounds like we have a decision then. Ty we'll rally the rest of the squad in case we need to go down in the shuttle." Grunt stated.

Chakwas pulled out a shot that he assumed was full of adrenaline, "This is going to hurt, but it will give you ten minutes. It is a small dosage but as soon as it wears off you'll feel even worse than you do now. I ran some tests and you personally will have a terrible reaction to this. I'll be on standby when you get back."

Ty nodded in understanding. He had taken adrenaline once before back with his squad, his reaction had knocked him unconscious the minute it finished and he was not looking forward to that again, definitely now that he would be on his space bike. The fall wasn't the worry; it was just the splat that followed that he really didn't want. "Juice me doc and don't tell me when you're going t-"

Before the word left the warrior's mouth the shot plunged into his chest right at his heart and as she said it hurt, badly. He gasped out unable to form any words due to the sheer amount of pain flooding through his body. Soon enough though the pain dulled and every part of his body felt alive.

The sudden surge of adrenaline felt extraordinary, almost like he had activated his switch with extra potency. Chakwas took out the shot and he could feel his heart begin to hammer against his chest which also meant he was on the clock. The purple eyed warrior got on his feet quickly not feeling an ounce of pain, "I'll keep in touch over comm. I just hope he doesn't have anti air guns or this might be a short flight." He said as he jogged to his bike.

"Goddess protect you Ty." Samara said.

Ty nodded hoping that the Goddess might actually lend him a hand in his ten minutes of adrenaline. _The greater spirit better be watching as well for this plan to work_, Ty thought as he powered up his bike. "Don't die out there you little Pyjak!" Grunt yelled with a grin.

With a smirk the former mercenary gave him a thumbs up as his full mask came over his face from his hood, "EDI I trust you with my life so if you think of anything that will help me while flying or need me to let you take control of the flight controls, let me know."

EDI popped up in the center of his bike, "I will Ty. I'm opening the Cargo Bay doors now."

"Just open them enough to let me out. I don't need a big gap."

"Of course Ty."

He lifted off and flew through the opening of the Cargo Bay doors starting to fly as fast as he could down to Bekenstein, "EDI, I need some direction and get me a comm to Shepard as soon as you can."

"When you get into atmosphere I will upload the coordinates but at this path you are traveling you will be coming in near them."

"Alright. How long do I have until the adrenaline wears off?" He questioned.

"Approximately nine minutes." EDI answered.

Not much time was on the clock leaving Ty to increase his speed and hit atmosphere within seconds causing sonic boom as he did. _That's the only warning you're going to get Hock._ He angled himself so he wasn't going straight down at the ground and continued his flight, "EDI which way?"

"You should head east for ten miles and then the mansion will be in sight. I will patch you into Shepard."

Ty could clear ten miles in a minute if not less and so far there wasn't any anti air cannons. It seemed like things were going well but he remained on high alert. He was still high in altitude so he descended closer to the ground above the treeline a few miles when Shepard's voice rang in his ear, "You are so going to pay for me wearing a dress and heels later." Shepard greeted him.

"I apologized ahead of time so I'm exempt from any of that. Listen I only got about eight minutes before the adrenaline shot wears off so I need a real quick summary of everything before I reach you in probably less than a minute."

"Things went almost according to plan until things stopped going to plan. Been fighting for a while now but Hock showed up in a gunship to ruin the party and has us pinned down pretty good. Oh and when I say pretty good I mean that I can barely get out of cover. Kasumi has been surprise attacking the guards that keep showing up but we're both starting to run low on thermal clips and basically we need a third squadmate which is why I always travel in threes." The N7 said in a humorous tone.

Ty chuckled as he began to see the mansion, "Alright I'll provide what help I can. The rest of the squad is on standby in case this plan doesn't work but let's be optimistic here."

"You sooooo just jinxed us." Kasumi said.

The purple eyed warrior came in hot and saw the gunship immediately so he clicked a button on his bike which made two guns come out of the sides of the front where the tire would be if it was a land vehicle and point forward. They weren't anything compared to the Thanix Cannon, but they would definitely hurt the gunship.

_Time for some air to air fun._ Ty fired off two alternating shots which impacted against the back of the gunship. He slowed his speed a little as he pulled up going above the gunship and the mansion. As he ascended his piloting instincts took hold and he turned the bike on a dime so he was facing back down at the gunship as he let off two more shots hitting the top of it, "You're going to pay for that you little shit." Hock said over an intercom.

Unfortunately Ty didn't have a microphone on his bike and thus he gave Hock the finger as he fired off another shot before pulling up to stop an imminent crash. Gunfire started erupting from where Shepard and Kasumi were likely taking cover as the warrior started to bank back towards his enemy. This time was a bit different though since the gunship was now facing him and its guns were trying to shoot him down.

Ty dodged the gunfire by maneuvering his bike in all sorts of directions, even inverting it just for fun as he dodged another shot before leveling himself again, "Keep it up Ty, you're doing great." Shepard congratulated.

"EDI how long do I got?" Ty asked as he fired three shots off hitting one on the gunship and hitting a few ground soldiers trying to flank Shepard and Kasumi.

"At least five minutes. I suggest heading back when you have three minutes left so you do not have to worry."

There was a logic there he couldn't argue with. The last thing needed was him passing out on his bike and falling to a very sudden and imminent death. It wasn't like he had armor that might keep his body intact when he hit the ground. "Probably a good idea. Shepard I got two minutes left, let's take this bastard down."

"Why are you on a time limit? Better yet why are you on adrenaline?" Shepard asked.

"I sparred with Miranda and she went all out forcing me to about seventy-five percent, but she got me pretty good so after the adrenaline wore off I was pretty tired and in pain."

Ty dodged some gunfire and lit the gunship up with three shots before veering off to the side to avoid collision, "You pick the best times to get yourself injured." The Commander remarked.

"I'm not injured just bruised. Chakwas said the adrenaline she gave me will make me feel worse so since I don't do well with medicinal drugs anyway…"

He pulled up on his bike and started performing a loop leaving Shepard to finish his statement, "Which means the effects will be worse, awesome."

"Told you he jinxed us." Kasumi quipped.

"Ty he has a lock on you." EDI warned.

"EDI take control." Ty said as he only took control of the guns.

His bike suddenly turned sideways and veered off away from the gunship and around the mansion. The bike flew around the mansion quickly and came back around at the unsuspecting gunship allowing Ty to fire off four shots causing flames on part of the gunship.

"That was a critical hit." EDI said.

"Ty we got this now. You can head back." Shepard told him.

"Are you sure?"

"We got this Ty. Now go back to the Normandy."

"See you two back there." Ty said. EDI relinquished control from his bike permitting him to start ascending back out of the atmosphere.

As Ty began to climb in altitude he looked back at the gunship which was taking a beating by Shepard and Kasumi, "Tell the others to relax EDI and make sure Chakwas is…is" He tried to shake off the terrible feeling coming over him but failed, "...aw man this isn't good." His vision started spinning and shaking. _This is really bad. Focus on the Normandy…focus on not falling off_.

"Ty you must hold on so you do not fall off." The A.I. tried to keep him awake.

The former mercenary gripped his handle bars as tight as he could but he could feel himself beginning to pass out. _Get a grip damn it!_ "EDI take control of my bike and ramp up the speed…I feel like I'm going to pass out and vomit all at the same time." Waves of nausea started to crash over him like a tsunami.

"Ty are you okay? I heard something about vomiting."

His stomach began to feel like he had swallowed glass and it was trying to digest it. _Aw man this must be what Ryncol feels like._ He smacked his forehead against his space bike to try to stay awake.

"I feel like I have Ryncol in my system mixed with someone shaking me and I never even drank Ryncol before…holy crap Chakwas wasn't kidding I felt fine before the shot but now I feel like Omega and helping Archangel…or Garrus…or whatever he calls himself. And I thought the shot Grissom gave me was bad, wasn't this supposed to be a small dose."

"EDI get him back now and make sure Chakwas is on standby. Kasumi finish this bastard off." Shepard said sternly.

"With pleasure Shep." Kasumi said.

Ty leaned forward further on his bike and held on to it tightly as he began to feel worse and worse. His head was spinning in circles like he was barrel rolling but he knew he was flying straight. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest and all the bruises he sustained felt like bullet wounds.

He lost track of time soon after and he barely recalled landing on the Normandy or falling sideways off his bike once he landed. One thing he remembered with clarity was seeing a flashlight pen in his face with Chakwas behind it trying to say something to him with a worried look on her face before he passed out.


	72. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

A Storm on the Horizon

The mission on Bekenstein was a success. Hock was dead, the graybox was secure and everyone got out more or less okay. Shepard had let Kasumi decide if she wanted to keep the graybox or not. It wasn't her place to take away and destroy all the memories of the man she loved even though keeping it would put her in more danger.

The choice was a hard one whichever way you looked at it. Either destroy the memories and the only connection to the man she loved but remain safe or keep them and put herself in more danger.

The decision wasn't taken lightly by Kasumi but in the end she did end up keeping it, only time would tell if it was the right choice in the end. Ty had been a major help when he showed up taking the pressure off of them and giving them the opening they needed to take Hock down.

She was impressed by his piloting skills, but at the moment she was more worried than impressed. To help them out he had to push himself too far. Sparring with Miranda and then taking an adrenaline shot that he knew would give him some type of reaction was now ranking at one of his dumbest decisions made, and that was going toe to toe with jumping at a Thresher Maw.

Saying it had all worked out in the end was not going to fly as an excuse this time around. The former mercenary had had a severe reaction to the adrenaline shot and passed out as soon as he landed, falling off his bike and worrying Doctor Chakwas that he may or may not make it through.

Once the Commander returned she had found out about all this. Out of all his injuries he had sustained, aside from essentially dying on Omega, none had worried the veteran doctor of him surviving. She worried about his mental health all the time seeing as he continually did stupid stunts, but he always made it through with just physical injuries, not something like this.

Samara had said he looked severely ill or like he was dying when Chakwas had got to him and he wasn't coherent at all. They got him to the Med-Bay as quick as they could and he had been put on some type of meds to counteract the reaction and get him in a normal range of health.

His stats had been falling and rising dramatically and he had almost flatlined more than once while most of the crew waited in the Mess Hall until they were sure he had pulled through. It was that or they wanted to beat him for all the credits they lost because of him. Not only had he won during a Skyllian Five game taking the largest pot of the group and then left, but the bets that Jack, Garrus, and Tali had made on him verses Miranda had caused many other people to lose more credits.

He was squarely on the top of many peoples shit list at the moment with Shepard being the first in line to kick his ass. She was going to be overly glad when he was in the clear, but until that time she was fuming that he had known that he would have a severe reaction and still went through with it.

Chakwas said if you would rate his reaction from mild to severe, his was fluctuating constantly between the two but more often than not it was towards severe. Mix that with an hour long sparring match with the Cerberus Operative before and he was now concocting a disaster for himself, not that he didn't do that often enough.

Despite all the bad news, Miranda was up and going even with everything that happened in the sparring match. To say she looked like she was out of energy was an understatement but she was being stubborn, continuing to work and try to help the unconscious man where she could. Shepard had stopped by twice between two hours to check on the progress but both times he was still out cold looking like a pale corpse.

Worry continued to thread itself into her being seeing him in such a state. It was reminiscent of Omega all over again minus the blood all over the place and that just brought back bad memories. Chakwas noticing the worried look assured her that he'd probably be out for a few hours and then back to his normal self.

Although it did assure her that he would be fine, she still couldn't help feel a tinge of worry still gripping her heart. The doctors had gone over with her many times before this that his nervous system was really complex so was that going to make it harder here? Was his immune system just as complex as his nervous system?

When the all clear was given that he was no longer going to be having his stats fall off the charts suddenly then come back higher than they should be, there was a sigh of relief that filled the Normandy. Everyone had grown attached to Ty in some shape or form just as they had with Shepard and just as they had with each other. The strongest bonds were forged in battle and that spoke true here.

After most the crew cleared out Shepard ate with the ones that remained, Thane, Samara, Garrus, Jacob, Kasumi coincidently enough, and Grunt to be exact. Shepard made it a point to try and make everyone comfortable with one another and have some fun during that time, managing to pull it off as best as she could.

She even managed to get Samara and Thane to crack a smile with some story telling with Garrus, they may have slightly exaggerated bits and pieces but it was all in good fun and even Grunt had a good laugh.

Kasumi was a bit busy making small advances on Jacob but she managed to keep up with the conversations. It was good to see she hadn't changed completely by having the graybox, but it was still early. After a while the crew began to scatter and the N7 headed up to her quarters after she ate to check her emails and figure out her next steps while she waited for an update on Ty.

She sat at her table in her black shorts and blue wifebeater with her legs crossed as she read an email from a man she helped named Samesh Bhatia. He had lost his wife on Eden Prime and he wasn't allowed to see or have her body for a proper burial so he asked for her help.

At the time Ashley was there and his wife actually had served in the 212 with her turning the mission into a higher priority than it already was. Shepard was going to help no matter what because of how stupid it was for them to hold her body, but since Ash knew her it increased the priority of the mission.

The email Samesh had sent thanked her for what she did and told her that he opened up a restaurant on Earth that Nirali had always wished to start with the picture of his wife hanging on a wall. He also allowed Alliance soldiers to eat free in honor of the courage his wife and Shepard had in serving humanity.

She made a mental note to make sure she stopped by at his restaurant to try his food out in thanks for the pleasant email. Shepard scrolled through a few of her other emails until she got to the one she always contemplated sending a message back to. Her mother's email had sat in her inbox for a while now but she wanted to send something to her so she could at least let her know she was okay and would be back soon.

On the other hand she also didn't want to explain everything that she was doing now. She was doing what was right but teaming up with Cerberus would not be the highlight of her career, it would probably be the biggest skid mark she had next to being spaced.

The N7stared long and hard at the words of the email trying to find the right words she could send to her mom other than a generic message.

She had been dead for two years and though she knew her mom would always love her, she may have not gotten over the fact that she was alive. Not to mention the fact that she was using Cerberus to defeat the Collectors, that really didn't help her case at all.

With a slight sigh Shepard closed her computer down resolving to think of something before sending a message and headed over to her bed where a few data-pads laid with the stories Ty had gotten for her.

She was part way through the second book so she picked it back up and laid down to read. Omega was a few days away and there was a fuel and probe stop along with an anomaly on the way so she had to figure out who she'd take down for that. The hooded warrior was definitely out of the question and so was Miranda despite the arguments they would put up.

Later that Night

The Crew Quarters floor seemed completely silent as it always did late in the night when Shepard walked around the elevator and into the Mess Hall. Rupert wasn't in his usual post so she assumed he was probably catching some shut eye but Miranda was out and about reading a data-pad while she drank something at the table. "Well well well, look at you up late reading reports." She teased as she approached the focused woman.

Miranda smiled slightly, that was still an oddity in a way. She seemed to continue to be coming out of her professional shell allowing herself to smile and entertain the jokes Shepard and Ty tossed at her. She glanced up at the N7 with her smile, "Work doesn't stop for people like us, Shepard. There is something that always needs doing…or blowing up in your case."

That was the other new oddity from the Cerberus Operative: jokes. The Miranda of old would have never even attempted something like that. Shepard smiled regardless enjoying that the Operative was indeed changing. She sat down next to her then grabbed the data-pad out of her hand and put it off to the side away from her, "Work stops as soon as we decide to take a break for five minutes, and as your Commander I am ordering you to take five minutes from work."

"I was just checking on Ty's recent report." Miranda said, leaning back into her chair to relax. Was it a ploy to get her to hand the data-pad back over, if it was that was a low blow for several reasons whether she knew the more important ones or not.

"You get far in it before I took it away?" Shepard asked, curious about Ty's condition.

"Yes. His system is almost back to normal, another hour and it'll be clean enough for him to be up and going. Chakwas has been keeping him under until he's purged since he's too stubborn of a patient to actually stay in the bed when he needs to."

The Commander chuckled and leaned back into the chair as well. Calling Ty stubborn was like calling a sun warm and snow chilly. "Knowing Ty he would've had to be sedated or he would have gotten out of bed."

Miranda nodded in agreement, "Exactly our thoughts. I've been trying to figure out why he had such a reaction to the adrenaline, but there isn't anything irregular about any of his systems that hint at why it happened. If he didn't tell us all that he was genetically modified none of us would have known until we looked at his nervous system because his entire make up is normal. Usually you can tell if someone has had modifications done and if they had extensive modifications like me and him you'd see it on the charts, but nothing shows for him except the ner-"

With a raised eyebrow from Shepard, the Cerberus Operative went silent. She really wasn't used to taking a break it seemed. "Miranda shut your work mode off. I understand that you want to find this out but I want you to take a break from it. We all have been working hard and you were pushed hard today, take a breather." Her exhaustion was still showing on her face which meant it was likely Ty had worked her harder than she had ever been worked before.

Miranda sighed and the N7 saw the telltale sign that she was bothered by something, call it her superpower to know when someone needed help. "Talk to me Miranda, what's bothering you?"

"It's nothing Shepard." She deflected.

Little did she know deflecting only made her more persistent. "Come on Miranda, spill it."

The Cerberus Operative rubbed her hand across her face, "He pushed me to my limits, limits I didn't think I had and he didn't even go all out. I pushed myself harder than I ever have and not even the use of my biotic's got him to stay down. He just kept bouncing back no matter what I did and he'd come back stronger each time forcing me to fight harder."

It sounded like a bruised ego but in reality it wasn't. Miranda had been created to be perfect and had been pushed to meet ridiculous levels of approval. Since boarding the Normandy she was continuing to find out that despite her perfection there were people that had attributes stronger than hers, that even she had limits.

Ty had shown her that she had limits, that even with her perfect genes there was someone who could out fight and outlast her without pushing himself to his own limits. That didn't mean he hadn't pushed himself and Shepard believed Miranda was missing that point.

She turned in her seat to face her XO with the determination to get that point across, "Miranda, let me tell you something that I've learned from talking to him. Ty…he's different than all of us." Miranda quirked her eyebrow up in question, "He has been training since he was a child to fight and kill much like Thane but in a different type of fighting. Thane was taught to be an assassin but Ty was taught to be a protector. Ty and Z have been training for years against each other in full contact sparring, pushing each other harder until they have reached a level of skill that none of us knew was possible."

They had to do it, they were just children forced into a life that neither had aspirations for and after Ty killed for the first time he promised himself that he would become strong enough to protect people.

"None of us could achieve the level they are at unless we stopped everything we are doing and began training with a goal and will like Ty's to stop people from hurting others. I know you've done research on him and his brother, and probably his father, because I know I have. These guys are some of the strongest fighters in the galaxy and they've got the track record to prove it." Shepard explained.

A track record that was so long but so hidden that it was so hard to connect them to it at all, it was amazing how they could hide their tracks so well despite being infamous. Miranda nodded, she knew that they weren't in any realm of normal fighters as most of the people they fought were. "All your training Miranda makes you a huge asset to the team and I enjoy having you on the ship, but that sparring match you went into was a losing match from the start."

"I was able to beat him the first time we sparred." She responded slightly defensively.

Shepard smiled and shook her head, she really hadn't thought about the abilities Ty held going into the fight. "Miranda I don't doubt your skill in a fight at all and I know you did, but this time Ty was in his element. I know you were focused on fighting but if you ever look in his eyes even when they are fully purple you can see his mind working and predicting your next move, and since he knew some of your moves from the first fight…" She trailed off to let her XO pick up on what she was saying,

"There's no way he could remember all that." Miranda said in shock.

That was denial more than anything; she was really wondering how she had not considered that in the first place. "We give Ty a hard time about not being a smart tactician because of his bull headed ideas but let's face it Miranda, he's smart in a fight. And he certainly doesn't forget a good fight."

Realization set in finally, Miranda lowered her head and took on a defeated tone, "Damn it."

"Miranda you pushed him to go seventy-five percent, I'd call that an achievement. So what you couldn't beat him this time and you found out you had some sort of limit today. Who cares? No one is stuck at a certain limit of ability; we can all push past them as long as we work hard at it. All the training in the world couldn't prepare anyone for a one on one fight with Ty without that person training against someone of his skill level every day for hours at a time and for more than a few years."

Miranda let out a deep breath and nodded a little, "He has a lot of skill despite his tendency to do everything in his power to put himself in harm's way and get on my nerves."

Shepard smiled, "I think you're finally realizing you respect him."

"Don't push it, Shepard." She retorted with a smirk.

The N7 grabbed the data-pad and slid it back over to her, "Its late Miranda, you should get some rest as soon as you're done with this. I know you recover faster because of your genes but I'm asking you as a friend to rest your body and mind for a while."

"Meanwhile you're going to rack your brain about Ty's condition." Shepard smirked faintly to hide the shock that Miranda guessed one of the reasons she was still up, "Don't lie Shepard. I know that you're worried about it, we all were when he first got on the Normandy."

There wasn't much point in lying to Miranda; she was too smart for her own good sometimes. "Okay I was still worried about it until you told me that his condition was almost completely back to normal. I worry about my crew, it's the closest thing we all have to family way out here in the middle of space away from anything we have ever called home."

There was an amused look on the Cerberus Operative's face, "Don't tell me the Spacer is growing land sick."

Shepard chuckled, "No I enjoy the wide-open space, but when we're out here fighting for all the lives of the colonists and everyone else I keep my crew at the forefront of my mind. All those people counting on us can turn into a statistic or weigh you down, but if you look to the people you trust and love like family it will give you strength. Seeing someone in that family hurt makes me restless."

"And angry I bet if it is someone else who did it that is an enemy."

That was true; if Hock was still alive the N7 would be using him as an outlet for causing Ty to have to help them. "You have no idea how angry someone hurting my squad gets me." Shepard said growing slightly serious. Ty had his demon and that could surpass everyone in how angry he could get, yet Shepard liked to believe she was right there with him when someone hurt her friends.

Miranda smiled a little and looked over to her, "I can't imagine that you getting angry is much worse than your silent rage."

"My silent rage?" She had never heard it described in such a way.

"It's when your angry but you keep a calm composure on the outside and your tone becomes very stern and to the point. You're also slightly a bit more vindictive in your actions, but as I said you remain calm and don't really show anger." Miranda explained.

She knew her XO was right about her actions but it hardly happened and she could barely recall the last time it did happen, "Silent rage?" She questioned still surprised by the name.

The Cerberus Operative chuckled and dismissed the conversation with a wave of her hand, "Forget about it Shepard."

"So you call his brother yet?"

Miranda lowered her head in defeat as a sigh escaped her, "Not you too."

"I was just curious. His brother was quite a charmer and not that bad looking either." Shepard baited.

"Hands off of him, Shepard. If I get the chance I'm taking it." She responded sternly.

_Looks like someone does not like to share, _Shepard mused. "Wow Miranda, that was quite defensive of you. It makes me think that you are trying to ward me off."

"I don't share very well with others." Miranda glared.

"So you considered me a threat? I think I'll take that as a compliment." The glare remained making Shepard smile, "Don't worry, I was just checking to see if you were actually going to go for him."

The glare fell in shock first and then slight embarrassment at getting caught, "…Crap." Miranda said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I'm going to try and catch a few winks of sleep, you should do the same." Shepard dismissed herself with her mission complete and stood up to go back to her cabin.

"Fine…thanks for the talk Shepard."

"No problem, I'll see you in the morning Miranda." Shepard waved as she walked away.

The Next Day

There was a slight un-rhythmic beeping noise that was starting to become irritating to Ty, he could hardly even feel his body but the noise was there and it wouldn't stop. It was like an EKG machine but without the steady beat. Ty's sudden train of thought stopped as he processed his scenario. Was he strapped to a machine? What the hell had he done that ended him in such a predicament?

_This is becoming way too familiar. _

He remembered the fight with Miranda and winning, he remembered flying around Bekenstein helping out Shepard and Kasumi afterwards and he remembered the adrenaline shot before that, but did he get injured or something while on Bekenstein?

Mentally he shook his head at the thought. No, he didn't get blown up. He would remember something like that. Getting blown up tended to be permanent or at the least completely memorable so he didn't die or get shot down. The adrenaline shot was supposed to make him worse but he remembered feeling like he was drunk on Ryncol, or at least something close to it.

How was he even sure that was how being drunk on Ryncol felt? He had never tasted the drink, he only had it described to him and that was enough to ward him off even more than not drinking in general.

The former mercenary opened his eyes slowly trying to adjust to the bright light of what he had to assume was the Med-Bay, being able to assume that just showed him how much time he spent there. It was either that or he was passing into the spirit realm and thinking that wasn't quite assuring at all either.

He wasn't quite sure until he saw the Med-Bay window across from him leading out to the Mess Hall and Chakwas on her terminal. Ty took in his surroundings, everything looked the same which was a good start but he did notice a plastic pipe connected to a needle in his left arm that was feeding him something on.

His omni-tool was also flashing telling him someone was trying to reach him. Who would be trying to contact him? He reached his numb right arm over and tapped the button and answered in a hoarse voice, "Ow that hurt. What's up?"

Chakwas looked over to him and noticed his omni-tool lit up, "You getting your ass kicked?" Aria asked.

That was probably a safe assumption normally with how much he woke up in a Med-Bay.

"No, I think I was put under for a while and now everything hurts."

"You've had worse. You need to get your ass to Omega as soon as possible. There has been a sudden increase in known Blue Suns members from the Citadel and Omega grouping together, and that's not the worse part."

"I think we're a day out from Omega so I'll be there soon. How does it get worse?"

There was the faint voice of Murphy in the background relaying information on Blue Suns movements to Aria. More than a few hundred from the Citadel had gathered on Omega already and more reports were coming in constantly about more members coming.

"And we still don't know who it is yet?" The Pirate Queen asked towards Murphy. His reply was no but he was getting close to cracking the transmissions, "What the fuck? How is this bastard doing this?!" Aria took a deep breath and released it in an attempt to calm herself, "Fuck it. I'll kill them all the moment they cause a minor fucking disturbance. Spread the word, the moment any of the Blue Suns that we have marked make a disturbance, I don't care if it is fucking loitering or littering, I want their head on a platter and spaced off my station! Understood!"

There were affirmative shouts in the background, this was already shaping to be possibly the biggest attempt on his family's life and it was apparently going to get worse. "Where was I?" Aria questioned.

"You were telling me how much worse it was getting." Ty answered.

She let out a sigh of irritation due to not knowing who was doing this, "Your friend Aya and her daughter Iliana arrived on Omega recently and have been spending time in Ortega at the Clinic you held out at and protected…their names have come up in recent comm chatter and we believe they might be potential targets."

That was not good. Why were those two on the Omega? He had specifically gotten the two Asari's off of Omega for a reason, but they were there again._ Why would she go back,_ Ty questioned himself. "Why the fuck would she…fuck is her pimp still around? I can see him using the Suns to get her back, that slimy fucking shit." Ty began seething.

"Dead on Ty. He wants her back and his name has been coming up as well."

_You'd think breaking several of his guard's bones and threatening to stick his face into an incinerator would have kept him from being stupid._ "They touch her and I will make what I did to Scrum look like a mercy killing." He responded sternly but still in a hoarse drugged up voice.

"Recover from whatever you did and I'll make sure that the Suns know they are fucking with the wrong family and the wrong station. Those fuckers will pay."

"At this rate the Suns who actually have a brain will be in your pocket in no time." He commented offhandedly.

"If they have brains they'll be splattered on the walls soon enough. Rest up I'll see you soon."

"Later Aria."

Ty ended his call then opened up his messages checking for anything new but since there wasn't any he opened up a message and sent it to his brother which read,

_Z,_

_ The shit is hitting the fan on Omega by the sounds of it. All the mercs are gathering there and unfortunately for us Aya decided that now was a great time to visit again. She is likely a target as well as us. If you won't make it in time don't worry about it but I wouldn't mind having you with me when we put the final nail in their coffin. _

_ Stay safe, _

_ Ty. _

Ty laid his head back and closed his eyes not even wanting to get out of the bed due to how drugged up he felt. Well it was that and he needed to rest up so when they got to Omega he could be ready to take down the bastards targeting his friends and family. _Aya…what the hell happened? Why did you go back? You promised me you'd never go back_.

It had been two years since he last saw her and got her away from Omega, but it felt like longer with everything he had been doing in recent months. Two years since the biotic extremist threatened her life and Ty, his dad, and Z decided to pay them a visit on their space station with plans for redecoration. Upon their arrival they painted the walls with their blood.

In hindsight causing all the damage they did was a bad idea considering they ended up having to clean it all up.

_"How far will you go to save someone you consider an ally Ty? How long do you think you can keep it up? You aren't invincible; you know that and have gained the scars over the years to prove it. When will you say enough is enough and stop fighting?"_ The voice was like nails on a chalk board. It belonged to a person he once called friend and someone he once cared deeply for but in the end she turned her back on him the second she could make a profit from it.

She was an Asari mercenary that Ty wished he had hunted down and killed but had bigger problems and let her live on. She made him doubt himself and the voice of doubt had stuck with him since, but his response to that then was the same now_, "As long as there is breath in my body I will fight for anyone who I deem an ally or friend, to the death if I must."_

Aya had been a friend and he had willingly fought for her as he did all his friends, the two had basically grown up together on Omega from his age of thirteen and up. They remained close through the years, she was one of the first Asari he met and as soon as they first spoke words to one another they were friends. Neither had ever pushed their friendship in a bad direction or into anything more than just being two fun dorks they had been.

She was full of energy all the time, sometimes bouncing on the balls of her feet with anticipation or having ideas float in and out of her brain so quickly that by the time you went to comment on the first idea she was already onto the next or dragging you somewhere because she saw something interesting. She was an interesting person to say the least and he had a lot of fun hanging out with her.

It all changed when that backstabber gave the biotic extremist Aya's name instead of her own and they started threatening her, that caused the time for good times to end and it was all business for Ty from then until the biotic bastards were all dead.

Whatever became of the backstabber he didn't know, but if she had anything to do with what Aria had just spoke to him about then that meant was going to use it as a second chance to do something he didn't before: put a bullet in that bitch.

The warrior hoped she wasn't there just so it was whoever was trying to kill them, the Suns and Aya's old boss, but if she was she was not going to walk away with credits for betrayal again.

The Med-Bay doors opening brought him from his mind back to the room as he saw Miranda and Shepard walking in talking amongst themselves, "Using the Claymore is not more effective than a well-placed shot with a pistol." Miranda argued.

"Yeah after shooting through their shields then a pistol works, but using the Claymore takes their shields and their life. Not to mention if they just have armor or a barrier it's guaranteed I would have the kill first." Shepard responded.

Miranda looked offended at the notion that Shepard would be faster than her, "All I have to do is overload their shields and then shoot them, Shepard. You have to get up close and personal and hope they don't take your barrier down before you shoot, and then there is the fact you only get one shot before you have to reload."

"Not true, my Claymore has two shots and my barrier recharges the moment I biotic charge into my target. What is the chance you're going to miss after biotic charging in and being right in front of someone who is trying to recover from that? The answer is zero Miranda." The N7 retorted with a grin.

That put Shepard in the lead that was for sure and by the look on Miranda's face she knew it, but she wasn't going to give up that easily. "The time it takes you to gather the biotic energy to charge is long enough that I would already have their shields down and have them in my sights. I could throw a warp in and still get my shot off first before you even reached your target." She fired back, grabbing a data-pad off of Doctor Chakwas's desk.

"Going to have to call bull on that Miranda." Shepard stated, walking over to the machine next to Ty.

Maybe they were to focused on bantering with one another that they hadn't noticed Ty's puzzled expression or maybe they were just so used to him being asleep they didn't think he was up yet.

Only Chakwas noticed Ty's expression and gave a slight smirk and mouthed,_ "Soldiers. What can you do?"_

Ty smirked at her silent statement as the two women continued their banter. "Next time we're in a fire fight I'll prove you wrong."

"Oh is the perfect Miss Lawson challenging the one and only Commander Shepard?" Shepard asked as she looked away from the machine to meet the eyes of Miranda.

Miranda snorted, "Please I wouldn't call it as much of a challenge as I would a regular training exercise, but if that's what you want to call it maybe I need to re-determine your skill set."

"Oh the claws are out." The N7 chuckled.

_At least their banter is entertaining. _

"More a statement of fact." The XO countered.

_But I'm not going to let them win_. "Face it you two, I would have lodged someone's head with a tomahawk or blew their brains apart with my sniper by the time you even thought about doing any of that." His hoarse voice came out.

Miranda and Shepard both froze in place for a second then they looked at him. They both wore features of surprise to see his eyes open let alone making a comment, "How long have you been awake?" The Cerberus Operative questioned.

Chakwas cleared her throat gaining the pairs attention in the process; he was her patient after all. "Only a few minutes. He woke up according to my prediction but his omni-tool beeping is probably what stirred him awake."

"They been like this for long Chakwas or did…whatever happened to me change something?"

The pair looked insulted at his question but it only got worse, "I'm sorry to report Ty that they've been like this since I met them." The doctor jested with a cheeky grin.

"Ouch." The pair responded in unison.

Ty gave a small smirk and tried to get more comfortable without messing up the thing sticking out of his arm. The last thing he wanted was to have to get the needle stuck in again while he was awake.

Chakwas got up and walked over to where Shepard was to check the machines. She looked at them for a few moments then spoke "Well your system seems to be purged of whatever reaction you had. Your health looks almost perfect now."

"Almost?" Shepard queried.

The doctor nodded and turned to meet the hooded man's eyes, "Your system, as you have said, doesn't react well to medicinal drugs and it seems that adrenaline shot falls into that category. Your system had a mild to severe reaction to it."

"I thought we agreed I was going to have a reaction when I was given the shot? Was it worse than we thought?"

The last time had just rendered him unconscious and made him feel sick, but it was nothing worth noting. Chakwas nodded which wasn't comforting in the slightest. "Yes it was supposed to be worse, not almost deadly. You gave the whole crew quite a fright when you got back onto the Normandy. As soon as you landed you collapsed off your bike and you look liked you were dying in all honesty."

That was…surprising to say the least. "Grunt picked you up after I did what I could to make sure if there was any chance of you dying to delay it long enough to get you to the Med-Bay. He showed a great amount of care with your body and I was quite impressed by it. Samara and Thane did what they could to help me until Mordin was able to get down since my other assistant-" She motioned to Miranda, "Miss Lawson here happened to be unconscious due to your sparring match and was not much help at all in that state."

The whole group shared smiles and short chuckles at the quip, but then the doctor moved from the machine back to her seat where she continued, "Your stats were dropping and rising dramatically and you nearly flatlined, which isn't anywhere near what your reaction should have been. In fact you should have just been knocked unconscious instead of looking like death was going to take you. You're still slightly pale, but not as bad as you were then."

Miranda nodded in confirmation, "It's true, after I woke up and I saw you I thought you had lost a lot of blood because of how bad you looked."

Shepard gave a nod of agreement with a slightly concerned look on her face as she looked at him, "After that the crew remained in the Mess Hall until you were no longer in such a terrible state, most thought you were dying." She explained.

_Not just most, you thought I was dying_. "Jack managed to put her hatred aside for me to actually stay in the room long enough to talk to Chakwas about your condition." Miranda commented.

The worry of the crew wasn't completely shocking but it was humbling to know that he had made friends with them in such a short time. He was slightly worried about his health although Chakwas was assuring him he wasn't going to die, but the fact he looked like it and everyone thought he was didn't ease his mind at all. "So no drugs for me anymore huh?" He asked even though he knew the answer.

"Nailed it." Chakwas agreed with a small chuckle.

"But why is he almost at perfect health, Karin?" Shepard questioned.

"I was wondering the same thing." Miranda said.

The doctor leaned back in her chair as she pondered something, maybe how to explain so Ty would understand or maybe trying to get all the details right. "I'm not sure he isn't at perfect health, aside from his arm still recovering from the two dislocations due to him putting it back wrong and the injuries from the sparring. Yet some of my numbers aren't normal. I wish I knew what, if anything, was wrong, but I'm not sure because his systems from his nervous system to his immune system are not like anything I've ever seen."

"Immune system?" Ty quizzed. He knew his nervous system was crazy, but now his immune system too?

"Have you ever gotten sick aside from something like this?" Chakwas probed.

Ty contemplated on the question, thinking back to all his years growing up from living in shit holes on Omega where diseases flourished to Ka'Reena and the possibility of cross species sicknesses and then his more recent years he could remember. The most obvious was the adrenaline shot the first time, but he couldn't even remember sneezing from a flu let alone a cough or anything of the sort.

"Uh…no, not anything I can remember. I mean I've taken adrenaline before and was knocked unconscious but…no I can't think of anytime I had been sick."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Shepard asked.

She was just as confused as he was, how much crazier did his systems get? "His immune system is "wired" so well that I don't think he can get sick from any type of virus, human or alien. I think it's wired to resist sickness to a point that when he is given medicinal drugs or adrenaline, as we now have seen, his body reacts as if it is trying fight off a sickness."

That…explained a lot of medicinal drug reactions he had. "Like getting dizzy or fuzzy in the head." Ty deduced.

"Or feeling like you have Ryncol in your system." The N7 realized.

Chakwas nodded, "Exactly. For all I know he is at perfect health, but I can't be sure so I say almost just in case there is something wrong."

The former mercenary could tell Miranda was thinking hard on something based on her features being pulled into one of serious pensiveness, but Shepard beat him to the question, "What are you thinking Miranda?"

She remained quiet and shared a look with Ty that told him all he needed to know. "You think Cerberus had something to do with this, don't you?"

After a moment she nodded but he wasn't astonished by the fact, it made logical sense when he thought about it but the only off part that wasn't Cerberus was alien qualities. Asari? Drell? They wouldn't want to rely on other species abilities no matter how much it advanced humanity.

"Cerberus created him?" Shepard asked in a stunned tone.

The XO shook her head, "No, that doesn't make sense. No one Cerberus would see alien qualities as advancement no matter how much it helped. The immune system was an older Cerberus project that I only know of because when I joined I learned that my strong immune system was based off the project. The problem with what Ty had was the reactions to things like medicinal drugs exception of medi-gel. Dr. Vance had to be a former Cerberus scientist."

_As if he couldn't be any more of a shit._ Ty waved them off not wanting to get into the discussion on that bastard or the more complex part of his creation, "Whatever his origins are I really don't care. I was created with gifts and curses just like everyone else. As long as my systems are just really complex and I won't die randomly, I think I'm fine."

"I don't think there is much to worry about, but it is never bad to be cautious." Chakwas said.

The purple eyed warrior looked at the needle in his arm and watched whatever was being pumped into him go through the tube,_ I really hope that it isn't drugs, I already had one bad reaction the last thing I need is another._ "Those aren't drugs if that is what you are thinking." Miranda informed.

He nodded, "I was wondering what was in it, but good to know you aren't drugging me based on this discussion."

"That is to keep your body hydrated; the drugs you feel are from when we first sedated you. Normally I would be surprised that you are still feeling it, but with your immune system I guess it makes sense." The doctor said.

"Why didn't the cybernetics mess me up? I mean isn't it fused into my nervous system?"

"Very astute question, Ty." Miranda said sarcastically. The man rolled his eyes allowing her to continue "You are right about how I augmented your cybernetics, but if you recall you did have a reaction."

Shepard's face turned grim, "Horizon." Her voice was low and haunting.

"Bingo." The Cerberus Operative replied.

The black outs and the memory flashes, dropping off the radar like he was dead, yeah he remembered that now. It was a good thing that they fixed the problem when it occurred; still being zapped wasn't all that fun. "If we didn't treat you when you got back your nervous system would still be fighting against them. The 'shock therapy' as you put it was a way for us to quicken the pace of the cybernetics fusing with your system. I didn't understand it then why it was happening, but I theorized it was something to do with your make up. I think now we know."

"If it wasn't for Mordin's curiosity I don't think we would have stumbled on it." Chakwas agreed.

It made a lot of sense, but it was so much information that it was making Ty's head spin a little. It was either that or the effects of the drugs in his system were getting to him. Science wasn't something he ever could get his head around, he could understand space flight, mass effect cores and FTL, but ask him about the science of medicine and things got confusing for him. All he knew was apply medi-gel and get to a real doctor.

"I got a message from Aria." He changed the subject.

Shepard and Miranda both went into mission mode within seconds and it left him a bit off guard. He hadn't anticipated such a quick turn over and it didn't give him enough time to figure out how he was going to explain the situation.

"What about?" The Commander questioned.

_No sense skirting around the issue_, Ty sighed aloud. "…Someone is attempting to gather enough forces to kill my family. Don't know who the ring leader is, but the Suns and this asshole of a guy are a part of it for sure…the Suns are from the Citadel and are forming up with some of the Omega branch to target us and a friend of mine who decided to go to Omega at the wrong time. Aria and I are trying to counteract it before it gets out of hand but…this is the largest attempt yet."

He tried getting comfortable again but didn't succeed at it so he looked back to Shepard and Miranda and continued, "This mission that we are on is my prime focus and I'm not asking you to deviate from this mission for something else that came up from my past…but I can't leave this to Aria and my family to figure out and hope for the best. They all think I'm dead so I have an advantage I think plus Aria's backing."

Shepard looked at him thoughtfully and intensely, the look she gave him told him that she knew he had been holding onto to this information for some time. "The Blue Suns just don't learn when to quit do they?" Miranda asked rhetorically.

"Doesn't help that I targeted one section of them for year after year now." Ty responded.

"I guess you have a point."

"We'll see how you are feeling when we get to Omega and what information Aria has about this. I trust that she isn't setting you up?" The Commander queried.

Judging on how pissed she sounded this was definitely not a setup on her end, not that she would do that anyway. "We've been over this before Shepard, no she wouldn't do that. She is powerful and isn't known as the Pirate Queen of Omega for no reason, but I'm an ally and an asset to her. I get shit done and that puts me on her good side as it is, but she sees me as an ally which is as close as being called a friend you will ever get with Aria." He reiterated.

"I do work for her as long as it doesn't go against my morals and she knows not to push that boundary. I'm not stupid enough to cross her and she knows not to cross my family after everything she has seen us do. Everything I know about her organization my family knows so all it would take is one betrayal from her and she'd see hell break loose. We may not succeed but we'd stir up so much shit it would take centuries to rebuild it to what it is now."

It was a sad reality, but he knew when he first started working for Aria that if she ever did betray him he would need to know how to take her organization down or at least let his family know if he was dead. He knew now it wouldn't ever come to that, but that information was still in his hands and the Pirate Queen knew it.

Shepard inclined her head in understanding then Chakwas stood up, "Okay you two, he needs to rest so it's time for you to scurry off and go cause trouble somewhere else."

"We're a day out from Omega Ty, so if you plan on going you better rest up." Miranda told him.

"Later Miranda."

Miranda started walking out as Shepard spoke, "Rest up Ty."

"Wait a second Shepard." He needed to stop holding onto the information he still had.

Miranda was already out the door as Shepard stopped and looked back at him, "What's going on?"

"My friend that is in danger…about two years ago a backstabber that I thought I could trust sold her out to those biotic extremist that you heard my brother tell the story about. My friend, Aya, she has a daughter and she's with her right now, the Sun's aren't above going after them to get to my family."

Shepard walked back to his right side, "Is she your daughter?"

Ty wasn't shocked by the question, he was more shocked that he had gotten lucky thus far without an Asari using him as a father of their child without him knowing, if that was possible. He was also shocked no human had gotten knocked up with his child, but he hoped his luck would continue. Being a father wasn't something he wasn't ready for.

The former mercenary shook his head because Aya's daughter had been there when he met her, "No not mine. I actually never did anything sexual with Aya. We were just friends. I don't want to divert from our mission, but if anything happens to those two or my family I might rip apart Omega to find the people who did it."

Might? Who was he trying to kid, there wasn't a sliver of doubt in his mind that he would tear apart Omega. "Then you need to get back to one hundred percent, I'll do what I can to help you Ty. Our mission is important, but if what you are saying actually goes through before you and Aria can stop it I know the whole squad would be willing to help you."

"I hope it doesn't come to that, but thank you regardless. You've been a great friend Shepard."

Shepard raised an eyebrow with a teasing smile pulling onto her face, "Just a friend?"

He let his lip quirk up in a smirk and shook his head, "I was talking from a squad member to squad leader point of view, but you've been more than a good friend to me so thank you in that aspect as well. I'd go into big details but on the off chance someone besides Joker and EDI are eavesdropping, I'll let you think about everything we've talked about."

The N7 smiled and ran her hand down Ty's right bicep tenderly, "Get better Ty and I'll see you later."

"I hope so." Ty smiled and laid his head back.


	73. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Something Bad Going On

"This isn't a good idea." Shepard said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. It probably wasn't but that didn't stop the instigators–Ty, Garrus, and Jack–from trying to get it to happen. The tattooed biotic smirked at the N7's response, "Come on Shepard, we've got thirty minutes before we reach Omega and this wasn't my idea, it was his." She pointed at Garrus who had his feet up on the Mess Hall main table.

"Yeah Shepard, it was Garrus's idea. It can't be worse than any idea I've come up with." Ty agreed. The former mercenary was sitting down next to the Turian with their backs to the Med-Bay. The Commander was standing to Garrus's right in the center of the room and Jack was sitting at the un-occupied counter top where Gardner usually was but was absent at the moment.

The whole Mess Hall was occupied by the squad and the usual Cerberus occupants decided it would be best to give them some space. Grunt was standing behind Ty pacing a little while Samara sat crossed legged on the table on Ty's left and Thane occupied the chair to her left.

The Justicar appeared as serene as ever despite the vocal debate in the Mess Hall while Thane looked thoughtfully at Shepard and the instigators as they tried to convince her of their idea. They were sort of the mother and father of the squad in the sense that their age and wisdom was keeping the instigators in line while they debated their points.

Miranda was sitting in the chair next to the assassin reading a data-pad but still listening intently to the goings of the group. She definitely looked curious to see how things would turn out, would Shepard cave to the whims of the instigators or would she stand firm and say no?

Kasumi was a bit sporadic either sitting next to Jack on the counter or leaning against a wall near Jacob or just pacing a little. Tali was leaning on the wall to the former mercenary's left while Jacob was leaning on the same wall but on Thane's right. They all had smirks on their faces, or in Tali's case behind her mask and in her body movements as they watched the debate.

So far it seemed to be going in the instigators favor, but it _was_ three on one so maybe there was strength in numbers. Mordin stood behind Garrus thinking hard on the subject at hand obviously assessing variables if the instigators would win to figure out in the end how he would be the one to win.

It was weird having the whole squad meeting in the same room at the same time, with the exception of Zaeed who they had yet to recruit but were about to when they reached Omega.

The old man was meeting them at the docking bay the Normandy had and seemed eager to get to work. With all the Blue Suns over Omega and hearing news that the Normandy and Ty's family were about to kick some Blue Sun ass he couldn't wait to join on if it meant knocking the Suns down a peg.

The discussion at hand was based on getting everything that needed to be done on Omega from Samara's personal mission to restocking supplies done. There were two things that Shepard thought were bad ideas, the first being letting the whole squad off the ship with assignments for things that needed to be restocked.

She thought it was a bad idea because of the problems the squad could get into, specifically Ty, Garrus, Grunt and Jack. Trying to place everyone in groups of two or more with someone to keep the troublemakers in check was something that the woman was trying to figure out.

The other part of the conversation that Shepard thought was a bad idea was Garrus's insistence on a rematch of Skyllian Five but including everyone present. He was apparently sore about losing at the last second to Ty the last time they had played and wanted a chance at redemption. Ty on the other hand was instigating the rematch to take more credits from Garrus while Jack in the same mind set was hoping to take credits from everyone, but more specifically Miranda.

"Garrus I'm not sure everyone here knows how to play or wants to play Skyllian Five." Shepard attempted to argue against the rematch.

The warrior just couldn't let such a lame argument fly, "Let's take a vote then."

She looked at him with a surprised but disappointed look; he was not helping her out that much in this debate. "_Ty_." She scolded.

He shrugged with a smile, "What? I don't mind taking creds off of scarface here." He pointed at Garrus.

The Turian stared at him with a look of disbelief, "Oh is that what you were doing when I kicked your ass the whole round and then you were granted a miracle? I swore that you had lost to me more times than I have fingers to count on."

That was a low blow but also true, he had been granted a miracle and left shortly after that miracle knowing full well it would only get worse. The losing more than he had fingers to count on was a bit of an exaggeration; he did have six fingers after all. "Hold it you two, let's figure out if we are actually going to play or not before you both try to prove who has the bigger dick. Shepard, let's do a vote." Jack stated instead of asked.

The N7 let out a big sigh, the sigh of defeat as the instigators called it. "All in favor of playing Skyllian Five raise your hand?" To Shepard's and Ty's surprise everyone's hand, including Thane and Samara's, went up. Maybe after watching the debate for so long they decided it was best to keep with the majority. "You have got to be kidding me." She muttered in disbelief.

"Damn, I thought you two would have been with Shepard." The psychotic biotic said, pointing at Samara and Thane.

"I learned a thing or two about the game in my youth and I believe I was very good at it for a time. I may be a bit rusty." Samara responded.

It was either a giant bluff that would make them believe she would be an easy target or she was serious. Based on the fact that Samara had traveled alone for so long and her code probably kept her from engaging it normally Ty was willing to bet she was being truthful. It was probably only because Shepard was okay with it that she was allowing herself to do it, she _was_ bound to her after all. "I concur." Thane said.

Shepard ran a hand through her long black hair as she looked to Miranda, "Miranda I suspected at least you to stay out of it. I was hoping for some support here."

"I can take credits from the Cheerleader? Hell yeah, now I'm definitely in."

Miranda just offered Shepard a non-committal shrug, "I've got nothing better to do."

"Hmm, may have calculated my chances higher than I should have. Wait no! Personal feuds increase singular success. My calculations are correct, have good chance, have good chance." Mordin reassured himself. The plan had come through and the three instigators smirked separately to themselves, now it was just getting set up.

"This may be the biggest Skyllian Five match I've ever helped instigate. Grunt you want to arm-wrestle the winner?" Ty asked.

Before Grunt could respond the whole squad, in unison, yelled a shocked, "No!"

Grunt huffed in response, "Spoilsports."

The purple eyed warrior chuckled at the response from the squad then looked over his shoulder at the Krogan, "I've done it before so after the game and after we're done on Omega we'll give it a go."

Grunt grinned, "That's why I like you Ty. You'd challenge a Nathak on your own with your bare hands."

He could only smirk at the comment. Although he had had some bad ideas in the past, a lot of bad ideas if he was honest, taking on a Nathak with nothing but his bare hands wasn't one Ty was up for. It would be similar to trying to take on a Varren without any weapons and so far he had only seen Grunt do that.

"Fine, we'll play one round so I can think about how to group you all on Omega. Those standing grab some chairs." Shepard motioned for everyone standing to start moving. As the movement started the N7 stopped herself and turned to their resident thief, "And Kasumi, no stealing credits."

"Come on Shep, I'm not going to steal from the crew. No one here has a big enough bank account for someone like me…well except Ty."

"Considering you're a kleptomaniac, saying that you aren't going to steal because there isn't a lot of money in it isn't reassuring." Ty pointed out.

Kasumi mocked being appalled by the thought, "You harm me Ty."

"_Kasumi_." He chided.

"Fine, but considering everyone here either is a trained killer or someone I don't want to piss off for the fear that they might come up with some creative way to try and kill me, I have all the reason not to steal any credits." Kasumi countered without missing a beat.

That…was a really good point. "Touché Kasumi touché."

* * *

_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea_, Ty thought as he looked across the table at everyone. Things had gotten a little out of hand and they were now in the third round of the game and everyone was still in. They were spread out enough that no one could see each other's hands but they were all gathered around the table. Grunt was on Ty's left and Garrus on his right, from Grunt it went Tali, Mordin, Jack, Kasumi who had coincidentally sat next to Jacob who was followed by Thane, Miranda, Samara, Shepard and then Garrus.

To say the game was intense was an understatement. Each round seemed like you could cut the tension with a knife but not in a bad way, it was all in good fun and each person had lost and won something at one point or another.

Everyone at the table knew how to play and each were good. Ty was actually surprised by how good Miranda, Mordin, Samara and Thane were, but he was too focused on trying to win to really think about it. In the end Samara had succeeded in bluffing that she was rusty considering she won the first hand.

So far he hadn't got his miracle hand from the last time and it didn't look like this hand was going to end that way either. His bad luck wasn't that much of a surprise but he was hoping his luck from the last time would have carried over.

Currently he had a two pair of ones and he was almost positive that wasn't going to get any better since the only other cards on the table were a three and a five. But if he was lucky enough to get a two and a four he might have a better hand, that was if the others already didn't have better hands. The bets were still low and the pot was only at one thousand for the moment.

Miranda was up next as she raised a hundred moving it over to Samara. The purple eyed warrior was sure that they were almost at Omega but he wasn't sure how close. He hadn't heard from Aria again but he did hear from his brother through a few messages they traded before the poker game. He was going to meet him at Omega with Haley to put her training to the test while Darian trained Jessica more, or in his words, _"Stop getting my ass kicked for a day to see if all of the training works in a real combat situation while Darian trains his girlfriend."_

Shepard called the new bet of 500 that Samara had raised and Garrus followed suit. Ty looked at his crappy cards and decided just to wait it out so he called. Maybe there would be another miracle waiting for him.

As he sat forward to place his bet he felt a tinge of pain that erupted for a moment in the back of his head but then receded back to a slight headache. His arm froze as the pain erupted and he flinched slightly but finished his bet.

It wasn't a good sign; the last time that had happened had been…Ty shook his head trying to get the thought from his head, "Questioning your bet Ty?" Garrus taunted.

The former mercenary leaned back in his chair and brought his hand up to the side of his head to rub his temple in a circle formation as he closed his eyes. Something was wrong, something was very wrong and he couldn't shake the pain or the feeling of his stomach twisting knowing that something bad was about to happen.

* * *

Shepard had a two and a four and on the table was a three and a five. All she needed was a one and she'd have the game firmly in her grasps. Although she had her game face on she couldn't stop glancing at Ty. He was rubbing his temple with his eyes closed and when he went to call she saw pain etched in his face for a second.

She had seen the same type of pain before when Kaiden would get migraines or when she'd get her own before they stopped recently without medication. She didn't know of any time Ty got headaches and based on their last conversation with Chakwas he probably never had them normally.

The randomness of the event slightly worried her. Why would he suddenly be in pain? The Commander glanced at the table seeing where the betting was at. Tali was placing her bet by calling what Samara had started and she couldn't help but smile at seeing the whole squad together. All of the people she trusted and considered friends all in the same room playing a game she wasn't too keen on playing a while ago but was happy to have been convinced otherwise.

It had been a good idea.

A sudden flash caught Shepard's eye making her break from her thoughts to look at Ty. His veins looked to be spazzing out turning bluer then returning to normal then repeating. His face was etched with severe agony, his teeth were gritted and instead of rubbing his temple he was grabbing the sides of his head as hard as he could with both of his hands.

His breathing looked strained like he couldn't catch his breath, like he had back on the shuttle when his lung was collapsed. "Ty?" Shepard questioned.

"Fucking Batarian bastards!" Ty seethed through his grit teeth.

"Oh shit. EDI get Chakwas out here now!" Kasumi panicked.

The lithe thief jolted out of her chair and jumped on the table before running across and sliding down at the end landing right in front of the hooded warrior. "Ty don't make me come into that head of yours again! Get out of there!" The thief yelled trying not to touch him but clearly wanting to shake him out of whatever he was in.

"I can't." Ty ground out through grit teeth.

"What the fuck is going on?" Jack asked with shock in her voice.

The whole table was now moving trying to figure out how to help and figure out what was wrong. Garrus was up and out of the way but still in a close enough distance to make sure if something bad happened he could reach Ty. Shepard couldn't blame his caution after the night when her love interest had started losing control completely, but she was worried and confused at the situation.

"Kasumi what the hell is going on?" Miranda probed while rounding the table.

"Something bad. Something really, really bad. I've seen this happen before he's either in a really dark place or someone he fused minds with is in a severe amount of pain."

The Cerberus Operative reached out to shake the man but Kasumi grabbed her wrist with lightning speed, "Don't touch him or you'll get sucked in." She warned.

"What?"_ Sucked in? Oh shit._

"I think I may be of help here." Samara's serene voice came as it always did.

"As do I." Thane followed.

"Okay what the **FUCK **is going on!" Jack yelled.

Shepard was standing at Miranda's side watching as Ty's hands pressed hard against his head and the pain in his face seemed to get worse and worse. "Something bad is happening either out there." Kasumi pointed behind her indicating outside in general, "Or in there." She pointed at Ty's head.

"That's pretty fucking vague." The tattooed biotic growled.

Kasumi shook her head in irritation, "I don't know what is wrong, okay! All I know is the last time this happened he came out of it completely pissed off wanting to kill someone who I had never heard of. The last time this happened I touched him and I saw some of his worst moments in his life, moments that have scarred him forever like losing his friends and killing for the first time."

"And why can't we touch him?" Miranda questioned.

"I believe I may be able to explain that." Samara started. Shepard and Miranda nodded to her telling her to continue, "He has some type of Asari physiology in him, which is why he can join his mind with others. But with his it requires physical contact as some of you know. If I am judging what Kasumi is saying correctly then his mind is in a state where a joining can be done without him wanting to."

"Get away from her Scrum!" Ty seethed.

_Haley_, The Commander thought with a shake of her head. This wasn't good, not in the slightest. "Why isn't he responsive though?"

"Let's see, severe pain in his head and stuck in a memory his own painful memory or someone else's." Kasumi responded sarcastically.

_Someone else's? How would he be reliving someone else's memory without physical connection_? Shepard thought but then felt a sudden dread. He could feel the feelings of the people he joined minds with and if he was in pain then that meant someone he joined minds with was in pain. _And since none of us here are in pain that means…Z…Shit_.

Chakwas came walking out of the Med-Bay as Thane spoke up, "This is similar to Drell physiology. When one recollects a memory, they are there in the moment and have trouble grasping at the real world while in the memory. We know it is a memory, but we are there mentally and in spirit so the memory is as real and valid as life."

_Damn that Dr. Vance asshole for making Ty have problems like this_, Shepard cursed. His eyes were flashing now but when they were normal they were blood shot, "What is going on?" Chakwas asked.

Kasumi looked to the N7 trading a worried look with her. After a brief moment she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Sorry Ty, but I'm coming in that damn mind of yours whether you like it or not."

"Kasumi wait!" Miranda attempted to stop her but Kasumi already made contact and her eyes glazed over. "Get her hand off of him."

Samara snatched up Miranda's arm this time and spoke in a stern tone, "You cannot force a break in the joining. It could cause problems to both Ty and Kasumi."

"Shepard, things seem to be getting tense. Maybe shore leave would do the crew some good." Garrus whispered to Shepard.

She nodded in agreement. Everyone had been cooped up so long and with all the daily impossible odds that Shepard provided through missions and things the crew did themselves they were in need of a break. The Citadel would be a good place for that and they'd be heading that direction after Omega if nothing important came up, "Yeah. Think you can keep watch on our two resident troublemakers." Shepard whispered back.

"Easy enough, but if Ty's up to it he'll probably bring them to some fights which will let them blow off some pent up aggression." Her friend murmured.

"Good plan." All that required was for Ty to come out unscathed and still himself from whatever this instance was.

Seconds Before

Kasumi didn't like the idea, but it was coming to the point where Ty was only going to hurt himself if no one got in his head and got him out. She had traveled the path before on accident but she knew what dangers were awaiting her this time; the thief just wasn't keen on going in that death trap again.

Maybe it wasn't a memory tormenting him or multiple memories, but if that's what it was things were going to go haywire and Ty's anger may get a foothold on him again. With that thought in mind Kasumi looked to Shepard who had her stone exterior on but seeing through that she was confused and worried about the hooded man. Hell, the whole damn crew was worried and confused about him and she was the only expert on his mind with the exception of the N7.

Shepard and Ty had something good forming between them and in truth if it wasn't for her great friendship with the man in front of her and her relationship at the time with Keiji, she may have actually liked to see where things could have gone between them. Now though that wasn't going to happen ever and in a way that made her happy.

Their friendship was more fun anyways.

With that thought cast aside she was brought back to her current dilemma. Ty needed to get out of wherever he was stuck right now or else Shepard's stone exterior might crack and their little secret that she was helping them keep would be out. _What is wrong with me,_ Kasumi groaned internally. "Sorry Ty, but I'm coming into that damn mind of yours whether you like it or not."

As her gloved hand touched Ty's bicep everything went black and then suddenly she was in a Zen garden. _This place is new_. Chimes in the background went off in a nice melodic tune, "Ty I know you're in here so where are you!" Kasumi shouted as she walked along a path through some cherry blossoms.

The place was so peaceful and everything seemed so real that the thief was continually reminding herself that it was his mind. _Where is he? It's not like he can hide in here and not hear me._ Kasumi got off the path and headed to the building that was nearby,_ he must have put a lot of thought into this and the attention to detail is astounding._ _I wish I could steal this for myself._

She walked up the stairs to the building but as she reached the top she heard a banging noise coming from behind the door in front of her. So far things had gone a whole lot better than last time, last time she was sucked right into Ty's memory of losing his friends which then changed to his first kill and then later switched to holding Ka'Reena's corpse in his arms.

Being forced to watch Ty from the sidelines unable to speak or help him inflicted nightmares on Kasumi for a few days after. Their friendship had changed a lot that day because he had never spoken to her of all the details of his life. He was so secretive about it all, but to find out his deepest darkest memories on accident and suffer there with him changed them both.

They had a sit down a few days later and he discussed the things she saw. It was painful to watch him reiterate three of the events in his life that had scarred him, but Kasumi had found afterwards that their friendship had grown stronger and Ty was a bit friendlier, happier even.

Things were going better this time around, but the banging noise behind the door was not settling. _I hope that isn't a thresher maw or something, please be something nice that doesn't want to kill me_. There were gunshots that suddenly came from behind it and the screams of a Batarian echoed afterwards. _Yeah definitely not good._

When she was about to reach the door it came flying open and a blood soaked Ty came walking out with a purpose before he turned around and slammed the door shut.

Ty began trying to wipe the blood off of himself while mumbling curses about Scrum, "Wow." Kasumi said out loud in shock at his appearance.

Ty looked up at her, "I don't want to talk about it." Whatever he had went through looked like it had been hell. Kasumi nodded slightly dropping her original question.

Quite frankly she really didn't want to know why he was covered in blood. "Sorry for barging in like this but in the real world you're in a huge amount of pain and everyone is trying to figure out what the hell is going on. You're holding your head and your veins and eyes are changing and returning to normal repeatedly." Kasumi explained.

"You're lucky I heard you or you would have been sucked into that fucking hell I just went through. I was able to block your mind from it." Kasumi inclined her head in thanks. The former mercenary was silent for almost thirty seconds staring at his blood soaked arms before speaking up again, "We gotta get to Omega soon or my brother and Haley are going to die along with Aya and her daughter."

Before the thief could even voice her question the connection faded and she was back in the real world with her hand on Ty's bicep trying to not topple over from light headedness. "Ughhh I hate this part." Kasumi groaned and started to wobble side to side. As her vision blurred slightly she saw Chakwas walk to her side and felt her start to lay her down, "Ty you owe me a big heist now." Kasumi managed to get out before she passed out.


	74. Chapter 73

Chapter 73

The Ghost of Omega

"Aria." Z greeted.

Aria glanced up from looking over the shoulder of Murphy and gave a small nod before focusing back on what she was looking at. They were meeting at one of her command centers away from Afterlife where her tactician had all his technology. As far as Z knew he was likely the only one besides Aria and Ty that had seen this place.

"They're mobilizing boss. Ortega is going to be hit in the next hour." Murphy stated.

The Pirate Queen shook her head in disbelief and motioned the elder brother over with her hand, "Get Gavorn, Grizz and Anto to get their squads ready. When the Suns strike I want our strike force ready to blow them to kingdom come. Get all of our camera feeds up in Ortega, I want to know exactly when they start moving."

Things definitely weren't looking in their favor but he was ready for whatever was coming. No one would target his family or friends and live to see the end of the day. By the look on Aria's face as he approached she was in the same mindset. "Things sound like they keep getting worse." He spoke.

She nodded, "Yeah. You being here is the best news we've gotten so far. What's your plan?"

The plan was to get Aya and Iliana as far away from Omega as soon as possible, but the finer details of that plan were up in the air. Z knew it wasn't going to be easy tearing Aya away from Ortega, she would want to catch up and reminisce over old memories and if Murphy was right they didn't have that kind of time.

His biggest issue was that he couldn't just go straight in and say '_hey you're in danger we have to go_' because Iliana was there. Even though she was in her fifty's, she was kept in the dark on everything dangerous that had ever been involved in their lives.

Even when the biotic extremist had been threatening Aya's life Iliana was kept in the dark and never knew. That complicated matters if he was to evacuate them, he was going to have one chance at doing it gently and after that he was going to have to be serious. "Originally it was to escort Aya and Iliana out without so much as a peep, but that plan is pretty much shit now if I have an hour." Z rubbed the back of his head, "How big of a group are we talking here?"

"At least two hundred strong. We have reports of an YMIR mech and a gunship somewhere on standby." Aria answered.

That was worse than he had hoped but way better than he had feared. The warrior had been thinking it was going to be at least five hundred mercenaries plus gunships and mechs. Going up against two hundred mercs weren't great odds even with him and Haley being there, but he had taken on worse odds on his own. They'd make it work; they had no choice in the matter. "What is your plan?" He asked in return.

If she had a better plan then his he would be open to it, it was her station so she had the home field advantage here. Aria motioned Z over to where there was a layout of Ortega district via hologram, She pointed to a specific building, "That's the clinic your friend Aya has been spending her time at. If that's where they strike we'll have our squads move into position here, here and here." The leader of Omega pointed to three separate buildings.

The locations of the buildings would catch the Suns in an elaborate crossfire and by the looks of the rest of the district they could set it up just about anywhere. "You'll be able to do that at any point in the district." He inclined his head in acknowledgement of the good plan.

"The moment they decide to show any type of aggression against Ortega district or you and your friends, my teams will move into position and unleash hell. If you can get them out before that I would be thankful. Ortega still hasn't recovered since the last time the Suns and Ty tore it apart. If not then they'll find out who they're fucking with."

Z nodded, it was mostly a good plan if you took out the fact that two hundred mercenaries were about to try and tear down a district and the plan was to wait until they struck to tear it down anyway. There weren't many options and it was essentially Aria's call on that plan since it was her station. "I should get going then and try to avoid getting caught by them."

"Good idea. Try not to get yourself killed. I'd rather not have Ty rip apart the district himself." Aria said dismissing Z as she turned around.

_It isn't me you should worry about dying. Those Suns are going to die painfully the moment Aya and Iliana are safe_, Z thought as he walked out. He walked down the stairs and found Haley waiting for him just outside the building. The young biotic was eager to come and help, but not entirely eager about being left alone at the docking bay on Omega. He couldn't blame her for that and had let her tag along to where Aria told him to meet but didn't follow him in since Aria asked him to meet alone.

The green eyed warrior was wearing the same outfit as he had back on Illium, which was a black wifebeater and black jean shorts along with a pair of black shoes with white trim and fingerless black gloves. What most didn't know about his clothes was that he had them customized so they were padded with armor much like his brothers old gear.

He had his Carnifex hand cannon, his black with green trim Avenger assault rifle and finally his katana with its black and purple hilt and black and green fringe hanging off of it strapped to his back.

As Z approached Haley he took in how she looked. She was definitely more confident than she had ever been. She looked tougher and by the look some civilians had given them on the way here she had a look that spelt 'don't fuck with me.'

Though the brothers had a rule that neither broke about not sleeping with someone who the other had slept with, he couldn't help but admire his brothers last girlfriend. From her green-brown eyes to her nicely shaped lips that now had a scar going through them on the right side from Illium and her long beautiful black hair, Haley was gorgeous.

She was the same height as her sister being 5'1 and her body was in better shape than when they found her on Illium. Her muscles were better toned due to the training regimen Z, Darian and Mr. Rhoddy had been putting her through.

The young biotic was definitely as tough as she now looked, but she was still the nice woman she always was. She hadn't become arrogant or formed some type of tough woman exterior so that was a positive. It was quite the shame that Ty had found her first, Z wasn't jealous but he applauded his brother's choice in women.

Usually when Haley was not training and just wandering their home or going out to places like the Citadel or Illium to take a breather she wore many different outfits, but it was usually the fuchsia low cut shirt that showed her mid-drift and the tattoo she had of a red sun that out lined her navel. For her lower half she wore a black skirt and a pair black flat shoes that went up a little higher than her ankle. She had her right eyebrow piercing back in again where she had it ripped out by the Suns.

Her attire was different now though and this new attire was what she trained in and what was probably going to become her battle clothes. The elder brother had a long talk with Jessica and Haley about armor, shields and barriers. He explained to them why he and his dad wore the type of clothing armor they did and why Ty did in the past before he just started wearing regular clothes.

It helped with flexibility and allowed them to move freely easier while not weighing them down at all, it would stop most rounds from penetrating exception of shotguns, strong assault rifles and most snipers, but to wear regular armor impaired their movements.

He gave them the choice of what kind of armor they'd want whether traditional or the Rhoddy variant. They both tried out traditional light armor and then they tried out a pair of clothing armor that Z had went out and bought just to give them options. In the end they both choose the clothing armor with shields in Jessica's case and a barrier in Haley's.

Now the young biotic wore a fuchsia V-neck that was originally short sleeved but now was sleeveless because of Haley cutting the sleeves off. Though it wasn't armor she had started wearing a skin tight mesh armband that went up her right arm, across the top of her chest, over the back of her shoulders and hung half way down her left shoulder.

It was an odd addition in Z's opinion, but Jessica had said that she used to wear them before Ty and during her time with him once in a while so he let it go with a nod. Sometimes it was better to just act like you understood instead of actually getting it explained in detail.

Haley had on black jeans that were also padded with armor but allowed her to still be flexible and then her regular shoes. Besides her biotic's she carried a heavy Predator pistol that the green eyed warrior had taught her to mod. Now she could use cryogenic rounds while it also had an extended clip and scope.

She had proven to be more than a capable biotic learning quickly and mastering many moves, her determination to constantly push herself was impressive. It was something Z had not expected from someone who hadn't fought all their life or for even a short amount of time, but she was determined to become a very good biotic and she surpassed that. Currently she was almost as strong as Darian with less stamina which was something they were still working on.

Z slowed to a stop next to her, "Any issues?"

She shook her head, "Nope. What about you? Any severely bad news from Aria?"

"Nothing I didn't expect. Apparently Aya and her daughter are still in Ortega. Two hundred Blue Suns are going to mobilize against the district and they have a mech and a gunship." He explained.

Haley chuckled, "Worst case scenarios just seem to be the highest possibility with you guys. So what we are doing until Ty gets here?"

They were going to act but how was still up in the air. "They're probably thirty minutes out still so usually I'd say wait for him, but since the Suns might act within the next hour I'm thinking we should get Aya out as soon as possible."

"Get her to somewhere we know is safe and then when Ty gets here take on the Suns?"

He gave a nod of agreement, "Yup, that about sums up my plan."

Haley inclined her head in understanding. It was a simple plan so there wasn't much that could go wrong exception of the Suns going early or Aya not listening to the urgency of the situation. "Where do we start looking?"

"Last known area they were staying at was in the Ortega district at some apartment, but she visits the clinic there. I say we take a stroll there and see what we find."

"Sounds good to me. I'll follow you." The young biotic motioned for him to lead with a dip of her head.

"You just want to stare at my ass." Z said sarcastically.

"You wish. Besides I said I'll follow you, I never said I'd be behind you." She retorted. Z gestured with his head to follow him and they started walking side by side towards the Ortega district. It was only down through the Markets and down to the next district, not too far of a walk from where they were.

As they walked the elder brother watched all the movements around him from every person. It was Aria's rock, but the Blue Suns were on it and they weren't exactly idiots. A Rhoddy's presence in any criminally owned place didn't go unwatched; they probably had caught wind of his presence as soon as he started walking around the rock. _They're probably beginning to mobilize because I am here, _he thought, _just have to move quickly and we'll be okay._

Z actually didn't really enjoy Omega that much. His brother had called the shithole home in his times away from family but he didn't understand it. He wasn't sure why Ty of all people would live on a place full of so many bad memories of his own. There probably wasn't a corner his brother hadn't fought on or saw someone die on_. And any time he passed the area Ka'Reena died at he would have to remember that and all the pain and sadness it brought_.

Ty was given a nice place to live but he let people believe he lived there when in actuality he lived in a shithole apartment across from it that no one knew about that had a sight on the nice apartment. Z had seen many shitholes and lived in a few to stay off the radar a few times, but to subject yourself to this place for so long?

He just didn't understand that.

Maybe his brother figured he could make a difference in some people's lives for a little while or maybe it put him right under the noses of his enemies and he just had to walk outside to find someone who needed to die for something. Maybe that's why he stayed, to try and bring some kind of law and order to this place even if it was hopeless cause.

"Haley, you grew up on Freedoms Progress right?" He asked.

"Yep, spent my childhood and most of my teenage years there. How come?"

"I'm just trying to figure out why Ty would stay in this shithole."

Haley looked at him thoughtfully, thinking over the question he himself was considering. "I often wondered the same thing. It's not like you three don't have a lot of credits, but I never asked. Didn't think it was my place."

"Yeah I guess. But I mean he has seen so much bad happen here and he never just moved away and came back when Aria needed him."

Z wasn't one to question his brother's decisions, but living here on a rock that had only ever brought him pain just didn't make sense to him. "Maybe he thought he could make a difference for those who needed it, that would be my guess." The young biotic offered.

"Yeah, maybe."

They passed through the markets and headed down the street towards the Ortega district. People mostly ignored the pair but Z kept his eyes on every person whether they were Asari, human, Turian, Batarian–it didn't matter how many eyes or if they had blue skin or spikes on the back of their heads, he was watching them all carefully. There were a few Bloodpack Vorcha and Krogan's and a few Eclipse mercs, but there hadn't been sight of any Blue Sun in the crowds…yet.

_You'd think with two hundred extra Blue Suns you'd see at least one in the streets._ "Was Aya's father a Salarian?" Haley asked suddenly.

The warrior shook his head getting out of his thoughts at the strange question. That was definitely a weird start to a conversation. "What?"

She shrugged with a pensive look on her face, "Well she's just so…hyper I guess would be the word. It's like she has some Salarian traits you know, talks fast, moves fast…dances slow." She scratched her head as she thought hard on the aspects of the Asari.

_Yeah she does talk fast and her hand gestures can be very flippan-…wait dances slow?_ "Whoa whoa whoa, dances slow? How would you know that?"

A deep red began to form on his partners face as she averted her gaze, "Uhhh well…like I was saying she has some Salarian traits you know, so I was just wondering if she had a Salarian father." She tried to redirect the conversation but her blush was turning a deeper shade of red from embarrassment.

There was no way Z was going to let that go without a smart ass comment, "You were treated to seeing the Rose of Omega, didn't you?" He queried with a huge grin.

She attempted to deflect until she finally let out a sigh, "Shut up. It was a long time ago."

"What like three years ago?" He pushed further with a laugh starting to come on.

"No!" Haley yelled in embarrassment.

Oh this was just too good to pass up; ammo for the sarcasm cannon was something you never let pass. "Soooo, when did you go in?" His laughter began taking over a bit more.

"This conversation is over."

_Well she can throw me with biotic's so maybe it'd be best to drop it._ Being tossed around wasn't fun and Haley probably wouldn't hold back too much right now. "Fine you prude."

"I am not a prude." Haley retorted defensively.

Z shrugged, "I don't know, prudes like to say they aren't prudes."

Haley chuckled, "So this is where Ty got it from."

Well actually he got it from both Z and his dad and then perfected it on his own amongst his crew, but the elder brother liked to take credit when he could. "We're brothers; we have our similarities, like sarcasm for instance."

"I see that."

They turned the corner as a door opened letting them into the Ortega district and just as Aria had said the district still wasn't recovered. The place still had residue from the battle between the Suns and Ty from a few months back before he met Shepard. There were still signs of explosions that had gone off with the scorch marks and rubble on the ground, some of the buildings were shut down now with bullet holes in them and one still had the tail of a gunship sticking out of it.

No doubt the pilot was probably still slumped dead in the cockpit with a sniper shot penetrating his head or body._ Spirits Ty, you said it was bad not…this_.

"Oh my god." Haley whispered.

Haley had been tortured and had to watch her mother killed, but seeing a district so decimated, witnessing the homes and businesses of civilians just totally demolished…it struck deep in both of them. "This was a few months ago. Tarak and the Suns had started a warzone trying to kill Ty. This district got the final brunt of it. Ty told me that he tried to get as many civilians out of the way but the Suns were shooting indiscriminately. Needless to say they don't have a big presence here anymore thanks to Aria. Not until now that is." Z explained. "

It looks like two armies fought here in a huge battle, look at this entire place." Haley motioned to the buildings around them. To be honest the green eyed warrior hadn't seen huge carnage like he was seeing now in a civilized place since 2176 back on that colony.

It looked like hell.

His brother had given him vivid details of what happened and how bad it got, but to see it in person showed just how much Ty had understated the events. It looked like Tuchanka had taken some of its land and dumped it on Omega. "Come on, let's find Aya and get her to safety. The less time we spend here on Omega, the better."

His partner nodded shortly in agreement and continued to walk, "I hear you, but where do we look? She could be anywhere?"

No, if she was here there was one place Z was sure she'd be staying at. It was the one place Ty had managed to protect completely and keep civilians safe. "That clinic is a block away. If she's anywhere with her daughter, she's there."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me; it's the safest place she probably could find."

He received a questioning look from his partner, but she nodded regardless and followed him. They walked the street passing the rubble and general carnage that was left that the civilians were still cleaning up. They all looked beaten down and broken, then again most did on Omega.

They approached the clinic but as they drew closer Z decided to give Haley a fair warning. Where they were going, just having knowledge of Ty would put them in a celebrity like situation. "Whatever you do, don't say anything about your relationship with Ty unless you want to get swarmed by people."

That earned him another inquisitive look from Haley, "I thought you said this place was safe?"

"It is. After Ty left he got caught up in the mission he is on now and tracking you down so he didn't hear about what happened here. I heard a brief description of what they did and, well, you'll see."

"That isn't comforting." Haley said.

"I can't imagine how Ty will react if he ever sees this place."

They got to the doors and they opened letting them into the entrance to the clinic. The entrance before the actual clinic didn't really change compared to the rest of the district with it still having bullet holes in the walls and some stuff wrecked. There was a human dressed in medical attire who was probably an assistant at the counter with two armed mechs with her, "How may I help you?" The assistant asked.

Z gave Haley a look that read let me do the talking which she nodded to and stood back, "I'm wondering if you can help me find a friend of mine. I don't know if she's checked in here or anything, but she is a friend of my brother and I imagine she would come here."

The assistant furrowed her brow at his vagueness, "You're going to have to be a little bit more specific, sir."

He lifted his left forearm up, showing the lady his RBZ 4 Life tattoo, "My only brother who happened to save this place a few months ago."

"Oh sweet Maker…please go right in I'm sure there will be someone who can point you in the right direction." The lady bowed her head, "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you as _HIS _brother. I should have been more observant. I'm _so_ sorry." She apologized with sincerity.

Z nodded and thanked her then motioned for Haley to follow him. When they were out of ear shot, Haley spoke up "Why did she emphasize his and seem so sorry for mistaking you for someone else."

His brother was a hero to these people, he_ had_ made a difference.

"You catch the name of this place?"

"Uhhh…no."

"It's called the GO clinic. GO is an acronym for a new running nickname of Ty's."

"What does it stand for?"

The doors to the clinic opened, "The Ghost of Omega." What lay before them besides people bustling about was what some would probably consider a shrine but what these people considered their savior.

On the wall opposite of the pair was what looked like a mural of Ty with his hood up and all his gear on holding his left hand out for someone to grab with his RBZ 4 Life tattoo well defined. Attached to the wall on the right was a neon sign of words that the elder brother noticed immediately as something his brother had probably said to whoever owned this place.

_Use your skills to help others_, it read.

Z heard Haley mutter '_wow_' under her breath but he noticed candles and trinkets under the mural. It was probably to mourn the loss of a man who was very much alive and probably would be very much weirded out by this show of appreciation.

There was an Asari that was in the distance helping a Turian sit down as Z tapped Haley in the back to break her out of her shocked state all the while trying to break himself out of his own.

The young biotic shook her head a little then nodded to him that she was ready. They began walking slowly around the clinic searching the sea of faces for Aya. The place seemed pretty busy and they didn't seem to have a shortage of assistants with many people in doctor uniforms bustling about. "I can't believe this place." Haley muttered.

"Yeah."

Ty's good will reached these people that was for sure, as they walked further in a female voice caught his attention. It was but a whisper among the sea of voices, but he heard someone questioning who he was. He looked among the faces looking for the voice but couldn't find its owner, "Someone knows me."

"You're surprised? You _are_ Ty's brother. Look at how that lady reacted once she saw your tattoo."

He heard the voice again, "It can't be…Goddess it is him." The voice said.

"They seem shocked it's me that's for sure. An Asari without a doubt."

But was it Aya? The green eyed warrior couldn't tell, even with his great hearing he couldn't make out the tone of her voice well enough to figure out who it was. "How can you hear anything besides random drabble. Wait, never mind. Your ears pick up more than the normal human, right?"

It was true due to the genetic engineering that the brothers had but before he could answer the voice became louder on an approach, but this time he found its owner, "Uncle Z is that you?"

Z looked to his left as an Asari pushed through the crowd of people. She was a dark blue and she had facial markings that were similar to the Asari Councilors markings but instead of white they were red. She had sky blue eyes and wore a loose red tank top and black tight pants with a regular pair of black shoes. It wasn't Aya but it was definitely her daughter Iliana, or Lia as the brothers called her.

She was a very pretty Asari and stood out amongst the crowd of people. She was fifty-three years old, which was still like a child to the Asari, and was about 5'5 so she was taller than Haley but shorter than the male human. She appeared to be in good shape still yet she didn't have very visibly toned muscles, but you could tell she took care of herself.

Before Z knew it Iliana was hugging his side to which he hugged back, "Hey Lia, it's been a while." Iliana let go and saw Haley and gave her an even bigger hug. The two had grown close during the time Ty and Haley were together before and after the biotic extremists.

As the elder brother looked at the two he noticed a tattoo across the Asari's shoulders and upper back and it appeared to go further down. It was black with a few red areas and it almost looked like a tribal tattoo going across her shoulders.

In the middle it came down and started spreading across her back before getting cut off by her shirt but as he examined it closer he saw that the designs were not of anything human related. They were most certainly Asari in nature and he knew that he could spend all day looking at it and still come back not knowing what it was.

"Nice tattoo." He complimented.

Iliana let go of Haley and smiled at him, "Thanks, I got it a few months ago." She looked between the two of them, "What are you two doing here?"

"Long story that I won't share here. Where's your mom at?"

"Somewhere in here…something bad is going on isn't there?"

Haley shook her head, she was still trying to keep appearances up that nothing bad was going on despite the fact they were on a tight schedule. "No nothing bad, but we need to talk to Aya."

The Asari stared at the two with a sad frown beginning to form on her face, "Is this about Uncle Ty's death? She's taken it pretty bad and I think she still is but she won't talk to me about it."

That sounded like Aya, hiding away her true feelings so her daughter wouldn't have to worry even though Iliana knew better than that. "Yeah I'll explain that in private. Who the hell runs this place anyway?" Z questioned.

"Oh you should meet him his name is Braum. He's the lead doctor here and happens to be the nicest Batarian I have ever met. I think Ty saved his life or something which is the reason for all this stuff." She gestured to the mural and neon sign with her hand.

_Not just his life but all of these people. Whatever Ty did inspired a Batarian to allow all of this._ "Alright, let's go see if we can find your mom." He said.

"I think she is back this way. Follow me."

"No problem with that." Haley whispered under her breath as Iliana started walking the direction she had come from.

Z followed her line of sight to the Asari's hind quarters and couldn't hold back the smirk or the comment, "Looking for the mother-daughter package?" Z asked so only Haley could hear him.

"Do you want me to biotically rip your arm off and beat you with it?" She fired back hotly.

"Nope, just curious." Z said with a smile.

As they followed Iliana, the warrior started hearing whispering among the people they passed all starting to put the pieces together and connecting who he was with the mural on the wall. These people were either really huge fanatical fans of his brother or he really had changed their lives, or a little from column A and a little from column B.

Z was interested to meet this Braum fellow, sure he had met some civil Batarian's in his life but he had also met a horde who wanted nothing but the destruction of a colony and slaves.

He was more interested in finding out what his brother did that made this Batarian basically run a clinic that, in a way, worshiped his brother. As they passed through the hall he noticed more dedications to his brother. They were mostly small things like how the holo arrows pointing the directions to certain areas were in the shape of his tomahawk blade or the fact that some of the mechs carried two pistols, which never happened.

Some were obvious like the mural in the main hall or like the different images of his brother with the '_Use your skills to help others_' quote at the bottom or other quotes he probably had said pertaining to helping people and making a difference.

It was really weird.

"No, thank you for taking the time to come here. Ty gave me this chance and his death has impacted us all here. Your gift of words and tales of him will help lift the spirits of the people here and remind them of the good he did." A deep voice spoke.

Z was sure it was a Batarian and probably Braum, "He was a dear friend so please do your best to keep his spirit in the hearts of those he touched." He knew that low soft voice immediately, that was Aya.

Iliana walked into the room where the voices had come from first, "I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but I think I have someone you both will be interested in seeing." She interrupted.

"Here we go." Haley whispered.

"Yeah. For now let them think Ty is dead, we'll tell Aya and Iliana later. Come on, the sooner we're done here the better." Z said as he led the way into the room.

There were two figures in the room, the one on the left was the Batarian Z assumed was Braum. He had a dark brown base skin color but his face was a very light color. He was wearing the traditional medical clothes with gloves and despite normal opinions of Batarian's this one gave off a pleasant vibe. The warrior wasn't sure if he liked him yet, but he didn't give off a bad slippery snake vibe so for now he would treat him normally.

The second figure was Aya. She was a light shade of purple and had the same markings as her daughter, but they were a darker shade purple. She wore a black camisole that stopped before her navel and showed her mid-drift, she wore tight black pants and a pair of black heels. Aya, without the heels, was 5'3 making her shorter than her daughter but with her heels they made her the same height.

Aya, like her daughter, was pretty and stood out amongst most of the Asari that Z knew. She was still in good shape and you could see some of her toned muscles which meant she was still taking good care of her body.

She was one hundred and twenty-three and had had Iliana earlier than most Asari would, but she had been mentally she was ready for it and had raised her daughter as well as she could. She loved her daughter dearly. Iliana was Aya's life and soul and nothing could change that.

It didn't take more than a second for Aya to notice Z and Haley leading her to run over and first gave hi, a big hug then let go only to wrap Haley up in a big hug. Aya's mouth started moving and as soon as the words got noise she was off like a race, "This is such a surprise! What are you two doing here? Are you two together? Wait no; you two had a rule about that. How's Mr. Rhoddy? Are you two okay with everything that happened? You two still look great. Goddess I can't believe how long it's been!"

Normally he would say '_slow down_' but this was Aya that was talking so that wouldn't have made much of a difference. "Do you want me to answer the questions and comments in a specific order or just answer them as I think of them?" He queried with a smirk.

That earned him a smack in the arm. Aya then turned to Haley and put her hands on her shoulders while her eyes started examining her body and her hands began trailing down her arms slowly. It wasn't anything sexual, Aya was just very touchy feely. The young biotic on the other hand had a growing blush under the Asari's inspecting eye, "Look at you. Have you been exercising more than before?"

She then noticed Haley's new amp, _oh here we go_. "Wait, you have a new amp. Have you been training with biotic's as well? Are you getting good with them? Has Z and Darian been training you? Darian was very powerful and I know Z knows how to train someone well so if they aren't you definitely should ask." She turned to the man in question, "Z are you training her?"

He chuckled slightly at Aya's motor mouth; it was good to see she hadn't changed too much, "Yes I've been training her with Darian and my dad. Yes she is doing really well with them and before you ask, yes that is armor she is wearing like my gear and Ty's old gear."

Aya nodded then Z saw the look of a new idea that popped in her head and sure enough she started again, "Z, you have got to talk to Doctor Braum here! He's the lead the doctor of this place. Come, I'll introduce you two." She started dragging the both of them towards the Batarian.

The warrior couldn't help but smile at the hyper active mind of Aya as she came to a stop in front of the doctor, "Z this is Doctor Braum, Doctor Braum this is-"

The Batarian nodded his head and put his hand out clearly knowing who he was, "Zachary Rhoddy, the brother of Tyler Rhoddy. It is an honor to meet you."

The Batarian wasn't kidding; the look in his eyes was of pure honor of actually meeting Z. It was very strange to be stared at in such a way, but he shook his hand firmly, "Pleasure to meet you Doctor Braum."

"Please call me Braum, and that goes for you as well Aya."

"Okay, Braum this is Haley she-"

Aya was cut off by Haley, "I was Ty's last girlfriend. I spent a year and a half by his side before…this."

Braum nodded and put his hand out for the young biotic to shake. She shook it immediately, "It is always a pleasure to meet someone else who Ty touched in his own way." _Touched is definitely the word I would use if I was trying to be funny, but he really feels honored to meet us_. _I don't want him to feel like I don't care about that. This is a bit humbling_.

"I take it Ty made a huge change in your life judging on this place?" Z asked.

The Batarian, Braum, nodded firmly, "If it weren't for him the Suns would have killed all the refugees. Ty made his final stand here and fought them all to their end protecting the people and saving more that he would find during the break periods between the fights when reinforcements were getting called in."

There was a look of remembrance on the doctor's face as he began retelling the story of how this all came to be. He walked towards a chair and continued, "I was sitting in a chair similar to this one bleeding out when he first arrived as all the other doctors were tending to the wounded when he picked me from the crowd to help. He gave me all of his spare medi-gel save for one so I could patch myself up and then help anyone else I could."

Braum leaned forward against the chair and met the eyes of his audience, "I was in a dark place at the time and did not trust him so easily because he was a human. After he finished helping around he found me exactly where he had left me, sulking like a child in my chair asking him what the point of all this was if we were all going to die anyway."

The Batarian met Z's eyes directly. In his eyes the elder brother could see a fire burning, undoubtedly something Ty had sparked in the man that would never be put out. Braum smiled a little, "He looked at me with a very firm face and said 'None of you are going to die as long as this Rhoddy is still standing.' It was then I figured out who I was talking too, he was the legend I had heard whispers about but did not ever witnessed with my own eyes."

The legend that Ty had gained on the station was remarkable to say the least, sure their last name had something to do with it but all the moments, all the fights he had been through and survived were his own. Their name might have given them some notoriety, but his brother had earned the rest.

Braum paced a little, "Everyone on Omega knows the stories of Ty. From his start to the betrayal to now, as short of a story it is…it is among the brightest stories of hope some of us have. The human who touched hundreds of lives, the protector of the innocent and the punisher of the wicked, the Ghost of Omega now commonly called. Whatever people call him, he wasn't just a legend. He was real and he was at that time standing in this clinic trying to save us all and I didn't know what to do with myself."

As the doctor spoke, pride swelled Z's heart at how fond people spoke of him and about all the good his brother did and who he was to some of these people. The elder brother may not have understood why his brother lived on Omega before, but now he was starting to understand little by little.

He was hearing firsthand what his brother had accomplished to the civilian part of Omega he had chosen to help and devote his time too. Z could feel his spirits getting lifted and he could tell that Haley, Aya and Iliana all felt the same way, Braum spoke with such passion about his brother and what he had accomplished for the people he met and protected.

The doctor casted his gaze on all four again, "He walked up to me at that point as an explosion went off outside and pointed to the people in the clinic and said 'You want to know what the point to all this is? The point is to help those who cannot help themselves, to use your skills to help others. Once you do that then you will understand what it means to make a difference in someone's life'."

A fond smile formed on the Batarian's face, "He was right, but at that time I felt a fire in my soul burning. I had never felt so invigorated in my life. I never understood the power words could give, but I felt like he had given me a purpose and I would not let him down. My only regret that I can say I have is that I never got to say thank him for what he gave me. I wish I had more than condolences to give you, but I am deeply sorry for your loss."

Z wished he could tell him that his brother was alive, but for now he had to keep up with what the news channels had put out, as much as it pained him to do it. He shook his head, "Braum, you have done more to honor my brother than condolences could ever do. My brother would have been honored and humbled by what you have done since your encounter with him."

_And a bit weirded out but you don't need to know that_, Z thought.

Braum bowed his head, "Your words honor me. If I may, I would like to ask a favor of you." Z nodded and he continued "Most the people and the doctors still here are from the fight the Blue Suns and Ty had. Their spirits are not as high since the news of your brother's passing has come. Aya here was gracious enough to stop by and give some stories of her time around him that will certainly hearten the staff, the wounded and sick here, but it would honor me if you would maybe give them a speech of some sort about your brother that would revive their spirits."

A speech was not something that Z was sure he could give. He could talk about his brother all day if he wanted to, but to give a speech in front of the whole clinic? Z preferred the shadows so much more. "Before he left he gave us all a very moving speech about making a difference and helping those who needed it, it brought some of the staff to tears. To have his brother give a speech is as close as we'll all get to that again I think."

The warrior never liked giving speeches, but for some reason he felt obliged and proud to answer this Batarian's request with a firm nod. Again Braum bowed his head, "Thank you, if you four will follow me I will get everyone's attention for you."

Braum led the way out as Z traded a glance with Haley to see her give him a nod of approval. _At least she thinks I'm doing the right thing. Don't know how much time we have now, but whatever happens we'll make it out of here in one piece._ They followed the doctor out to the center of the main room where he raised his voice, "Excuse me, if I may have your attention please."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to Braum as they started giving the five of them space. The doctors that had intensive care patients continued on with their work but they still paid mind to their lead doctor. Z wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he figured he would end up winging it anyway even if he did have a plan.

"Thank you. As we all know this clinic is a dedication to a man who gave us his time, protection and devotion to save as many as he could during a grueling gang war between him and the Blue Suns. This man did not need to do any of this, yet he stood on his own against many men and women of the Blue Suns who were killing and hurting civilians in a search for him. Those men met there end one by one as Ty, our protector, struck them down in defense of all of us here regardless of race or gender…but a wound was dealt to us recently that has not fully healed when his life was taken in defense of people he trusted and fought beside."

That bit of knowledge was a surprise. How much did they know about the fight Ty had almost died in against the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Bloodpack when he was with Shepard recruiting Archangel? "He gave his life for his friends as he would have here if it had come to that. Now I see all of us moving about with a purpose, but a fire that Ty had started in us was doused by his death. I see us all burdened by this. How do we go on is a thought that has crossed my mind many times as it did when the Suns had attacked us."

There were many people nodding in agreement and Z could see what Braum was talking about, all of them looked like they had their spirits stamped out, "As I sat and thought about this I was visited by a guest I did not know. She was a friend of Ty's for ten years until his passing, and then unbeknownst to either of us this man walked in." The doctor looked to the warrior, "The brother of our protector, like his brother before him, gave me the spirit to continue and honored me with kind words of this place. At my asking he has agreed to bestow his words to all of you."

Braum moved away and Haley, Aya and Iliana stepped away from Z giving him space as he looked from face to face in the crowds_. This seemed like such a good idea a few seconds ago_. "I want to thank you all for what you have done here in dedication to my brother; he would have been humbled by this place and grateful by what you have all done." He started.

Many people in the crowd looked to him and Z could see a small fire in them starting back up, "Before the attack, my brother and I had a long talk crossing many personal topics, but one topic that I will share with you all is one of our last words spoken for a while. We argued which may sound like nothing, but it isn't something we ever did with one another. Yet during that conversation it got onto the subject of fighting."

He remembered the argument clear as day, it was one of the three they ever had and it got very heated before they both backed off and moved on to a different subject. No slammed doors without goodbyes or anything of that sort, they just continued on in the conversation being raised to understand that it could be the last words they could ever say to one another.

"We differed on the subject because I believed we needed to start looking out for ourselves and he believed we needed to continue to fight for others. We are hunted by everyone, bounty hunters, the Alliance, the Council. The truth is anyone who has a gun and wants the title of being the person to bring in a Rhoddy comes after us so we were usually always separated and I was getting sick of it."

They rarely saw each other at the time of the argument due to that and hunting the Blue Sun. Z had just wanted them to stop fighting for a moment and create memories together for once. To put their guns for a month or so and just spend time together, obviously they would take precautions but fighting for others who didn't give a damn was starting to eat at him then.

The elder brother started pacing as he continued, "We argued and argued and argued, me on one side trying to make him understand my points and him on his side trying to get me to understand his. After it was over neither of us made head room in trying to convince the other, but we dropped it and I haven't put much thought to it until now."

This place was a reminder of that argument, of the raised voices that were working so hard in an attempt to convince the other to understand. This place made him understand why his brother had wanted to help others. '_Eventually it will pay off'_ he had said but Z couldn't see a payoff any time soon if ever.

"When I arrived here today I was reminded of why I wanted him to stop fighting for what I considered a hopeless cause…but when I stepped in this room and saw all of you and that mural on the wall over there, I began to understand the impact Ty has made on all of your lives. I can see a fire in your eyes that I have only seen my brother start in others and that fire is something that you all have to hold onto."

Z looked over to Braum, "Braum asked himself what's the point of all this now that he is gone. I can understand where he is coming from because I have asked myself the same question. When something is torn from you that you hold onto what is the point of going on then?"

He had contemplated losing his brother too many times to count during his war against the Blue Suns. The elder brother knew his life would be forever changed by that, that he would be exactly where Ty was mentally at that point if his brother was stolen from him.

He had felt that pain during the fight against the biotic extremists when Ty had been nearly killed in front of his eyes. When he held his brothers lifeless body in his arms his world began to spin and he only felt pain and anger filling his soul.

Z pointed to the mural as he casted his eyes across the sea of faces, "The point is to take everything you ever learned from him and everything he meant to you and hold on tight to that. Take what he taught you and continue to believe you can make a difference because even though he isn't here physically, he is still with you all watching over you like the protector he is."

"This place is the very essence of my brothers spirit now, so please don't let that die out with his death. I implore you all to look deep inside yourselves for that fire he started and reignite it because I can see it still in you all. Let those embers become the great inferno it once was and always remember who he was and what he stood for. Thank you all for your time and what you have done here."


	75. Chapter 74

Chapter 74

S.O.S

Z looked out the window of the apartment down at the streets of Omega with his thoughts clouded by many subjects. Everything from how to tell Aya and Iliana about Ty without sounding like a nut to how much longer they had until the Suns struck were pelting his mind at light speed.

They were seriously out of time for the original plan of sneaking them out and he wasn't keen on the idea of getting cornered on their way out. That meant either holding out here or, ideally, at the landing pad on the other end of the district. It was an ideal location for Aria to set up her crossfire while also providing the Suns with no way to strike except right at them.

As ideal as it was, the plan was still not that great. There were at least two hundred blood thirsty mercenaries that were going to attack and Z and Haley only had so many thermal clips. He shook the thought off with a shake of his head_. Just have to make every shot count and keep them at bay long enough for the crossfire to be set up. From there we'll just have to hold out until Ty reaches us_. The thought did little to improve the plan, but having some semblance of a plan made him feel a little bit better. _It could always be worse. It could be just me against them with no help from Aria or Haley_, he mused, _been there and done that against those Batarian's. _

After his small speech he was given a rousing round of applause and was thanked many times by Braum for sharing his words with the people. Words had power and the elder brother hoped he got them all back in better spirits, but the fact that he knew his brother was alive might have deluded his ability to give a grand speech about him.

They would learn soon enough that the Ghost of Omega was still alive and haunting, that would get them in higher spirits. _The Suns are going to tear this district apart and having their savior back will make the pain of it all a little bit easier to bear._

Z felt a presence moving behind him so he looked back and saw Haley with two glasses of water in her hands as she walked closer to him. She looked worried but she still had her strong exterior. That was good, this wasn't going to be like training and she needed to keep her worry in check in battle.

With the Reapers coming that would come in handy since they'd all be fighting then. His brother was getting a warm-up against the Collectors, but the main event would contain them all. "Aya and Iliana are talking about some things and said they'd be ready to talk to us shortly." Haley said as she handed Z a glass.

"Thank you." He thanked as he took the glass then looked back out the window. Telling her that Ty was alive was going to be hard, but telling them that they were about to have to fight off a horde of Blue Suns…Z let out a sigh as he took a sip of the water_, talk about getting their hopes up only to crush them completely_.

Haley used both hands to hold the cup as she stared out the window with him, _this is going to be her first real fight and the first is always the hardest_, the green eyed warrior glanced to her in the corner of his eye. _If she loses her cool we're going to be in trouble even with Aria's help. _"That was a nice speech back there. It almost sounded like you thought he was dead."

He hummed in response. He had tried his best to make sure his words reflected that he thought Ty was dead, but he was sure he probably slipped up once or twice. "I just hope they remember whatever Ty had said to them. I don't think I was much help at all actually." Ty had set the fire in them so all Z had to do was remind them it was there.

Talking about his brother like he was dead definitely hadn't been his favorite thing to do. It would have been so much easier to tell them he was alive, but if the Suns would have had any agents in there they would have that information and that would ruin the grand surprise when he would shove his boot up their asses. "Modest as ever, Rhoddy's seem to share that trait." Haley smiled.

"Yeah, that's true." Z responded distractedly. There was so much to think about, to plan so that they would all get out of this fight alive that he was only half listening to her conversation.

She looked at him with a questioning look noticing his thoughtful look as he stared out the window, "What are you thinking about so intently? I know you well enough to see when your mind is preoccupied so don't try to lie."

"Just thinking about what we are doing. Looking for escape points or where we can hold out for extraction in case Ty has to get us out." He responded while his eyes scanned the area. It really wasn't an '_in case_' since Z was already certain of needing to be extracted by him. Telling Haley that would only cause her to worry and then she'd lose focus or confidence in their ability to succeed which wouldn't help them at all.

The apartment Aya was renting was further down the Ortega district away from the brunt of all the damage inflicted by Ty and the Suns. It put them farther away from the clinic but closer to the landing pad, yet even then there were still telltale signs of battle everywhere. The area was a bit cleaner than the entrance and clinic, but the signs of battle were there. "That's all? No thoughts about adventure, fights or women?" The young biotic teased.

Her attempt at humor made Z crack a smirk dragging him mostly out of his thoughts, "Nope. In a bit of a dry spell in all three, for right now that is." Aside from helping Ty out on Illium with Miranda he hadn't adventured around that much, training Haley and Jessica took most of his time which kept him away from adventures and women.

Fights were constant with the sparring he did with Haley and Jessica, but this would be his first real fight since Illium helping Ty with Miranda's sister. "What about Elnora?" Haley asked. _Elnora?_

"Ah shit." He muttered loud enough for her to hear. He had forgotten all about capturing the Asari and dropping her off at the police station. She didn't put up much of a fight, then again he had knocked her out from behind so that explained the reasoning behind that.

_Definitely not worthy of the Eclipse uniform, but she was a rookie so I guess there is that to consider…but still the Eclipse Sisters have some low standards if killing a Volus merchant gets you in. I mean seriously a Volus? I just have to trip him and he becomes a glorified biotiball. Rolling one down the stairs would be more entertaining than using a slinky._

"What?" Haley questioned his '_ah shit_' moment.

"I forgot to send Ty the picture of her knocked out with that sign. Do you know how long it took me to get that picture just right while having to worry about an officer suddenly appearing? It was a lot of hard work."

It really hadn't been, but looking back at it he had taken at least a minute to make sure the words were readable in the picture. "You think that detective ever emailed Shepard?"

"Probably not. I only dropped her off a week ago."

The detective probably wasn't even done with the paper work of the mysteriously appearing Asari. "Well the good news is when Ty does get here you'll be able to see big butt again." Haley smirked as she stared back out the window.

Z snorted at the jab_. She sounds a bit jealous…I probably shouldn't say that otherwise she'll try to hurt me or toss me out the window for shits and giggles_. Deep down he knew he was looking forward to seeing Miranda again but he wasn't sure why. He really hadn't ever felt this way about another woman. He had flings and friends with benefits, but he had never felt what Ty had when he was with Ka'Reena and now Shepard. He cared about the woman he was with, but not as much as Ty had cared for Ka'Reena or Shepard, not even close.

There was something about the Cerberus Operative that he liked aside from her looks. She was attractive even if you took away her 'assets' in his eyes. Had he met her before Ty had begun chipping away at her professional barriers and Cerberus ideals he wouldn't have found anything attractive about her.

His hate for Cerberus would have shut down any feelings aside from hate and anger towards the woman. The elder brother would have seen the badge on her chest that was displayed proudly and would have thought of every way he could destroy Cerberus and kill her.

It was still a possibility that he would end up thinking like that if Miranda decided to stick with the Cerberus ideals and try and kill his brother or himself. Z was fully prepared to drop his feelings in case of that, but that didn't mean he wanted to right now.

Ever since he had met her, Z could tell there was someone good under all the bullshit ideals and mental manipulation that the Illusive Man and her father had done to her. There was a person under all of it; he had seen it in her back on Illium after Ty had killed Scrum and when they spent a little while on the Normandy while the doctors worked on Haley.

Sure she had some problems, her ideals being at the top at the moment, but in this crazy universe who didn't? Ty and Shepard were crazier than a Krogan in a blood rage for even trying what they were. Hell, they weren't even trying anymore, they were fully committing to the craziest idea he had heard of since the Reaper invasion. Shepard was a damn Spectre for the Council and was Commander _Fucking_ Shepard of the Alliance Navy. His brother was on the top of their most wanted lists along and they were _falling in love_. Most wanted criminal and Galaxy Hero falling in love, _love_.

If that wasn't damn crazy then Z didn't know what was.

Maybe Ty was right about giving Miranda a chance, maybe Z had to allow himself to believe in such a crazy idea to see where it went. Ty and Shepard were crazy, but the green eyed warrior considering seeing where things went between him and Miranda was insanity, padded asylum with a straight jacket insanity.

He _hated_ Cerberus so much, hated them with every ounce of his being for killing their grandfather and causing his family to be hunted…yet he was considering Miranda of all people. It was damn insane, but right now he couldn't lose focus on the task at hand by thinking about what he might or might not do.

"Hey you two! Come on out here so we can talk!" Aya yelled from the living room.

"Well time to go tell them Ty isn't dead." Z sighed.

"Yeah I'm sure this will go well." Haley said sarcastically.

As the pair walked out of the bedroom back into the living room he saw Aya and Iliana sitting next to each other on the couch. The room had a nice set up with the couch being in the center near the vid screen and the kitchen being on the right with a nice island and counter set up, but the colors were all a bit bland. The colors didn't bring much life to the room leaving the room with a lifeless look. _Guess it runs with being on Omega_.

Aya's warm smile and eyes locked with Z's eyes as she asked, "So what's up you two? I doubt you two are armed to the teeth on Omega for no reason and you also happen to bump into me? It's a bit of a coincidence isn't it?"

_No such thing as coincidence as Ty beat into my damn skull_, Z mused.

"Sharp as ever." Haley smiled.

The Asari gave her a wink, "Street smarts Haley, street smarts." Aya responded.

Z nodded slightly in agreement with both of their statements. Now it was time to drop Ty on them, then he'd give them the bad news. "Listen, before I get to our reason for being here, you two need to know something about Ty." Aya's and Iliana's attention were fully on him as he continued "He isn't dead." They both gave him a slight disbelieving look, "Now hold on before you say anything, I know what the reports are saying. Trust me, I've heard them plenty of times, but that is a ploy by him and Aria to stop the Blue Suns from coming after all his friends and family."

For what good that did, in the end the Suns still were coming after Aya, Iliana, and the remaining Rhoddy's. "Z, I know you are probably going through a rough time with this, but he is gone. This isn't some ploy." Aya said slowly and carefully.

Z shook his head. She obviously thought he was in some sort of denial stage which he wouldn't doubt if he was anyone but someone in his family, but Rhoddy's didn't do denial. They just got angry and hunted down who caused them pain.

"Do you really think that me of all people would have some form of denial as a coping mechanism? If he was really dead don't you think I would have hunted down and murdered every person who calls themselves a Blue Sun? Do you think I'd be this calm talking about it if he was dead? Better yet, don't you think I sounded a bit odd back in the hospital because of how I spoke about him?" Z countered calmly.

The gears began turning in Iliana's brain as what he said began to sink in. She was always a smart woman who thought more analytically than her mother did. "Now that you mention it, you did speak a little weird." She said thoughtfully.

He had made head way with Iliana, but Aya still had a look of doubt in her eyes as she shook her head, "Z…Your brother and I were friends for ten years. I think that I'd know the difference between him being dead and acting it."

She was obviously having a hard time with his "death" and hearing that she had been having said hard time for no reason was understandably hard as well. The elder brother wanted to retort about how he had been his brother for twenty-three years so he knew his brother a little better, but he didn't want to be a rude. She had been grieving and she still felt that Ty was dead.

Instead he pulled up his omni-tool and opened a recording but didn't play it, "Check the time stamp on the recording. It's from a few weeks back of me and Ty having a conversation while he was on a mission on Illium."

Z clicked the play button on his omni-tool and his voice was the first to come through, _"See; now they really think you're crazy. Anyway, two of those lieutenants have really heavy machine guns and a butt-load of ammo while Enyala and the other three are laying down suppressing fire while they reload."_

Ty's sarcasm chimed in next, _"You know what they say about guys with big guns. Anything you can do about them?"_

_"Yup."_

Z ended the recording and found the look of shock on both Aya's and Iliana's face. It was kind of funny but he then saw the telltale sign of a million and one questions from the mother of the pair about to come flying out of her mouth. _Hold it off as long as you can!_ He joked sarcastically to himself.

"He saved my life a while before that from Scrum and some Blue Suns which is why I started practicing my biotic's." Haley explained. At least she was offering some support here towards his claim.

Aya looked at both of them alternating between the two like she was watching a ball be bounced back and forth. Iliana was counting down from three on her fingers where she couldn't see until she put her last finger down which also started her mother firing questions one after another. _Oh here we go._

"Why the hell didn't he tell me? Where is he now? Did he actually fight here on Omega with Archangel? Why would he fake his own death? Is he still a bottle of rage? How could he not tell me that he wasn't dead?"

Z shut his omni-tool off as Aya's questions came hammering at him. He was expecting it so he waited until she finished her original line of questions and started repeating herself to answer.

"While he was fighting with Archangel and two others he took a carnage blast from Garm trying to protect one of the two. After that it left him with just his left arm but Tarak being an asshole used his gunship to shoot a missile at him and the other of the two. Ty being Ty pushed that person away and shot the missile before it hit him, but the power of explosion sent him flying back into the wall which happened to have a spike on it, impaling him through his right upper back."

Iliana and Aya both brought their hands up to their mouths in shock. Haley on the other hand had her eyes closed as she leaned forward on a chair bracing herself with her hands probably envisioning what Z was describing. It was a pretty short retelling of the story but they were all so close to Ty that imagining him impaled on a wall still hit them hard.

"After that you can say that he did die but with some luck, a friend who had powerful connections and high tech supplies at their immediate disposal he was given a second chance in life. Cybernetics were implemented into his arm allowing him to use both again. After that he joined a suicide mission and hasn't had time to contact many people with staying focused there and trying to find Haley who was kidnapped at the time."

The elder brother paced a little as he continued, "Aria spread the rumor that he had died and that's what everyone thinks. They think now only two Rhoddy's live while all three are still alive and kicking."

Jubilation was written on Aya's face as she was nearly bouncing on the couch while hugging Iliana because of the sudden happiness she felt, "He's alive! He's alive! He's alive! I can't believe he didn't call me and I'm going to have to hit him for that, but he's alive!" Aya cheered as she continued hugging her daughter.

Iliana, who was stuck in the bear hug, looked up at a smiling Haley and then to a still serious Z. Now it was time for the bad news. "So what are you two doing here then?" Iliana asked.

"There may be a problem." Z started.

Aya looked back to them with slight disappointment on her face, "Oh don't tell me that after that wonderful news you're about to smash me with something bad?"

It was unfortunate but he had to tell them, they didn't have much time left. "You hear from your old boss or the traitorous bitch lately?" He questioned.

Aya's face grew serious, "No to the second, yes to the first. I haven't heard from her since she betrayed Ty and me. Miller sent me a message about wanting me back right now to work for him, something about he owns me and blah blah blah."

Well the traitor wasn't heard from so that meant she wasn't the mastermind behind all this and it was nothing unexpected about Miller either. "Well let's just say Miller decided to team up with a group of Suns who want me and my family dead…and they kind of have been organizing on Omega for a little while now and now you and I are in one place." Z skirted around saying the full truth. He was hoping to spare the real details since Iliana was here but if he had to he would tell the unaltered truth: they were in the shit.

By the look on Aya's face Z had a feeling she was catching his drift, Iliana was still a little loss though, "I don't get it. What does that have to do with anything?"

Before he could explain Aya spoke up, "The Suns Z is talking about are targeting any known friends of Ty's while also wanting Z and Mr. Rhoddy dead. These Suns happen to be on Omega right now and our timing to visit The GO Clinic wasn't exactly the best since that put us in their sights forcing Z and Haley to come out and get us. Now we're all together and they will be on their way soon, if not right this second. Miller who is in deep with these Suns wants me to go back to work to get his best employee back."

Realization crossed Iliana's features as she took in how deep of shit they were really in. She didn't look scared, but she definitely looked worried. "Oh…that really…shit."

_Yeah_, Z sighed mentally. Shit really described their situation. "What's the plan?" The mother of the pair questioned.

"Suns have a lot of guys so the easy way out is gone already. Aria is going to set up a crossfire wherever the Suns have the bulk of their guys and take them out while we attempt to get you two somewhere we can fortify safely. We'll hold out there until Ty gets here in probably fifteen minutes. He'll probably run extraction with the rest of the squad he has allowing us to get you two out of here. After that me and Haley will join up with Ty and take out the rest of these guys and then pay Miller a visit."

It almost sounded like they knew what they were doing, but Z knew that plans never went the right way. They just had to hold out for fifteen minutes then everything would be fine. It was going to be the longest fifteen minutes he had felt since fighting off the Batarian's single handedly, but still only fifteen minutes. "Why not kill him too?" Iliana asked.

Coming from the normally peaceful Iliana it was a strange question, but she definitely understood what Miller and the Suns succeeding meant. "He's one of Aria's pimps. Used to be high-end when I was there but after I left and Ty trashed him and his goons he is now a very low-end pimp. Aria wants him around still so he stays alive." Aya explained.

Iliana nodded slowly not completely accustomed to the way of Omega but understanding its number one rule. She and Aya had lived on Omega before Ty had met them but her mother had done her best to shelter her away from the goings of the station.

Z's omni-tool lit up with a message opening before he even could look down on it. _Murphy no doubt_. As he looked at the message he felt a knot in his stomach.

_Blue Suns know where you are. Get out now and get to the landing pad. Our teams are on the move and it's the best fortification you will have. Good luck. _

There was a buzzing noise that came from the door which brought all fours attention to it, "Don't answer that." Z stated firmly.

They were now officially trapped like a bunch of rats. He had spent too much time talking and not enough time getting them the hell out. "I have an escape route if you want to attempt it." Aya offered.

"Does it lead to the landing pad?"

She nodded. It was some progress in the right direction even if it was too little too late now. "Goddess. Mom is this going to get bad?" Iliana was clearly starting to feel scared.

"Not if we act quickly." Z tried his best to sound reassuring. "We have probably thirty seconds before they force their way in so lead the way if you have a safe route."

Aya got up and helped her daughter up. This was it. This was going to be a war right in the middle of Ortega district tearing it apart while it was still trying to recover from last time. Z looked at Haley who was all business just as he was now. There was no hesitation in her eyes.

"This is going to be as real as it gets Haley not just a training lesson so remember: keep your barrier up and if it goes down get in cover. Use you're biotic's as needed but don't hesitate at all. Your enemy has no hesitation to hurt and kill us and neither should you. Your adrenaline will kick in and things will seem frantic, but keep focused on the objective and watch after yourself and each other."

Haley nodded but then stopped, "What is our objective anyway?"

Z pulled out his Carnifex Hand Cannon with his left hand, "Stay alive and protect them." Those were their only objectives: stay alive and protect Aya and Iliana until Ty and the Normandy reached them to get the pair out. After that it would be shove their collective boots up the Blue Suns asses.

"Simple enough." Haley pulled out her Predator pistol to get prepared.

The mother-daughter duo moved quickly about the apartment grabbing whatever valuables they had brought with them while the green eyed warrior looked around for cover in case the Suns got through. The couch and kitchen were the only defensible places they had here, but the bedroom would funnel them in through the doorway if they didn't have grenades.

The buzzer on the door went off again. Aya looked at Z, "You two ready?"

"Waiting on you."

_So this is hell all over again. How it loves to follow us Rhoddy's around._

"Okay, the window is our way out. It leads to a fire escape which we can get across and down to the ground floor from. From there we have a straight shot to the landing pad, but if things get too heated there are back alleys we can take that I have scouted out."

At least she had scouted this all out. Z had no idea where to go except straight down the street. "Will there be transportation at the landing pad?" Haley asked.

_Not until Ty gets here but don't want to bum you all out_. "Assuming no one rigged the sky car I rented and parked there, we should have a clean get away. If not there are always other vehicles we could commandeer." Aya said.

Not today. Today they were going to be on their own until Aria's team got into place and then until Ty pulled their asses out of the fire. "I can't wait to get back home." Iliana said uncomfortably.

"Okay let's go. Haley, you cover the front with them. I'll watch our backs."

_That way you all don't see me leaving behind a parting gift for them,_ Z thought, _sorry Ortega district, but I have to slow these bastards down._

The young biotic gave a firm nod and the trio started moving towards Aya's exit plan. As Z followed he set trip grenades through the house making sure the Suns would be blown away by the decorations.

The room would be very lively the minute the Suns decided to look around the room. He followed close behind after setting his traps and everything went smoothly as they made their way down the fire escape and to the ground floor, but as they reached street level the battle began with a boom.

* * *

The Blue Suns hackers got through the door and five Blue Suns stormed in. The leader of the group motioned his team to scour the room for their targets. Not only had they cornered them in an apartment complex but they had also removed all sources of escape. Their targets would be dead by the end of the hour and then they would finally get paid.

As the leader walked further into the room with his gun drawn his team came back with nothing but shrugs and no information whatsoever of where their targets were. The leader of the group let out a wordless yell as he smacked a vase across the room, suddenly the room lit up and explosions were triggered before he himself was incinerated by an explosion.

* * *

The apartment explosion sent tremors through the ground as the room erupted in flames, "What the-" Iliana was cut off by Z who ushered them forward with a soft push. _It looks like they found my traps_.

"Keep moving as fast as you can walk. Don't stop and don't look back." He ordered.

"You booby-trapped the apartment?" Haley questioned in shock.

Of course he had. It was the only way to slow down the Suns so they didn't find the window they had left partially open and tell their comrades where they were. "On the way out." Z replied as he pulled out his Avenger in his right hand.

"That could have been the maid." Haley responded.

"Could've, but it wasn't. The maid would have kept going with no answer."

Haley went to retort but stopped herself as she flung her right hand forward and a biotic dome encircled the group. Rounds impacted the barrier but didn't get through as she glowed purple. She looked back at the group, "Suns incoming."

Z saw them and they were large in number, by far more than he estimated their initial force to be and more than he thought him and Haley could take on with two non-combatants. It wasn't the bulk two hundred, but it had to be at least forty just standing in the street as they all began to realize who they were staring at.

There was an alley on the right and the entrance would serve as a wall to take cover against. If they had any shot at getting to that landing pad they were going to have to split the Suns into smaller groups.

The alley ways would serve as funnels allowing them to push through easier while other Suns tried to flank them. They were hopelessly out numbered but they were not outclassed. Not yet anyway. "Aya, you know the alleys, you lead on with Haley at your side. Iliana stay close to them but remain behind them. We're going to have to split this group up."

"Haley stay close." Aya said.

"I thought you'd never ask." The young biotic said with a smirk.

"On three Haley. One, two, three."

Haley dropped her barrier and the group ran into the alley as Z gave covering fire with his Avenger.

They moved into the alley and with Aya at the lead they were taking turns and bends that Z assumed were to get the Suns separated. If the Suns had someone like Murphy tracking them then they'd be able to find their way easy enough, but he doubted they had that now. If they would have he would be hearing their footsteps getting closer.

Z's biggest worry was cornering themselves in the alley because of how many Suns he saw back there. Forty was a grim reaping force with no cover. It looked like Elysium all over again only this time they were wearing blue and he didn't have good cover or much knowledge on the area he was fighting in.

_Ty you better be getting here soon. This is about to be my worst nightmare all over again_, Z thought as he looked forward and backward making sure they weren't followed and weren't running into trouble.

"We should be almost out of this-" Aya was cut off by Haley who grabbed her and biotically charged forward behind a different wall of cover. An explosion of rounds pelted their last position leading Z to grab Iliana by the arm and pull her away from the opening as he put his back against the wall.

The Suns grew brains it would seem and had tried to cut them off.

Haley followed Z's lead and they both peeked around the corner to see a group of fifteen Suns aiming at the opening. _Could be worse I suppose._ "Aya where does that way lead?" He asked motioning to the Suns.

"To another alley which leads straight to the landing pad. It's the only way to go without running into dead ends eventually."

"Of fucking course it would be. Awesome. And I suppose that when you say dead ends eventually you mean they all are dead ends?" He questioned.

"I said I had an escape route, I didn't say it was the best route if a group of over one hundred mercs were after me."

Two hundred actually, but now wasn't the time to tell them just how fucked they were. "You should feel proud, not many get that honor." Iliana piped up.

"Any plan Z or are we just going to shoot our way through them?" Haley asked.

Z chuckled to himself, "That was my plan."

His friend and partner shrugged, "Good enough for me." Haley popped out of cover and sent a singularity at the Suns.

As Z got out of cover he saw the fifteen all floating in the air helplessly. _Easy enough._ He aimed his Carnifex at them and opened fire popping off seven head shots before Haley joined in by sending an unstable warp into it, blowing the singularity and the Suns sky high. That was definitely her largest singularity yet, but she probably wouldn't be using one that size for a while now.

The group moved quickly up the alley with Iliana and Aya in the back_. Aria I hope your squads are going to be in position soon or you're going to have a loose cannon named Ty tearing apart Omega._ When they got to the middle of the alley Z saw a brief glimpse of the landing pad through a hole in a wall and on it was a gunship and some Suns. _Great, just fucking great_.

The fighting got longer and harder as they closed in on the landing pad and as each new wave of Suns would fall, they'd advance into another wave. This constant onslaught continued until they finally reached the landing pad which was vacated of the gunship and Suns he had seen earlier. It was also vacated of the sky car Aya had rented so things were looking pretty badly as he got the three into cover and started formulating a battle strategy.

It was a bit late for anything aside from get out of cover, shoot Suns, and get back in cover when shields would fall, but he still tried. The landing pad was circular and cut off at the end so there were no way the Suns could get behind them. It plus a waist high wall all around the landing pad were small blessings to help them against the Suns pounding away at their position.

"Where the fuck is Aria's force?" Z questioned as he got into cover.

The bulk two hundred were all spread out down and through the street and the only thing stopping them from swarming their position was the hail of bullets that Haley and Z fired back. Haley seemed to be going strong as the fight continued, but he could see some fatigue starting to set in.

She had used way too many big moves starting from the singularity that she caught the fifteen Suns in to the huge warp fields she was deploying left and right. It was keeping the Suns at bay but she was only going to tire herself out if she continued. At this rate if Aria's forces didn't show up Z was going to be a one man show.

They had worked hard on stamina, but during each fire fight she had used more and more of her biotic's and that drained her. In a straight up fight she could last as long as Z and Ty could, but in this kind of fight she needed to learn to pace herself more which would be her next lesson when they got out of this. Aya and Iliana offered help with supporting barriers, but Haley's immense strength in the biotic's department made it seem like child's play.

Z got out of cover with his Avenger ready to release hell on his enemies. _Line up fuckers so I can shove these rounds down your throats_. Six Suns suddenly tried to bull rush the landing pad but they were only rushing their deaths.

He aimed at the first Sun and sent a burst of five rounds down his throat killing him immediately. Then he jumped his aim to the next and fired another five rounds jumping to his next target before the previous Sun even hit the ground. The next Sun fell with a face full of rounds and so did the next three killing them within seconds of each other.

Something bothered the elder brother about this whole situation and it wasn't even the overwhelming odds. He felt like they were just toying with them, playing with their food before deciding to take them down.

The fact that the pair had held off the force so far was surprising since they could have all just bum rushed at once and likely overtaken them or at least wounded them. They were definitely toying with them, weakening them so they could move in for the kill easier just like the mercenary groups had done to Archangel.

What they needed was Ty and the Normandy shuttle, if not the whole Normandy squad, to get out as well as Aria's forces to finally show up. This was way too much without good cover and two civilians for him to handle, but calling his brother in the middle of the fight would not work very well.

He needed to keep them at bay long enough for Ty to get to them. Risking their lives to only get told they would have an evac in a few minutes wasn't worth it, he'd just hold off for those minutes until his brother would show up.

Haley got back in cover as Z went out and unloaded more at the Suns. Seven Suns were in the open this time but they all were lined up like a bunch of pawns on a chess board. _Because that's all they are,_ the warrior told himself, _these guys are just to soften us before they send in the real soldiers._

"What's the plan here Z?" His partner asked.

"Hold out until Ty reaches us." He answered without missing a beat or his marks.

"Are you fucking serious?" Haley's tone was stressed.

She was losing her cool just as Z had feared. This was her first fight and she was going against overwhelming odds. It wasn't his intention to drag her into such a huge war for her first fight, but now they didn't have a choice. She needed to get her head back in the game. "Yeah, unless you want us all to get killed by running back at them." He let out a tired sigh as he mowed down the seventh goon, "We're out of options Haley. I'm doing the best I can here with what situation I have."

As the elder brother got back into cover he saw something strange coming from Haley. She had a purple hue around her but the hue had some red in it, a color he had never seen a biotic before and never once on her. He also took notice of the amount of stress and anger in her body language, "Haley calm down! You need to remain in control of your emotions!" Z yelled over the hail of rounds that suddenly came flying overhead.

"I am not going to let these assholes push me around any longer! I've had enough of this!" Haley shouted.

Before he could speak she stood up and suddenly vanished as an overwhelming amount of power flew past him. The force was unreal and it had even sent a force of energy in all directions blowing air he didn't know was there into his face.

As he got out of cover there was an explosion down field where Haley had popped out. The Suns that had been in the way of her destination had been sent flying by the same force that had pushed against him.

"Z, pass me your Avenger and get your ass down there!" Aya yelled.

Z complied in a swift motion tossing his Avenger to Aya and unsheathing his Katana with his right hand and pulling out his Carnifex with his left. The Asari knew how to use a gun, she wasn't the sharpest shooter but she wouldn't let anyone near her or her daughter no matter what. That incentive would keep her safe along with him carving a path through the mercenaries.

He slid over the cover and continued in a sprint. When his feet hit the ground he saw Haley smashing the Suns with her biotic's letting out wordless screams as she pulverized them. Her hue was mostly purple still but there was red in every part of it like crackling red lighting.

She had three suspended in the air while she used her biotic's to fuel her punches and kicks at a group of six that she killed with each blow. The young biotic then used her charge to detonate the suspended three and put a group of seven that had charged her in a stasis.

There was no way she was going to be able to fight let alone continue to stand if she kept using her biotic's in such a manor. This was too much energy being expended in such a short time frame for her to handle.

Haley sent heavy throws at each to detonate them with huge explosions. Her biotic's were becoming redder as she continued to toss around and generally kick ass with them keeping all of her foes at bay. Z was closing in knowing full well based on her lack of control that she was bound to crash soon.

Her amp was behind her left ear and as she spun at another group of four, to which she grabbed and lifted and then slammed down into the ground, he caught a glimpse of it. The skin around it was blood red which told the warrior that it was burning her badly fueling her anger induced destruction.

He was almost there when fifteen surrounded her, this time though Haley seemed to absorb all of the hue into her body. Z realized too late what she was about to do when she let out a scream, "GRRRAHHHHH!" A huge repulse exploded out her, annihilating the fifteen that surrounded her as well as sending a huge shockwave through the street.

The shockwave sent the elder brother flying sideways into a wall. As he looked up he saw what was left of the area where the young biotic stood. The ground was cracked and looked like it had been burnt by a huge fire, the walls of the buildings surrounding them were burnt and had some had cracks in them as well.

_What power…it's insane._

The fifteen that had surrounded her were scattered across the field of battle among their fallen allies or on the ground with bent armor, bent bones and blood on their faces or face masks. Haley stood slouched in the epicenter of the explosion with cuts on her arms and parts of her clothes ripped. The repulse that she had formed had ripped her skin apart like it was trying to escape from under her skin and out into the galaxy.

Her fishnet was ripped in several new places along with her jeans and shirt; she looked like hammered hell and Z knew there was no way she was going to be able to fight now. She was going to collapse, she had reached her limit.

The green eyed warrior got onto his feet quickly knowing the Suns wouldn't be gone too long, but as he got his bearings more Suns showed up and Haley started glowing again. Some moved towards him this time though blocking his path to the biotic.

_You won't stop me!_

"Haley get out of there!" He yelled as he stabbed one of the Suns through the gut and shot another in the head blowing his mask and head apart.

The ground began to quake slightly followed by more repulse that were exploding out of Haley without her doing anything except staring at her glowing hands. The repulses were growing stronger as Z sliced another merc from his shoulder to his waist and kicked him out of the way following it with three quick strikes to three Suns who decided to try and rush him.

One got stabbed through the heart and as he pulled his sword out he used the momentum and gave it more as he sliced another's head off and then grabbed the hilt with both hands and drove the blade into the lasts throat.

He was making head way to Haley when some Suns managed to brave the repulses and get closer to her. The repulses were shaking the whole entire street and the force of each was keeping the Suns from being able to just rush the raging biotic. _I've never seen such a display of biotic power in my entire life._

This was as amazing as it was scary as all hell. The red parts of her hue were crackling loudly and reaching out towards the Suns that were trying to reach her, burning the ones they touched with sheer enormous power.

As some Suns got closer, avoiding the red hues as best they could as well as trying to force their way against such a strong repulse, Haley suddenly clenched her hands and the hue once again entered her body. The red remained on the outside crackling louder and faster around her before it began reaching out to the Suns exploding against the closest ones, sending them flying with scorched armor and dead by the look of it.

"Get away from us!" Haley yelled.

Suddenly a larger wave of annihilation came out sending Z flying back into a wall and taking all the Suns out with it, killing them and nearly incinerating them where they stood. How he wasn't getting hurt was beyond him aside from hitting the wall, but he was happy because of how bad the wave was hurting the Suns. Being scorched and bent and broken didn't seem like a good way to go.

Again he forced himself back onto his feet only to see Haley turn towards where the Suns were coming from. Instead of the repulse echoing out of her, the hue moved into her hands and began to grow bigger and bigger, creating a giant ball of energy that was purple with red crackling around her hands.

She pulled both hands back and with a wordless yell she released a huge biotic wave that reached as high as all the tops of the apartment buildings and as wide as the street carrying all the Blue Suns in the way of it flying, but not battered and broken.

When the biotic wave died Haley fell forward onto her hands and knees as she began breathing hard. Z looked down the street and saw the Suns still disoriented from the blast, _I have a short amount of time to get her back to cover and figure out how the hell I'm going to hold out. Fuck me_. He sheathed his sword and put away his pistol as he sprinted towards Haley. When he reached her he scooped her up bridal style and made a hasty retreat back to the landing pad.

Rounds suddenly started erupting from the buildings causing Z to stumble towards cover at first only to realize Aria's forces had shown up when he saw Grizz looking down at him. He looked shocked but he nodded to him indicating that he had his back. "Fuck Z, you just took out all our feeds. I'm blind now." Murphy cursed from his omni-tool.

"Shut up Murphy. This isn't the time." Grizz said then continued, "Z we've got your back, just get back to cover. Anto, Gavorn lets show these bastards what happens to those who forget rule number one. Murphy, I'll set up a camera up here so you can see what's going on."

Haley's whole body felt like it was burning up, she had tears running down her face as she tried to breathe slowly, but each breath was labored. Whatever she had just done not only showed a great immense of power she hadn't trained with yet, but also strained her body past its limits.

Her arms and legs were sliced open, cutting straight through her armor to her skin like there was nothing there. She was in pain beyond anything she had ever felt before and now she needed a doctor, the very thing they lacked presently.

Z got back to the landing pad and sat Haley down behind cover next to Iliana. He quickly looked at Aya, "Tell me when they are back up and going. Aria's forces can only do so much even with their tactical advantage."

She nodded then he looked back to Haley who you could tell really wasn't all there. Her eyes were glazed over and agony was etched over her face as tears ran down her cheeks. He snapped his fingers in front of her in an attempt to get her attention, "Haley I need you to focus on my voice for a minute."

She looked at the direction of his voice but not in his eyes. Had she rendered herself blind somehow? Her eyes were bloodshot but there were no actual cuts on them, maybe the pain was just mind numbing. "I- I hurt ba- badly." Haley whimpered as she stammered.

"I know which is why I need you to listen. Ty has a mental connection with everyone who he joins minds with which means he can feel your emotions at any given moment if he focuses on it. Did you two join minds a lot?"

"Yea- yeah." Haley answered barely.

That didn't answer how much, but even if it was twice or once it would be enough that his brother could feel it. This had to work now. "I want you to focus on the pain then make it your being like when you meditate. After you get there, reach out to Ty's mind with it. Grab his attention like your trying to biotically grab something. Understand?"

"I'll try."

More tears continued to run down her face fueling Z's own rage as he moved to Aya, "If you ever joined minds with Ty, you should do the same but focus on something that hurt you in the past severely to get his attention."

Aya handed him his Avenger, "Why are we doing this?"

Z chuckled but it wasn't very humorous, "Last ditch effort at an S.O.S… Get down they're coming." The elder brother set his focus to the battle ahead but also used his left over brain power to think about painful moments he had and tried to broadcast them as much as he could. _Come on Ty we need you here now_.


	76. Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Battle for Ortega

Tensions were high inside the Comm Room. No, that wasn't true, not completely at least. It was like saying a black hole was only a slight hazard or being a Salarian on Tuchanka was a bit dangerous. The tension that filled the room was palpable nearly suffocating the entire room as it seemed to swirl like a whirlpool around one person in particular, that person being Ty.

He was pissed. No, that wasn't true either because that was like saying flying your ship into a Sun was a bad idea. He was the center of the storm, the eye wall of the hurricane and they were all trying to move with him to remain in the eye where it was safest.

Nearly everyone in the room was tiptoeing around him trying not to incite his anger any more than it already was, with the exception of Shepard who was trying her best to communicate with the tornado of hate and despair.

He was infuriated; he was sinking in anguish at not knowing exactly what was happening with his brother and friends. He was losing all control and the Commander was becoming increasingly worried for him.

What if they were too late?

What if they weren't able to save them all?

Those questions had terrible answers for what would happen to Ty if they came true. The warrior would drown himself again in all of his hate and sadness until the man she knew, the man she was falling for would be gone…forever. It may sound dramatic or selfish that she was worried so much about losing him because of what she felt happening between them, but she knew what would happen to him.

Shepard glanced over to the man who was leaning forward on the desk while his hands gripped the table making it creak and groan like he was about to rip it off. His stare was boring a hole into the table and his face showed all the emotions that were welling up inside of him, seeping through the cracks of the dam that held them there. Any more pushes would lead the walls to crumble and then the tsunami would be let loose.

If those questions would come to pass the former mercenary would go on a rampage, it wouldn't be like his rampage against the Suns over the last years or even like the rampage on Illium that he went on to get to Haley and kill Scrum. This rampage would have one goal and one goal only; kill as many people as possible before he was killed. The N7 tore her glance away from him as she imagined him making his final stand, _he would lose it mentally_, she thought.

There was no question of what would come next after that, he would be blinded by all his pain and anger and he would get himself killed. Shepard shook her head to herself as the thoughts continued to bombard her mind. _Despite his father being alive, despite his friends here on the Normandy and everywhere else…despite how much I know he cares about me, all of those feelings would be crushed and destroyed by pain, guilt, and rage for not being there for his brother and friends or being able to save them._

A person like Ty who had suffered so much loss already could only take so much more personal loss before finally snapping. The sapphire eyed woman knew if she were to lose her all of her friends to the Collectors she wouldn't be able to continue.

_There is only so much fight a person has in them no matter how strong their will is, no matter how much they've already fought through. Someone like Ty, someone who has survived on hope alone can only have it nearly extinguished so many times until they can no longer lift themselves up._ _If he were to lose his brother and friends to the Suns…_Shepard shook her head again as she began to pace_, that won't happen. I won't let it._

The whole squad was armed and ready to go as they were waiting for a connection to Aria to be made. She held all the information of what was going happening on Omega with Ty's brother and the Suns and the sooner she gave them that information, the better. The N7 looked to her love interest when she saw him stand up straight and begin rubbing and resting his hand at the left side of his neck near his ear.

He had his hood up and still looked ready to rip someone's head off. The whole crew glanced momentarily at him to see if he was about to say something or if they needed to move out of his way, but he continued to stare at the desk as he rubbed his neck. Kasumi was the only one missing; she was out like a light in the med-bay due to the mind joining between her and Ty.

After she had grabbed the former mercenary it took only thirty seconds for her to suddenly be back. He had explained that they had spent a few minutes together after he had spent what felt like hours fighting through the combined memories of Haley's time with Scrum plus his brothers fight against a bunch of Batarian's. Ty didn't go into elaborate details about it all saying that, "_Now is not the time for this conversation. My brother is in trouble and Haley feels like she is dying._"

That added on with his suddenly pissed off demeanor was enough to call for an all hands on deck mission to help him out. He gave them a quick rundown of the situation starting by telling them that someone was trying to kill his family and ending at why his brother and Haley were trying to get his Asari friends out ahead of them.

The purple eyed warrior also mentioned that there were going to be a lot of Blue Suns on Omega when they got there and all of them were at the moment trying to kill his brother and friends. It was shocking and discomforting that someone was gearing up a large force to do this.

Ty wasn't a terrible person and neither was his family, they didn't deserve to be hunted down because of Cerberus screwing them over. The more Shepard thought about it she began to wonder how she would have reacted if she had never gotten to know the man like she did.

What if he had just walked away back on Omega instead of signing on? Would she still think of him the way she had then? It was unfortunately likely. The Alliance had done such a great job smearing his family and blacklisting them that she doubted she would have ever thought of him as anything but another criminal to be taken down.

She would have never thought of him as the compassionate person he was or ever consider that he was so loyal to his friends that he would die for them without second thought. He would have remained the monster that everyone thought he was and she probably wouldn't have ever given him a chance on the battlefield.

The thought that she would have never gotten to know Ty for who he truly was or ever allowed the crazy idea of being more than friends with him enter her mind and actually go through with it was a saddening thought.

It made her thankful for allowing him onto the ship, thankful that he took a missile for her and a Carnage blast for Miranda. She was grateful for him giving her a chance and allowing himself to open up to her, grateful that he never once doubted her ability to lead or question her choice in using Cerberus, granted she was thankful to all of her crew for both of those.

Even though she had to lose her relationship with Kaiden and die before that to get here, she wouldn't change it. Shepard would always consider her old lover her friend and wouldn't forget all the good times they had together. They hadn't parted on the best terms either time with her death being the first and Horizon being the second, but she didn't blame him anymore.

She hadn't had to live through the years after her death, she just woke up like she had been in a coma for two years and things had changed while she remained the same. Maybe they would work together again or maybe they would never see or speak to each other again, the Commander wasn't sure. In the end she wished him the best and hoped he found some happiness in this galaxy.

A holographic image of Aria suddenly popped up in the middle of the table. She was in the midst of coordinating by the looks of it, "Why is it always Ortega district that is getting blown to shit when you or your brother are on my station?" Aria's voice was chastising and clearly frustrated at the situation.

Ty looked up from the table as he stared at the leader of Omega intensely causing the Asari to raise a questioning brow, "Blame the Blue Suns. I'll be there to exterminate the problem soon enough." He told her.

His tone was cold and held no sympathy for what he was going to do to the Blue Suns. He was quite literally going to exterminate them when he got there and he was probably going to enjoy every second of it.

The Pirate Queen nodded in approval at what he had said, "Nice to see being on the Normandy hasn't softened you up." Aria looked away for a moment, "Murphy are the comms back on yet?" There was a distant voice that replied negatively, "What about the feed?" Another no sounded off causing Aria turned back to Ty with a glare mixed with a questioning look.

Shepard was questioning still why Aria thought that Ty would soften up on the Normandy, definitely when it came to his known temper. Maybe the compliment wasn't for her to understand, but even she knew that his temper wouldn't disappear when it came to the people he cared about being in danger.

The new look that the Pirate Queen had aimed at the former mercenary spoke volumes of an underlying understanding between them. No words had to be spoken between them for the hooded warrior to understand that whatever was going on was bad and his brother was at the middle of it all. "What did he say, Aria?" He asked at length.

He didn't seem to really want to know, there was an underlying fear in his tone of what was going on. "Told my squads to hold their fire, cut their comms along with the one feed we had and to take up a new position in the district. When I asked what he was going to do he told me that he was going to create a killing field." The purple eyed warrior muttered a string of curses before he finally slammed his fist into the table hard enough to create a boom, but not hard enough to break his hand. "I take it that means something to you?" She asked not even being fazed by Ty's sudden outburst of anger.

The rest of the squad had all flinched silently at the loud boom. Jack watched Ty with careful eyes that showed she wanted to say something to help, but lacked the right words. Garrus showed a look of understanding and seemed to concede that silence was the best answer right now. Shepard wanted to rest her hand on his shoulder and tell him it would be alright, but she didn't know what exactly was wrong right now. "He deployed smoke across the district and is going around killing the Suns while cloaked, a lot of them will be dead before they feel it…"

That didn't sound like too much of a problem to the N7, but she knew based on the pause he had that it was about to get worse. "The problem is once he starts not only does he have a limited time until the smoke clears but…he won't stop afterwards. It is his last resort. He may not be out in the open with them, but once he resorts to this his lust for the death of all those he is fighting won't be sated until every last one of them are dead…He's going to be a different person when we see him again."

"Like when you lose your temper?" Shepard questioned. Her love interest shook his head and looked at her with haunted eyes, "Worse." He shook his head a little before he continued, "Remember when I said I could play a damn good devil and how when I lose control I call it my demon." The whole squad nodded and the N7 couldn't help but feel her stomach begin to knot at what she feared was coming next. "When my brother gets like this he doesn't play a damn good devil…he becomes a damn devil."

Shepard found herself looking to Aria for confirmation on what Ty had said. No one knew Z better than his younger brother or his father, but if anyone knew more information on what the purple eyed warrior had just said, it would be her.

She nodded a bit reluctantly in agreement, "Ty has a bad temper, but when his brother loses his all hell tends to break loose. The two people I knew who had bigger tempers than either of them are their father and grandfather. How long does the smoke last?" Ty shrugged helplessly, "I don't know. Five to ten minutes I'd guess. The smoke is so thick that you can't see inches in front of you, thermal readings won't do shit either with how dense it gets at the center of it all."

That meant near the edges the smoke was lighter in density and thermal could penetrate it, but not by much. Z's best bet, which he was probably doing, was to remain in the center of it and kill the Suns that were caught in there.

It was a great tactic, it would induce a panic among the Suns and the screams that the ones who were killed would let out would only add more fear into them. If anything they would see him right before he struck them down, but then it would too late.

"A full scale assault on Ortega and your brother's anger running loose? Things just keep getting better and better. Here's what information I have so listen up because I won't repeat myself. Whoever the fuck is running this operation dispatched every soldier they had for this escapade of trying to kill your family and blowing my station to hell. We're still trying to track this Citadel stuffed shirt prick, but this guy covered his tracks pretty damn well. Murphy hasn't been able to crack it yet but he says he's close."

Whoever was doing this wasn't important right now; they would find whoever it was afterwards. For now getting Z, Haley and the others out while squashing the Suns were the top priorities "How many mercenaries do they have?" Shepard questioned.

"They were two hundred strong." Aria said.

"And now?" Ty asked.

"Last estimate puts them between seventy and one hundred strong, plus a gunship and an YMIR mech on standby. If I had to guess they are closer to seventy now than they were before with your brother going around killing them."

"Why not just go in with the gunship like they did on Archangel?" The N7 asked looking to the former mercenary for the answer. _If they really wanted them dead all they would have to do is preform a strafing run on them and call it a day._

Aria barked a laugh out at the question as if the answer was completely obvious, "Ha! Don't forget who you're talking about here Shepard. This isn't some random thorn in their side that they want dead. This is Ty's brother we are talking about, the man who defended the colony of Elysium single handedly. Or has Ty not told you that yet?" The Pirate Queen looked mischievously at the man in question.

Everyone's eyes soon found themselves staring at the younger brother. His brother was the hero of Elysium? The man who faced down a Batarian army by himself until the Alliance arrived and disappeared unnoticed?

Ty shook his head, "My brother spoke of it once but neglected to mention it as Elysium. We don't see the sense in mentioning that part and it isn't important right now."

_Not important my ass,_ Shepard wanted to say the words to him but she bit her tongue. That's why that story he told was so familiar about the colony that Batarian's attacked, Z was the damn hero of Elysium nobody knew about. The colonists of Elysium never knew who he really was, but they knew that he had saved them all and all were still grateful to the mysterious man.

The Alliance either didn't know or hid that information as well. Then again if you told anyone right now that Z was the hero of Elysium there would be a very small amount of people who would believe, all of which were standing in the Comm Room minus the colony of Elysium.

"That still doesn't explain the gunship on standby." Garrus said.

"Sure it does. Not only do they think he could shoot it down easily, which he could, but they want him and the others alive, not scorched by a missile or impaled on a wall." Aria stated.

Garrus, Ty and Shepard flinched slightly at the reminder of what had happened. The sapphire eyed woman began visually remembering seeing Ty's bloody corpse hanging on the wall and seeing Garrus get blown sideways by the missile. It was not a good memory.

"They also don't realize that I'm about to viciously murder them all." The warrior stated.

The Pirate Queen smiled, "In for a big surprise are they, Ghost of Omega?"

Shepard wasn't the only one confused by the sudden new nickname judging by the look on Ty's face. _The Ghost of Omega?_ It made an odd bit of sense, but who had thought of it in the first place? "What?" The warrior was clearly confused.

Aria's smile grew bigger, "Hmm. So you really haven't heard about it yet? It's your new nickname that the locals came up with. I think it suits you well enough seeing as you are about to haunt those idiots. I don't have much else to give you, but here's the last of what we saw down there from about three minutes ago that Murphy managed to salvage."

She pressed a few buttons on whatever was in front of her and then she disappeared. A side view from the side of a tall building appeared showing the battlefield. It looked like a funnel with a landing pad on the right and a long road down the other way. At the landing pad she could see Z and Haley with two Asari's while Blue Suns were coming up the road trying to shoot them only to get mowed down by the green eyed brother.

Haley started glowing purple then suddenly disappeared. Z tossed his rifle to who Shepard assumed was Aya and then unsheathed his sword and pistol as he ran after the young biotic who had biotically charged all the way down to the Suns and started tossing them around.

Her strength was immense and it was all being fueled by desperation and anger. What caught Shepard's eyes was the slight red mixed into her purple. Her own biotic's were a blue similar to her eye color, but when she was under strain or really angry the color purple worked its way into it. This was similar but the red hue looked a lot scarier.

"Damn how the hell did she get captured? She's ripping them to shreds." Jack wondered in admiration.

"She was always a biotic but never did anything with them. The Suns outfitted her with some high tech prototype amp that helped to increase her strength, but she still couldn't control it so she decided to start learning how to use them. She's been training hard with my brother, dad and friend Darian who is a biotic." Ty explained as he continued rubbing his neck.

If that's what training with his family did, Shepard was deeply considering taking on their training regimen. She was great with her biotic's, but Haley's pure strength was impressive. All the biotic's in her squad could learn a thing or two from Ty's family if she was anything to go by.

The only problem the seasoned marine could see that the young biotic had was a severe lack of control. All the power in the world didn't matter if you couldn't control it. She would likely end up ripping herself to shreds at this rate. "She has more skill than I thought." Miranda said thoughtfully then continued, "Being able to charge around, put that many mercenaries in a stasis and still be able to throw biotic punches and kicks without looking like she is feeling any effect is remarkable. Has she been undertaking this rigorous training since you rescued her?"

The former mercenary nodded in response. It felt like ages ago now but that was still a lot of advancement in the time frame that she had. Jack finally took notice to Ty's constant rubbing at his neck and furrowed her brow, "Your neck cramped from the Cheerleader throwing you around or something?"

"Huh?" He then realized what he was doing and stopped, lowering his hand back to his side, "I didn't realize I was touching it so much. Haley's amp is burning her neck badly and since I felt her pain it transferred over. Now my neck feels tingly where her amp is."

Shepard knew the only reason her amp would be burning knowing would be because she over exerted herself. Every biotic in the room seemed to have a moment of understanding though the purple eyed warrior didn't seem to realize what was going to happen.

Haley seemed to absorb the hue into herself before it suddenly came bursting back out as a huge repulse that cracked the ground leaving what looked like scorch marks while it sent Z flying into a building on his right. "Holy shit, that was impressive." The tattooed biotic said with a smirk.

It was impressive but it also confirmed the Commander's fear, she had cut open her skin and ripped parts of her clothing with that move. Shepard looked at her love interest who was watching the feed closer as his brother got up and started fighting through some mercenaries, "Haley…what were you doing?" He asked himself in a pained tone. The repulses started again as mercenaries tried to brave through them since they weren't as strong as the first, but they were starting to get stronger and stronger.

At first the only sound the feed had was of the repulses thundering out, but then a new sound started to echo. The new sound sounded like crackling lighting and it was coming from Haley, the red parts of her hue began to reaching out towards the Suns that were trying to reach her, burning the ones they touched with sheer enormous power.

The red parts of her hue had to be the source of the crackling noise, the parts that were reaching out looked like tendrils and it was scary as hell. The young biotic had barely been able to use a barrier when the first met and now she was capable of this?

This girl was something else.

The hue once again entered her body but this time the red remained on the outside as the crackling sound became louder and more frequent. The red tendrils began reaching out to the Suns at a new speed exploding against the closest ones sending them flying with scorched armor and, if Shepard had to bet, probably dead.

There was a barely audible shout from Haley that couldn't be heard over the sounds of the crackling and the thunder of the repulses, but it was followed by another huge repulse of annihilation killing the mercenaries and tossing Z into another building.

She brought her hands in front of her and the hue moved into them as it got bigger and bigger creating a giant ball of energy similar to what Samara had when she meditated. This one was different though. The Justicar's biotic ball was controlled where Haley's was of pure un-controlled power. It was purple and continuing to grow as the red parts began crackling around her hands. She pulled both hands back and released a huge biotic wave that reached as high as the tops of the buildings and all the way across the street carrying all the Blue Suns in the way of it flying.

The source of Ty's pain was apparent now. All of those moves didn't come without a cost and as the final wave tossed everything about, it took out the feed. The last glimpse Shepard saw was Haley falling to her knees.

Aria appeared again with an impressed look, "That power was impressive. I might bed her now." She commented offhandedly with humor in her tone.

The humor didn't reach the warrior as he leaned forward against the desk with clenched fists, "Aria, where are they now?"

"As far as we know they're in same place, but the last word I heard from Grizz was that the Suns were trying to call a retreat."

Ty's body tensed up, that definitely wasn't a good sign. Why would a retreat cause him to tense up? Didn't a retreat mean Z was kicking them around so badly they were going to leave? The N7 looked at Aria's hologram, "So the Suns are leaving?"

She shook her head, "Not exactly, but Ty can elaborate on that. I'll send you their coordinates and try to get comms back up. Let's stop these bastards before they destroy more of that district. If you can find someone who knows what's going on, make sure you make them scream." Aria said and then she signed off.

Shepard looked to the hooded man and noticed his breaths getting sharper, "Ty?" She asked.

He remained silent for a moment. _Come on Ty, talk to me,_ she pleaded in her thoughts. "If they manage the retreat through the smoke and death, then they'll expect them to either move up or stay. Either way, if we don't get there in the next five minutes they are captured or dead." Ty said more calmly then she thought he looked.

"That's a very short time frame. Faster than most mercenaries would move against a foe such as your brother." Samara said thoughtfully.

Trying to rush against Z of all people just sounded like a terrible idea, definitely when you took into consideration his deployment of smoke turning the field of battle to his advantage. Ty didn't seem to be thinking along the same lines. "They fall back after sending in the pawns to weaken them and then use their ace in the hole to take them down." He said calmly with his eyes still aimed at his hands.

"What ace in the hole?" Jacob questioned.

"Legionaries, a giant YMIR mech, and the remaining blood thirsty mercenaries that are higher skilled than the pawns. The leaders are probably hiding out somewhere, but if it fails they'll use the gunship and probably a more tactical approach."

"You sound like you know this plan well." Miranda said.

Shepard saw in Ty's eyes guilt begin to weed itself into his being, "I should…I created it." _Ty_, she wanted to reach out to him and pull him into a hug so she could comfort him. They were using his own tactic against his brother._ It'll be okay Ty. I won't let them take anything else from you_.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's get down there and tear their spines out." Grunt said eagerly.

The purple eyed warrior didn't say anything; he just kept staring at his hands. Shepard could figure what was going through his mind and none of the thoughts she could understand were good ones. They were all along the lines of blaming himself for allowing this to happen and then when the guilt wasn't at the forefront of his mind he was thinking of how he was going to kill them all.

She would have loved to comfort him and talk to him, but right now she had a mission to plan in a short time frame. "EDI can you bring up schematics of the Ortega district where Ty's brother is held up at?" She asked.

"Yes, Shepard."

The holographic display changed to the schematics of the district, it was definitely a funnel. "Straight path out and dead end at the landing pad. Many alleys that lead to possible ambush zones." Mordin analyzed quickly.

"What's the quickest entry?" Ty asked without looking up, his tone firm. If they were talking literal quickest it would be through a shuttle drop, but the gunship caused a problem for that. "Shuttle evac would be, but with that gunship they'd scare us off and chase us before we touched down." Garrus said.

It was unfortunately true which meant walking straight through the front doors and coming up from behind them. Despite all the other problems they had, the element of surprise was on their side for once and boy did it feel good. "What about your space bike, Ty? You could use it to damage the gunship or lead it away for us to get them out." Tali offered a new idea.

The man seemed to perk up at the idea, "EDI, how well did I install you on my bike?"

_Why would that matter?_ "It is hard to explain in words you would understand, but in a way I am your bike now. It is like a body for me."

"Good. So you'd be able to fly said body without me on it, fire my weapons and not crash, right?"

"Yes."

_Oh no…no no no that is a terrible idea Ty._ "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right?" Miranda questioned worriedly. Ty looked up meeting Miranda's eyes and Shepard knew he was thinking what both she and the Cerberus Operative thought he was thinking. For once the N7 would have liked to be wrong about an idea the warrior was coming up with. "That is crazy borderline suicidal Ty."

He merely shrugged showing no sign of being warded off from the idea, "Sounds up my alley then."

"You won't have enough time to dismount and land safely before that gunship gets on you." The spandex wearing woman asserted firmly.

Shepard knew she should have been with her XO, but the look in Ty's eyes wasn't allowing her. He was dead set and there was nothing they were going to say that would change his mind. "Who said anything about landing?"

It was a terrible idea, but there wasn't much that she could do to convince him otherwise. Jack, Grunt and Garrus all looked amused at Ty's statement, "Its official Shepard, Ty is crazier than all of us combined." Jack commented with a smirk.

"Ha! He's part Krogan is what he is." Grunt declared proudly.

Despite their amusement, Miranda was still dead set on talking the warrior out of it, "You're talking about bailing off your bike while it's flying."

"It's called a flying dismount at high speeds, like a Krogan airdrop but instead of blood raged Krogan's it'll be me in a blood rage." He replied. It was hard not to smile at his retort, it sounded like he had called bailing off his bike a flying dismount at high speeds before.

Before Miranda could speak up Mordin cleared his throat and got everyone's attention, "Have been working on new tech while waiting for results on samples of Collector tissue. Have prototype that might work for this situation."

"What have you got Mordin?" Shepard asked. She was glad the good doctor spoke up ending what was surely to be an argument between the Cerberus Operative and the craziest member of her squad.

Mordin walked up to the console for the table, "Afraid still in the testing stages, but so far results have been promising. Know that it may not always be possible for a safe jump distance from the shuttle to the combat zone, so I started working on this." He pressed a few buttons and orange holograms of what looked like clamps popped up in the center, "Essentially they are rocket propulsion clamps that you can attach to your boots. When activated on distance jumps their propulsion will slow you down enough to not break several bones on landing."

"Sounds like I get to be a guinea pig for a cool experiment. I'm in." Ty stated.

"You're ridiculous." Miranda scolded while shaking her head.

Well that answered the question of how Ty was going in, but what about the rest of the crew? They'd need to split between the shuttle for evac and the ground squad that would take the Suns out from behind. With the squad as big as it was and all the individual talents they had it wouldn't be too hard coming up with a plan. "Okay we need a shuttle crew for evacing them out of there and a ground team. Ty, do you know this district well?" She pointed her question at the Omega native.

"More than you'd expect." He replied.

That was a curious answer but Shepard nodded without question. Now wasn't the time for questioning him, Z needed help and he needed it now. "Okay, how well do you think the Suns are going to be entrenched back at the entrance to the district?"

"If they are as predictable as they continue to be they won't be focusing on behind them. They will be focusing forward on my brother and Aria's team so you could get the drop on them."

"Taking on a whole bunch of mercenaries head on huh? I like it. Seems like a walk in the park compared to most of the shit thrown at us." The psychotic biotic commented.

"Does the Normandy have the equipment and supplies to deal with Haley's amp and whatever other wounds are earned during this fight?" The former mercenary questioned.

Truth was they were starting to run a little short on supplies which was one of the things on Shepard's to do list while on Omega, but that would have to wait. Worst case scenario with everyone taking some type of wound they'd still be okay on supplies…probably. Chakwas more than likely had the tools needed since they were able to extract a miniature bomb from Haley and rebuild Ty's left side so that wasn't a worry of hers.

"We'll need to pick up some stuff on Omega later, but we'll be fine for this fight." She assured.

"So who goes where Commander?" Jacob asked.

Shepard needed to make sure the evac team had someone capable at the lead and knew how to get people out of a hot spot. That person also needed three to four of the crew to help lay down cover and get Z and the others out of there.

On the other hand the ground team needed to be strong if there were seventy or more Suns left in the way between them and the landing zone. Ty and Kasumi were out for respective reasons and the ground squad would have pick up Zaeed on the way if he was still itching for a fight.

_Whoever leads them needs to have both the experience and the respect of who I put under them. _She met the eyes of her Turian best friend, "Garrus, your leading the evac team." Garrus perked up at being called to action, she knew he held doubts in his own ability to lead with what happened to his team, but Shepard knew Garrus. He was a good leader despite what he would say and a damn good friend who she knew would never let her down. "Your primary objective is getting Z and the others out of there in one piece. Understood?"

Garrus gave a firm nod without hesitation, "You can count on me Shepard."

The Commander smiled inwardly as she nodded back to him. He was right; she could count on him for anything. "Good."

Now came his squad, the first person was obvious since they needed a doctor on the shuttle in case Haley needed immediate medical attention, which was highly likely. "Mordin I want you on the shuttle team as well just in case there are any serious injuries. I know you'll be able to get them stabilized if needed." He nodded leaving her to turn her eyes to Jacob and then Samara, "Jacob, Samara, I want you there as well to help provide support either through biotic barriers for protection or helping hold off the Suns while Garrus and Mordin get them. I'll leave the finer details to you guys to decide on."

"Yes ma'am." Jacob saluted.

Samara nodded, "As you command, Shepard."

Shepard nodded and looked at the remainder of who was going to be the ground team, Thane, Tali, Grunt, Miranda, Jack, and herself which covered biotic's, tech and muscle. "The rest of you are with me." She pointed to the main entrance into the district, "We're going up behind them and carving a path towards the landing pad." She turned to Ty, "Ty, if our original plan doesn't hold up is there any place we could bring them to safety?"

It was unlikely that the plan would fail with how much sheer force they had, but it was always good to have a backup plan. The hooded warrior didn't take a second to think about it as he pointed to a building on the map, "There's a big clinic there that would help us, but it's all the way back near the entrance. You'll pass it on your way through."

"You're sure they'll help?" She questioned.

They were talking about Omega here where pleasant people were not all that common. In spite of that he nodded with confidence, "One hundred percent positive. They're good people."

Shepard nodded in understanding. If he was positive and called them good people then there was no reason to doubt him, "Alright. If we aren't able to evac with the shuttle then we'll make out way to the clinic."

As the Commander was about to dismiss them the doors opened and in strolled Kasumi, "What's the plan and where do you want me?" She asked in her usual tone.

Ty looked at her with slight surprise. He looked like he wasn't going to expect her to be walking for at least the rest of the day, but here she was in front of them. She was fully armed and ready to go. "You sure you're up for this, Kasumi?" He questioned.

"Is that doubt I hear?" She retorted with a smirk.

"I'm just saying me breaking mental connection so suddenly has never been very helpful in keeping you on the conscious side of the universe."

He was probably being truthful, but Kasumi shrugged off the comment, "I feel fine now. Before either of you ask, Shepard and Miranda, I was given the all clear by Chakwas. Now what's the plan and where do you want me?"

Before the N7 could begin working the thief into their plan, Ty looked to Mordin, "Mordin you got two sets of those clamps?"

Mordin nodded in affirmation, "Yes. Worked on two pairs to make sure results were consistent. Still should be used with caution though, prototypes have been known to be…problematic."

Shepard couldn't help but feel a little bad for the thief, she had just walked in and now she was going to be going with Ty who was jumping off his bike. "Good. She's with me."

There was no argument that she was going to be able to give. He was telling her that he was taking Kasumi, not asking. "Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?" The thief questioned.

Ty chuckled a bit humorously to himself, "How does a high speed flying dismount sound?"

Kasumi nodded, "Yup. Definitely not liking the sound of that."

Everything was decided then and they had a plan. Not the most thought out plan granted, but it was a plan that was very possible at succeeding. Now all they had to do was put it into action. "Joker how's our status on docking?" Shepard asked. The sound of the Normandy docking to the station was audible in the Comm Room as Joker came on, "Just finished Commander."

"Good." Shepard looked to her squad, "You all know what you are doing. Let's get this done as quick and efficiently as possible without injuries." She smirked, "I don't want anyone sitting out when I take all your credits during our rematch of Skyllian five."

Everyone let out their own retort at the same time all regarding to how they were about to win before she spoke up again, "Let's move, we don't have a lot of time." The squad began moving out of the Comm Room with Ty was taking up the rear. Before he got out Shepard caught up to him and stopped him with a slight pull on his arm to grab his attention. "Are you going straight for the landing pad?" She asked. It wasn't what she really wanted to say or ask, but with the squad still within ear shot she had to ask the closest thing to "_are you going to be okay?" _and "_I'll make sure nothing happens to them."_

He nodded slightly, "Either there or a building near so me and Kasumi can provide support for them long enough for the shuttle to get there." He looked deep into her eyes which were trying to transmit her question and statement. It took a moment but she saw that he understood her slightly pleading question, "I'm pissed off Shepard, but I won't be any help getting pinned down somewhere."

The sapphire eyed woman sighed inwardly and also held in her sudden thought due to the close proximity of the crew. It was a flirty joke about being the only person to be allowed to pin him down but decided better of it. He was going to be okay as long as they reached his brother and friends in time, he was still in control of most of his anger. It was a relief that he wasn't about to go off the deep end, granted his brother was apparently already off the deep end so maybe he was keeping himself calm so he could handle his brother.

"Whatever you do don't get killed or I will kick your ass." She quipped with a smirk.

He snapped a salute, "Yes ma'am!"

Shepard motioned for him to go and couldn't resist her next comment, "Move out, Specialist."

The former mercenary rolled his eyes slightly before he began walking away, "Specialist? Really? Who the hell makes up those ranks? That just sounds like a person with a stick up their ass." He mumbled.

Her smirk grew into a full-blown smile while she shook her head and watched him disappear out the door. Knowing it irked him a little to be called Specialist was just too good to pass up. Ty could dish out a lot of sarcasm so having something to fire back that would keep him more or less speechless was good ammunition.

Shepard jogged to the air lock to catch up with her ground team, she caught up to the Grunt first so as she slowed down out of her jog she gave him a small punch to his shoulder, "You ready big guy?"

Grunt looked to her with a big grin on his face, _oh yeah he is definitely excited about getting off the Normandy to kick ass_, The N7 smiled. "Are you kidding battlemaster? These Pyjaks won't stand a chance against us. We've taken on tougher enemies."

That was true. There was Saren and the Geth before this, the Collector Ship with Ty and Tali, the Thresher Maw back on Tuchanka. They all had many fights under their belts and all of them were tougher than a bunch of guys wearing painted armor. "True." She smirked as she motioned Grunt to look at the others with a nod of her head, "I don't know if these guys will keep up with us though. I mean we did take on that Thresher Maw back on Tuchanka."

Shepard knew that she wasn't all there during the actual fight, but it was just for fun banter and to get a rise out of Jack, Miranda and Tali since she knew Thane wouldn't get baited so easily.

As they reached the airlock, the comment got the result out of the three just as she thought it would. Before they could speak what their glares were saying the tank-bred Krogan let out a hearty laugh and slammed his fists together, "Hahaha! Now that was an enemy Shepard! These Pyjaks with us have their uses though despite not having that kill under their belts." "_Those Pyjaks_" were glaring holes into Grunt and Shepard. Grunt didn't help as he chuckled a little, "Rookies."

Judging on the looks she was receiving Shepard was beginning to wonder if egging them on was such a good idea. Jack and Miranda looked ready to lift them both up with biotic's and slam them while Tali looked like she was about to open up her omni-tool and hit them with a tech attack. "Are you kidding Grunt? Do you know how many Thresher Maws we ran into on unexplored planets that Shepard took us on back on the original Normandy?" Tali retorted defensively.

The N7 chuckled lightly thinking about the old days and all the planets she had traveled to while chasing down Saren. She was a traveled explorer in parts of the galaxy. "She has a point Grunt although we were in the Mako during those fights."

Being on foot really changed up how fighting a Thresher Maw went. In the Mako her fears didn't grip her as bad, but feeling the tremors under her feet and knowing that there was no way to kill it except with the tiny guns they had was a completely different feeling.

The Mako had a cannon and a giant machine gun that actually wounded the Maw with ease. The Hammerhead wouldn't hold up against a Thresher Maw like the Mako did with its plate armor being weaker, but it at least it had a cannon as well. "Ugh, don't remind me of that dreaded machine." The Quarian engineer responded with obvious disgust.

Her original crew all liked to make jokes about Shepard and the Mako causing them to have nightmares and puke. Most of it had just been fun jokes, but deep down they all really disliked the vehicle. She couldn't blame them since she didn't have a lot of fond memories inside of it, but it served its purpose and saved their lives, not to mention allowed them to follow Saren through the Conduit back to the Citadel. "It wasn't so bad." She joked.

Though Tali had a mask on, the Commander knew she was glaring daggers at her, _okay maybe it was a little bad_, she thought but wore a big grin on the outside as they all stepped into the airlock. "Name one positive thing about that vehicle." Tali requested with agitation in her tone.

That was a really hard question, "Uh…Wrex liked blowing stuff up with the main gun…It could climb mountains…ummm…the hydraulics weren't so bad?" Trying to think of positive things about the Mako was very difficult.

"You call climbing mountains and the hydraulics good things?" Her friend questioned.

"It wasn't so bad." Shepard chuckled.

"What? Shepard's driving really shitty even when it isn't the Hammerhead?" Jack asked curiously.

Now the Hammerhead wasn't her fault. It wasn't like she had ever piloted it before, then there was the fact she was used to the Mako's boosters that only launched them upwards a small amount where the Hammerhead boosted them really high into the air.

She couldn't help that she was so used to jumping over missiles that when she saw one coming she immediately hit the boost at full power. In the Mako you needed the jump to be at full power and adjusting to the Hammerhead was a work in progress.

Miranda suppressed a snort of laughter and before Shepard could say no Tali looked to Jack to answer, "Are you kidding? Bad wouldn't describe how it was to be in the Mako. Imagine if the Normandy was slamming into asteroids and doing crazy maneuvers all the time."

That was…highly accurate actually just without the barrel rolls. "Ouch Tali."

"That isn't even close to what I read about it." Miranda jumped in.

Jack looked a bit awed as she looked over to the Cerberus Operative. The look on her face spoke that she really couldn't believe it could get much worse than slamming into asteroids and preforming crazy maneuvers. "Shit that sounded bad enough. How much worse could it get Cheerleader?"

"Let's just say the Mako was repaired back on the Normandy multiple times and they almost requisitioned for a new one."

Okay that was true but it wasn't completely her fault. While they were on Asteroid X57 the turrets damaged the vehicle pretty badly. Although Shepard had gotten the hang of dodging incoming fire, dodging seven missiles at once was difficult, especially when you were coming out of a jump.

Jack turned back to the N7 with a smirk as she pointed at her, "You are never piloting any vehicle with me in it. Any time the Hammerhead comes up for missions, count me the fuck out."

That wasn't entirely fair. They hadn't even let her speak her case on why that happened. Miranda and Thane looked slightly amused at her pain. "It wasn't my fault that time." Shepard pleaded, "There were over eight turrets firing at me in a small space. I couldn't dodge all of them and to top it off I had to stop an asteroid destroying a planet on a small timetable so I couldn't focus completely on keeping the Mako intact." She looked to Tali for support as she continued, "Tali back me up here. You were there for that one repairing the damn thing."

"Unfortunately she is right this time." Tali agreed.

The tattooed biotic shook her head, "Let me rephrase that: Shepard you are _NEVER_ piloting any vehicle with me in it." She emphasized.

Shepard let out a sigh of defeat as the airlock doors opened to Omega. There wasn't much point in fighting it, once Jack made up her mind she was nearly impossible to dissuade. Now wasn't the time for trying to continue the argument, they had a mission and it was time to get on with it. She took the lead with the others on her tail; it was time to get a little more serious even though she had been enjoying the fun banter between the crew.

As they walked down the hall Shepard saw a human man waiting near the door checking over his rifle. "Are you Zaeed Massani?" She asked as she approached him.

The man nodded, "Yeah, that's me. You must be Shepard. Been told I'm to join you on some sort of mission to stop the Collectors and some other shit. I assume we're all going to kill those sons of bitches trying to kill Ty's brother?"

The man wasn't exactly as Shepard had imagined him. He was a bit older and more scarred than she thought he would be, but that only helped to show he was not to be screwed with. He definitely knew his way around fights if his dead eye and the scars on his face were anything to go by. "That's the plan. We've got an evac squad on standby and Ty and another member of my squad are going ahead of us by use of his own transport. We're going in through the main entrance."

Zaeed chuckled, "Those bastards won't know what fuckin' hit 'em. I think I'm going to enjoy my time on the Normandy. Do you know where you're going?"

"Mostly."

He nodded, "Lead the way then, Shepard."

"Hope you can hold your own old man because once we get there the carnage begins." Grunt rumbled in the back.

It was nice that that Grunt was getting excited, but they still couldn't underestimate the mercs, no matter how stupid they seemed. The squad began to move with Zaeed taking his place among them between Grunt and Jack, "I've seen my fair share of fights, Tiny." He responded.

"These may be an extra dumb group of mercs, but don't underestimate them. We work as a team and we work strategically and fast. With enough luck we will blast through them quickly and maybe meet the shuttle team there." Shepard said.

"That would be ideal for the evac team with no problems, but seriously Shepard when has our luck been that good?" Jack asked.

"If my time aboard the Normandy has shown me anything, it is that nothing has followed the ideal plan yet." Thane said.

"Have to agree Shepard." Miranda said.

Shepard smirked and shook her head as they made their way down through the markets and towards the Ortega district. "I take it shit hits the fan a lot around you lot?" Zaeed queried.

"You could say trouble likes to follow us around." Tali replied.

"You never know, this time could be different. We've got to stay positive." She joked.

"Bullshit." Jack stated.

"Not going to happen." Miranda followed.

"Blind optimism is not the best idea." Thane said.

"Come on Battlemaster, we want a fight!" Grunt rumbled.

"This is Omega we are talking about Shepard, positivity is in short supply." Tali commented.

Zaeed snorted in amusement at the sudden burst of replies from her squad that followed one after another, "Yet you all follow her anyways. That means you are all fuckin' insane or Shepard there earned your trust and loyalty."

Shepard looked back to him with a slight smirk, "It's a bit of both I think."

"I'm not complanin'. Don't know you well enough yet to pass judgment, but if your squad is any indication I think this partnership is going to work out, Shepard." Zaeed said.

The N7 nodded in thanks of the compliment that the veteran mercenary had given her and continued on her walk to the district. She hadn't helped everyone yet but she was working on it. After they were done with this she had to help Samara with her daughter and then they were going to head out to help Tali since she was being accused of treason and Shepard was not going to stand for that.

"We'll see if you keep saying that once you've been around Shepard a little longer." Jack wisecracked from the back.

She couldn't help but chuckle at the comment, "Geez, aren't you all a bunch of Debby downers. At least Grunt is getting psyched despite not hoping for the same thing as me. I didn't realize the stick that used to be up Garrus's ass got up all of yours."

The sound of someone clearing their throat in the comm caused Shepard to laugh to herself. "I heard that Shepard." Garrus's voice came over the comm.

"I say that with the most care possible, Garrus."

"Uh huh." Garrus replied. He wasn't mad; he knew they were all just joking around to ease the tensions before jumping head first into a warzone. "Well the evac team is ready to go and Ty and Kasumi just took off. Do you want us circling around until the landing pad is secured?"

"No. Wait until that gunship is taken care of. Speaking of which, EDI how quick do you think you can take out that gunship?"

In all their planning they had never asked EDI how long it would take her to take down the gunship so the landing pad was clear. The quicker the better, but could EDI manage using the bike and taking down the gunship quickly?

"I cannot calculate that until I know exactly what I am going against Shepard, but after acquiring more information on the weapons of this platform I believe I will be able to disable the gunship with ease. Furthermore, after scanning more of the schematics of the district and some consulting with Ty, he believes that it is possible to bring it down with zero civilian casualties if I disable it one hundred metres from the landing pad. He refers to the zone as the dead zone."

Shepard exchanged a confused look with her crew and all looked as confused as her exception of Zaeed who nodded in agreement of the plan. _Why would they call an area a dead zone? _

It sounded bad even by Omega standards.

"Dead zone?" She questioned.

"Long story, but the short version is the Suns went on a mass murder in that area looking for me…I wasn't able to save them all so I saved who I could. The area is empty and big enough to drop a gunship in it without worrying about damaging any livable place or killing any one." Ty answered.

That was pretty harsh and it showed in Ty's tone, his voice was lower when he spoke of what sounded like a massacre in the district. He had beaten himself up a lot over not being able to save them all. "Tarak became a fuckin' monster once he betrayed you. You did what you could, Ty." Zaeed reassured.

"Yeah…thanks old man." Ty responded solemnly.

The sapphire eyed woman felt a yearning to reach through her comm and envelop Ty in a hug to comfort him, but she knew that what he was about to do would be just as good for now. He was about to extract revenge on the Suns in a fight for the district that they had once tore apart.

"Are there a lot of innocents in this district?" Thane asked.

Ty was silent at first and Shepard heard a mumbled curse from Zaeed that was directed at the Suns.

"…Not much anymore. The Suns and I had a huge fight a week or so before I infiltrated the Cerberus facility where Shepard was brought back to life on…It was nearly as large as this one and it was hell on the district. Shit was constantly being blow up and rounds were raining down through the streets. The last few days of the fight were at the clinic in Ortega district. The brunt of all their forces came down there and a lot of innocents were killed by the Suns. If it looks anything like I last saw it your about to walk into hell." The former mercenary's voice was between a tone of disappointment at himself and being informative.

The fighting must have been rough for the Suns to be wiping out civilians to get to Ty or maybe that was their tactic to make him feel guilty about the innocents dying in an effort to make him to surrender. Either way if that was their tactic they obviously succeeded at making him feel guilty. "Don't beat yourself up too badly dick. We still got a fight on our hands." Jack said with a mixture of her usual tone and care in her voice.

"I'll be fine. Trust me."

Shepard wasn't too sure if he was telling the full truth there, but they had to take his word for it now. _He'll be fine_, she reassured herself, _he'll stay focused and we'll all get out of this okay._

"Good 'cause I'd hate to go in to save your brother and then end up having to save your ass again." The tattooed biotic retorted sarcastically.

"Let's not start a one up on this. We do have a mission on our hands and Z, Haley and Aya are in trouble, remember?" Kasumi reminded.

It was a nice attempt to get them back on track, but Jack was just doing her best to get Ty's head back in the moment instead of allowing him to dwell on what he considered his mistakes. "Calm down your highness, we're about there." Ty said.

"We're entering the district now Ty. Keep us posted on yours and Kasumi's situation." Shepard told him.

"Will do, Shepard."

As the ground squad entered the district, Shepard processed two images in front of her. The first was the district looking like hell as Ty said it would. A gunship tail sticking out of a building and general carnage all around told a story about what happened in the district. There were a few mumbled acknowledgements to the hellish scene around them from her squad.

The other image was seeing a group of five Blue Suns down further in the district coordinating an attack from the looks of it. Shepard looked to her crew, "Gear up ladies and gentlemen. Let's spill some merc blood."

* * *

Ty and Kasumi were riding faster than was safe for flying so close to buildings, but with the purple eyed warrior and EDI at the helm they were probably the safest flyers out at the moment. They had to reach Z and the others as soon as possible, Aria had sent a message to him informing him that comms were back online and her men were doing their best to keep the horde off of his brother, but they were running low on thermal clips.

Z had apparently thinned up a lot of the men with his smoke and katana attack, but the Suns began rushing as soon as he got back to the landing pad. By what her men were saying the odds were stacked in the Suns favor still and his brother and the others needed an immediate extraction. "EDI could you scan for the gunship, I'd rather it not pop up on my ass."

He wanted the jump on the bastards that were threatening his friends and he was going to make them all pay dearly for this. "Scanning….the gunship is ahead and I believe they have located us on their scanners." She replied.

They didn't have a complete element of surprise, but they wouldn't be expecting him plus all of the Normandy squad. Not knowing that they were about to have hell rained down on them was all the surprise they really needed. "Awesome. So you both know the plan right?"

"Yes Ty."

"Yup. We get the gunships attention, hit our cloaks while EDI slows down slightly over a building or the landing pad, which ever we happen to be near, and then we jump. We also pray Mordin's prototypes work and they don't turn out to be 'problematic'." Kasumi said with finger quotations.

Ty smirked at how Kasumi imitated Mordin before he started firing up his guns. The guns came out where the front tire would be if it was a land vehicle and aimed forward as the gunship came into view on his left. _Eat this you bastards_.

Before they could do anything he fired two rounds to wound the ship and get their attention. As he flew by he gave them a one finger salute and continued forward. "You ready Kasumi?"

"Let's do it."

"EDI take control of my bike. Kasumi cloak and get ready to jump when I say jump."

"Is it one, two, three jump or one, two jump?" The thief questioned as she cloaked.

Ty felt EDI take control and he hit his cloak as well, "It's one, two jump."

"Good to know. I'd hate to jump after three and miss my target."

Up ahead there was gunfire and at the speed they were going they'd need to jump soon. _Just hold on a little longer Z. We're almost there_. "EDI slow down…Alright Kasumi one...two…" The warrior maneuvered his body so he was sitting with his legs hanging over the left side. "Jump!" He yelled as he jumped off his bike.

As he fell he activated the rocket clamps and immediately felt the deceleration and heard Kasumi's boosters activate nearby. As they were about to reach the roof, Ty got ready to roll out the landing in case the clamps didn't slow him to an almost stop. Right as they got closer the boosters slowed him down even more. When he reached the roof he was able to deactivate the clamps and land on his feet with no problem.

The gunship passed by chasing his bike so he deactivated his cloak. As he did Kasumi appeared a few feet away from him, "Mordin is being his own test dummy next time." The thief shook her head.

He couldn't blame her completely, jumping off his bike and hoping the clamps did their job was not one of his brightest plans, but it worked. Sometimes that was what mattered. "Come on, it was actually kind of fun." He tried to argue.

"A fast fall and a sudden stop might get your blood pumping, but I don't like the idea of hoping that a prototype that may be 'problematic' is going to stop me." She retorted as she walked over to him.

"Okay point taken. Let's go see what kind of trouble my brother is in. They are right over the edge of this building." Ty said, pulling out his sniper as he did.

Kasumi was next to him as they got to the edge and what they saw made her gasp, "Holy shit." The warrior awed. There were so many dead bodies scattered through the street along with many living mercenaries that were trying to rush up to the landing pad. The smell of blood and death was thick and seemed to engulf all of his senses as he watched his brother shooting back at the mercenaries. Aya and Iliana were cowering down next to an unconscious looking Haley.

Ty activated his omni-tool and initiated a link to his brother's comm, "What the fuck did you get yourself into now?"

"Hey Ty how about you KISS MY ASS!" Z yelled back with anger clear in his voice.

The younger brother couldn't help but chuckle a little as he took aim. The Suns really were pulling out all the stops to capture or kill the group and Z was the only line of defense shooting from target to target with his Avenger. He noticed gunfire coming from the building across from them and was able to pick out Grizz as one of the men shooting down at the Suns. "Grizz, you read me?"

"About time you got here. Been holding these bastards off the best we can, but they just don't fucking stop coming." Grizz replied.

It was noticeable to say the least. The street was filled with Blue Suns and they were all either getting mowed down or trying to move up and shooting at Z at the same time. "Kasumi hold your fire for now. You'll waste more thermal clips from here." Ty told his friend.

"Oh but that means you get all the fun." Kasumi whined playfully.

"Trust me Kasumi, you'll get your fair share soon enough."

The warrior took the opportunity to steady his aim before he began firing. Twelve shots echoed within seconds of one another, taking out each person he had targeted and also raising attention to their position.

Kasumi took a step back out of the range of fire as Ty ejected the thermal clip and looked back over at his brother position as he was visibly taking a breather. _Must be reliving the Skyllian Blitz all over again_. The elder brother took another deep breath before getting back up and shooting at the Suns again, his body was transformed with his veins being bluer and his muscles being flexed out and tense. "This is by far my worst day I have had in recent years."

That was an understatement if Ty had heard one. With the amount of shit his brother had gone through since coming to Omega, he wouldn't doubt him refusing to ever come back once he left. "I'm sure Haley will agree." He responded as he took aim again and fired off twelve more shots killing twelve more of the Suns.

"So you obviously know she's in critical condition."

"Yeah. Next time you send an S.O.S that way, try not to overload my brain. I had to fight through a combination of yours and Haley's nightmares and I'd rather not do that again."

"Oh I'm sorry; I didn't realize that a little migraine was worse than knowing that we had hundreds of Suns on our asses while Haley fucking overloaded her damn amp. Forgive fucking me for trying to reach out." Z fired back irritably. "

He was stressed to his wits ends and his state of mind was completely different than his normal self so the younger brother had to cut him a little slack for the attitude. Had their shoes been flipped he knew he'd be the same, but he didn't like seeing his brother in such a state.

Using the technique he used and going into the lust for the death of all the Suns was not who his brother was. It was a last resort because it was a point of no return once you flipped the switch with no real guarantee you'd return to normal after the fight ended as it was for Ty before he gained control.

His brother never used it unless he absolutely had no choice and this was only the third time he had used it. Ty began to wonder if this as how it was for his family when his anger had been let out of its cage, the worry that he wouldn't return to normal after the fighting was a terrible feeling. "Calm the fuck down Z. I know you're fucking stressed out. This is clearly a reminder of Elysium for you, but it's not just me and Kasumi here. Shepard decided to bring the whole fucking squad with us with evac on standby because of the gunship EDI is dealing with." Ty responded calmly.

"You felt her pain Ty. Don't tell me to calm down." Z replied coldly.

Ty really couldn't stand hearing his brother like this, but he focused his anger and pain at hearing him so cold towards the people who were causing it. "Her whole body is heated up and her amp is on fire. Aya burnt her hand trying to examine it and Haley has been crying because of the pain when she is conscious. I'm not going to let these fuckers get away with this." His brother continued with even more anger in his tone.

As the former mercenary let out the final round in his thermal clip he counted the thirty six of the Suns that he had just killed as he reloaded his rifle again. His brother had all rights to be angry, agitated and worried. Hell, he would be in the same state as his brother had he been here this whole time so he wasn't going to continue to jump on his brothers case about the tone he had.

He'd come back.

"EDI, how's that gunship coming along?" Kasumi asked. Ty continued firing as Kasumi got EDI on the comm. The Suns had only a few legionnaires out and there was no sight of a big mech yet. With his arrival though, their numbers were thinning slightly faster than they were coming.

They were likely having trouble coordinating their attack with the new gunfire from him. They had managed to keep in cover and hide from Aria's three squads and Z, but with the sudden new position firing down on them they were disoriented. This was not going to plan for them and it seemed they lacked a good backup plan aside for the gunship that was preoccupied.

"I am still getting used to this platform, but I have received no damage. I am now behind the gunship and prepared to fire rounds to disable it." EDI responded.

"Just be sure to drop it in the dead zone. The sooner the better so we can get the evac in here." Ty said. _Come on EDI, I know you won't let me down_, he thought as he fired a round into the skull of a Blue Sun.

"Critical hit. The gunship is losing altitude above the dead zone but its current trajectory will lead to civilian loss. Firing again."

Ty heard the explosion of the gunship as it crashed into the buildings and if he was measuring it correctly the ship had landed in the dead center of the dead zone, "Target down, no civilian casualties." EDI announced.

"Good job EDI. Head back to the Normandy and get the evac team moving I'll let Shep know there is one less problem." Kasumi said.

"Affirmative."

So far things were going good for them. Z was being allowed to take more breaks and the Suns were still trying to figure out what the hell was going on and why this 'easy job' wasn't so easy. "Thin them up enough for us to get down there, Ty?" His friend queried.

He shot a few more shots killing two more mercenaries, "No, but if we use our cloaks we should be able to get down and over to the landing pad while our shields protect us from any rounds that happen to get near us."

They had a good vantage point but Z needed them down with him just in case they couldn't stop a Sun from reaching him. He was battered and needed to have them at his side now. "Sounds like a plan. I'll contact Shepard when we get to your brother."

"Sad to leave such a good vantage point though. Ah who the hell am I kidding, any place is a good vantage point for me." Ty quipped as he fired off another shot killing a mercenary who had tripped in fear at seeing his buddy killed in front of him.

"Let's get going then." Kasumi said as she hit her cloak.

Ty followed suit and activated his, "I'll see you on the landing pad and don't get shot."

"See you down there."

* * *

Shepard and her hard hitting squad were leveling the Suns as they moved forward. With Grunt bringing his Krogan power, Miranda and Jack dominating with biotic's and guns, Tali using her tech skills, Thane using his sniper to pick off targets as he moved with the group and Zaeed mowing down any Sun that his eye saw they were practically unstoppable.

He was definitely a veteran soldier and he definitely knew how to kick ass and work as a team. He would be an interesting addition to the squad. "Shep, just regrouped with Z and taking on a huge amount of Suns. They really brought an army against Z. EDI took out the gunship and is bringing Ty's bike back to the Normandy while also getting the evac squad moving." Kasumi came over the comm.

That was good news. They had regrouped with Z and EDI had taken out the gunship, they just needed to reach them now and everything would be just peachy. "Aside from the Suns, how is it looking over there?" She asked as she tossed a pull field down the field. "Miranda, Thane detonate them with warps."

"On it." Miranda responded.

"As you wish." Thane followed before tossing their warps down field.

The detonation blew the Suns sky high killing them and leveling the playing field a bit more. Being attacked from behind had thrown the Blue Suns off completely and you could tell they were scrambling to come up with some sort of plan. If they kept them from recovering they would be able to finish this fight a lot easier than she thought they'd be able to.

"I'm not going to lie Shep, Haley looks bad." That made Shepard's stomach knot a little, it would seem not everything was going their way yet. "Her whole body is on fire and her amp is burning the area around it. Aya and her daughter are okay aside from Aya having a burnt hand and Z…well he's holding out." Kasumi explained.

Grunt charged a group of Suns knocking them to around like bowling pins as he smashed, punched and head-butted through them. Zaeed began chuckling as he picked off the Suns that survived the hits. With how things were going, Grunt, Zaeed, and Jack were probably going to be best friends by the end of this.

"Grunt, use your inferno rounds. Jack, send a shockwave down field and knock around the rest of those Suns."

"I'll make them scream, Battlemaster!"

"I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

That would keep the Suns around them at bay allowing the N7 to finish her conversation with ease, "Kasumi what do you mean by he is holding out?"

"Go fuck yourself assholes!" Z suddenly screamed.

Shepard wanted to pull away from the noise but it was directly in her ear. "Sorry Shep. Z is kind of pissed right now and standing next to me. He has a few wounds, but he says he's fine and I've learned that when a Rhoddy tells you they are fine you should let them do what they do best."

"Which is?" Miranda inquired picking up on the conversation.

"I'LL KILL YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!" His voice came through the comm again.

"Pretty much that."

"We'll be there in a few minutes, but if the shuttle gets there first get them all out of there." Shepard ordered.

"Will do, Shep."

The N7 switched to her Claymore and biotic charged down field slamming into a Blue Sun as she came out. She blasted him with her shotgun taking him out quickly then ejected her thermal clip and looked to Grunt who was only a few feet away from her now. He head-butted a mercenary then followed him down to the ground and slammed his fists several times into his helmet, caving it in. "So Grunt, is this living up to your standards of a good fight?" She shouted over her shoulder as she blasted another mercenary and ejected the clip.

"Yeah, way better than shooting at painted targets!" He answered as he fired his Claymore into a different mercenary.

"Amen to that, Tiny." Jack said as she grabbed a mercenary with her biotic's and slammed him into a wall several times.

Shepard pulled her pistol out with her left hand and fired rounds into the last mercenary in front of her, two rounds in his shoulders and punctuation through his skull. She attached her Claymore to her back and looked to see how her squad was doing.

Thane had gotten the jump on a mercenary it seemed and was unleashing a flurry of punches to his face until he finished him off by slamming his hand into the man's throat, shattering his wind pipe then breaking his neck.

Jack and Miranda surprisingly were covering each other's backs. Granted they would never call it that but the tattooed biotic was tossing around and shooting mercenaries in front of her while the Cerberus Operative had her back to her fellow biotic and was warping and shooting the mercenaries in front of her. All of their attacks were helping to slim down the number to zero fairly quickly.

Grunt and Zaeed were checking the dead by kicking them and shooting a few rounds into their skulls to be sure. Tali was wiping off fresh blood from her boot knife with a dead mercenary at her feet as she began walking towards the Commander.

Shepard checked her surroundings quickly to be sure no Suns were squirming around, but none were. The buildings around them had fresh bullet holes and she could see an apartment complex on fire a few buildings down with some people trying to put it out.

In the more immediate vicinity was a clinic called the GO clinic which was probably the place Ty had mentioned back on the Normandy. "Are fires in apartment's normal here, Ty?" She asked into her comm.

As he answered she could hear what sounded like punches impacting against a helmet, "Hold on…why…don't…you…die!" There was another punch and the sound of a body crashing to the floor, "Okay what was your question?"

"Trouble?"

"Nah, you know it's just the usual. Huge amount of people verses me, my brother and Kasumi and someone got a little close because he was a techy bastard with a cloak, but I caught him before he could do anything. What was your original question before I get back to work?"

Shepard smirked at how calm Ty actually sounded, but let it leave as she motioned her squad to follow with guns drawn as they pressed on towards the main street where all the fighting was. "Apartments around here don't catch fire often do they?"

Ty let out a deep sigh, "Z did you honestly have to use those incendiary grenades on that apartment? The place is still trying to rehabilitate after my fight with these assholes."

There was a muffled voice which lead to him chuckling, "Good point. The look on their faces would have been priceless. No they don't Shepard. That would be caused by the pyro I call my brother. I gotta get back to work though I'd really appreciate if you guys got here soon. Z's using my spare thermal clips and I only carry about twenty."

"Where do you keep those, Ty? I've never seen you grab any?" Tali asked.

"You'd be surprised how many pockets these shorts have." He wisecracked.

"Bosh'tet." Tali retorted.

"Is evac on its way yet?" The N7 questioned.

"I don't know. Kasumi take a breather and contact Garrus. See ya soon Shepard."


	77. Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Brothers to the End

Garrus came out of the cockpit of the shuttle and looked at his crew. _No, not my crew. Shepard's crew_, He corrected himself. They were her crew not his, his men had died here on Omega. They were all just a part of the evac squad, no more than that and no less than that. The Turian shook his head slightly, _but Shepard put me specifically in charge…what the hell was she thinking?_

If she wanted to see his leading capabilities then all she had to do was look at the mess she had found him on Omega and all the dead men who had put their faith in his ability to protect and lead them. That was his capability as a leader. The death of all his comrades, people who he had given hope and inspired to stop people from kicking those who couldn't protect themselves.

He was in no shape to lead this group.

Good leaders didn't get all their men killed, Shepard was a good leader. Garrus mentally shook his head again,_ No, Shepard is a great leader. A damn model for what great leaders should be…and she put me in charge._ The N7 had put faith in him that he would get the mission done and bring home everyone without injuries, faith that he would not make her regret.

Maybe he shouldn't have been in charge, but his friend had put him there, she put her faith in him regardless of his past mistakes. Now wasn't a time to doubt his abilities. Now was the time to trust in Shepard's faith in him, to prove he was worthy of such a great friends faith. "Garrus, you read me?" Kasumi's voice crackled over the comm.

It was time.

Garrus brought his finger to his ear, "I read you Kasumi." The sound of an explosion echoed in the background which was followed by yelling voices, all unrecognizable except for Ty's. Orders were being shouted by the warrior to Aria's men telling them to cease fire. There was a barely recognizable scream from Z, but it sounded like long line of profanities,

"Cease your fucking fire right goddamned now! My brother is on that damn thing!" Ty shouted into everyone's comm. That didn't sound good. Jacob, Mordin, and Samara looked to Garrus with the schooled worry of veteran fighters as they began preparing their guns. "Shoot the damn Suns then you fucking four eyed prick! Murphy or Grizz, whichever one of you happens to be higher ranked, tell Anto to lay the fuck off or I'll rip his damn eyes out."

"Oh this just keeps getting better and better. We need an evac now, Garrus. Are you close?" The thief asked.

Her tone was tired and stressed, but Garrus couldn't blame her. Being stuck in the warzone they were in with Ty and Z fighting not only the Suns but also one of Aria's men would be equally stressful as it was tiring. They were still at least a minute out and that didn't feel good enough to the former C-Sec Officer. They needed to be there sooner by the sound of it, but there wasn't much he could do about it. "We're a minute out Kasumi. What's the situation? Is it going to be a hot landing?"

Garrus wanted at least an idea of what they were going into and what "_that damn thing_" was that the elder brother happened to be on. Was it a building or had the mech been sent in?

Would Z really climb on a mech?

Knowing the younger brother as he did, the Turian didn't doubt his brother being that crazy. "Definitely without a doubt a hot landing. They brought out the mech and we're running out of thermal clips." FUBAR was pretty much where they were heading. A mech plus the Suns and low thermal clips was a disaster waiting to happen if they didn't get there soon.

Another explosion and the sound of a mercenary screaming in pain echoed, "Gift for you! These guys are getting closer and closer with each push Garrus, not sure how much longer we can hold this position." Kasumi informed.

FUBAR was getting closer and closer. If they didn't have the civilians to protect then Ty, Kasumi, and Z could have moved position for a better vantage point or to escape, but the civilians changed that. Haley was wounded and would be hard to move without risking someone else getting injured. The two Asari's could provide small barrier support, but with the amount of Suns that were there someone was bound to get hurt.

This was shaping out to be one hell of a rescue mission.

"Just hold out a little longer Kasumi. We'll get you all out of there." He reassured.

"Roger that, Garrus." The thief replied before she cut her comm.

Garrus let his hand drop. This was bad and the situation was only getting worse by the second. "So, going into a hot zone?" Jacob questioned as he checked over his shotgun. Had it been any other situation that didn't feel so dire, he may have made a joke about it not being that bad. Right now didn't seem appropriate as they were about to jump right into one hell of a fire fight.

"The way Kasumi tells it, we're going into the First Contact War. The giant mech is out there along with however many more mercenaries are left." Garrus explained. It was hard to imagine such a huge force was on Omega to try and capture or kill Z and his companions, but it was even harder to imagine that no one had broken through yet. That was a testament to the skill and ferocious warrior spirit within the elder brother. "She also says that the mercenaries are getting closer with each push." The Turian finished as if it was a side note.

It was an important note, but it also felt like it wasn't all that important as well. They were about to make their entrance and add more fire power against the Suns. Add Shepard and her squad moving up behind them quickly and the Suns would soon find themselves like that one human saying, sheep herded to the slaughter, or something like that. "We must act quickly then if we are to succeed." Samara stated.

That was the plan. Go in and get them all out as quickly and efficiently as possible. It wasn't going to be as easy as it sounded, nothing ever was, but Garrus held confidence in their ability to pull them out of the fire. He nodded firmly in response to her statement, "Exactly. Focus on getting the civilians out first and then Ty, Kasumi and Z."

The trio wouldn't stop fighting until the last Sun fell or, in this case, until the civilians were out of the line of fire. Then they would evac out with the group. Or at least that was his plan. "They'll continue fighting no matter what as long as the civilians are down there. As far as we know only one of them is injured, which is Haley." He turned to Mordin, "Mordin I want you to grab her and get the others moving." The former STG Operative nodded in affirmation so Garrus turned to the other two, "Samara and Jacob, I want you to cover him and make sure they all get back on the shuttle. Use whatever means necessary."

The pair nodded in agreement. That was good, they all knew what they were doing and they all seemed to have some faith in their temporary team leader as well._ Just have to get them all out of there unscathed and then everything will be okay._ They had some Intel and knew for the most part what they were going up against, but they were also going in blind. Ty knew the Blue Suns plan, but what they actually had for reinforcements and what they'd actually do might be different.

There were still a lot of possibilities that the Suns could have up their sleeve, Garrus had learned that in his time on Omega. Mostly it was a rough learning experience, but a learning experience nonetheless. Mercenaries were unpredictable, Ty was a prime example at how unpredictable a mercenary could become. He wasn't one now or at least by Garrus's standards he wasn't one anymore, but Ty was Ty. The stories about him and his squad were all the evidence needed to prove his unpredictability.

This time though the former mercenary seemed so certain about the Suns and their plans. He had apparently created the tactic they were using so maybe his time in the Suns gave him an insight that the former C-Sec Officer didn't have.

Going in partially blind bothered Garrus as much as going in fully blind, everything seemed so much easier from behind the scope when you knew your enemy. The mercenaries were a clear threat. The Collectors were a clear threat. No blindness whatsoever when they were in his sights.

The Turian checked the dash of the shuttle to see how far out they were. It looked like they were about thirty seconds away and then it would be time to pull Ty and the others out of the fire. "Garrus, you almost at the evac point." Shepard's voice came through the comm.

"Thirty seconds out, Shepard." He answered. They were almost there, Ty and the others needed to hold on just a little longer.

"We ran into a complication near the clinic. Some mercenaries decided to try and break into it, but were being held off by a bunch of mechs and a Batarian doctor." That was a bit odd. How many doctors not only had mechs guarding their clinic but also knew how to fight themselves? That would be a question for another time. "We're moving up the main street now and we have a sight on the landing pad. There's a lot of mercs and distance to get through to reach it, so if we aren't there by the time you need to lift off, just go. The district will be cleared and we'll be able to get out safely."

So Shepard and her squad had cleaned the district of mercenaries behind them and, if he had to guess, Aria probably had guards watching the front entrance of the district as well. All that was left was every mercenary between Shepard and the landing pad. That was still a lot, but it was only a matter of time before they were all taken down. "I read you Shepard. That mech still down there?"

There was a slight humorous chuckle from the Commander, "Yeah, but don't worry about it. Z seems to be handling it while Ty and Kasumi protect Haley and the others." It would seem that Garrus had been right to assume that the elder brother was taking the mech head on and climbing on it.

Crazy seemed to run in the family. "I'd usually think that was crazy, but seeing as he is related to Ty." That meant they were both bound to do insane stunts that would likely kill someone normal but would only end in them getting injured or walking away unscathed.

"Exactly. Get prepped for landing, Shepard out."

The shuttle began to decelerate so Garrus pulled his Vindicator off his back, "Get ready. I'm about to open the door." He said as he turned to the door.

It was finally time.

He heard the sound of all three crewmates getting up as he hit the button on the shuttle to open the door. _Time to get to work._ As the doors opened Garrus saw what looked like twenty mercenaries either in cover or running towards the landing pad while trying not to get gunned down. He made an immediate note of the layout of the landing pad and where the civilians, Ty, and Kasumi were in cover at as well.

The civilians were on his left with Kasumi crouched down next to them ejecting the thermal clip to her M-12 Locust. Ty was on the right standing above a grounded Blue Sun as he unloaded one of his pistols into him._ They are too close. We have to push them back,_ The Turian thought. Z was on the back of the YMIR mech with his sword in the hand that wasn't holding him onto the mech as he stabbed it repeatedly.

With each stab he yelled another profanity. The mech was struggling to fight him off, but its struggle was in vain as it could not reach the crazed human.

The shuttle descended and Garrus jumped out as it reached the ground. Once he landed he ran up to the cover where the thief was and began unloading his Vindicator into any mercenary he saw.

Blue Suns always tended to be the same. They targeted the weak to assert their power all the while leaving a trail of betrayal, bullets and death in their wake.

This group was no different.

This group was probably more scummy than the usual band of Blue Suns if destroying a whole district to reach one person was anything to go by. These Suns were working with or for someone to kill the remaining members of Ty's family, they didn't care who got hurt during the process of trying to kill them. If they tore down a whole district, so be it.

These were the type of mercenaries that he had made a habit of targeting as Archangel. These mercenaries were the same as the ones who took the lives of his crew and that meant they deserved to die for what they did.

There was no blindness here.

Garrus got back in cover after punctuating his last rounds on an unlucky mercenaries face. He ejected his thermal clip and checked the status of the civilians and the squad. "Kasumi, grab Haley and get out of here!" The former mercenary yelled from the other side.

Mordin already had the injured biotic in his arms and was moving back towards the shuttle. Samara was ushering the two Asari towards the shuttle as well as she and Jacob laid down covering fire and were launching biotic attacks at the mercenaries. "Mordin has her. You aren't getting rid of me that easily Ty!" Kasumi yelled back.

"Good to see you two are still getting along." Garrus said dryly.

"Hey Garrus. You've missed out on so much fun." The purple eyed warrior replied sarcastically. Fun was an interesting word to describe the situation they were in.

The street was littered with bodies and pools of blood and the amount of bullet holes scattering across the street left little to the imagination of what "_fun_" they had gotten into. "I think I can see what you all have been up to by the amount of bodies on the street." He replied. Mordin and Samara had almost gotten the others completely loaded up, _Spirits, all I ask for is just a little more time, that's all we need_.

"Garrus get down!" Before Garrus could react he felt a force push him down and then an ear piercing explosion that sent tremors across his body.

He could still feel his body, which was a good start, but lying down was not going to let him stay alive longer. _Damn it body move, you need to move_. "Z! Z! Come on Z, don't fucking check out on me!" Ty's voice brought Garrus back to the real world. _No!_ He was going to get everyone back safe with no injuries; he was not going to fail this squad.

Coordination of his limbs came back in full swing as he pushed himself up and saw Kasumi doing the same next to him. Samara had a biotic bubble around her as she stood in front of the shuttle door protecting the others. "What the hell was that?" He questioned.

"Grenade." The thief answered. She groaned a little as she shook her head in an attempt to shake the feeling off, "I saw it at the last second and grabbed you." A small smile crept to her face, "Didn't want your face scarred on both sides. Shep would never let me live it down." Garrus chuckled slightly as he looked over at her but stopped as he saw blood covering her leg. Kasumi saw his stunned look then looked down at her leg and saw the blood, "Oh wow, that's new."

Had she taken a round or was it some sort of shrapnel from the grenade? Garrus shook his head, that didn't matter. What mattered was getting some medi-gel on it and getting her back on the shuttle. He began applying some medi-gel immediately, "Garrus, we need to get out of here. It's getting too hot." Jacob said as he sent a pull field down the street and fired more rounds from his pistol.

The rest of the squad was in or at the shuttle now, everyone except Ty and his brother. The former C-Sec Officer looked around for the human but didn't see him on the landing pad anymore. He was still alive that much was certain since he had heard him speak, but where would he have…Garrus got up and peeked over the cover to see the former mercenary fighting with a pistol in one hand and tomahawk in other killing any mercenary that got close as he made his way to his brother who was on the ground.

"Grizz, Gavorn, Anto, mind lending me some cover fire!" He called over the comm. There were grunts of affirmation and a series of cracking rifles began resounding through the street.

"Ty, we have to go!" Garrus ordered into the comm. He didn't want to leave anyone behind, but if they stayed much longer the shuttle would be at risk and that would pretty much put the FU in FUBAR. He couldn't leave an ally behind. He had a choice, stay behind with Ty and send the shuttle away or hold the shuttle risking the lives of the civilians until he reached his brother and got back.

Ty didn't even bother looking back to the Turian as he head-butted a mercenary then brought his tomahawk into his jaw, "Then fucking go! I am not leaving my brother behind!"

He had to make a choice; Garrus looked to the shuttle and saw the others trying to defend it as best they could. He looked back to Ty who broke the knee of a mercenary and lodged his tomahawk in his head as he fired off five rounds into a mercenary next to him.

He was getting closer and closer to his brother, but he wouldn't reach him as fast as Garrus needed him to. "What's going on Garrus? We can see the shuttle still down there and Ty fighting in the street." Shepard came over the comm.

"We're all loaded up except for Ty, Z, me and Kasumi." He answered as he stood up and unloaded a clip into some of the mercenaries around the warrior_. Stall them, keep them off of him and the shuttle as long as you can,_ Garrus told himself.

Three separate sniper rounds impacted into three of the mercenaries nearing Ty allowing him a few seconds of breathing room. He looked back to Garrus after the bullets sounded off, "What the fuck are you still doing here?! Get! Them! Out of here! That's your mission!" No it wasn't, his mission was to get _everyone_ out. He was not going to leave a comrade behind let alone a friend.

"Garrus, we're almost to him. Just get yourselves out of there." Shepard ordered. She didn't sound the least bit pleased at Ty's outburst, but she knew his reasoning. Z was unconscious in the middle of the field of battle and the younger brother couldn't leave him behind just as Garrus couldn't leave Ty behind.

"Are you sure Shepard? I can send the shuttle and stay to help Ty." He tried to argue.

It didn't feel right leaving him to fight the mercenaries on his own with sniper cover from Aria's men. They only had so many thermal clips and they couldn't stop every mercenary. It made his plates itch thinking of the possibility that leaving Ty behind could lead to his and his brother's death. "Ty's not going anywhere. Get the others to the Normandy so Doctor Chakwas can get a look at them." The N7 told him.

With a reluctant sigh, Garrus fired off one last burst of rounds into a mercenary, "On it, Shepard."

He attached his Vindicator to his back before he lifted Kasumi up and let her use him as support as they made their way back to the shuttle. As they reached Jacob he got on the other side of the thief and helped him to lift her into the shuttle. She was helped to her seat by the Asari with dark purple markings while the one with red markings was standing over Mordin as she watched him work with Haley.

Garrus looked back as he pulled his Vindicator back out. He could still stay behind and ignore Shepard's order. He had never been a very good Turian as it was, it felt like a bad order and he wasn't ever one to follow bad orders. A hand rested on his shoulder causing him to look back and see Samara reaching down to him…but he couldn't just disregard Shepard's orders.

Bad Turian or not, Garrus knew he couldn't disregard his friend. She had always made the right calls and tough decisions and he had stood by her side through it all, he couldn't just disregard this order. She trusted him to get everyone out, but she also trusted that Ty would be okay. All this he saw as he looked into the Justicar's eyes.

He was forced to make a choice, it wasn't one he liked but that was another thing a good leader could do. A good leader could make a choice regardless if they liked it or not to save the most lives. "We must get them to safety." Samara stated. It was a simple statement and it held much wisdom. They had to get Haley to Doctor Chakwas to make sure nothing bad happened to her. Ty would survive, but if Haley died and it was because Garrus tried to stay behind the purple eyed warrior would explode.

"Jacob lets go." The Turian said as he reluctantly pulled himself into the shuttle. Mordin stood up from checking on Haley to see the verdict of what was going on, "Is she stable?" The former STG Operative nodded but the look in his eyes told Garrus that the at length version didn't need to be said in front of the two Asari. The two Asari knelt down next to the injured biotic and the one with the red markings began holding her hand with a scared look.

Haley looked completely out of it with a very faraway look in her eye, a look that showed mentally she wasn't even in this galaxy. Her eyes were glazed over and it didn't seem like she could even feel the red marked Asari holding her hand. _Poor girl_. Her neck was red behind her left ear while also having slices across different parts of her body from the explosive biotic's she had used.

It didn't feel right leaving Ty out there with his brother out cold, but Shepard had ordered him to go. He couldn't disobey her orders. Garrus looked back out the doors as the shuttle lifted off and saw the man still fighting.

A sniper round killed a merc rushing him allowing the warrior time to look back to the shuttle and give the Turian a nod. Garrus didn't like being given a nod for abandoning his comrade, but he nodded in return. As the doors were closing, the former C-Sec Officer saw a mercenary in sleek black armor with a crimson red stripe going down the center of it approaching Ty fast from behind, "Ty, behind you!" He yelled into his comm before the doors closed.

* * *

Ty turned around as quick as he could, but even then he was too slow. An orange blade was coming straight at his gut. _Fuck!_ He narrowly dodged the omni-blade then kicked the man in the gut to get him away from him. It seemed the leader of this group had finally decided to show his face, but why did he wear black armor? The only Blue Sun's he had known to not wear the stupid painted armor had been him and his crew.

An omni-blade was an easy thing to get, but most mercenaries never actually used them in combat. Most mercenaries didn't like getting that up close and personal with people, all except the former mercenary and this guy it would seem. He didn't want to jump to a ridiculous conclusion just yet, but it was a possibility that this guy had trained specifically take on him, his brother, or his father.

"The Ghost lives it seems." The mercenary spat.

"I've called you that for years, but now it picks up? What the fuck? They are totally copying me." Murphy whined from his omni-tool. Ty would have chuckled normally, but this guy was a serious looking mercenary. He had a look in his eyes that showed he had one purpose in life and that was fighting and killing. Ty knew the look all too well; he had seen it in himself when he had gone down his long dark and self-inflicted hell.

The mercenary tapped a button on his omni-tool causing a bubble shield to suddenly form around them covering the full width of the street and half the height of the apartments. "Oh shit." Murphy muttered. "Ghost you need to disable that shield right now. You're trapped in there with him."

This time Ty did chuckle, "No Murph. He's trapped in here with me."

The mercenary sneered as he activated a second omni-blade. This guy was literally an elite and the former mercenary knew despite his comment to his friend that this fight was not going to be easy. He holstered his pistol and pulled out his second tomahawk, "After I kill you, I'll kill your brother and then your father when I find that old man." The mercenary commented as he began attempting to circle him. Ty began sidestepping the opposite direction as he watched the mercenary carefully. This man had the information he needed to find who was hunting his family. "Your family's time in this galaxy is up."

Ty scowled, whoever this guy was he had plans. It might not be his plans, but there was a plan in motion and they really needed him and his family out of the way. The mercenary charged him and swiped his blades at the warrior; Ty blocked both blades away from himself with his tomahawks. The mercenary tried to swipe back at him but the former mercenary dodged backwards avoiding the blade. _Okay, so he has some skills._ The mercenary charged again causing Ty to block multiple strikes until his final two strikes caused his omni-blades to disappear.

So he had a weakness. The omni-blades could only take so many hits before they deactivated. The former mercenary attempted to go for a kill strike only to be hit by a biotic throw, the throw launched him into the air but he back flipped out of it and landed on his feet. "So _impotent rage,_ looks like you might not be as dangerous as you think." He snarked.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you." The mercenary growled.

"Ghost, you really need to deactivate those shields. Your Commander won't be able to break through from her side. The shields can only be activated and deactivated from his omni-tool or the inside at one of the pylons. I know you're skilled, but one hit from those blades and you could lose an arm or hand." Murphy explained. Ty knew that, but he couldn't just leave the fight and go for the pylon, that would leave his brother unattended to and the mercenary knew this.

The omni-blades reactivated and the mercenary charged him causing the warrior to begin blocking once again. He blocked both of the blades then went for a sweep kick going under the blades as the mercenary tried to strike. The mercenary fell to the ground from the kick but as the warrior moved in for the kill he brought his blades up in front of him stopping the attack and causing the blades to begin to crackle under the pressure.

"How much pressure can they take I wonder?" Ty taunted. The mercenary growled and used his blades to push the hooded man away from him just as they deactivated.

"Alright fuck it. Ghost, I'm downloading a tech move to your omni-tool. Once it downloads I should be able to hack the pylons from your omni-tool without direct connection." Omega's tactician stated. Ty grunted in approval as the mercenary stood up. This guy knew how to wield those blades like a master, most people would have cracked under the pressure allowing him to kill them, but this guy…He got angry but he still remained calm enough to get himself out of the situation before his blades disappear.

The mercenary got up only to be hit by a sudden blur of motion sending him flying back a few feet and making him tumble across the ground. "So you decided to finally wake up?" The purple eyed man questioned his brother as he let his leg drop from the kick he just dished out.

Z had his demon switch flipped to on as he drew his katana from its sheath, "Couldn't let you have all the fun now could I?" He asked with a ferocious smile. _Still in a blood rage_, Ty thought, _well at least it'll make him deadlier against this guy_. "So I take it this guy is skilled?" His brother asked as he looked to him. He nodded slightly. The mercenary began picking himself off the ground allowing himself to now notice the two on one advantage they had.

His confidence didn't waver at all as he brushed himself off, "There's no use fighting. Your fates have already been sealed." The mercenary stated.

Both brothers snorted in disbelief, who the hell did this guy think he was? "I've got news for you asshole: The only fate that is sealed is yours. The moment you came after me and my family was the moment you were marked for death." The elder brother said calmly and deadly.

Ty activated his own demon switch as a way to agree with his brother. "Also as a side note, before I kill you I am going to rip the information that you hold for who hired you from your mind, and then I'm going to kill them." He smiled evilly, "So know that you helped bring about the death of your boss."

The younger brother looked at his green eyed counterpart in the corner of his eye,_ he really isn't kidding is he_? The look on his brother's face helped assure that he was really going to do that.

Ripping the information from the minds of others was something that neither of them did unless it was absolutely necessary, and then it was still only against people who were deserving of such a hellish treatment. Ty was against the use of that ability even under the most heated circumstances. Even when he was in his rage induced hell he never allowed himself to cross that line.

That was a very fine line in the sand that crossed just about every moral he had. To rip the information from someone's mind was the exact opposite of what he had done with Shepard and Jack on the Normandy. When he would join his consciousness to others he put up mental barriers that protected his mind from theirs and vice versa. Without it his mind could overwhelm theirs and essentially, in the way his brother was speaking, destroy their mind. It didn't kill them, or at least it didn't physically kill them, but it turned the person into a vegetable.

Anyone that it was used against were basically rendered brain dead. Instead of the common brain dead though, where the person wasn't moving and being kept alive by a machine, they were left alive in a state where all their emotions and personality were taken from them. To Ty they were dead at that point because they no longer had dreams or emotions, they were just there. He would put this guy out of his misery if his brother really went through with it.

No one deserved that fate, not even this guy.

"Okay, I have it downloaded. Now I just…ah shit. What do you mean out of range?! Fuuuccckkk. Now I have to download a whole new program." Murphy whined. Ty chuckled slightly at his friend as he and his brother charged the mercenary. His brother reached the mercenary first and began striking at the mercenary only to be pushed away as the younger brother reached him. Ty struck at the mercenary five times with all of the strikes being blocked, as he swung his tomahawk downwards at the mercenary's arm trying to cut it off to end the fight, the blade stopped him. He tried pushing against it only for the mercenary to push him backwards with his blade and block his brother's incoming strike.

Their blades clashed causing the omni-blades to crackle again, _now!_ The former mercenary thought as he charged the mercenary from the side. The mercenary pushed his brother's katana away with the blades just as they deactivated then spread his hands out at both brothers, hitting them both with biotic throws.

As Ty landed on the ground, a blue aura surrounded him again and lifted him into the air. _Aw crap_. He was dropped from the small height he had gained to the ground with a thud causing him to groan.

He apparently had Asari genes in him yet he had no biotic prowess whatsoever. Not even a little barrier, just a mind meld and the ability to see any memory around him. Talk about getting the short end of the stick in that draw. The warrior pushed himself up to see his brother dodge a biotic throw. The mercenary charged his brother again with both omni-blades out and began attacking his brother with intensity. Z parried the strikes then went for a few himself managing to barely slice through the mercenary's thin armor and get his arm.

The mercenary kicked the elder brother away from him then sent a biotic orb at him. As the orb reached Z he cut it in half and the energy went around him without hurting him, "How did yo-" The mercenary was interrupted by the green eyed warrior charging him and slamming the hilt of his sword into the mercenaries face, following it up with a roundhouse kick to the face. _Since when could he cut biotic abilities like that_? _How did he do it in the first place?_

"While sparring with a biotic, who I might add is infinitely more powerful than you, I hit upon this idea of a biotic suppressant for my sword. Long story short, I finally got it to work." He explained. That was strangely a great idea that Ty wished he had thought of. If he could hit the biotic energy directly with the blade of his sword where he had the biotic suppressant then that would essentially deactivate the biotic energy as it had just done now.

The mercenary and his brother started fighting again with their blades as the younger brother got on both of his feet and began making his way over to the fight at a jog. The mercenary used both of his blades to hold Z's katana back from coming down on him as Ty began approaching, "Items I might be interested in: Elcor and Hanar mating ritu- okay what the fuck does that have to do with boosting my signal?" Murphy nearly shouted.

"Ty, I might be able to help your comrade." EDI piped up in his comm.

"Go ahead EDI. Just be warned Murphy might want to try and download you." He warned.

Knowing Murphy he probably had some kind of V.I. or A.I. girlfriend with how attached he was to technology. "Would you be jealous if I allowed him?" EDI asked with what Ty could read as humor.

"Maybe. Get to work, I've got to fight." He charged in with zeal and kicked the mercenary in the back of the leg and attempted to lodge his tomahawk in his skull only for the mercenary to block with lightning speed. The mercenary blasted him with a biotic repulse sending him flying backwards yet again. Ty felt a little offended he was being tossed away like trash and the mercenary was focusing more on his brother. It had originally been them fighting each other, but now the mercenary didn't even let him stay in the fight long enough to kill him.

It was sad really.

"Ty we're almost there just hold out a little longer…or maybe we won't with that bubble there." Shepard said over the comm. There was a struggle then gunfire, "Are you working on getting that down?"

In his own way he was, but the purple eyed warrior pushed himself back up and looked to where the fight was happening now. "Got the two best hackers I know trying to work it out. Meanwhile I'm getting tossed around trying to kill a guy who is trying to eradicate my family."

"If you die I'll kick your fucking ass Ty." Jack chimed in.

"Aw, you do care." He responded sarcastically.

"No one in my Krantt is dying while I'm breathing." Grunt bellowed.

Ty heard a mercenary in the distance scream before a loud boom of a shotgun. "Nice one Grunt." The former mercenary chuckled._ Nice to know he can scare the crap out of someone before killing them. _

"Thanks." The Krogan replied.

"I've got a fight to get back to so finish up there and hopefully the barrier will be down by then. Hopefully we have this bastard dead as well."

It was going to be tough, but they just had to wear him down enough and then go in for the kill. "Good luck, Ty." The N7 said before shutting off the comm.

* * *

There were seven Suns between the squad and the brothers. Ty had jumped back into his fight joining his brother in the melee weapon fight that they had found themselves in. How Shepard and her squad were going to breach the bubble was still up for debate since her love interest apparently had it handled, but maybe Tali would be able to break it before that. If they got through the bubble they could easily overwhelm and capture the leader of all these mercenaries.

He definitely stood out among all the others with his black armor and crimson stripe. The way he was holding his own against both brothers also proved to the Commander that he was in charge of this. Now they just had to get to him and find out what he knew. Shepard and her squad had blown through the mercenaries that were left and, with the help of Aria's men once that bubble shield had been deployed, they were able to bring them down to the current seven.

Now Aria's men were just taking pot shots at the Blue Suns having a good laugh at their expense when they would fire a half circle of rounds near their feet. It was mental mind games really but it was giving the N7 and her squad the advantage so she couldn't discount them for it. Zaeed had proven to be a valuable ally in the fights they had gone through. He managed to keep a mostly cool head while under fire and took out enough Blue Suns to make Grunt laugh manically and give him a friendly shove.

Shepard's current objective was getting to the brothers so they could find out what the mysterious mercenary who was using omni-blades knew and then get whatever injuries Z had patched up. The Vanguard biotic charged a mercenary which sent her flying before she pumped a round from her shotgun into her. Tali had found her way to Shepard's side as she came out of the charge, "Lovely weather, don't you think Tali?"

Even in a warzone their comradery never failed. Her friend chuckled slightly, "Heh, it seems bullets are the only type of weather we see. Well that and suns that burn through your shields." Tali said as she shot at a mercenary.

The Commander had to agree there. They hadn't seen much in terms of great weather locations. A beach would be nice even if it had people trying to kill her, at least they could soak up some sun while they were there. The fact that they hadn't seen good weather didn't ruin the smirk that came to her face, "Aw, come on. We've seen better weather."

"If you consider Noveria or any of those other frozen uncharted planets '_good weather_' then we'll need to talk later Shepard." The Quarian Engineer retorted.

Shepard had to conceal the slight shudder at the reminder of that frozen plant from hell. Not only had they had to face Rachni, which were supposed to be extinct, but she had to kill Benezia with Liara there. How Liara and her had remained friends was beyond her, after having to kill her own mother because she was indoctrinated by the Reapers she was almost positive that their friendship would have been destroyed.

It hadn't though. Liara held no ill will against her and they had remained friends and for that she was happy_. At least I managed to save the Rachni Queen and at least she is doing good work based on what that Asari on Illium had said_. "I hated those cold places you know that." She responded as she shot at another mercenary.

Without much more fight the squad and Aria's men took out the remaining mercenaries, "That's the last of those bastards. Commander Shepard, do you read me?" Grizz asked over the comm.

"I read you." She answered as she and her squad made their way to the bubble.

"We're going to pull back and search the area for any stragglers. Our tech specialist Murphy and someone from your ship called EDI are working together to take down that bubble so you and your squad can take that asshole down. Murphy will be your contact until this is finally over."

That was a good plan, Shepard was pretty sure that they had taken out the remaining Blue Suns but Aria wasn't one to take chances. "Okay, thanks for the backup today."

There was a low chuckle, "You don't have to thank us, Commander. This was as much as your fight as it was ours. I have to say it was an honor to see you rip those fuckers to shreds, don't see carnage like that everyday here." Grizz replied.

Shepard couldn't help but chuckle a little as she approached the bubble. That was one hell of a compliment coming from one of Aria's men. "Glad I gave you a show. Shepard out." She let her hand drop from her ear as she looked to see Tali and Miranda getting to work on trying to hack the pylon in front of them. "Any idea how to take it down?"

"The shield is disrupting our hacking attempts, preventing us from being able to take it down. I don't think we can get through it on this side." Tali answered. The N7 furrowed her brow as she tried to think of any way to change that.

"Die you bastard." Z growled. Shepard looked up to see the mercenary drop Ty to the ground from holding him by his throat while the elder brother had his katana all the way through the mercenary's chest where his heart was. There were grunts of approval from Zaeed and Grunt as the squad watched on. Before the Commander was able to make a witty remark to the brothers, an orange blade formed on the mercenary's right arm before he plunged it deep into Z's gut.

A look of horror crossed Ty's face as the squad found themselves in a stunned silence, "Wrong side." The mercenary said with a smirk in his tone. The green eyed warrior looked down at the blade as his hands began to leave the hilt of his sword._ No no no no no_, Shepard thought as she tried to find her voice. There had to be something they could do, anything that would get this bubble down.

The silence that filled the room was deafening as the mercenary pulled his blade out and kicked Z away. The mercenary turned to the younger brother and a biotic glow surrounded them both, but Ty began to lift up before the mercenary slammed him back down into the ground.

Tali and Miranda began arguing trying to figure out how to get through the disruption but none of the words registered in Shepard's head as she watched the mercenary pick the purple eyed man back up and slam him into the ground, this time back first. "Fuck this!" Jack seethed.

Jack glowed with biotic's as she began to try and tear a hole in the bubble, a little hole began to form as the tattooed biotic was grunting in struggle to try and rip it apart, "Cheerleader, stop fucking staring and help!" She yelled at the Cerberus Operative. Miranda suddenly joined in as the pair began to try and open a hole in the bubble.

Anger surged through the Commander as the mercenary turned Ty over and dropped his knee into his gut. There was a wordless cry of agony that came from the warrior that only served to throw more fuel on her growing inferno. He then began punching the down man repeatedly as Ty tried to block and get the man off of him. Anger was flooding through Shepard's veins as she stared at the mercenary.

The katana was still through his chest protruding out his back as he continued to lay blow after blow on Ty. "You motherfucker." She hissed as her biotic's swirled around her. Zaeed took a cautionary step back as the hue continued to swirl around her like a tornado.

There was a hole in the barrier forming from Jack and Miranda's work, but both were struggling to keep it that way. Shepard looked at the hole then back at the mercenary who was now just sitting on top of a motionless Ty.

The hole was big enough.

Shepard let out a wordless yell as she biotic charged her way through the hole and all the way down into the mercenary. Nobody fucked with her squad and nobody fucked with Ty. Her silent rage was nothing compared to what she was about to exhibit. The mercenary only had enough time to turn as her biotic charge and biotic fueled punch landed square into him and his jaw, "Get away from him!" She growled.

The mercenary stumbled to the ground off of the former mercenary who looked to be unconscious while his brother was only a few feet away unconscious as well with a pool of blood forming under him.

The mercenary didn't have much time to recover as Shepard bounded for him again. He brought up his blades but as it tried to bring itself out a tech attack sabotaged his omni-tool, "Get that bosh'tet, Shepard!" Tali yelled from the behind the bubble. Jack and Miranda let go of the hole they created causing a slight repulse that pushed the pair onto their backs.

Though the Spectre was going to attack him anyway, hearing Tali's voice added an extra need due to the fact this bastard may have just dealt an un-healable wound. The mercenary threw a punch but found it deflected easily and another punch hitting his face. He threw another punch but Shepard grabbed it this time and twisted it awkwardly making his face come forward into her fist which she landed one after another.

The N7 saw his biotic amp connected behind his ear and in her rage induced mindset she had a terribly awful but vengeful and deserving idea. With her biotic's still swirling about her and the hue becoming completely purple, she grabbed the amp and tore it straight off his neck. This was just the plug in of course, the real amplifier was surgically connected to any biotic, but the part that she pulled off was replaceable…and excruciatingly painful to be torn off when not taken off the proper way.

The man's scream was painfully satisfying, but was cut off by Shepard hitting him with an upwards elbow. She released his hand as she did letting him stumble backwards but before he got too far away she looked at the hilt of the katana sticking out of his chest and another idea formed in her mind. The Spectre reached her hand out and a purple aura suddenly surrounded the hilt. She pulled her hand back slowly and methodically pulling the blade out as slow and methodical as she was moving.

Screams began to echo across the district until the blade was fully removed letting the mercenary drop to his hands and knees as he panted out painful breaths. "Ha! Got it! Ghost you…damn it." A saddened voice called from Ty's omni-tool. The bubble around them dissipated and soon enough the whole squad began sprinting towards them.

Zaeed, Thane, Miranda, and Tali separated in two groups with Miranda and Thane trying to stop Z from bleeding out and Tali and Zaeed checking on Ty. Jack and Grunt soon found their places by Shepard's sides and they looked just as infuriated as she was.

The katana was still floating in the air thanks to the Commander's biotic's but she then brought it to herself and gripped it in her right hand. "You know you mercenary piece of shit." Shepard started as she looked over the blade, "I think before I kill you I'm going to let my two friends have a little fun with you." Her tone was murderous as she looked to the panting mercenary. "How do you two like the sound of that?" She asked rhetorically to her comrades.

"Jack you ready?" Grunt asked.

"Oh yeah." Jack said with anger clear in her tone.

Shepard could see the same look in their eyes that she knew she had, the look of death for those who had pissed them off and in this case it was one man who had picked on the wrong person. The tattooed biotic considered Ty her friend and by the look in her eyes anyone who fucked with him was going to die from here on until the end of time. Ty was a part of Grunt's Krantt, he was a friend and the Krogan respected his battle prowess and crazily stupid ideas. Grunt wasn't going to let anyone screw with the warrior and, by extension, his brother Z.

The N7's case was similar yet different on many levels. Ty was now her newly found love interest. He was someone who had thrown himself into so many stupid situations that originated from his own ideas to protect and save her and others on the Normandy.

She cared a lot for him and had she had the time to think about it she would have considered it to be love, but now she didn't have that thought. Now she just knew that this man had not only hurt the purple eyed warrior physically, but he might have taken his brother too.

Jack had biotic's glowing off of her as she walked up to the mercenary, "You hurt my friend you fucker and now you will pay." Jack said menacingly. Normally Shepard wouldn't have let the psychotic biotic go off the deep end but now…well they were all off the deep end.

"Fuck you! You all don't know what's really going on, not even close. His family and their time in this galaxy are over. There is a new and improved criminal who will take their places at the top of the food chain. They're a bunch of washed up has-beens." The mercenary growled.

That struck a nerve within all three of them, "That's where you are wrong human." Grunt said. This guy either didn't understand that they were about to kill him or didn't care whatsoever.

"Fuck you all. This is between me, my boss and his family."

Grunt walked up to the mercenary and wailed a punch into the back of his head causing the mercenary to fall flat onto the ground. "Just don't kill him yet guys. I want to know who his boss is and I've got just the thing to make him _squeal_." Shepard ordered.

There were grunts of approval before Jack picked him up with her biotic's, "You fuck with one of us you fuck with all of us." She slammed the man face down into the ground. "Not so fun on the receiving end is it?"

Shepard let the two work the mercenary over as she looked at the katana in her hand and the engravings in it: _RBZ 4 Life, Family Forever_. Ty and Z were brothers with a bond stronger than she had ever seen between family members. Their bond was stronger than all of her bonds with her crew members combined_, and this piece of shit might've just killed him_.

She twirled the sword in her hand as she looked back at the mercenary. Grunt stamped on the mercenary's chest as the bald biotic looked at Shepard to see what she was thinking; she got the answer she was looking for quickly. Jack nodded and looked to the Krogan, "Tiny. Leave him."

Grunt looked up to his leader then gave her a firm nod of approval, they understood what she was about to do. "Battlemaster."

The two left towards the brothers which left the N7 walking towards the prone mercenary. Her anger was still through the roof as she looked down at the pain stricken man. Shepard spun the katana so it was facing straight down and then plunged it into the left side of his chest where his heart was.

His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. It felt gratifying to see him in such a state after causing people she cared about pain. "You feel that asshole? That's from Z and Haley. Who ordered the hit? If you tell me, I'll end your pain." Shepard questioned with malice.

"Fuck you." The mercenary mumbled.

She pulled out her pistol and aimed it at his head, "Fine I don't need you alive to find out." Before she could pull the trigger a hand landed on the mercenary's forehead. The N7 looked up to see Ty fully transformed with Zaeed and Tali hovering over him. The warrior looked infuriated as he squeezed his hand hard around the head of the mercenary as if he was sucking information out of it.

The mercenary had anguish and horror written on his face as Ty removed his hand from his forehead, maybe he had taken information out. "Burn in hell you son of a bitch and I'll send Kelham to join you soon enough." He seethed. The mercenary had fear still etched into his face like a stone carving as Ty suddenly collapsed next to him.

Zaeed and Tali picked their fallen comrade off the ground as Shepard aimed her pistol back at the mercenary's head, "This one is from me for fucking with my boyfriend and his brother you low life piece of trash." She pulled the trigger and the bullet pierced through his skull killing him. Her biotic's and temper died down as she pulled the katana out of his body.

Nobody fucked with her squad. Nobody.


	78. Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Shades of Blue

Sitting and waiting was what Aya had found herself doing. What exactly was she waiting for? Really good news or really bad news, but she was mentally praying to the Goddess for the former. Everything that could have gone wrong had went wrong on Omega and it had been mostly due to her being there. The Asari chuckled bitterly to herself; _I just had to go back, didn't I? I swore to never go back because I knew it would be dangerous, but no. I went anyway. Had I just contacted Z or tried to contact Ty instead of listening to stupid news reports, I wouldn't have put so many lives in danger. _

Aya sighed.

Hindsight brought the most terrible thoughts to mind. She looked down at her left hand which was slightly discolored. It was a reminder for now of what situation she had helped to cause and how the woman who was in the med-bay of the Normandy right now ended up there. The doctors had healed her burn with ease but her mind was still telling her it should still be burning.

It tingled slightly as she moved her fingers around. The color would return to normal eventually, but until Aya knew Haley and the others were okay she would continue to wish it to burn. It was the only pain she had felt through the whole fight while Haley had pushed herself too far and Z…Aya shuddered at the thought of what he had done and the change that had happened.

All of it had been because she had allowed them to be trapped inside the district. Had she just paid attention to the amount of firepower the pair had on them and considered just for a moment that she was putting herself and her daughter at risk, they wouldn't have had to have an all-out war in the district.

Ortega had still been recovering and she had brought a giant gang war to their district. The amount of bodies that now littered the street plus the destruction caused put their recovery time to more than a few months now. Aya brought her hand to her head_, Goddess, Braum please forgive me._ The Mess Hall of the Normandy was quiet as the Asari waited for any information to be given to her.

The Salarian named Mordin and their chief of medical staff, who was an older lady Aya didn't know the name of, were busy at work with Haley. While they were working the Turian who had led the evac squad stood in the Med-Bay off to the side talking to a bed-rested Kasumi.

She felt out of place.

It was strange being on such a big ship with no one she knew aside from her daughter, Haley and Kasumi. She only knew the thief because of Ty, but seeing her leg injured as it was didn't help her feel much homier. Not only had she put Haley, Z and her own daughter's lives in danger, but she had put this whole crew in a life threatening battle.

Everyone she had met thus far had treated her well and showed no sign of hostility towards her for the fight. She wasn't sure if that was because they enjoyed the fight or because she was a friend of Ty's.

Iliana was exploring the ship at the consent of the Turian and the pilot which was allowing the mother of the pair time to think about everything that had happened so she could process it without her daughter worrying about her. _As if she isn't already_, she thought. Her daughter was very smart and picked up on things quickly no matter the subject, whether it was the hidden emotions of a person or figuring out new tech. Where she had gotten that smart from Aya wasn't entirely sure.

Picking up on hidden emotions had become a daily teaching for Iliana since her mother had been mourning Ty, who wasn't actually dead. Her daughter had been crushed by the news but her mother had been unable to remain strong. Hearing the news…it had felt like someone had knocked the breath from her body and she couldn't get it back. Her dear friend Ty, who she had watched grow from the thirteen year old green mercenary to the living legend, had been killed.

The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. She had watched him go through so many trials and tribulations. She had sat with him as he mourned the loss of his men and had held him close when he had lost Ka'Reena. She had seen his bright soul beaten down and nearly destroyed, she had prayed for him to be given reprieve from the dark road he had followed. Prayed that when he reached its end that he would be allowed to finally live again, but she had believed the young man had been taken from this galaxy.

He had been taken before his time.

Aya had collapsed when she had heard the news. She couldn't help but wonder if it was some sick joke the Goddess had been playing with the young man. Did the Goddess not know mercy? Did she just find it humorous to see such a bright soul constantly have everything he loved ripped from his arms? Was there some sort of lesson that she was trying to teach? Aya had to question the judgment made.

Was the Goddess granting Ty peace? Was she trying to stop him from hurting? Was death the only option?

It didn't seem fair to Aya after her initial collapse, but from then until now Iliana had taken on being strong for her. Her daughter knew that they couldn't both be emotional wrecks and her mother couldn't get her emotions under control. By staying strong Iliana had managed to figure out a lot of her mother's emotions when she attempted to hide them. She had learned her body language so quickly and was able to sooth or distract her when she would allow her mind to run.

In Aya's moments of feeling like she had done something terrible she saw the Turian, Garrus, come flying out of the med-bay with his finger to his ear, "You've got to be kidding me Shepard…are you at the clinic now?"

That was not a good sign. The only reason they would need to be at the clinic was if there was an injury that medi-gel wouldn't fix and if they couldn't make it to the Normandy. Aya felt her heart sink further at that thought.

"…Ty's awake already? Nothing seems to keep that bastard down for long. What about his brother?" There was a pause, "That bad?" The Asari had felt slight hope for a moment at hearing that Ty was okay, but that was easily stamped out the moment she heard that Z was in what sounded like bad shape. "I can imagine that. Some of the people of Omega held him up like a savior so a clinic dedicated to him isn't that big of a surprise. So Jack is staying behind with Tali to look over them while you come get Samara and drop the other kids off? See you soon, Shepard."

Garrus dropped his finger and his head a little. He seemed to be in deep thought before he cracked his neck and back. He seemed to be trying to loosen up from whatever his thought pattern had been. From what Aya saw back down on Omega, the Turian had wanted to stay behind to protect Ty and his brother while sending the shuttle away. He didn't want to lose the shuttle but he also didn't want to leave the brothers behind.

Being ordered to leave hadn't sat well with him, that much she knew from how he looked on the shuttle ride back. Her previous life on Omega had allowed her to become privy to body language of all races so even though he tried his best to look calm, Aya knew differently. Now that Ty and Z were injured he was probably in the same boat as her, the same blame ship that left them second guessing their decisions and wishing they could have done something differently.

The Turian looked over at Aya who felt more worried than she had before, how bad was Z's condition? She looked into the Turian's eyes looking for an answer to her unspoken question. "Are they okay?" She finally questioned. Her voice was filled with the amount of worry that was clenching at her heart, had she caused the death of Z?

He seemed to roll her voiced question around in his head and figure out how to tell her something, which didn't help how Aya felt at all. You didn't roll a good situation around in your head, you spoke those. You rolled bad situations in your head so you could try and let the person who asked down easier.

You did it to try to soften the blow.

"Kasumi is going to be fine. No permanent damage from the round that hit her leg and with the docs help she'll be walking around at some point today. She'll have a limp and have to stay on the ship for a few missions, but she'll heal." Garrus paused for a moment as he considered his next words carefully. He wasn't helping Aya's nerves in the slightest. "Haley is going to pull through, but she's still unconscious. Docs aren't sure when she'll wake up, but she'll have to lay off on the biotic's for a little while once she does."

That made sense with what she had done. Her amp must not have fried completely by the sound of it; if she had then Garrus would have mentioned it or wouldn't have said that she was going to have to lay off for a little while. He would have said she was going to need to get a new amp. "On that note, some mercenary that wasn't a Blue Sun was able to beat down Ty pretty badly. He's awake and coherent. Sarcasm is still there based on what Shepard said." The Asari chuckled to herself with a smile, "He didn't get it as bad as we are used to him getting hurt. Usually he would be in a near death state or have some sort of serious injury, but he's just bruised from his body to his ego."

Aya found herself still smiling as she shook her head at the Turian's humor. He was probably being truthful on all accounts, yet she couldn't help but find humor in it. "His brother had some scrapes and burns to fix up originally but…" Garrus paused again and Aya felt her heart once again sink. It was going to be really bad whatever it was. "The mercenary…stabbed him in his gut with an omni-blade. He's in intensive care now while the doctors are trying their best to get him to pull through."

"Goddess." She whispered. _Goddess, if you really do exist then spare him this fate. Let him come back from this. _

Garrus walked to the table and sat down across from her. He looked at her with pity mixed with disappointment in himself. The look he wore was one that wished he could have done better for them or at the very least had better news for her. "I don't know much else, but Shepard does. She may have better news or more information on the situation at the clinic." He attempted to reassure her.

She nodded and let out a sad sigh as her head fell, "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone to Omega." _Going to Omega was a big mistake. I should have just contacted Z instead of going to the memorial first_.

"They would have come for you wherever you were." He stated simply. That sounded like personal experience. Aya began to examine the Turian as he spoke, "They don't care where their target is or who they hurt in the process. Being on the Citadel wouldn't have saved you from the fight. They may have tried to be stealthier since they would have to work around C-Sec, but knowing the Suns they might have just disguised as C-Sec to get you."

Definitely personal experience. This Turian had bandages covering the right side of his face and his armor was scorched and cracked on the same side at the collar. Why did seeing that make the Turian feel more familiar. Did she know him? "You know them well?" She queried, entertaining the conversation as she tried to figure out who he was.

He was definitely familiar now that she had taken the bandages into account, but from where? She had never physically met him, but there was definitely something familiar. "You could say I had a few run-ins on Omega with them." Garrus replied nonchalantly.

Was it some type of gossip she had heard? Aya had kept up with Omega gossip through old friends and got some of it from Doctor Braum on Omega as well. _It had definitely been Braum, but what had he said? Ty had fought with Commander Shepard and…_ "You're Archangel aren't you?" She asked as she came to the realization of who this Turian was.

Turian facial expressions were hard for some to understand, but Aya had many experiences with Turian's and knew that he was suddenly uncomfortable.

This was definitely Archangel.

He had proved himself to be the new thorn in the side of the mercenary groups while Ty was mostly focused on the Blue Suns. He caused the mercenary groups to team up and try to take him down and had lost all his men because of a traitor. Had Shepard not shown up when she had, it was likely that Archangel would not have made it off of Omega. Hell, everyone thought that Archangel had died. Aya had but, well she was being proven wrong about her assumptions about who was alive and dead lately. Who knows, maybe the Asari who had betrayed her and Ty would show up next and apologize.

Aya mentally chuckled, _like that would happen. If she's smart she'll stay hidden so Ty doesn't kill her._ Garrus coughed a few times which made her giggle a little, "Uh-oh, I think I found out your secret."

"Uh yeah, ahem…that was me." He admitted as he cleared his throat in awkwardness.

He obviously didn't want to be noticed as Archangel any longer since he was supposed to be dead. The bounty on his head that the mercenaries had was still out there even though he was considered dead. It would eventually be dropped, but for now it was still a danger to him. "Your secret is safe with me, Garrus." She winked.

"Hey Mom. Making new friends?" Iliana asked as she walked into the mess hall.

Aya couldn't help being so friendly. It came with the life she had made before, she liked to get to know certain clients and make friends where she could. That was how she befriended Ty. She had thought he was going to be a client but he had never purchased any of her services or made any type of moves on her. Aya was very in tune with how others felt when it came to if they were looking for a sexual encounter or one of her many other services she had provided, but Ty had thrown her a curveball.

He was different than the others. He had spoken to her to actually get to know her the first time they met. There were no hidden intentions of sexual desire in his body language or his eyes and she was a master of reading that in her clients. She knew better than her clients exactly what they wanted. Some began to consider her the Sha'ira of Omega before she left.

It had been Ty who had kicked Miller around the day he found out he had hit her and it was Ty who had rescued her from living the life she had for another century. Aya hadn't thought that she would grow as close as she had to him when they first met, but she had only thought he was another client. He had been sitting in the bottom half of Afterlife reading over some information when she had approached him in an attempt to entice the young man.

Aya chuckled mentally, it was humorous looking back at her intentions to bed and have Ty become a repeat customer now that she really knew him. He was handsome even then, but she didn't hold any sexual feelings for him then or now.

He was just another potential client then, now he was a dear friend that she would never consider bedding. Iliana looked at him like an uncle anyways and that would just make it awkward.

"You know me, hun." Aya responded.

Her daughter chuckled, "Yeah, I think that's the problem sometimes."

"Hey! What does that mean?" She asked defensively. She wasn't really upset since she knew that her daughter was just joking with her, but it made for more fun to give a reaction.

Iliana sat down next to her and patted her leg, "Nothing, Mom."

"Sometimes I wonder if Ty rubbed off on you or if somehow he was your father all along." The mother of the pair retorted with a smirk. That was impossible since Iliana was fifty-three years old, but it made for a funny comment.

Iliana looked at her with a smirk and shook her head, "For some reason I don't think Ty wants to be a father yet." Garrus said dryly.

That was an understatement.

Ty and Aya had actually spoken about that before he had met Ka'Reena but after his crew had been killed, _"It wouldn't be fair to my child or the woman I would be with because of the life I live. We would constantly be on the move; I would have to be out stopping people from getting close to them stopping me from witnessing my child grow and be around the woman I would be with. Not to mention I'm not even out of my teenage years yet. Someday I will, but that time isn't going to be soon."_ Ty explained.

"You know him well." Aya replied.

"Happens when I have to pull his ass out of the fire a lot." Garrus said as he smiled a cocky Turian smile. Since he had legitimately pulled her, Iliana, and Haley out of the fire, Aya wasn't going to doubt that he actually did pull the former mercenary out a lot as well. It probably wasn't as much as he was boasting, but it was probably true to some degree.

There was a light laugh that came from a woman as Garrus made his proud declaration and sure enough two women came walking into the Mess Hall. The first woman had long black hair but was still wearing her armor. She was definitely Commander Shepard if Aya had to guess, there was just something about the aura around her that helped her figure that out before she laid her eyes on the N7 symbol on her armor and the patent red stripe on her right arm.

The other woman had long black hair as well, but she wore a white and black colored spandex catsuit. Aya raised a slight eyebrow as she looked over the woman's body, she was definitely not leaving much to the imagination and the Asari was okay with that. She was Cerberus for sure with that insignia displayed on her chest so Aya allowed herself to become slightly impressed by the woman's assets before focusing back on Shepard and Garrus. "You're just trying to catch up to the amount of times he's saved your ass Garrus." The N7 said as she walked into the room.

"Yet he ends up injured more than me." The Turian retorted matter of factly.

Aya felt like saying that it was just Ty's way since even she knew about the frequency of his injuries, but this was banter between friends that she didn't want to interrupt. Shepard stopped at the med-bay doors with a big smirk on her face, "What about that missile, Scars."

That seemed like a low blow, but Aya stopped herself from laughing out loud because even if it was low, it was still funny. "Hmm, set myself up for that one." Garrus said in slight defeat.

The Commander smiled in victory but then nodded to Aya and Iliana in greeting before walking into the med-bay. The raven haired woman wearing spandex followed her into the med-bay but the look on both of their faces when they turned away made the Asari nervous.

They both looked haunted.

Whatever had happened to Ty and Z had shaken them both up by the look of it. The Commander of the pair seemed to be using work as a way to mask it where the raven haired woman it was more apparent. Garrus had said Ty was fine for the most part but Z had been stabbed in the gut by an omni-blade, for some reason Aya was beginning to think that was the censored version. "Garrus, mind coming in here for a second?" Shepard asked from the med-bay.

"I'll see you two later." The Turian dismissed himself from the table.

Her tone sounded heavy with pain, like she was about to give him some bad news. That thought didn't help the nervous Asari calm down in the slightest. Had something happened between the time Garrus spoke with her and the trip back to the Normandy? Aya rested her head on her hand and looked around the Normandy's Mess Hall again. "Mom, stop worrying. They'll be fine." Iliana's voice brought her from her thoughts. She glanced over to her daughter who was scooting her chair closer, "Its Ty and Z, they're survivors."

It was such a simple comment yet it held a truth weighing the same weight as one hundred Krogan's. The brothers had trained, fought and lived through some of the roughest situations that would have claimed the lives of others. Ty had watched his friends die and then watched his lover executed right in front of him, and if that wasn't enough pile on all the near death experiences he had. Z had single handedly fought off the Batarian's on Elysium until the Alliance showed up. In a more recent event he had just basically repeated the same feat on Omega against the Blue Suns once Haley had exhausted herself.

She was right about them being survivors, but Aya still worried. How many more near death experiences did they have left to cash in before it really ended in their death? Would it be this fight for Z? Iliana hadn't been here when Garrus had told her about Z being in intensive care but Aya didn't want to worry her daughter more than she already was. Seeing Haley in pain had hit her hard.

Aya wasn't entirely sure yet, but she believed that her daughter held strong emotional feelings for the human biotic and seeing her crying in pain asking them all to make it stop had plucked many of her heart strings. Had they not been in a middle of a war zone, the mother believed her daughter would have tried to hold Haley in a hug to try and sooth her, there was definitely something stirring in Iliana.

Iliana wrapped her arms around her mother in a hug, "They'd tell you to spend your time worrying about something that needed worrying and not to waste your time worrying about them."

She was right of course. They'd chastise her later for spending her time stewing and worrying about something she had no control of or any part in. They'd tell her that it wasn't her fault and then make jokes about her thinking they were weak and hadn't gone through something like what they were going through now. Aya knew this, but until she saw them both alive again she'd continue to worry.

They could chastise her later for it.

"I know hun, but if they somehow end up dead because I decided to go to Omega instead of calling them first…I'll never forgive myself."

"Don't think like that."

Some Asari didn't grow as attached to short lived species like humans because they knew that in a century they would be gone, but Aya and Iliana were different. There was a philosophy of spending as much time possible with them and remembering all the good times they had once they passed, but Iliana wasn't ready to let go of the two men she considered to be her uncles. Her mother wasn't prepared to lose them either if her poor handling of the younger brothers "death" was anything to go by. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Mom, just relax. They'll all pull through." Iliana comforted.

Boots on the ground brought Aya's attention up towards the med-bay. The Commander of the ship was walking towards them with her omni-tool lit up and she looked none too pleased. "Jack send it through and get Tali to start working on it. You tell Ty if I find out that he's doing anything but laying in that bed like the doctor told him, I'm going to come back and hold him a stasis field until he's cleared." She ordered.

There was a humorous laugh from whoever she was speaking to, "On it, Shepard." Jack said. Scrambled text began flooding through the N7's omni-tool as she stopped a few steps from the table.

Before Shepard looked at them Iliana spoke up, "Wait, let me see that."

"Huh?" The sapphire eyed woman asked in confusion as Iliana stood up and rounded the table.

"Hun, what's wrong?" Aya asked. This was very strange of her daughter. She was smart but as far as the mother knew she couldn't decrypt data. Had Ty taught her how to decrypt without telling Aya or had she figured it out herself?

"I've seen that encryption before. Ty taught me it so if we were ever in trouble, I could send it to him and make it impossible for anyone but a tech specialist to hack it." Iliana explained as she reached Shepard's side.

Aya stared at the encrypted information again then started to see subtle patterns that were similar to the encryption her friend had taught her. There were some subtle differences in it but there was a familiarity to it. If the warrior had taught this exact encryption to Iliana, then that meant whoever was sending him a message knew this code. "I thought it might be Aria, but they said he has her contact information and I doubt she'd send him an encrypted message." Shepard explained.

"You think it could be something about the Suns?" The older Asari queried.

Iliana grabbed Shepard's hand and started scanning the information with her eyes darting from word to word. Aya had never seen her daughter so fixated on something with such intensity other than the chess games she played with Ty years ago. "Ummm…so what's your name?" Shepard asked awkwardly.

Aya giggled a little at the slight blush tinting the N7's cheeks. Iliana was practically cheek to cheek with her as she began decrypting the message and the Hero of the Citadel apparently wasn't used to someone she barely knew being in such close proximity to her face.

If Iliana turned her head towards Shepard she would have accidently locked lips with the sapphire eyed Commander, and judging on the pink tint coating Shepard's cheeks she had thought the same thing. Aya felt the sudden urge to poke fun while also reassure the human that she wasn't about to lock lips with her daughter, "She isn't about to make you embrace eternity, Commander." The blush grew darker and much to Aya's surprise Iliana's cheeks also began to have a darker tint of blue beginning to coat them. "My daughter just takes after me when it comes to…_snuggling_ up to strangers."

Oh this was too much fun. The tint of Shepard's blush grew fifty shades redder as she coughed slightly to try and ease her awkwardness while Iliana managed to focus back on the task in front of her keeping only a slight blush on her cheeks. "_Mom_." Iliana groaned in slight embarrassment. Her daughter's hands moved across the screen and suddenly the information started putting itself together. Iliana's hands danced across the holographic screen bringing pieces of information together at a rapid speed across with her eyes matching the speed darting from one side to the other. "Goddess. Mom, we've got a problem."

_She…she decrypted it in seconds_. Aya and Shepard were both staring at Iliana in shock due to her sudden decryption. _You've been training her with those chess games haven't you, Ty? I thought it was just a stupid little game, but it's all been to prepare her for the day I can no longer hide her from the dangers of our galaxy. When I can no longer remain ignorant to the fact that she will eventually go out and explore the galaxy just as you and I have._ "How did yo-"

Shepard was interrupted by the sudden stony stare that Iliana held. "Ria sent the message." Aya's mind started racing thinking of all the problems that were now possible and every worst case scenario that they involved. _Ria…you betrayed us by making those biotic extremists think I was the one they wanted. You nearly had me, my daughter and Ty killed. What would make you send a message? _

"How could she have sent him an encrypted message? Are you sure it's her? This isn't good if it is her. Is the message decrypted?" Aya brought a hand to her forehead as the questions continued to spew from her mouth, "This isn't good. Of all the times she had to poke her head out of whatever hole she's been hiding in, it had to be now didn't it." She shook her head in disbelief, "Ty is going to flip out when he sees her name."

Shepard looked loss and confused at the sudden questions and statements Aya had made but that was understandable. She probably had never heard of Ria from Ty by name, traitorous bitch was probably the way he would have referred to her if he ever had but it was doubtful that he ever had. He had chosen not to chase after her in the end. Maybe he didn't think she was worth it or he was waiting until after he had finished with the Suns. Aya wasn't sure but she knew that the man never forgave and he never forgot and Z sure as hell wasn't going to let her go free. "What are you talking about?" The Commander questioned.

"Did Ty ever tell you about the biotic extremists and the backstabber who sent them after us?" Aya asked.

She received a slight nod, "Z told us the story of how they took the base and Ty made a slight mention of a backstabber before we got here."

"Ria is her." Aya stated. Realization set on Shepard's face as she put the pieces to the puzzle she had been given through the Asari's comments. Ria was a traitor and Ty was wounded on Omega right now. If she wanted to, she could probably march right into the clinic and try to kill Ty with a high probability of succeeding.

While Aya asked her questions Iliana had went back to looking at the encrypted message and started reading through it. "The message is asking to meet him at a place of his choosing so they can talk. She says that she has a lot to explain. I-…I think she needs his help. The message is very vague." Iliana explained.

_Help?_ _After what she did the only help Ty would be willing to give is a bullet in her head_. It was a possibility that she was being truthful in wanting to explain something, but Aya wasn't so easily convinced by it. Ria had chosen to betray their trust and friendship for a few thousand credits. She disappeared after that and there hadn't been a peep out of her since, "She's on Omega." Her daughter said.

The sapphire eyed Commander furrowed her brow, "Kind of coincidental."

"Not really. She's probably been hiding there since her betrayal under a false identity and keeping herself out of Aria's and Ty's sights. Everyone on Omega probably knows about the fight in Ortega so she knows he is there." Aya informed.

"But not where he is." Her daughter stated as she continued scanning the message.

Shepard let out a sigh, "Today just keeps getting more interesting."

A chuckle escaped Aya. It had been a rough day for everyone it seemed. "Aw, you say that to all the Asari you assist in saving, don't you?" Iliana wisecracked.

The blush colored Shepard's cheeks again as she glanced away. Aya smirked and couldn't resist the need to input her own comment. "She just likes your shade of blue."

"_Mom_!"

"_What?_!"

Aya smirked a little as the two yelped and blushed deeper shades of blue and red in unison. "Don't mind me. I'm just having a little bit of fun." Aya said with a slight wave of her hand.

The pair remained silent a moment allowing their blushes to dissipate before Iliana let go of Shepard's hand, "That's all there is…Ty is going to kill her, isn't he?"

Despite Ria putting their lives in danger, Iliana always wished for her to one day come back as she once was. The two Asari had been close just as Ty and Iliana were, leaving it a very tender wound for her daughter and one that she wished would mend itself by having Ria come back. Aya was unsure if the relationship Ria and Ty had once shared would hold for anything still, but she was certain he would probably want blood. Her friend didn't take betrayal lightly. "I do not know. Regardless, it will be his choice in the end."

"Ty wouldn't kill someone unarmed." Shepard stated.

Aya was almost shocked at the sudden statement. There wasn't a doubt in the Commander's mind that Ty wouldn't just shoot and kill Ria without even batting an eyelash. Did she know who she was talking about? The hyper Asari studied the human as she tried to collect her thoughts. She was completely sure of herself in this and had a look in her eye that…_No way that was possible. Ty wouldn't risk it_. "I've known Ty for ten years, Shepard. I've sat with him through his worst tragedies and if there is one thing I learned about him it is this: When his vision is clouded by revenge, he is capable of anything."

"But this wouldn't be about revenge. I understand she betrayed him, but Ty wouldn't just kill her without thinking." The N7 said firmly again.

There it was again. _They couldn't be…could they?_ "Ria betrayed his trust and friendship for credits and to save her own ass. Ty is pretty black and white about that stuff."

Shepard rolled around the thought for a split second, "Maybe. But Ty will want to hear what she has to say. He listened to what Jedore and Scrum said and that was about the death of his friends and girlfriend. I think he'll do the same here."

It was there again threaded within her aura and the look in her eyes. A certain fondness, no it was much more than fondness. There was a bond between her and Ty and from what Aya could tell it was much more than friends. She couldn't take not knowing anymore as she shook her head and put her hands out to stop the human from talking. "Okay this is bothering me. Are you two dating or something? Your aura and the look in your eyes are giving me some signals and I can't take not knowing if my friend has finally given up on the 'I don't do relationships' quote he was so fond of using." A blush began to form on Shepard's face as a certain Turian chuckled humorously behind her.

That was an answer and it was a damn good one.

Before the N7 could coherently respond her omni-tool beeped and she immediately took the call all the while ignoring the grin on Garrus's face as she walked towards the elevator, "Tali, I got that message decrypted and I was speaking to Ty's friend about it. She explained that it's an old friend who betrayed his trust so kee…"

Shepard walked out of ear shot of Iliana and Aya leaving both of them and Garrus with grins on their faces although the Asari's were for different reasons than the Turian's. "Uncle Ty is finally coming around."

Aya nodded as she thought back to the day Ty had sat with her and explained what had happened to Ka'Reena. So much pain had echoed through his body and soul for years and now it seemed he might have started working himself back to the man he was instead of the demon he portrayed. "Yes, I believe he is."

* * *

If there was ever one thing that Ty hated it would be being bed-rested and not being allowed to use his omni-tool to ease his boredom. He wasn't even that badly injured compared to all the other things he had done recently, even dislocating his shoulder was worse than how he was right now. He had no broken bones, no ruptured organs and no gunshot or stab wounds. In his eyes that meant he was perfectly fine, even if that was a strange way of deciding if you were okay.

Aside from his increasing boredom, he was worried about his brother who was in the next room. He had gone over what had happened in the fight countless times only to continue to come to two conclusions. The first conclusion was his own stupidity for getting caught the way he had. The damn mercenary's blades had disappeared and he hadn't blasted either of them away, that should have been the sign and warning for him to not go rushing in, but he had. He rushed in and had his tomahawks blasted away instead and then he had found himself in a chokehold from the biotic mercenary.

The second conclusion he had made was how ridiculous it had been that the damn mercenary had his heart on the other side. Seriously what were the damn chances of that happening? The mercenary should have been dead the moment his brothers katana pierced his chest, but he hadn't.

The smug bastard only chuckled and stabbed his brother in the gut with his omni-blade. That lead to the purple eyed warrior being slammed around like a rag doll bruising his body and then Ty losing it completely and ripping the information from the man's mind after Shepard, Jack, and Grunt had had their fun.

It was such a screwed up situation with his brother being the one to take the blade instead of him. Ty was the one who always found himself in situations that left him near death, not his brother, and he hated being on the opposite end of the spectrum. He hated being the one who had to wait to find out if someone was going to make it. In the end it was just more incentive to throw himself in front of death to make sure no one else got injured and so he didn't end up in the situation he was in.

He hadn't seen what Shepard, Jack and Grunt had done, but he had woken up just before Shepard had killed him and then passed out as soon as he ripped the information from his mind. Ty would be lying if he said he hadn't mentally tortured the man before he took what information he needed and he'd also be lying if he said part of him didn't enjoy it.

Normally he would have never resorted to it or even have enjoyed doing what he had done, but seeing his brother lying in a pool of his own blood looking like he was going to die…thinking that he was going to die pushed the man back to a place he had wished to never revisit.

He wasn't dwelling too much on it now seeing as he now had the information on who exactly wanted his family dead and a general location of where to find him. Elias Kelham was going to pay for everything he had caused from Ria's betrayal to almost killing his brother. Ty couldn't believe how long the slimy bastard had been trying to take his family out; the mercenary had been the one who threatened Ria to do what she had done by threatening to go after her child.

The former mercenary didn't even know Ria had a child. Never once had she mentioned having one or introduced him to her, but apparently she had a child and they had kidnapped her to get her to try to kill him and his family. It had almost worked with taking Ty out, but in the end all it had done was made him think she had betrayed him on her own accord. Now he knew better and now he was going to find Kelham and put a bullet in his skull.

It would be a little while before he could take him down, but the next stop on the Citadel was going to be his chance to take him down. The Citadel would also prove as a place he could use as a way to get Shepard to take a breather and have some fun that didn't involve getting shot at or fights. They couldn't hide their relationship any longer anyways since the others who had seen her go berserk on the mercenary had put two and two together. Add that on with her calling him her boyfriend in front of the ground squad and that led to them finally telling the others that they were in fact together.

They had all taken it well, not that it was a huge surprise for most of them. Jack didn't suddenly lash out with her biotic's and rip the purple eyed warrior a new one because she wanted to be with him and that was the only real worry. The tattooed biotic actually told them that she was happy the two were working things out, but promised Shepard that if they stopped that she was first in line to drag Ty to a bed before anyone changed their minds.

Now the whole squad was just making jokes about it just like they had been before only now it was about their sex life and not about them actually getting together. Kelly was probably going to have a field day with it once the word reached her.

Braum walking in broke Ty from his thoughts, "How is my brother?" He asked. Tali, who was apparently guarding him for some strange reason, looked up from her omni-tool to see the doctor walking in.

"Awake and recovering. As long as we tend to him until you leave, he will be able to leave on his own two feet as well, albeit with some assistance. He has shown a great rate of recovery, no doubt due to your genetic makeup."

The warrior nodded slightly feeling relief flood his body for the first time since seeing his brother impaled. "I'm in your debt Braum." The Batarian doctor had come a long way in such a short time period since his initial fight in Ortega district. He had become the lead doctor and the people of Ortega actually looked at the clinic as a symbol of hope. It was truly more than Ty could have ever asked for from saving the people. They had taken what he had said to heart.

Braum shook his head, "No, it is I who owes you a grand debt for everything you've done for the people of Ortega. Myself included."

Ty couldn't stop the bitter chuckle that escaped him. What he had done for the people of Ortega? He had just brought another war to their doorsteps and left two hundred Suns lying in the street along with property damage. Inspiring them could only cover so much of the negative things he had caused. "I just destroyed half of this district, if not more."

"No, the Suns did." Braum stated firmly. The former mercenary looked up to the Batarian doctor, "The wounds that were dealt were superficial. They can be repaired. What you, your brother, your Commander and all your friends have done is protect our people from certain death at the hands of those brutal thugs."

That was a certainly generous outlook on the destruction, but Braum and his staff all looked at Ty as some sort of hero. Maybe they'd add Shepard's squad and his brother and Haley to the mural so he wasn't the only one being worshipped. Being worshipped was definitely not why he had tried to inspire the people "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?" He asked.

Braum smiled a bright smile, "No you are not, but I understand why you tried. Modesty is something you are very well known for." He smirked a little at the Batarian, "Having the Protector of Ortega safe and amongst the living once more is a rather positive note to such a trying day. Being able to save your brother from certain death was just one of our ways of saying thank you." _Protector of Ortega? Oi, these nicknames are a little over eccentric. Probably best not to voice that opinion though_. "Fate has a plan for you both I believe."

Fate had a funny idea of a plan then. Whoever Fate was had a sick sense of humor when it came to planning exactly how his day went. "Maybe." Ty responded. There was a raised voice outside of the room but it sounded like it was still further down the hall. Whoever it was sounded pissed. "That sounds bad."

"That would be a visitor for you. I've been trying to stall her as long as possible to allow you some time to recover, but she promised to rip the spines out of me and my staff if she wasn't allowed to see you or your brother." The doctor explained.

Dread suddenly filled Ty knowing that only one person would make such a threat and that one person was about to give him a lecture along with a slap, or more likely a punch, alongside his head. "Would said visitor happen to be an Asari Matriarch with a bad temper?" Braum nodded, "Ah shit. Tali, you and Braum should probably escort yourselves out before she gets here." His friend looked at him in confusion before nodding and following the doctor out.

"Is this his room?" A gruff voice asked. _Oh here we go. Spirits I'd ask for your assistance, but even I know you aren't going to step between an angry Matriarch and myself_.

Not even a second after questioning Matriarch Aethyta walked in with her back turned to him, "You're damn right I'm their Aunty you ignoramus! You're lucky I like your head doctor. If I didn't I would slap your ass with a singularity for stopping me from seeing my damn nephews!" Aethyta yelled at whatever doctor or nurse she was yelling at. _And here it comes._ She turned around to face Ty, "And you! I'm on my way to help you and your brother out and my contacts tell me that not only did you let some little shit kick your ass, but your brother let himself get gutted."

If it had been anyone but Aethyta, the young man would have tried to make a defense. However, it was Aethyta and that meant it was best to just let her verbally rip him a new one so she didn't physically rip him a new one. It was her way of telling you she was worried and she cared that you were hurt. Her ass ripping also served as a sort of an apology for not being there to protect them both.

Aethyta began to make her way towards Ty as she continued her rant, "All that training you two do and that punk mercenary with two omni-blades and biotic's made you both fight like you had to actually try. The two of you should have kicked his ass with ease." She ranted.

She was right in a way. The brothers had trained to be the best fighters and the mercenary was able to fend them both off. Ty knew that there was always someone out there that would be better than he was, but he had yet to find him until now, excluding Thane who he had yet to spar against. As she approached the side of his bed Ty looked up to Aethyta with a small smile, "I'm glad I can still make you worry."

Aethyta attempted to continue her planned rant but stopped short at his comment. She shook her head in disbelief and let out a sigh, "You and your brother about gave me a damn heart attack kid. I knew you were okay for the most part, but hearing what happened to your brother made your father and I want to kick some asses after making sure you two were okay."

Ty nodded and the Matriarch sat down on the edge of the bed next to him, "Seen your brother since the fight?"

"No. I've been confined to this room with the promise that if I tried to leave Shepard would slam me around with her biotic's until the end of time." Judging on the evil grin on Jack's face she was either being completely truthful and found it seriously funny or she had exaggerated a bit and he believed her.

The Matriarch grinned devilishly, "Sounds kind of kinky if you ask me. Maybe you should take her up on it, might be fun." Ty chuckled in response at the joke even though she was probably more or less serious about it. "How's it been going between you two anyway? You two have sex yet?"

"Been going good and no not yet. If the look she gave me when I woke up was any indication I would say that we'll do something soon. Although with how my back feels right now I'll probably chose to play co-pilot in helping her explore her own body if it is really soon."

The look Shepard had given him was one that was relieved to see him awake and unharmed mixed with the worry that she was going to lose him. That look was enough warning to the hooded man that they were about to take their serious talks and become more serious intimately and sexually with one another.

Why would he assume that from just one look? The look was also followed by a whisper before she left telling him they had a lot to talk about when they got back on the Normandy. When she said the word _talk_ she hadn't said it to mean verbally speaking to one another either…not that it was a bad thing or something he wasn't all for.

Aethyta smiled to herself as she looked at her nephew, "You know the back pain may help to make the sex great. Sometimes pain and pleasure can go hand in hand kid. Think about if she dug her nails into your back during it all."

Unfortunately he thought about it causing his back to slightly burn like some dug their nails and dragged them down his already aching back. He had no problem with the nails digging into his skin, but his back was already sore and that would cause sitting down in a chair or lying on a bed very difficult. "Then again if what I've heard from your previous girlfriends is true, your Commander is in for one hell of a mind fuck. Literally." Aethyta said with a chuckle.

She was referring to him melding with the person similar to the Asari meld but one thing had caught the former mercenary's attention. "You talked to my previous girlfriends about having sex with me?"

"Of course I did." His aunt responded like it was so painstakingly obvious. "I had to make sure you paid attention to what I talked to you about. I asked a few of your brothers as well and it seems you two really paid attention to what I had to say. Besides, I had to make sure your girlfriends weren't cheating on you."

Ty raised an eyebrow in question, "And asking them about our sex life tells you if they are cheating on me or not?"

It sounded ridiculous but seeing as she was an Asari Matriarch, Ty couldn't doubt it completely. "Hey I'm your Aunty. I know these things." Aethyta answered once again like it should have been obvious.

Ty conceded with a nod lacking the desire to ask any more questions on the matter knowing that he probably wouldn't get anywhere anyways. "God damn it's been a long day." He sighed as he tried to relax on the bed.

His aunt chuckled to herself, "I bet it has. So this is how it feels to be you on a normal basis, huh?" That caused Ty to begin laughing lightly to himself. A normal day did appear to always be full of rounds flying overhead and almost getting killed. "Is your brother awake yet?"

"Yeah, 'awake and recovering' as Braum told me. Gonna go give him the lecture that I narrowly dodged?"

Aethyta nodded with a smile, "Yeah. I had a really nice lecture worked out for you both, but you've always had a way of ruining my fun. Your brother on the other hand won't be so lucky. I'll stop by the Normandy before you leave and either take your friends with me or just say goodbye until I talk to you next." The Matriarch started to get up only to stop herself. She looked back to Ty with a serious look, "Did you find out who hired the mercenary?"

She received a nod, "Yeah. Elias Kelham is his name. He's some criminal on the Citadel looking to become a new and improved version of us according to the mercenary. He's actually tried to kill us before, remember Ria?" Ty asked. She nodded, "Apparently she had a kid and they used her as leverage to go after us. Didn't work out obviously."

A thoughtful look crossed Aethyta's face as she absorbed the new information. She patted Ty's knee before standing up, "I'll start trying to find out more on this Kelham asshole. Stay safe out there kid."

"I'll do my best. Try not to scare Z too much Aunty Aethyta."

Aethyta barked out a laugh as she walked out of the room, "I'll make no promises there kid." She left the room and soon after she left Tali came walking back in. The Quarian sat down in her original seat and continued on her omni-tool with whatever she was working on. The Matriarch was probably about to have a field day with Z and Jack was probably going to be laughing her ass off by the end of it if she remained in the room.

Before Ty or Tali could relax, another Asari walked in with Braum walking a few paces behind her holding a cautious look in his eyes. The new Asari's face didn't take long to register allowing the purple eyed warrior to relax while his friend tensed up and began reaching for her shotgun slowly. He patted her shoulder in a soothing manner, "Calm down Tali. Liselle, how are you?"

Liselle smiled slightly and nodded her head at him in greeting, "I'm good Ty. Unfortunately I'm here for business, but we can catch up afterwards." It wasn't the first time Aria's daughter and Ty had met and it surely wouldn't be the last seeing as the pair had been friends ever since he started working for her mother.

She was cute, but Aria had warned him early on that if anything ever happened to her girl while they were around each other or if their friendship ever escalated to more than a friendship he would be dead or missing a certain appendage.

Ty took the warning to heart.

Tali looked at him with what he assumed was confusion but lowered her guard slightly. She didn't know who exactly this Asari was but she put trust in his judgment on the matter. Why she had tensed up at the sight of an Asari was another confusing matter. Was something going on with the message they had taken from his omni-tool? Ty had met plenty of Asari in his life and there were still more than a few who wanted him dead, but none of them knew how to contact him.

Braum didn't seem to relax at all although that wasn't a surprise seeing as it was the Pirate Queen's daughter in his clinic. His head would be on a platter if something bad happened. "Alright what's up?" Ty asked.

"Aria would've come by herself but she was busy talking to Commander Shepard and another Asari so I volunteered to take the information for her." _Of course you did,_ Ty thought, _you still have a crush on me and that is soooo not going to happen for a multitude of reasons._ "First off she'd like it if you didn't blow Ortega district up every time you visited."

That was meant as a sarcastic joke to lighten the mood from what had happened at the end of the fight. It worked as Ty found himself smirking, "She would like to talk to you in more depth about the Blue Suns that caused all the destruction when you are healed and out of here. Second off, Grizz wants to speak with you. I'm not sure what about, but he said it had to do with your friendship with Patriarch."

The sole human in the room nodded slightly as he listened. If Murphy hadn't cracked the information about Kelham then Aria didn't know the stuffed shirt on the Citadel had played puppeteer with the Suns to get his man to reach Z and the others.

As for what Grizz wanted, it was probably going to be some sarcastic remark about saving his ass and then allowing himself to get injured. After that it would be about whatever it was that he wanted. Ty had indulged in a slight friendship with Patriarch when he had first started on Omega and had continued to speak to the battered Krogan.

Patriarch had some good stories and had given him some helpful advice a few times on how to handle certain situations. The former mercenary couldn't help but be happy that it was Grizz that wanted to speak to him since Anto was even higher on his shit list than he had been already for trying to shoot the mech while his brother was on it. The bastard had probably thought it would be funny or wanted to get under his skin, and it worked quite frankly.

Liselle moved further in and closer to Tali examining the Quarian, "New girlfriend, Ty?"

He chuckled slightly as Tali huffed a little in response to the question. The question did not surprise him since Liselle had known Ka'Reena when he had been with her. Guessing he would have gone for another Quarian was a safe assumption. Had the Asari known who Tali was she would have never asked it about her, but Ty had a feeling she was building up to something. "Just a friend." Tali responded.

Liselle's eyes found themselves curiously eyeing the human up. "Oh, so you are available then?" _So that was what she was planning on asking_. He was beginning to wish that Aria's daughter had never formed a crush on him as he felt the need to activate his cloak and disappear from her lingering eyes.

Doing anything with her other than talking would be a death sentence if he was lucky and something far worse than death if he was unlucky. Ty put his hand up stopping Liselle before she got any remote idea in her head, "Sorry Liselle, but I'm actually taken at the moment."

"Oh, you mean the tattooed one with your brother." Aria's daughter said with a slight nod towards where Ty assumed Jack and his brother were. It was a safe assumption, but still wrong.

Ty smirked as Tali stifled her laugh, _only if Jack had heard that one. It would have been funny to see the look on her face._ "Not her either, but I understand why you would think so. Don't worry about it Lis, you don't need to have anyone threaten her. She's been good to me so far and if it ever changed you know I'd be out of it. Anything else from Aria?" He didn't like trying to rush her out the door, but he also didn't want to allow her to question him more on who he was with or ask anything about being with her.

Liselle put a finger to her chin as she thought about the question and paced a little, "Umm…No, I don't believe so. Anything else she wanted to discuss with you personally." She walked to the side of his bed, "I hope everything heals well Ty. You should stop by sometime so we can catch up on what you've been doing the last few years. I haven't seen you around lately."

"I will eventually. Ask Aria if you want a quick brief, I know she's been keeping tabs on me."

The Asari laughed a little as rested her hand on his shoulder. In all honesty Ty had forgotten to make sure he visited with Liselle the few times he had been on Omega, but then again there wasn't actually any time to talk. With the constant hunt for the Blue Suns and then with what state he was in mentally it was probably better off that he hadn't talked to her. That had probably been his reasoning then.

She was good company and a good friend even if she did want to bed him. Liselle bent over and gave him a kiss on the cheek which was something she was fond of doing anytime she could. Maybe she did it to spite her mother's wishes since Aria had told her not to or maybe she did it to spite his own knowing that Aria had threatened him not to be anything but a friend to her. Or maybe she did it because she was just being friendly.

Ty was never sure but he gave her a very slight kiss on the cheek as he always did allowing her to stand up straight once more, "I hope to see you around Ty."

"I'll be here on Omega for a little while so I'm sure we'll bump into each other, if not you can always call. See you Liselle."

"Bye Ty. Don't get killed out there or Aria will kick your ass." Liselle said as she walked away.

The purple eyed warrior chuckled to himself. He was more worried about Shepard kicking his ass than Aria now, but it was still a valid reminder that the Pirate Queen would find some way to bring him back to life just so she could kill him for dying. "Tell her I'll keep that in mind."

"Who was she?" Tali questioned once Liselle was gone with Braum close behind.

"The daughter of Aria T'Loak." Ty stated with a smirk. The look behind Tali's mask would have been priceless if he could have seen it. He wasn't sure he would actually run into her while he was still here, but he had a strange feeling that told him he was bound to see some more old faces before he left Omega.


	79. Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Ties That Bind Us

Ty stood in the main room of the clinic with Tali on his left supporting his brother's weight while Jack was supporting his other side. His brother was awake and looking a lot better than he had when he had seen him lying in a pool of his own blood, but the green eyed brother still wasn't at one hundred percent yet. He was going to have to take it easy just as Haley was for a while.

Aethyta was waiting for the former mercenary to finish speaking to Braum before heading back to her own ship to go meet up with their father to inform him of everything he had gotten from the mercenary. Wherever this Elias Kelham was on the Citadel, he wasn't going to be able to hide for much longer.

The brothers were out for blood and they intended to get it.

Ty's injuries hadn't healed fully yet, unfortunately, with his back still being tender with jolts of pain if he turned too fast, but there was so much he needed to do before they left to continue their mission. He needed to talk with Aria and then he needed to find Ria who wished to speak with him.

Tali had informed him when he was preparing to leave about the message that she had sent to him. With the knowledge he now held it was time to figure out where the two stood. Was he still going to want to kill her for planting seeds of doubt in his mind or was it all just some misunderstanding that started the moment Kelham had gotten involved?

There was still so much the purple eyed warrior didn't know. For now he had to handle leaving the clinic before worrying about the unknowns. Ty shook Braum's hand, "Thank you Braum for what you did for me and my brother. Hopefully next time I come here it won't be during another gang war." Maybe now the district would finally be able to recover from the hell that had continued to show up on their front door because of him.

Braum smiled and nodded his head, "You are welcome. It was an honor to be able to aid you both…you have changed the lives here in Ortega for the better whether you believe it or not. Now we can finally rebuild without the threat of the Blue Suns." Ty wasn't entirely sure he did believe it fully yet or maybe it just hadn't sunk in with how much destruction and death he had witnessed in the streets. He held hope though just as the Batarian did.

"Just keep this place running and a safe haven for the people. When the Reapers come, people will need a place to look to on Omega for safety and hospitality while the war of all wars rages on. I hope this place will be it." It was a sad reality that was only inching closer and closer to them all each day, but the truth was the Reapers were coming and the fate of this cycle was on the line.

The Batarian doctor nodded in agreement as he looked around at the clinic. Ty had proved to Braum that the Reapers were real but told him to keep it down for the most part and to start preparing for the war to come. They were going to need to stock up on as much supplies as they could and try to find a way to expand the clinic so it was much larger.

Reapers weren't going to be known for a small body count and the clinic needed to be prepared for a rise in patients. The best part about being on Omega was that the clinic wouldn't be held down by regulations of how much supplies they could hold, being the lawless of the galaxy had perks. "I'll do my best to prepare them." He looked to his people once more with a small sad smile on his face, "I will tell the others here when the time is right, but until then I will enjoy seeing the fire in their eyes again." The Batarian said.

Before Ty could say thank you for the final time and leave he caught the sound of a few raised voices coming from the entrance all yelling for people to make room for something. There was a sudden tingle within his mind as all five looked in the direction of the shouting voices. It was then that a bloodied but familiar blue face came into sight. "Ria." Z growled from behind him.

He had yet to tell his brother what he had seen in the memories of the mercenary. That was only due to the fact that he had thought he was going to have time to inform him before leaving to meet his old friend. The younger brother shook his head at his brother, "Leave it Z."

The elder brother looked to want to argue but remained quiet regardless as his younger brother stepped in front of the gurney and stopped it with a force earning him questioning looks from the doctors. Ria looked nearly out of it but she seemed to recognize him through her hazy vision and gave him a nod, probably thinking he was going to kill her. Ria was 5'4 and was a light blue skinned Asari with dark blue eyes, but not like the sapphire gorgeous blue that Shepard had.

That wasn't to say that her eyes weren't pretty, but now that Ty had become mesmerized by Shepard's, Ria's didn't hold as much weight to them. She had on armor shoulder pads that went half way down her biceps and only covered the front of her arms, her gauntlets were like the shoulder bicep pieces but they covered from her elbow down to her hands and had gloves on the ends. Her chest plate was sleeveless and her greaves were similar to the N7 greaves that the N7 wore with the only difference being that all of Ria's armor was a dark purple.

It had been two years since the pair had last seen each other in a heated confrontation that involved weapons, but she hadn't changed much since then. She was still the attractive Asari he had been with when he had first appeared on Omega. The only difference was that now she had blood splattered across her face and armor along with a gaping hole in the chest plate at her stomach. Within the hole was a kitchen knife sticking out of her like she was some sort of pin cushion without the extra pins.

Had he not known the truth of why she had betrayed him now, the clouded revenge side of Ty's brain would have told him to yank the knife out of her stomach and put her out of her misery. At the moment, with the knowledge he held, the purple eyed warrior only felt concern for the old friend he would have once laid his life on the line for. Ria coughed a few times then choked out "Ty…are yo-" She started coughing again.

She had always been tough on the battlefield while remaining gentle off of it so it was no surprise that she had yet to elicit a scream of pain from the knife being embedded in her gut. It was a possibility that the doctors had given her some anesthetic to ease the pain, but even then Ty didn't doubt the only scream she had allowed was one of rage the moment she was stabbed. "Save your breath for later." He responded his tone gentle but steeled to broker no argument. "No I'm not standing here to kill you. I'm standing here to figure out what happened and kill whoever caused it."

There were still a lot of harsh feelings he felt inside of himself for her because of what he had thought had happened. His thoughts wandered to many of the times he had contemplated killing her after the Blue Suns were finished, but memories of the good times they had shared mixed with knowing she had likely done what she had done to protect her child managed to block out most of those harsh feelings.

Ria opened her omni-tool and clicked a few buttons then went into another coughing fit. Ty's omni-tool flared on and he stepped to the side, "Get her healed up the best you can. I'll be back soon."

Whoever had stabbed Ria was about to have a very bad day.

For a moment he watched the gurney and doctors roll away in a rush as he hoped for once that Ria didn't die from such a blow. There was still unfinished business and words unspoken between the two that needed to be settled. _But for now_, Ty thought as he turned back around to Braum and the others, _for now I'm going to find who hurt her and follow whatever lead I get from there_. "Braum thank you for what you've done, but I have to leave. There are people out there who need my boot up their ass."

Aethyta chuckled to herself joyfully as she gave Z a pat on the back and a goodbye, the Matriarch looked to Ty next, "Stay safe out there kid. Your father or I will contact you when we find the bastard who did this…If we don't kill him first that is."

Ty smirked and nodded as Aethyta made her leave, "I will be here when you return. Until then I will attend to my patients." Braum said with a slight nod before he walked away into the bustling crowd. Judging on the direction he was walking, the warrior had to guess he was heading to Ria to see what he could do to help.

With a mental wish of good luck to the doctor and the Asari Ty walked up to Tali, Jack and Z, "I have some business to attend to. You two get him back on the Normandy and let me know how Haley is."

The pair nodded in agreement but Z stopped them from leaving by planting his feet on the ground, "Ty she betrayed you and you're hunting down whoever stabbed her?" He questioned with some agitation.

With a sigh Ty began his explanation, "Z when I ripped the information from that mercenary's mind I found memories of him threatening Ria that he was going to kidnap her daughter and then, after doing it, forcing her to work with them for the safety of her child. If that was her reason for doing it, can we really blame her? If someone kidnapped your child and you weren't the fighter that you are now, would you risk your child's life knowing that the people that you were damning could handle themselves better than anyone you knew?"

A look of contemplation crossed his brother's face and Ty noticed one cross Jack's as well as he waited for his brother's response. "Fine." He conceded reluctantly.

"I'd think you would be happier." The younger brother said with a smirk. "I mean I am leaving you with two beautiful women who are going to bring you to a ship full of more beautiful women. It'll be like a field trip. I'll see you three in a while." He dismissed himself before Jack could punch him for making her blush ever so slightly at hearing him call her beautiful. It would have hurt judging on the look she gave him.

As Ty left the clinic he pulled his hood up and activated the recording Ria sent him playing it in his ear piece as he walked towards the exit of the district. "Ty." The recording greeted him followed by a cough. _She must have recorded this on the way to the clinic_. "I have a lot to explain to you about two years ago, but right now I need your help."

The coughing began again, each cough sounded more painful than the last making him cringe slightly hearing the labored breathing afterwards. "Ten years ago I had a child and swore that I would do everything in my power to protect her from the evils of the universe. I succeeded until two years ago when she was kidnapped and used as leverage against me to betray you…I was promised she would be returned unharmed, but she was never returned and I have been hunting her kidnappers ever since."

It sounded like she had put faith in the fighting capabilities of Ty and his family so she could get her daughter back unharmed and then probably take the fight back to the bastards who had done it. "I tracked them here to Omega to an apartment they were using as a hideout inside the dead zone…but when I confronted them I succeeded only in freeing my daughter and getting her to run away before I was overtaken by the kidnappers and defeated."

Defeated was a nice way of putting her own condition but she was a strong and stubborn fighter who wouldn't be put down as easily as the people who hurt her thought. Ty stopped before the exit and waited for the recording to continue, he did not want to leave the district if he needed to come back, "I planted a tracking device on both the kidnappers and my daughter and sent their trackers to you so you could hunt them down…If you still wish me dead then please just save my daughter and deal with me later. She was innocent to the way of life we live. Don't let her suffer more years of being held by these men."

_Oh I don't plan too._ Kidnapping a child was something that flared the demon within to life. The warrior opened up his omni-tool and checked it for the tracker, "…If the worst happens, the man behind this and the attack on your friends is a man named Elias Kelham, but that is all I know. I appreciate your help."

_Elias Kelham, your time is ticking faster and faster to zero. You kidnapped a child to turn my friend against me and then you nearly killed my brother and friends. I hope you are living each day like your last, because your days in this galaxy will soon be up._

Before Ty could continue imagining himself killing Kelham a thought crossed his mind about Ria's daughter. _Ten years ago she had a daughter? That had to be around the time I met her, but who was she with then_? If there was ever a time a realization hit him like a Krogan head-but, this was the time. The hooded ex-mercenary braced himself against the wall next to him as his head began to spin. _I was with her and then we stopped abruptly…oh shit. Did she do more than join her conscious to mine that last time?_

It was nearly unbelievable. Ty took a deep breath as he continued to brace himself against the wall. What was worse than the fact that she may have hid this from him was that if it was his daughter, he had allowed her to be tortured for two years because he was clouded by revenge and anger.

_Fuck._

* * *

Saying that Morinth was dangerous was beyond an understatement. Calling Morinth dangerous was like saying humans had skin covering their body, it was the truth but there was so much more to humans and aliens than the skin, bones, tissues, muscles and organs that made them up. Morinth was like a tornado back on Earth, you knew she was dangerous but it wasn't until it hit land that you realized how much devastation she could bring. Shepard had felt bad vibes from many bad people she had come across in her time, but this Asari's evil aura was nearly as strong as Saren's and Sovereigns.

She was pure unadulterated evil.

If it hadn't been for the fact that the N7 had willingly chose to help Samara and found out as much as she did now about Morinth, she would have suspected the Ardat-Yakshi was up to something but knew she would've dismissed it as the Asari coming onto her. She wouldn't have even known that the Asari was an Ardat-Yakshi or what it was had it not been for meeting the Justicar.

As Morinth brought her closer to the apartment she spoke to Shepard about topics the Commander didn't really care for, but entertained for the sake of the mission. During this she thought about Ty and his brother. Last she heard Z was going to pull through while Ty was already awake and itching to get out. She wished the former mercenary was able to at least cover her from afar with his sniper so she didn't feel so vulnerable. Unfortunately she knew if there was even the slightest hint of trouble the Asari would slip through their fingers.

It didn't help her feel any less vulnerable though. She only had her biotic's to rely on until the Justicar showed up and those were taxed from the fight in Ortega. If Morinth was as strong as Samara said she was than Shepard was going to have trouble keeping up against the Ardat-Yakshi. She had given her great advice to resist any type of control her daughter could employ, _"Keep your feelings for Ty at the forefront of your mind, Shepard. They will protect you should Morinth attempt to make her move."_

She couldn't let Samara down. She couldn't let Ty down.

Getting Morinth to come out of hiding didn't take too much. After getting the bartender to give a free round to everyone, beating up some drunken asshole and dancing with an Asari she appeared calling her "_the most interesting person_" in the club. After that she had to act as if she enjoyed killing and enjoyed the power that came from ending others' lives. The conversation left a sour taste in her mouth but the Asari was more than eager to get her back to her apartment.

Hopefully Samara was close behind.

Shepard didn't doubt the Justicar's promise at all, but being alone with Morinth made her skin crawl and made her worried that at any moment she'd take her life. They got inside the apartment and climbed the stairs with the Asari starting to drag her hand a little with a gleeful look in her eye. Though she knew she was doing this so she could bond with her and kill her, part of the Commander wondered if she had ever felt anything for anyone ever.

Did she ever fall in love or was it always about getting power? Did she ever have any feelings for others? Even a little bit? Not everyone could feel for others, Shepard knew that because of the amount of evil and disgusting people there were in the galaxy, but in a way Morinth was a tragic figure. Born with a disease and given the option of a slightly comfortable solitude or death.

It couldn't have been easy knowing it. Unfortunately she had made her choice to run and be the addict she had become to the power she gained. In the N7's heart she felt sympathy for the Morinth who found out that she was going to either live in solitude or die, but her mind told her that this Morinth was not the same person. She was corrupted and would kill her given the chance and Samara's goal was to kill her which made it Shepard's goal to help her.

Truly she felt more sympathy for the mother of the pair. Her children born with a disease and choosing the path of the Justicar. Leaving everything behind including her children to hunt down and root out injustices in a galaxy filled with them. Samara did not want sympathy, but Shepard was a sympathetic person and knew that what she was about to go through was going to shake her strong will to its very foundation. It would break most people's will, but the sapphire eyed woman knew the Asari was strong enough to not let it completely destroy her.

They reached Morinth's room and Shepard felt her body tense up slightly knowing this was the moment of truth. This would be a test of her own will and to see if she could keep her target distracted long enough for Samara to reach them. "Make yourself at home. Have a Hallex if you like, but I'm sure you want your mind clear for this." The Asari said as she walked towards the couch.

The N7 took in her surroundings and decided that looking around the apartment would be a good idea to buy her comrade some time to reach her. There was a Krogan statue, a Revenant and a rack of swords hung up on different walls, and a chess table_. Okay. I'll start at the statue and work my way towards her, maybe she'll indulge in a story about one of them_.

As she approached each item, Morinth would tell her about each one though Shepard was only half listening since her skin continued to crawl at the sound of her voice. The Revenant grabbed her attention and she was able to scan it with her omni-tool to use as research towards more advanced assault rifles.

She sent the schematics to Mordin then continued on her way until she found herself sitting on the couch talking to the Ardat-Yakshi. This really was a true test at her ability to placate someone into thinking she was on their side when she really was on the opposite spectrum. It was a lot like talking to a politician, except Morinth was an Ardat-Yakshi that would leave her literally dead instead of dying of boredom. "Is safety what you want?" She asked as she looked at the Commander.

"People feel safest right before they die." Shepard responded coolly.

This was a terrible idea.

She was trapped in this room with someone who could fry her brain out and kill her all by herself with nothing but her causal clothes on and no back up weapon. If she had to fight, her biotic's would only be able to hold her over for so long before she would push herself to the point Haley was at. _Keep your thoughts on Ty. Don't lose sight of why you're here or who you care about._

Morinth got up and sat down next to Shepard and leaned on the back of the couch bringing her chest closer to Shepard's face as she rubbed the tips of her fingers against the human's neck and shoulders. The N7 inwardly cringed as a reminder of what this Asari was doing but gave her a slight smile on the outside. _Stay focused, don't fall under her sway. Think of your crew, think of Samara's mission, think about your own mission…Think of Ty's smile and his touch. _

Her stone resolve was formed once again but her thoughts had drifted for so long she didn't catch what Morinth said except her saying they were alike, "We've both killed. That's where our similarities end." She stated coldly.

"Why do you say I've killed? What do you know?" Morinth asked.

She moved herself to straddle the Commander and ran her hands down to her chest letting them linger on her breasts before continuing down in-between her legs. Suddenly her eyes turned black and everything in Shepard's mind started to jumble. Her mind felt like it was buzzing as she heard the Asari begin to speak, "Tell me that you want me. That you would do anything for me. That you would kill for me." Shepard could feel it like a voice in the back of her head telling her that she wanted this Asari.

Maybe she did.

She was slightly attractive and her hand was only teasing her slightly by rubbing against the inside of her thighs. Shepard guided her hand to Morinth's unconsciously hoping to guide it closer to show that she did want her. Everything around her seemed to still as a force from within her own mind began to push back everything she was feeling. A voice came flooding through with it reminding her of what was important, _"I want to be happy and eventually get to retire from all this killing young so I can experience all the universes wonders in peace…and I want that with you."_

Shepard grabbed Morinth's hand firmly as her tone became deadly, "Get. Off. Of. Me." She did not want this Asari. She was evil and the sapphire eyed woman had someone she actually cared deeply for waiting for her either in the clinic or back on the Normandy already. This bitch was not going to ruin all the feelings that had formed between her and him.

A new feeling formed within Shepard as Morinth figured out what her plan was.

Guilt.

Guilt for allowing the Ardat-Yakshi to almost control her mind and screw up her mission with Samara. She almost allowed herself to be blinded by the lust that the Asari was making her feel and allow her to put her hands on her in ways she was not allowed to. Samara made her presence known walking in with her biotic's flaring as if she knew what had just happened and exactly how the Commander felt. Instinctively the Commander pushed Morinth off of her right into a biotic blast from the Justicar.

Samara pinned her daughter against the glass window with her biotic's, "I can't stop being your daughter…mother!" She spat the title.

"You made your choice!" The mother responded with anger.

Morinth created a repulse of biotic's warping the field that held her, "What choice?! I was born with the gifts you gave me!" The Ardat-Yakshi picked her mother up with biotic's and attempted to toss a piece of furniture at her, but Samara was able to block it. The Justicar fell to the floor as Shepard tried to figure out whether to stand and fight with her or allow her to do it on her own.

They both charged and slammed their hands at each other with biotic's causing the N7 to put her hand up as an explosive singularity enveloped around them. The force coming from it was huge making her feel as if she was about to lift off into it. Morinth glanced to Shepard, "Let me join you. I'm as strong as she is."

"I am already sworn to you Shepard. Let us finish it." Samara stated.

That was the plan. When she grabbed Morinth's hand hard and twisted it, causing her to become defenseless, she felt a slight tingle of payback mixed with joy knowing that not only was Morinth finished, but she had not fully betrayed her friends. "End of the line, Morinth."

"And they call me a monster." Morinth stated with a glare at Shepard.

The first human Spectre felt herself glare right back, "You are far worse than that." She hissed in anger.

Samara blasted her daughter away and walked up to her as she tried crawling away. The mother got on top of her and charged biotic's in her hand, "Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess." Shepard turned her head away not wishing to see the outcome, but she heard the Justicar slam the biotic's into her daughter.

She looked broken as she stood up from her daughter's body.

It seemed this mission took its toll on her through the pain it caused as much as the mission filled Shepard with guilt. She needed to talk to Ty now more than ever, but first she would assure that the Justicar would be fine and drop her off back on the Normandy.

Sleep tonight was going to be hard to find amongst the whole crew.

* * *

Ty sat perfectly still as he watched the mercenaries talk amongst themselves. The hunt for the mercenaries that had hurt Ria had not taken long, but he felt like someone was moving in just as he was. Maybe it was a slight paranoia knowing that Kelham was trying to get this girl, but whoever else had been moving was not one of his guys. He had seen a silhouette of what looked to be a Turian or a Quarian based on the amount of toes and fingers. As soon as he had seen it though the silhouette disappeared.

_I have to move fast._

There was only one problem. They were near Ria's daughter and it was likely they would find her as soon as he made his move. He didn't know for sure if they were just recapturing her or if they planned to put a round in her skull, but he did know that whatever their plan was, he was going to stop it.

It was time to reacquaint these bastards with the_ real _Ghost of Omega.

The only remaining question that he faced was a simple but complex one. _Wait to kill them or kill them right away?_ He had to balance personal pleasure at ending these scumbags for hurting the girl with making sure the girl didn't fear him when he rescued her. There were only four of them and one was off away from the others…_easily killable and it would be completely silent? Sounds like entertainment to me. _

The Ghost of Omega was hidden by his cloak as he moved towards the lone mercenary with a tomahawk gripped tight in his right hand. He got next to the corner that the mercenary was on the other side of, "Psst. Hey, over here." He whispered.

"Huh?" The mercenary responded as he gripped his rifle tightly.

The mercenary took two steps forward which brought him into view, _time to die_. As the poor mercenary looked around, the warrior lodged his tomahawk into his throat and pulled him around the corner dragging him down to the ground and lodging his tomahawk into his skull to make sure he was dead.

_And then there were three,_ Ty mused with a sadistic smirk.

Ria's daughter was closer to the three though and that meant that at any second the kidnappers could find her. He had to make quick work of them to save her. He had considered over a hundred times this Asari actually being his own daughter, but it didn't bring him great joy. It just made the demon inside him rage even more with the only wish to punish the men who had tortured her. The kid was ten years old and had been kidnapped for two years in some type of torment.

This was not adding up to a great start at fatherhood, if it was in fact a start.

Ty moved quickly to the first who was facing him. The Ghost of Omega was going to haunt them all like a whisper of death echoing through the night. The mercenary didn't know he was there until his throat was slit. The Ghost moved quickly to the second and covered his mouth as he slammed the point of his tomahawk into his back several times until he snapped his neck as well, tossing him to the side once his neck was broken.

_And then there was one. _

"Ha I found you! Now get out of there kid! You're coming with us!" The last bending over mercenary ordered. Ty heard a scream but as the scream was let out he pulled the mercenary away from the hole in the wall and out of sight of the child. He pinned the mercenary against the wall with his tomahawk against his throat as he uncloaked.

The look of terror swarmed his face as the Ghost was revealed and his angry face was shown. The nerve of these men to kidnap a child and think they were so powerful struck many wrong notes within Ty serving to give his demon a larger pulse. "No! Please don't kill me! I have a family!" The man yelled.

"So does that child you piece of shit." He growled through gritted teeth.

They were all so cowardly against a real threat that they couldn't intimidate into submission. Ty knew he wasn't above intimidation through fear, but he could back it up and he didn't go after innocents in such a way. Only people like the one he was holding at the edge of his tomahawk were on the receiving end of the fear he instilled. "I don't want her, my boss does. I was just hired to find her." The cowardly mercenary pleaded his case.

It was such a terrible plead that the purple eyed warrior couldn't help the animalistic grin that made its way to his face. "Elias Kelham, right?" The man's face showed just how much shock and fear he was causing. "That look says it all shit for brains. Not only did I kill all his men today, but I'm stopping him from kidnapping the kid who he used as leverage against my friend." He pressed the blade a little harder into his throat as he chuckled darkly, "Today just keeps getting better and better."

The mercenary tried to move but Ty kneed him in the quad then pressed the blade of his tomahawk harder into his throat, causing blood to start coming down his neck slightly, "Where is he exactly or you're dead like your buddies?"

"He used to be small time on the Citadel but has grown in power. He has C-Sec in his pocket, deals in racketeering and other dirty business. That's all I know about him man, we never met with him face to face."

_Smart I'll give him that. Maybe some time in a Batarian prison would do him good to show just how much I really care about what he has done so far_, Ty thought. _What to do with the loose end? Killing him would be easy and solve a lot of problems, but I could send him back to this Kelham with a message. The guy is ruthless enough that he'll probably kill this guy for failure so win-win that way_. "Okay listen closely. When you wake up you're going to deliver a message straight to Kelham in person. You're going to tell him that for trying to kidnap a child, the Ghost of Omega is coming for him and he will suffer at my hands mentally and physically. Got it?"

"Uh, sure." The man answered, but Ty could see he wasn't committed.

He hated it when people didn't take his threats seriously let alone choosing not to commit to giving a message he wanted sent through. Ty kneed the man in the quad again but kept him up straight as he whimpered in pain, "I can see your heart isn't in this one bit. Maybe I should just kill you and send the message through your omni-tool. Sound good to you?" He asked without a hint of joking in his tone or eyes.

"Wait! I'll take your message." The mercenary corrected himself.

Ty found himself smirking as he saw the amount of commitment in his eyes, "Good because if I find out from him he never was given a message, I'll be coming for you next."

"He'll get the message!" The man said in a panicked voice.

With another dark chuckle Ty let his tomahawk off of the man's throat, "There was never a doubt in my mind." The former mercenary slammed his head into the mercenary's, knocking him unconscious._ Wait maybe he won't remember to do it now…crap…ah well; I guess I'll just have to wait until I meet Kelham face to face to find out._

The purple eyed warrior looked back over to the hole in the wall and made his way over to it, kneeling down in front of it once he reached it. Within the hole he saw a little blue child with her arms wrapped around her legs, "Hey there kiddo. I'm here to get you back to your mother." He reached his hand out, "Give me your hand. No one is going to hurt you ever again, I promise." Ty soothed.

The child looked completely and utterly scared, not that he could blame her. The last two years had probably been terrible, but he had to get her back to Ria and find out if she was his daughter as well. "Ho- How do I know yo- you aren't lying?" The child asked.

She was smart to not just trust some new stranger right away, definitely with what she had went through, "I'll show you. You don't have to come out, but touch your finger to my hand."

The Asari child reached forward and touched a solitary finger to his hand. As she did he enveloped her in his consciousness. Instead of the Zen Garden, he began showing her the memory of him and his mother talking at the clinic and some mental images of them together from years ago. He broke the connection and saw a bit of awe on the child's face from his ability. "Your mom and I were together for a time and were friends for years after that. I promise I won't let anything happen to you as long as you are in my care. I'll get you back to her."

Ty reached his hand out again but this time the child put her hands in his and allowed him to help her out of the hole in the wall, "Here, let me carry you. We'll move quicker that way and you'll be with your mom in no time." He said as he knelt down next to her. Before the Asari could get on his back, the warrior heard the sound of someone un-cloaking near them. In a blur of motion he whipped his pistol out and aimed in the direction of the sound only to drop his aim slightly in shock. "What th- Nyreen is that you?" He asked as he looked the female Turian in the eyes.

There was a slight humorous chuckle as Ty holstered his pistol, "Ty. It's been a long time." Nyreen said casually as she approached him. Ria's daughter looked to him in a slight worry, but the smile on his face reassured her as he stood up fully. It had been indeed a long time since he had seen Nyreen last, but she hadn't changed one bit since then. Her green eyes were still piercing from under her hood while her red facial marking was still prominent, though he didn't expect either of those to ever change.

She still walked with the confidence of someone you didn't want to mess with which Ty attributed to her not only being an ass kicker, but her military experience as well. She and Darian had both served in Cabal units and were the only two Turian biotic's he knew personally. "So you stalking me or something?"

Nyreen shook her head in slight disbelief before she embraced him in a hug which he reciprocated. You can tell a lot about someone's feelings by the hug they give sometimes and in this case the former mercenary knew she had worried about his health. The pair had shared more than one romantic evening with each other and she had proven to be a very passionate love maker, as well as flexible which had surprised hi, at the time.

They had never really "dated" per say, but the pair had grown very fond of each other and the friendship they held. Soon though they drifted apart and hadn't met up with one another until now.

It had been years since they had last seen and spoken to one another and Ty found that she still had the height advantage on him, though it wasn't an extremely large advantage. As the pair separated Nyreen gave him a small peck on the cheek before socking him in the face with a hard punch that he had not seen coming. "Damn it Ty!" The Turian shouted in anger. "You and your brother nearly got killed today and you think going out on your own is a good idea? Spirits you can be so bullheaded sometimes."

Ty rubbed his cheek where he had taken the punch as he turned back to the woman with a slight smirk, "You're stronger than I remember you being." He joked. She reeled back for another punch but he quickly waved it off, "That doesn't mean punch me again. I'd rather our reunion wasn't you punching me in the face to make your point about me going off on my own to save my friends daughter." She lowered her hand as she looked at the little Asari that came up to their ribs in height. "So you were stalking me because you heard about what happened today and were making sure no one came after me?"

Nyreen nodded slightly then let out a deep breath, "I heard about the fight going on in Ortega after it had happened so I came as quick as I could. I saw your friends bringing your brother and you into the clinic and the carnage that the Suns had created. I didn't want to leave you unguarded so I watched the clinic until I saw you walk out on your own heading for the dead zone." She shook her head slightly, "I didn't know a child was in danger otherwise I would have come here first to help. I knew there was going to be trouble though so I followed you until you got here. I had planned to come down and help, but when one of their guys mysteriously disappeared behind a corner I figured you had it handled."

A chuckle escaped Ty as he rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah you could say that. Want to walk with us back to the clinic so we can catch up and I can get her out of danger?"

To his surprise Nyreen shook her head, "No, go on ahead. I'll meet you at your ship before you leave and we can talk for a little while before you go."

"Trouble?" He asked as he quirked an eyebrow in question.

The female Turian chuckled as she turned around, "You know me Ty." She activated her cloak and disappeared into an alley. A smirk made its way to his face, _good luck Nyreen._

Ty knelt down next to Ria's daughter and motioned for her to proceed where they had left off last time. She wrapped her hands around his neck and wrapped her legs around his sides allowing him to stand back up and begin walking the same way Nyreen had left since it led to a less bloody trail back to the clinic. "Who are you?" The child asked.

Such a simple question that had many simple and complex answers to it depending on what you chose. The child was obviously looking for the more obvious answer, "Tyler Rhoddy, but everyone I know has always called me Ty. What about you? What's your name?"

"My mom calls me Alia." Alia answered.

"That's a very pretty name."

There was a mumbled thank you which caused him to contain his laugh since she was about as bashful as her mother was when it came to compliments. As he walked his omni-tool lit up informing him of an imminent call, "This is Ty." He answered after he hit the button.

"Ty where are you? I thought you would've come back to the Normandy after everything that happened today?" Shepard asked.

It was kind of funny hearing it from her after hearing a similar argument from Nyreen. "I had a few things to take care of here on Omega. I'm bringing a friends child back to them after she was almost kidnapped. After that I have to talk to Aria so I'll be done here soon."

There was silence from his sapphire eyed love interest for a few moments causing a slight worry to begin to thread itself within Ty. "Alright I'll meet you somewhere then. Where are you headed with the kid?" She asked.

Her voice was abnormally stressed. She had stress in her tone sometimes when it came to fights and such, but this stress was different. Something happened and the former mercenary didn't know what it was, but it was giving him a bad feeling. "The clinic you brought me to. You don't need to come Shepard, I'll be fine. Besides, don't you need to get some resources for the Normandy?"

"Garrus and Jacob took care of that while we were busy…I really need to talk to you." The N7 said with a slightly pained tone.

Something definitely happened.

She sounded really off her game like there had been a Thresher Maw on the Normandy. It didn't sit well with him, but for now he couldn't do anything. "Okay I'll see you there then."

"I'll be there…be safe okay?"

Okay there was definitely something going on and if someone had caused this he was going to find whoever they were and break a few bones unless it was someone on the Normandy. "I will, but you should as well. You sound off Shepard so stay on your toes." Ty said.

"I will." Shepard responded then shut off the link.

_Troubling._ _What the hell has her so off her game?_ She had been fine when he had seen her at the clinic and she had also threatened to slam him around with her biotic's until the end of time or something of that sort depending on if Jack was being truthful. What had changed? "Who was that?" Alia's voice brought Ty from his thoughts.

"My Commander and a great friend. After I drop you off and talk to your mom I'll be going back with her to continue an…adventure we are on." He couldn't tell this ten year old child that there was a war coming. She had just been saved from her captors and he couldn't bring himself to ruin her sudden freedom with knowledge of a terrible war on the horizon.

"What kind of adventure?" The small Asari asked innocently but still searching for why he had paused momentarily.

The former mercenary was glad for his ability to pop an explanation out of thin air while telling a partial truth, "One that has taken us across the galaxy and allowed me to meet many new people and friends."

"Is adventuring fun?"

He nodded slightly as he turned the corner leading out of the dead zone back into civilization of Ortega, "Adventuring can be tons of fun with friends, but it is also very dangerous. There are tons of dangers I have run into in the last few months and hundreds more in the last ten years. Adventuring is not something to take at the face value of the wondrous time you can have exploring, but you can't just run away from it out of fear that there is danger."

"I think my mom is an adventurer, or was at one time before…" Alia trailed off then stayed silent.

_Before she was taken out by the knees because of some bastard trying to come after me and my family_, Ty thought. He wondered if Ria or he himself would ever tell Alia the truth that she was kidnapped to get after his family or if the Kelham bastard had told her himself. The kid didn't seem to hold any hostility towards him and she knew his name so she was either very forgiving or she didn't know or didn't care. "She was an adventurer of a sort. Your mother and I went on a few of our own years ago." Ty said getting her off the topic of her abduction.

"Can you tell me a story about one?"

_Story? Oh crap umm…screw it I can do this just gotta keep it child friendly…I'm so screwed._ "Sure. It would pass the time now wouldn't it? What type of adventure would you like to hear?"

"Did you have one with action and romance? I'm a fan of romance novels that have action in them." The Asari said getting a little excited.

_Err…Yup definitely screwed. There has to be something in my memory…Wait I know…crap that one had a lot of uncensored details that not even I could censor…There was- no that one was more sex based than anything…Wait I remember one._ "I do. Your mother and I were once on a green lush planet exploring when…"

Ty told the story as he remembered it but made sure he censored it the entire time which was really hard. Alia was captivated by the tale though and held such an interest in it that he couldn't help but do what all great story tellers did.

Exaggerate the crap out of everything.

The walk seemed to go quicker and sure enough they soon reached the clinic, "The way the sun set that night made your mother look exceptionally beautiful. At the shuttle we talked of how lucky we were that a ship of friendly adventurers had shown up and saved our lives and how lucky we were to have each other." He said as he reached the door of the clinic.

It was_ sooo_ sappy and _sooo_ exaggerated that he had to keep himself from laughing at his own tale. They had spoken about how lucky they were to have each other, but that was a few chapters later in the story and shortly after they stopped being together. _At least mine is somewhat romantic compared to the real tale_, he mused. "Did you two kiss?" Alia asked.

"We did. Passionately." Ty said remembering it clearly. From her smell to her taste, he could recall each detail with perfect clarity. It was one of the benefits of his ability, but one he hadn't used in a long time with his rage clouded mind.

Maybe with Shepard he would begin to use it more.

"And you two lived happily ever after?" The child questioned.

_Happily ever after?_ The way the story really ended was the beginning of the tale of her rescue, but he didn't tell her that. "At the end of this adventure, yes. We did for some time." He answered as he walked inside of the clinic. His purple eyes searched the clinic for a nurse when one waved him over and pointed to a room. The purple eyed warrior nodded in thanks and worked his way through the crowd of people who all seemed to nod at him in gratitude and respect as he passed them.

The story he had told left out many important details that he figured would be harmful for Alia to know. He also made sure he did not speak of her mother or himself and crew as mercenaries, not wanting to implant a bad image of her mother on her. Mercenary seemed like such a dirty word that meant you were some type of lowly scumbag in his eyes even though Ria, his crew and himself weren't like that. Granted they weren't your typical "good guys" being on the opposite side of the law, but they definitely weren't like all the mercenaries that had been killed today.

Children were innocent even though she had been through a hell the last two years, but some things needed to remain the same. If that meant skewing his tale and not telling the truth about her mother and him being mercenaries then he was fine with it.

As they approached the room the little Asari spoke up again, "What happened after the adventure between you and my mom?"

Ty saw Ria lying on the bed with a nurse next to her looking more or less better than she had, but still not fully recovered, "I'm impressed you want to hear more. I did not think my story telling would keep you so interested, but that my little companion is a tale for another day. Your mother awaits you." He informed as he knelt down closer to the ground so she could get down.

Alia got down and ran over to her mother's bed side opposite of the nurse allowing the warrior to let out a happy sigh at the small reunion. His life had brought him through many peaks and valleys, but despite all the bad things that had happened he was happy that he was still capable of helping people and saving lives. _"The Ghost of Omega isn't just a haunting ghost that leaves bloodshed in its wake, but a guardian as well to those in need."_ Braum had told him.

He smirked slightly to himself at the recent memory, _I'm not the hero you all crack me up to be Braum, but it is something to work towards I suppose. All I've done is chase revenge these last few years, but now that I've awaken once more I see that despite all the death and pain that I've surrounded myself with, I'm still able to spread good will to those I help. When I walk through here, I don't see the hate or the fear that I'm so accustomed to in any of their eyes. I see hope and trust and the dreams that I may have allowed them to follow. _

Ria felt her daughters hand embrace hers and squeezed it tight. "Mom, are you going to be okay?"

"I am now, little one. I am now." She whispered to her daughter.

A joyful smile formed on Ty's lips as he watched them, _I can see my own dreams as well now clear as day. Dreams that I haven't dared dream since I fell into hell and crawled my way out…Dreams that I wish to share with her. _Sapphire eyes flashed through his mind before he let his mind leave his thoughts and focus on the wounded Asari staring at him. Ria had a bandage over one of her eyes, but she was able to make eye contact with him, "Thank you." She thanked.

"It was a pleasure." He smiled. "I'll give you two some alone time. If I'm not back by the time you're up and going, meet me at these coordinates." Ty sent the Normandy's docking bay to her.

"I'll call." Ria replied.

The wounded Asari seemed to understand that he was no longer a threat to her wellbeing so he nodded as he began to turn to make his leave. "Get better. Alia take good care of your mom, alright?"

The little Asari nodded, "Will I ever see you again?"

Knowing how his luck was going so far, running into not only Aria's daughter but Nyreen of all people as well, he had to figure it was highly likely they would meet once more. "You bet and maybe I'll share another adventure tale." Alia smiled in agreement, "I will see you both later." Ty turned to the Asari nurse, "Miss, can you tell me where Doctor Braum is?"

"Last I saw he was speaking to Commander Shepard in the main hall near our mural of you." The Asari nurse said.

Ty nodded and left the room, hopefully they were still there otherwise he'd have to ask around until he found them. He began working his way towards the mural through the crowd getting stopped a few times to say hello to some of the staff who he hadn't caught up with when he left originally.

If Darian or the others had ever seen this place, they would never let their leader live this down. A chuckled escaped the Ghost of Omega_; hell they probably would play it up as if I was some type of half god half man for the awards or the fights it would bring in depending on which one of my old squad caught wind of it_. The thought of them all jumping on his case about the place brought a small smile to his face as he reached the mural where Braum was still talking to Shepard.

The Commander was dressed in her causals but had her predator pistol on her person. She looked happy and peaceful compared to how she sounded the last time they spoke. The pair were both smiling as they conversed until they saw Ty walking towards them, "Hey." Shepard greeted with a smile.

He smiled back, "Hey back." He looked to Braum, "Braum." He greeted with a nod.

The Batarian Doctor smiled and nodded back, "Ty, I was speaking to your Commander about helping you in your efforts against the Collectors." That was an interesting conversation to be had to say the least. Ty had warned Braum about the Reapers and what mission he was on at the moment, but he hadn't even thought about the possibility that the doctor would be able to help. "I believe I could assist in restocking your medical supplies and get your squad some quality armor."

_Quality armor?_ He looked down at his own clothes; _yeah I'd say I need some quality armor_. "Any chance you would happen to know someone who makes armor like my brothers but looks like my clothing?"

The Batarian doctor smiled which intrigued Ty immediately, "You would be surprised."

"No shit." This Batarian was just full of surprises.

"Just send me what armor types you need and I will be able to get them." The doctor looked to the purple eyed former mercenary with amusement in his four eyes. Ty was in for a surprise. "I actually took the initiative of ordering yours when you arrived here unconscious. A farewell gift for your mission until you return once more."

Braum motioned to the crate on the ground in front of the blown out candles. The warrior could feel his excitement bubbling at the surface. It wasn't every day you received kick ass armor and knowing this Batarian as he did, he knew there was going to be more to it than just the armor. "Take it to one of the back rooms and try it out." Ty nodded and picked up the average sized suitcase looking crate before heading to one of the back rooms to see how this early Christmas present was going to fit.

He set the crate down on the ground and opened it up wishing a golden gleam would have accompanied such a great gift. Inside was a white hoodie, which you could tell was padded with thick armor underneath the cloth by the lines that formed across the tank top. The lines that were formed appeared as if his actual muscles were carved into the shirt just like Spartan armor from old Greece, but it was front and back this time. Even the hood was padded, but at the center of the tip of the hood a purple line started and went down the back of it until it met the point where the hood attached to the rest of the tank top.

_Damn that is cool_; Ty thought as he took his weapons and his own brunt tank top off so he could put the new one on.

The weight change from clothing to armor was apparent but it felt familiar like the old armor Gallick had made for him. He put the hood up instinctively then pulled out the clamdiggers that were also padded with armor. These were black with a single purple stripe down both the sides where the pockets were, _same color as my eyes…at least they didn't write Ghost of Omega on the shirt or shorts. That would have been awkward._

After changing into them as well the hooded warrior noticed that there were forearm and bicep pieces lying inside the crate as well_. Now why do I have a feeling it's meant for more than just more armor_. The gauntlets were jet black and went from a few inches below his elbow to his wrist while being armored all the way around. He tapped the gauntlets and found that they were made of a hard substance of some sort and by the feel they seemed that they would be able to deflect real blades or even break them with a hard enough swing.

The top and bottom half were magnetically held together as he soon found out when he tried pulling one apart so he could get it on. The weight of these were definitely going to be something he was going to need to get used to since he had never wore any type of gauntlets in all his time fighting mercenaries. It was a new weight, but despite their hardness they were surprisingly lighter than they looked. _Feels like my tomahawks, just not as sharp._

He got both gauntlets on then looked at the bicep guards. They seemed to be made of the same material though they were to be strapped on around the inside of his biceps since they only covered the outside. Even the bicep guards were light weight which meant that Braum had kept in mind that Ty was a very mobile person who didn't like to be weighed down by his armor. Swinging his tomahawks and jumping over obstacles with full mobility wasn't going at be an issue at all.

The pieces themselves started at his shoulders gripping tight against his arm and ended a few inches above his elbow, guarding the entire outside of his arm exception of his elbow and above his shoulder. Ty stuck his clothing into the crate and put all of his gear back on, grabbing his black and blue Viper sniper and putting it back on his waist. He grabbed his original tomahawks next spinning them in his hands before putting them on his back with the hilts up. Then he put his heavy predator pistols on both of his sides. Finally, the now fully armed mercenary put his special tomahawks back in his leg holsters with the hilts up as well.

Satisfied with the new armor and the look of it Ty grabbed the crate with his clothing in it and walked back out to find and thank Braum for the armor. The gauntlets and bicep guards were going to take some getting used to, but he didn't doubt there was going to something else that Braum had up his sleeve. The amused glint in his eyes made the former mercenary wonder what else the sly Batarian Doctor had waiting for him.

He found them again at the mural of him but noticed the new looks he received from the staff of the clinic. They were all filled with a bit of shock and awe which was understandable. For starters he never really wore white so that was new to him. He also now looked like a soldier of war instead of a kid with purple eyes wearing clothing and armed to the teeth with a mysterious but threatening aura about him when he was pushed.

War was coming and Ty looked the part.

"Damn." Shepard blurted as she saw him.

Ty chuckled as he looked down at his armor, "I agree." He looked back up to the Batarian doctor, "Anything I need to know besides the fact that it is awesome and it will protect me better than my clothing?"

Braum nodded, "A few things actually. Firstly, as you probably have suspected, the gauntlets and the bicep guards are made of similar material as your tomahawks. The readings I took when you were here months ago were for those. They are as hard as the blade of your tomahawks and as light as them as well."

The purple eyed warrior looked down at the gauntlets and tapped them together twice getting two clinks and a smile knowing that anyone's face hit with them would either be knocked out or he would break their noses. "You just thought about smashing someone's face with those didn't you?" The N7 asked with a smirk.

"Maybe." He shrugged with his own smirk.

She merely shook her head, "You are truly one of a kind, Ty."

Braum chuckled as Ty smiled at the woman, "If I may use your omni-tool a moment, I will be able to give you my last two upgrades for the armor." He nodded and opened his omni-tool before extending his left arm over to the doctor. Braum began working on the omni-tool for a few moments until he nodded to himself after checking through what he had done. "Your first upgrade is this." Braum pressed a button and blades suddenly appeared on the gauntlets and the bicep guards.

Both Ty and Shepard whistled in response as they looked at the blades that were attached to his pieces of armor, "This is called Blade Armor. It is used amongst many of my races enforcers and the blades are razor sharp, so do not play with them." That got a chuckle out of the pair. "You will be able to deal deadlier damage now if you hit your enemies with them and any enemy that attempts to strike you will likely get hit by the blades."

Ty nodded in understanding as the doctor deactivated the blades then pressed another button causing the omni-tool to change shape into what appeared to be a spiked gauntlet of some sort. Aside from the aesthetic change there was a definite power change that he could feel. He had powerful punches as it was with his right arm, but this gauntlet felt like it had a lot of power within it. "This is an enforcement gauntlet. The mercenary you fought had an omni-blade which, as you found out, is dangerous yet has a major drawback like all omni-tool weapons."

"Deactivates after too much attacks." He finished for the doctor.

Braum nodded, "Yes. The enforcement gauntlet is as powerful, if not more, as the blade depending on what you base it on. The blade has more length and can cut deep, but against someone as you or your brother the mercenary found out that it isn't invincible." He was right. The mercenary had believed that with two omni-blades he had an easy job, but since the two brothers had their own melee weapons that didn't deactivate, that advantage was taken away. The mercenary had still gotten his brother but that was because he had his heart on the opposite side more than anything else.

"This you can activate as you are about to punch someone. If you manage to hit them you will likely kill or seriously injure your target." The Batarian finished. That would definitely prove to be a versatile weapon in a close quarters fight.

The warrior examined the gauntlet for a few more seconds before deactivating it himself. "EDI, do these upgrades work for you as they do me?"

EDI appeared on his omni-tool, "Yes Ty. I have already managed to advance your new upgrades even further than they had been. You will pack a meaner punch as you humans say." She responded before disappearing.

Amusement crossed the trio's faces as Ty lowered his arm back down. The day had definitely been a trying one, but it was definitely turning around thus far. "Thank you Braum for the new upgrades. I will put them too good use."

"I don't doubt that in the slightest." Braum said with amusement clear in his tone.

"Thank you for the help doctor. I'll send you the sizes for all the armors when I reach the Normandy." Shepard said extending her hand for a handshake.

He nodded and shook Shepard's hand, "It was a pleasure meeting you Commander. I haven't seen the fire in my people's eyes since we heard Ty had died protecting you, but seeing him alive and being able to talk to him, his brother, and you have brought that fire back. Thank you for that and watch after our protector."

"I will and good luck with everything here."

Braum turned to Ty and reached out for a handshake which he gave him, "Thank you for protecting our district once again."

"And thank you for saving me and my brother from what was likely a certain death. Thank you for the new armor and help you are giving Shepard as well."

"It is an honor. Stay safe my friend."

"You to."

Ty and Shepard turned to leave as Braum left to go back to his patients and probably Ria based on the assumption that she had been a friend once to him. As the duo reached the exit of the clinic, the former mercenary stopped and turned around.

He looked back to the staff members who were actually looking at him with a bit of sadness due to his departure. _I suppose I should say something._ "Staff and patients of the GO Clinic. Thank you for all you have done here to honor me and what you have done to save not only me, but my brother as well. I wish I could offer more than words to tell you how grateful and humbled I am. Keep up what you have been doing and continue to be a shining light of hope in Omega for those who seek shelter and help. Thank you all and take care." There were cheers and a lot of clapping that came from the crowd so Ty bowed his head slightly and motioned for Shepard to lead the way.

The N7 had a smirk on her face as she started walking with him following by her side as they left Ortega district for the final time. They walked in silence for the most part but as they got closer to Afterlife Shepard broke the silence, "I need you to promise me something, Ty."

Ty looked at her as they came to a slow halt. He really didn't like the sound of where this was going. "What sort of promise?"

The tone she had didn't encourage any happy thoughts from him, "If I ever show signs of indoctrination or if someone ever compromises who I am…I want you to promise me that you'll end my life."

_Yup definitely bad._


	80. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Understanding

"_I want you to promise me that you'll end my life_._"_

Those words echoed within Ty's soul as he stood awestrucked at what Shepard had just asked him to promise. _She_ wanted _him_ to _kill _her if he suspected any type of indoctrination on her. How could she think that he would be able to bring himself to do such a thing to her? The former mercenary couldn't even imagine laying a finger on her in a violent manor let alone killing her.

Asking him to kill her was like asking a Thresher Maw to _pretty please_ not eat everything that comes into its territory. She might as well have asked him to think of a super weapon that would defeat the Collectors without the squad having to hit the home base. At least with that question he would have been able to come up with something. There was no way it would work, but at least he would have had some chance at formulating some type of plan.

Shepard really couldn't think he was capable of such a task. Sure Ty could be merciless and violent and downright cold when pushed by his enemies…but to harm the ones he cared for?

There was no way.

"Yo- You can't be serious Shepard. This is a joke right?" The N7s look showed no sign of joking or any break from her original request, "Yo- you can't ask this of me Shepard." The purple eyed warrior heard his voice falter as his unease spread through his body.

The first human Spectre looked at him sternly like he was being unreasonable in not granting her the promise she was asking for. "You are the only one I can ask." Her tone matched her look as Ty turned away and began pacing slightly in an attempt to ease his nerves.

This wasn't right.

Never had he been asked by any of the people he cared about to kill them if they were compromised, even the Suns knew he wasn't capable of hurting his friends which was why they had tried to brainwash Haley against him. Had they succeeded he wasn't sure what he would have done to stop her. What he did know was that he would have done everything in his power to capture her alive and try to break the brainwashing. Even with Shepard he would try to break the indoctrination or whatever would compromise her.

He came to a stop as a gentle hand rested on his shoulder. "Ty…" Ty looked back to her and saw that she was as conflicted with emotions as he was, but there was no waver in her request. "We'll talk more about it on the Normandy, but I need you to promise me that you will."

Could he promise to kill her if anything bad happened? No, he couldn't promise that, not now. Maybe if he had been as he was when they first met, but not now. Not after everything that had happened since they had met. "I-…" He shook his head, "We'll talk on the Normandy. I am not making that promise blindly. Come on, the sooner I'm done with Aria and Grizz the sooner we can get off this rock."

Ty started walking again reaching Afterlife and heading inside with Shepard catching up to his new pace shortly after. Grizz looked no worse than he usually did as the former mercenary approached him with the Turian giving him a nod in greeting. "Ty, good to see you're not in as bad shape as we thought. Murphy filled us in after we finished cleaning up the rest of the Blue Suns. Your brother still alive?"

"Yeah. He'll be taking it easy for a little while but the docs fixed him up. Should be back to his usual self in no time."

Grizz nodded, "Good to hear. Well at least I don't have to worry about you going crazy and killing a bunch of mercenaries now. Ortega's body count was large enough." He was right about that. The smell of death and blood would be a hard stench to get out, but the people of Ortega would recover. "Aria has a problem that she'd like your help with before you talk to her."

"What's up? Liselle mentioned something about Patriarch, and if Aria is asking that means someone needs their asses kicked." The former mercenary stated.

The Turian chuckled, "Good to see you haven't grown soft after that ass kicking you received." Ty slugged the Turian in the shoulder with a light laugh causing Grizz to chuckle more; Shepard just stared at the two with amusement in her eyes. "There are some people out for the Patriarch and Aria would like you to get him into hiding and deal with the others somehow."

"Why doesn't Aria have her regular muscle do it?" The Commander questioned.

She beat Ty to questioning that himself, the former mercenary wasn't her regular muscle. He was the muscle that you didn't want showing up, a last resort when it came to missions like this. The Turian shrugged slightly in return, "Does it really matter?"

Shepard furrowed her brow in return as her amusement at their original conversation died out, "Yeah because Aria doesn't do things without damn good reasons and I want to hear it."

Ty couldn't help but nod in agreement with the sapphire eyed woman. Why was Aria employing him to handle Patriarch? What was the real reasoning? Grizz shrugged his shoulders once again, "Fair enough but you didn't hear this from me. If word gets out that Aria is protecting Patriarch then it could look like a weakness that others would try to exploit." The Turian pointed at the pair as he spoke, "If you two do this it would look like you are just doing it out of the goodness of your hearts and since Ty is a known acquaintance of his no one will think of it as Aria sending him to help. They will think he is acting on his own accord." He answered.

It was a sound tactic and the former mercenary didn't have a problem with the reasoning. Today had proved that despite Aria being in control of Omega she had a few weaknesses. Others would see the fight for Ortega as a weakness if she didn't seal off all the points of exploitation right away. If they knew she was protecting the old Krogan they'd see another area of weakness that she didn't need to be seen now of all times. "Alright I'll deal with it." Ty set the crate down holding his original clothes, "Mind keeping this here while I go deal with this? All it has is my old clothes, nothing real important."

"Sure. Get moving. Word is they may act soon."

Ty looked to Shepard and motioned her to follow him as they began walking down to the lower part of Afterlife. "So is this a normal mission for you?" She queried with a tone of mirth.

A chuckled escaped him as he thought about his normal missions of assassination and beating the living crap out of mercenaries who pushed against the Pirate Queen. "Heh. No. Most missions I partook in weren't much different from what I was doing to the Suns before meeting you. Hunt and kill or beating down some sector leader of a group of mercenaries as a reminder of rule number one was my usual."

"Hmm. So you were more like the badass enforcer that you didn't want showing up?" The Spectre asked without hiding her amusement.

In a nut shell that was what he was but there was a lot more to it in reality. He wasn't some thug who she called on when things weren't working out precisely as she planned; Ty was the guy she sent in when there was no other solution to the problem. This really wasn't in those categories, but seeing as her usual muscle wouldn't be able to do this without drawing attention to her that left him with the duty. "More like a problem solver, but yeah I guess you're right. Patriarch must have been running his mouth."

Patriarch didn't know when to keep his mouth shut sometimes. Being ousted by Aria and kept as a trophy instead of an advisor had hit the old proud Krogan hard, definitely since he was ousted by a "_tiny Asari_" as he had put it. Now he told stories to those who would listen to him and that got him in hot water more often than not. This was just the first time it had gotten him in this much trouble. "Old war stories you think?"

"Probably tales about old Omega or about different mercenary gangs that don't want him talking. He has some good, if not unorthodox, advice, but most don't appreciate what he has to say." The old Krogan had given the purple eyed warrior a fair share of advice on how to bleed the Blue Suns dry and how to really get under their skin.

He was right on just about everything he had told him.

"You do?"

A smirk formed on the former mercenary's face as he thought back to some of the things he had done to really piss Tarak and his Suns off after they had killed Ka'Reena. Taking their business, bombing their homes while they were away just to see their shocked faces.

Everything Ty had done was to destroy their very lives just as they had destroyed his. It was a shame he couldn't really hit them as hard as they hit him, but there was nothing like a little destruction to take your mind off of your own shortcomings. "Yeah. He gave some great advice on how to really stick it to the Suns more than I had been. Those bastards had some really shitty days after I talked to that old bastard."

It was surprising how Tarak could keep his cool when they had met again during the siege to get Archangel with all the crap Ty had done to him. Then again he managed to nearly kill the purple eyed warrior so maybe that was his way of paying him back for the crap he had put him through. "How do you want to handle this?" He asked as they stopped outside the doors.

Shepard pursed her lips as she thought about what they had to do. "I don't know. It is your mission you know, you could lead it." The Commander offered.

"You just want me to order you around, don't you?" Ty joked.

"Maybe."

The pair laughed lightly to themselves before heading down to Patriarch with no plan of action. It wasn't much of a surprise considering Ty was so used to pulling plans and ideas out of thin air. As they approached Patriarch from behind, the former mercenary cleared his throat a little since to get his attention. The old Krogan turned around and saw Ty which caused him to smile and raise his arms out in greeting, "You again, greetings! What brings you here?"

"Hey Patriarch. Listen, some people want you dead and I was told to move you to safety." Ty explained in short the situation at hand.

"Ah, of course. Aria wouldn't want me killed, not after there was a siege on her station. It would make her look bad." Patriarch looked away, shaking his head as he did, then looked back at Ty and Shepard and continued "Well, maybe Arias reputation is no longer my problem. Maybe I will stay and see who thinks me important enough to kill."

With his run of luck on pulling plans out of thin air and how they always ended up screwing up in the end, Ty felt like he should have seen it coming. _Well that could have gone better. Shit. Think me think, how do I get him to go into hiding so we can take care of these guys?_ "I have an idea, how about you let us take care of this problem for you." Shepard said suddenly.

As his eyebrow quirked up in question, the Commander waved Ty's question off with a look that spoke that she knew what she was doing. "Oh so your reputation grows as I remain an old man who lets others fight his battles for him." Patriarch said.

_What now Shepard?_ "No, you remain a powerful warlord who has forces at his command." _Genius!_

"You could be my Krantt, fighting for my honor." The old Krogan looked nostalgic and hopeful as he looked to the sapphire eyed woman. "If you would do this for me human, I would be grateful. I may even feel Krogan again." Patriarch said as he turned around back to the two people.

Shepard motioned for Ty to follow her leading him out of the room and stopping just outside as the doors closed, "Good idea Shepard, that's why you lead and I follow." How he had not thought about appealing to his broken pride and fighting for the old Krogan he wasn't sure, but he was never known for good ideas in the heat of battle.

"Any idea where these guys might be?" She questioned.

Before Ty could answer his omni-tool lit up unannounced, "They're in the back alley nearby." Murphy answered through his omni-tool.

"Thanks Murph, but do you need to stalk me every hour of the day?" The former mercenary asked with a smirk.

"Nah, but I knew you needed some help and it's boring around here now with no attacks going on. The guys you're looking for are three Krogan's, one with a flamethrower and the other two with shotguns…so try not to get scorched. Good luck Ghost."

"Later Murph."

A flamethrower and shotguns weren't that big of a deal since he could easily sneak attack them before they were able to shoot him. His shields would hold off any attack if they did manage to shoot, but Shepard...Ty glanced over to the sapphire eyed woman, she only had her pistol and her casual clothes on. If she didn't have her shield activated then there would be no need for him to make her a promise because she would be scorched or full of rounds anyway. "If you want I'll take care of them since you aren't arm-"

The purple eyed warrior stopped himself as he saw the smile that began to form on her face. "My my, is that doubt I hear?"

"No I was just being courteous and taken into consideration that you aren't all armored up since I don't want you to get burned like you were back on Haestorm without shields and armor."

His response did nothing but make her smile bigger and brighter, he wasn't completely sure how to feel about the smile. It was intoxicating and made him want to forget about the conversation waiting for him when they reached the Normandy, but he was worried that she was about to have some witty remark that he wouldn't be able to fight against. "And I get to hear care in your tone as well? I think my day is complete." Ty let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head in defeat, she was just having fun but he knew he shouldn't doubt her ability to protect herself.

She was an N7, a Spectre, and a biotic. She used a barrier with her biotic's and was just an ass kicker in general. Getting knocked around by that mercenary and seeing his brother get impaled had severed some of his own self-confidence which caused him to doubt in not only her own ability to defend herself but his ability to defend others. Shepard just smiled at his defeat as she walked past him, "Come on, let's go."

They both walked to the back alley and as soon as the doors opened he saw three Krogan, one with a flame thrower and the other two with shotguns. _Definitely the guys we're looking for_. "You looking for Patriarch?" The N7 asked.

The Krogan's turned to them and walked towards them threateningly, "What's it to you?" The flamethrower Krogan asked.

Ty pulled out his pistols and said "Patriarch sends his regards."

"Yeah and he said to do whatever it takes to stop you." Shepard stated. The flamethrower went to blast the Commander, but she kicked it out of the way as the purple eyed warrior opened fire on the other two, killing them instantly with multiple shots to the head. The N7 pulled out her pistol and unloaded it into the lead Krogan killing him only seconds after kicking the flamethrower away.

The kick she had gone for threw Ty off considering the only physical attacks he had seen her throw were punches with or without biotic's. The sapphire eyed woman noticed his questioning look as he holstered his pistols and shrugged slightly, "What? I've picked up a few moves seeing you fight constantly in close quarters."

He just laughed and shook his head as the pair left the bodies for someone to clean up and made their way back to Patriarch. They informed him that the deed was done and to say that Ty had never seen him look more alive was an understatement. Had Aria not crushed his body he probably would have jumped with joy or more than likely would have gone to the bar and started a bar fight just to feel alive.

The duo went back up to tell Grizz, and to talk to Aria as well, but as they reached the Turian he motioned for them to head up the stairs. "Heard about Patriarch. Aria wants to speak to you."

They nodded and walked up the stairs to meet the Pirate Queen who was sitting on her couch with a drink in her hand. "So I hear Patriarch has his own hired muscle now. I wasn't aware he had any." Aria said.

"Let the old man be Aria. He's already defeated; let him have a little pride." Ty responded.

A slight smirk made its way to her face. Ty had seen it before when he said things similar to this situation having to do with the more noble side of his workings. The Pirate Queen would listen, but he could see deep down that she got enjoyment out of hearing him ask for her to have a softer side now and then. "We'll see. It wasn't what I asked for, but you got the job done. I won't complain."

Aria stood up and dismissed her men that were standing around with a nod of her head to give them so privacy. As the men walked down the stairs the Pirate Queen put down her drink and picked up a data-pad on her couch, reading it over quickly, "So who's the bastard who tried destroying one of my districts?" She posed the question.

It was time to get down to business once more. By the look on Aria's face as she tossed the data-pad back to the couch the search that Murphy had conducted didn't come back with any results worth noting. Ty knew who had caused all this now and with Aethyta and his dad searching for Elias Kelham, the location of the man who had ordered this all would soon be within his grasps as well. "These guys were basically a rogue element." He started.

The Pirate Queen furrowed her brow in question as Ty began reciting the details he knew for certain, "The guy who nearly killed my brother and me was working for some criminal named Elias Kelham. He pulled enough strings and favors to get the Suns to come here and attack my brother and friends. According to the mercenary we fought, my family's time at the top of the criminal food chain was up and Kelham was our new and improved replacement."

Aria barked a laugh, "So new and improved no one outside of the Citadel knows who he is.'" The Pirate Queen stopped her mirth at how ridiculous it sounded and grew serious once more, "Still, being able to pull the strings he did is as impressive as it is troubling."

"Troubling." Shepard questioned.

"Pulling strings is not a new concept among criminals, but to be able to gather a force as large as the one you fought without a single trace back to him or his man on the inside and slip past my best hacker troubles me. This stuffed shirt is trying to get into the big leagues and had he succeeded today, he would have." The Asari clarified.

Ty nodded in agreement, he may be a force to be reckoned with on the Citadel, but out here he was nobody. Or he was nobody until he just plastered a giant target on his forehead for the purple eyed warrior and his family to aim at. "One thing I didn't find out by ripping the information from his mind was whose strings he pulled. The amount of mercenaries we fought today was way more than just one sector or group of Suns. Who the hell authorized such an assault on _your_ station of all places?" He shook his head, "It was one hell of a risk."

"Does the name Vido Santiago mean anything to you two?" The Commander asked. Both Aria and Ty turned towards the N7 with surprise on their faces as they nodded, "That mercenary that hurt you and your brother had messages that Kelham forwarded him from Vido Santiago. Whoever this Vido guy is was granting them one chance to take your family out and if they failed he was done going after you guys. He was tired of losing so many men to your family, but he was going to hope for a truce between you guys and the Suns if the planned failed. Trying to get back to business as usual by the sound of it."

That was new information Ty did not know. How long had Vido been involved with the Suns going after his family? Had he been the one to order Tarak to betray him or did he just show peripheral support? He was the Co-Executive Officer of the Suns now but had been the leader of the Suns at the time of Tarak's betrayal. He had always assumed the man was smart enough not to screw with his family himself or support it. "Vido certainly got a big head it seems." The former mercenary mumbled to himself.

The Pirate Queen nodded silently as she thought to herself about what information Shepard had just given them. "Who is Vido?"

"Co-founder and once the leader of the Suns. He passed that torch to Solem Dal'serah and now remains the _Co-Executive Officer._ Just means he leads from the shadows now. Talk to Zaeed, I'm sure he has some pleasant things to say about him." Ty answered.

The N7 nodded in understanding as he looked back to Aria, "Well it seems Vido finally learned his lesson. Go against the Rhoddy's and you are bound to lose. This Kelham fucker though has no idea what sort of hell he's brought to his doorstep." The leader of Omega said as she was still mulling over her thoughts. After a few moments of thought she looked to have made up her mind, "What's your plan?"

"Now that we know his name it's only a matter of time before we find his location. Sooner or later he'll slip up, and when he does we'll go in and make him wish he had never chosen to try and make a name for himself." He replied.

She nodded in agreement to the plan as she took her seat back on her couch, "Let me know if you need any help taking him down, otherwise I leave his fate to you." He gave a nod of appreciation to the offer of help and to leaving Kelham's fate in his hands, "Anything else you need?"

"Nope, I'm good."

Shepard nodded in agreement with Ty so Aria gave a curt nod of dismissal, "I'm sure I'll see you again then…and Shepard if you arrest him, break his heart, or somehow Ty doesn't survive your mission and you do and I hear it is your fault. You _will_ pay."

"Uh Aria that isn't nec-"

The purple eyed warrior was interrupted by the N7 putting her hand up in a stop motion to Aria as she said, "Listen, I understand you two have history, but he is a part of my crew and a friend. I would never turn him over to anyone or do anything in that list you just gave me."

"Things tend to blow up around him normally and you're bringing him into a war. I'm just giving you a fair warning. He may not be purely one of mine, but as you said we have history and if that history turns into me having to hunt you down because he is either dead or as he was after he lost Ka'Reena." Aria glared hard at Shepard as she spoke, "You will pay, Cerberus will pay and anyone involved will pay. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, but don't waste your thoughts on something that won't happen." The Commander returned firmly, not backing down from her gaze in the slightest.

The Pirate Queen seemed impressed by her declaration as she gave a slight nod of approval. "Good." Aria looked to him with a smirk, "Good luck out there, loverboy. Don't get killed."

Ty smirked slightly and bowed dramatically, "As you wish, my Queen." Sarcasm was thick in his tone but both Aria and Shepard smiled as he came up from his bow. "Later Aria."

The duo left and he grabbed the crate with his clothes on his way out. As they walked back to the Normandy, the N7 looked at the former mercenary quizzically until she finally asked, "Loverboy?"

With a chuckle, Ty shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck, "I'll explain on the Normandy, we need to talk anyway." He replied. He hadn't forgotten what she had asked of him, but he did try.

The request was still haunting him.

As they turned the corner into the Normandy Docking Bay, Ty saw Alia and Ria standing near airlock talking to Aya and Iliana. They didn't look angry, but there was tension between the two older Asari's that the purple eyed warrior could see from a distance. This was a conversation that was definitely going to touch on more than a few tender subjects that only the three needed to discuss.

Ty stopped Shepard before them as she casted a short glance over to four Asari, "I'll be in as soon as I'm done talking to Ria. I'll probably check on Haley and Z when I get back in, after that we can talk."

The Commander nodded then gave him a peck on his lips, "I know there is tension between you and her, but don't kill her. She has a child and there may have been other things going on you didn't know about."

Oh there had been a lot going on that he hadn't known, but he did now and that meant filling in Aya on that information while filling in the blanks that he hadn't found out from the memories. He nodded understandingly, "I know. I found out a lot of information from that mercenary besides the obvious." He let out a sigh, "Being blinded by rage didn't give me many proud moments, this is just another reminder of why being as I am now is better than I was."

Shepard gave him a deeper kiss and as they parted she smiled softly, "On that we agree. I'll see you on board."

She continued into the airlock as he stopped at the four, there was a short silence as Ria, Aya and Ty stared at one another in the triangle formation they had formed. "Well this hasn't happened in two years. Ria, Aya we need to talk." The purple eyed warrior turned to the daughters of the group, "Iliana can you and Alia go wait inside the Normandy while we talk?" Iliana nodded and held her hand out to Alia who took it and followed the Spectre into the airlock.

The doors closed leaving another silence between the three as Aya looked between Ty and Ria like they were the strangest things she had ever seen. The former lovers began counting down mentally from three and right on cue the hyper Asari began speaking at her quick pace, "So when did you have a daughter? Who is the father and what the fuck happened two years ago?!"

"Aya." Ty chided.

Aya turned to him with a fiery gaze in her eyes, "And why the hell are you so calm?! The last I knew you wanted to rip her head off for betraying you and almost getting you killed. Not to mention me and Iliana almost being kidnapped by a bunch of biotic extremists."

"Calm down and I'll explain why." The former mercenary told her. The hyper Asari took a deep breath then motioned for him to explain, "I ripped memories from the mercenary that nearly killed me and my brother. In his memories I saw that what had happened was caused by the same guy who ordered this today. He had kidnapped her daughter Alia to get her to do what she did and promised her that they'd return her once she did." He explained.

Realization set in for Aya, "And knowing you and your family could handle themselves, she did it to get her back."

"And then kill them the moment I had her safely in my arms again." Ria finished coldly.

"So you see I have cause to not be ripping her head off." The purple eyed warrior responded. The hyper Asari nodded slightly and remained silent, "I'd still like to hear everything that happened though…and I need to know if Alia is my daughter as well and, if she is, why you didn't tell me."

Ria nodded, "Thank you for granting me this chance and also for saving my daughter. Two years ago Elias Kelham…"

* * *

All three stood in silence after Ria finished her story. She had been through hell these past two years. Knowing now that if he would have stopped for a moment and thought through what had happened back then that he would have been able to help her get her daughter back quicker was a reminder of how blinded by rage he had been.

Needless to say he felt like he was the betrayer.

"Ty don't beat yourself up about this. You had no idea of knowing and you weren't exactly in a good state of mind at the time." Ria said.

Ty rubbed his hand across his face and stopped the urge to slap himself in the face for stupidity, "It doesn't excuse me of what I allowed to happen. I should have given you a chance to explain yourself. If I had Alia wouldn't have been kidnapped for two years…I trained myself to always look at things from every angle, but despite that I have failed to do it when I needed to most…" He let his hand drop, "I allowed two years of torment on a child, I cost you two years from your daughter and caused you two years of torment not knowing if your daughter was alive. That is unforgivable Ria."

Aya stayed silent but Ty could see she wanted to say something to him, but his former girlfriend stepped forward and grabbed his hands gently, "You gave me her back. If not for you she would have been captured again and I may have died. You want to know what is unforgivable? Ten years ago I cheated on you but never told you and never explained to you why I had to end our relationship…I planted seeds of doubt in your mind on accident despite my better intentions of wanting to help you."

Ria looked deep into his eyes, "I betrayed you when I did those things Ty and I have tried finding forgiveness in the Goddess, but I have found that to be forgiven we must forgive ourselves and each other to be truly free of the pain. I understand why two years ago you tried to kill me and I forgive you. It was not your fault what happened to Alia so do not blame yourself. In the short time you were with her you were more of a father to her than her real father has ever been."

A smile formed on her lips as she looked past him to the Normandy where her daughter had entered, "She won't stop talking about wanting to be an adventurer like me or hearing more stories from you. You saved her and brought her back to me, and that is what matters."

His former girlfriend let go of his hands and he to look down at his own hands. Ria always had a way with words, maybe she got it from him or maybe he got some of it from her, either way he felt his resolve strengthen. He clenched his hands into fists then un-clenched them and let them fall, "Thanks for the pep talk; I'm sorry for anything I caused though."

"You are forgiven." Ria said with a smile.

"So are you."

The weight on his shoulders seemed to lift off knowing they were once again on the same page. Two years of thinking he was going to have to kill her for betraying him just disappeared like it had never happened as they were starting again. It would take time to rebuild their friendship, but it wouldn't be too long. "So what now?" Aya asked.

That was a good question as Ty began to think of what needed to be done. With Aethyta leaving ahead of them that left how to transport the four Asari up in the air. "I gotta get back on the mission, but I'm not entirely comfortable leaving you two here for regular transport off the station." With the connections that Kelham apparently had, the last thing the purple eyed warrior wanted was all four of them to be kidnapped.

"What would you suggest?" Aya asked.

He wasn't sure what to do so he shook his head, "I don't know. but come on board for now. We aren't leaving until my brother and Haley are out of the med-bay so that'll give me time to think about it. Ria do you have a place to bring your daughter?"

She shook her head, "No. All my credits have been spent searching for her."

"You can bunk with me and Iliana until you get on your feet." Aya told her rather than asked.

"I couldn't Aya. I don-"

The hyper Asari pulled their friend into a hug, "Yes you could and you will. Friends look out for each other and we haven't been able to for two years. Let me help you."

"…Okay." Ria said with a sigh of defeat.

There wasn't much point in arguing against Aya the moment she made a decision; she could prove to be more stubborn than most people Ty knew once she set her mind on something. The former mercenary smiled slightly at the two and as Aya released her she continued, "We've got enough rooms anyway and it'll be nice to have some company."

"Where do you live?" Ria asked.

"Ty moved me to the Citadel after the biotic extremists and to get me away from Miller."

_Oh shit I forgot about that slimy motherfucker._ "Um ladies, would you mind going on in and asking EDI for directions to my room or find Shepard and just hang out on that floor?"

"Where are you going?" His former girlfriend questioned.

"Miller and I have some unfinished business." He answered vaguely.

Aya grabbed Ria's hand, "I'll explain inside, be safe Ty."

_It's not me you should worry about. Miller needs my boot up his ass as a reminder not to ever go after Aya again, probably should ask Aria her preferences on broken limbs._

* * *

Miranda stood in the med-bay as she looked over what Doctor Chakwas wanted her to read. It was mostly statistical information about Haley's condition and how she was holding up, but the Cerberus operative was reading more intently on her amp and nervous system. The amp had cooled down since she was knocked out and brought on the Normandy allowing Mordin, Miranda and Chakwas to work with it and not hurt themselves or her as they did.

To be safe though they had put a biotic restraint on her arm to make sure she didn't hurt anyone accidentally. _Her amp should have fried, but it's somehow intact,_ she thought. _Not only that, but all the energy she showed should have fried out her nervous system judging on these charts. _The raven haired woman put a gloved hand on Haley's forehead but despite being gloved the material allowed for heat to seep through.

_Still burning up_, the Cerberus Operative removed her hand. _There has to be something I am missing, we've done everything we can but she just continues to burn up_. She paced slightly and put the data-pad down on the table as she reached it before turning around and continuing her pacing.

Something wasn't right and she couldn't figure it out_, she should have cooled off by now. There is no reason she should still be burning up. _

Her amp wasn't the cause anymore, so what was?

Miranda's thoughts continued to trail over everything they had done to try and help. She glanced around the room as her thoughts roamed allowing her to check on how her other occupant was doing. Kasumi had been in and out after getting her leg patched up from the round that had pierced her leg. She needed more medical attention, but she just needed to be stable for now since she was going to be on the Normandy anyways while Z and Haley needed to go after they were fine.

Her other occupant was Ty's brother Z, and that was causing the Cerberus Operative to be slightly distracted. He was laying down on one of the beds closer to the door looking up at the ceiling as he rested his hands on his chest and drummed a beat with his fingers to himself. He was well healed despite being impaled by the omni-blade. Miranda cringed a little remembering seeing the mercenary's blade deep inside of his gut and the blood gushing out.

She had a strong stomach when it came to injuries, definitely considering she had rebuilt Shepard and she had been basically meat and tubes, but this had been different somehow. Seeing him lying in a pool of his own blood as his life signs were gradually dropping had hit the so called ice queen like a full force punch to the gut from Ty, which is to say it knocked the breath right out of her.

These feelings she felt welling up inside her were confusing as they were irritating. Miranda Lawson didn't get attached and she did not freeze up when there were wounded. These feelings picked a terrible time to show themselves and who they were for was ridiculous as well. She was a Cerberus operative and he, along with his family, were squarely at the top of the Illusive Mans list of people to get rid of.

The problem was, despite the feelings being ridiculous and ill-timed with their mission, Miranda wanted to understand her feelings more. She wanted to explore what this foreign feeling was. She repressed her feeling to snort at how foolish it sounded. _I sound like a damn teenager_. Even with that thought she still wanted to indulge herself in seeing what the feelings were.

She found herself wanting to go make sure he was okay and talk to him even if she wasn't sure what to talk about, but she forced the feelings down as she focused back on Haley. She needed to focus on one person at a time and the girl who had nearly leveled the district with pure biotic power needed her help. That was something she could focus on and something that was familiar thanks to how much Ty got injured.

The raven haired woman ran the numbers through her head again, rethinking every detail she knew, every treatment preformed and every theory she could think of but none of it added up.

What the hell was wrong with her?

"It's like your building up biotic energy to be used, but you aren't." Miranda said aloud. Mordin constantly ran scenarios out loud since he was an auditory learner so maybe thinking through it out loud would help her.

Z looked over from the bed at her sudden statement, "Maybe the restraint is doing something." The Cerberus operative ran the numbers through her head again, could it be that simple? Could the restraint cause her to build up energy? Was she trying to break out of her unconscious mind because she thought she was in trouble? Miranda had never heard of that happening, the restraint was supposed to cut off all biotic's to stop them from manifesting.

She moved towards the restraint that was attached to Haley's wrist and picked up her arm as she looked closer at the restraint, "EDI, can biotic restraints cause biotic energy to build up?" Miranda asked the A.I. as she put Haley's hand down. If that was the case then taking it off would be more problematic than they thought. If she was really building up her biotic energy in an attempt to break free, the Normandy would pay the price along with all on board.

"Biotic restraints are used on biotic's to cancel all energy build up. In rare cases of biotic's with immense power, they cause a power dampening but can be broken by the shear biotic energy output by the person. There are small cases of this happening but there are no human references, there have only been Asari that have done this." EDI answered.

_The power she showed though could rival most Asari. She could hold her own against Samara for a short time based on the power she showed, but her lack of discipline and Samara's centuries of practice would beat her. She could over power me and Jack if she learned to control her power better._

If the restraint was really the problem then it needed to be removed, but if Haley's biotic energy would explode out of her as it did on Omega they'd all be screwed. Miranda needed to inform Shepard and figure out a plan fast. The longer it was on the more damage it might be able to cause, or worse the more energy she would release the moment they took it off.

Miranda looked back out the window to see if Shepard was back. The Commander was sitting in the Mess Hall with Jacob, Garrus and Tali. By the looks of it they were sharing stories and having a good time, but now was not the time for this. The last thing they needed was the destruction of the Normandy before they even took the fight to the Collectors. She pressed the button that allowed her voice to be heard outside of the med-bay, "Shepard, I think I figured out how to help Haley, but I need to speak with you."

Shepard nodded and said something to the three as she stood up and started walking towards the med-bay. Miranda turned back around taking note of Z now sitting up on his elbows looking at her with a bit of intrigue as well as confusion.

His neon green eyes felt like they could look right through her into her very soul, but his eyes only met hers and didn't push further as if he was respecting her boundaries. She knew he was capable of finding out every dark secret of hers just as Ty would be able to because of their ability, but neither had ever pushed past her barriers.

Sure the purple eyed brother had done his best to do everything in his power to push against the barrier and melt it away with what she had once considered a ridiculous idea of friendship, but he knew there were limits. He had never pushed himself into her memories or forced her to agree to his friendship, she had just accepted the olive branch on her own. Now with the green eyed brother staring at her she saw a similar look of understanding to her own barriers mixed with a foreign look the raven haired woman was unsure of.

Was it admiration? Miranda analyzed the look again, it was. Was he admiring what she was doing for his friend or was he admiring her? Before she could analyze the look further the med-bay doors opened and Z looked over to see Shepard walk in.

The Commander nodded to the man who nodded in return and laid back down. She then looked to Miranda as she approached, "What do you have for me Miranda?"

Miranda ran her gloved hand through her hair as she decided where to start. "Her amp has cooled down and by all our calculations she should be fine…but her body is still heating up and leaving her unconscious as if it was fighting off something. The thing is it isn't." The first human Spectre nodded in understanding as she followed along the path of thought. "I ran all the numbers, but nothing makes sense except what Z brought to my attention."

The Cerberus Operative ran her hand through her hair again; it was something so simple that she had looked over it as something so mundane that it couldn't possibly be the reason. "The biotic restraint would cut off all of her ability to use her biotic's, but I now believe because of her amp and the raw strength she has that it is only dampening it and she is building up energy unconsciously."

Shepard crossed her arms as she took in what Miranda told her, "And I guess taking it off isn't as simple as it sounds."

She heard Z chuckle slightly at the statement of the obvious, "I'm worried that if we take it off, the energy she has built up will explode out as it did on Omega."

The N7 nodded slightly, "Yeah, Joker would never forgive me if someone wrecked the Normandy from the inside." She brought her hand to her chin as she thought over the conundrum, "…hmm. What are our options of containing the energy if it does explode out?"

It was a question worth considering which was why she had brought her in. The truth was that there wasn't much that could stop it from damaging the Normandy. Maybe something like the bubble shield the mercenary had used to keep them from reaching the brothers would be able to, but they didn't have that kind of tech on the ship. "Not much could contain it except maybe more powerful biotic's. I don't know about the others, yourself included, but my strength isn't where it needs to be to protect myself and the Normandy from that." Miranda explained.

Trying to rip open that bubble shield with Jack had drained her strength near her limits, and it was likely she would have crashed had Shepard and Tali not acted as quick as they had. "I think we all used a lot of our energy today…Jack practically has unlimited reserves and Samara might be able to as well, but I think she wants to be alone right now." Shepard activated her own biotic's causing a blue hue to surround her, after a second she allowed them to disappear "…I might be able to, but if it was as powerful as it was on Omega I'd probably end up with a fried amp."

Despite Miranda's resentment for Jack she knew Shepard was right with her assessment, especially with the upgraded amp she got her. "So who should we use, Jack or yourself?"

The raven haired woman could see the N7s mental wheels turning as she was deciding the pros and cons and how much energy they had spent today. "EDI, can you set up a link to Jack?" She asked.

"Of course, Commander." EDI replied.

"What's going on Shepard?" Jacks voice came through.

Miranda felt a scowl come onto her face at hearing the tattooed biotic's voice. Even though the pair had worked together multiple times during the fight their "_friendship,_" if you could call it that, had not improved much aside from a minimal respect for one another's battle prowess. "Hypothetically would you be able to hold up some type of barrier to protect the Normandy and yourself from those repulses that Haley had back on Omega right now?" Shepard asked.

"Since when did you ask hypothetical questions? You're a weird one Shepard. Yeah, at least for a little while. I'd be able to protect the ship, but she showed a lot of power. If they measured up to what she did on Omega, I'd need someone else to take over…the Cheerleader finally figure out what was wrong with her?"

"Yes and I need you up here now. We think the biotic restraint is only dampening her biotic's and she is building up energy." The Commander answered.

There was a thoughtful pause from Jack, "Hmm, powerful girl. I thought I was the only human capable."

The raven haired woman rolled her eyes slightly, they needed her to hurry up not deduce a conclusion she already knew, but she kept her mouth shut to make sure she didn't incite the tattooed woman. "You sound like your admiring her." Shepard said with a slight grin coming on.

She knew that grin was the only warning Jack would have had if she could see it of the impending punch line that would follow her comment, but Jack couldn't see it so she practically set herself up with her own response, "She's got talent that's for sure, gotta respect that."

"And your respect?" Shepard hummed thoughtfully, "I think I know where this is heading. Soon you'll be taking her out to dinners and having late night secret meetings when we are dry docked, and then will come the marriage and the adopted kids."

It took a lot of willpower to not let herself smile as Shepard rattled on her joke. Z looked to be in the same boat as he was covering his own mouth trying to stop his laughing from bubbling to the surface. "And then the cat fights between you and Miranda will start escalating because it was all just pent up emotions you two never acted on and you two realized you were really meant to be together, but you can't because you're in a committed relationship with kids." She finished.

As her smile died, Miranda's eyes grew large and her jaw almost literally dropped off its hinges. The joke plus the look on her face caused the man in the room to break into hysterical laughter as he grabbed at his wounded side in pain. "Are you fucking serious!" Jack nearly yelled.

"All I'm saying is you are a tough girl on a stressful mission with some pent up emotions, and Miranda is in the same boat. It's a love story in the making." Shepard said as her grin grew larger.

"Stop…stop..oh Spirits please stop, it hurts to laugh." Z pleaded while trying to stop his laughter.

The elder brother began trying to take deep breaths as he tried to kill his laughter without much luck. "I'm on my way up, but don't think this is over Shepard." The tattooed biotic threatened.

"Karma is a bitch, huh?" The N7 asked with amusement.

"I'll make that bitch look like she's in preschool." Jack responded before shutting off the comm.

Shepard turned to Miranda with a grin but the Cerberus Operative shook her head, refusing to allow herself to fall for the bait, "I think you two would make a cute couple."

"No way in hell." Miranda growled as she grabbed the data-pad regarding Z's condition.

A small laughed escaped the man as he managed to get his laughing under control to the point it didn't hurt. "Thoughts, Z?" Shepard asked.

The green eyed brother let out a long exaggerated sigh, "Don't drag me down with you Shepard. I've always said that sometimes it's better not to have a comment and keep your mouth shut."

"You just want to stay in her good graces." She retorted.

"That too." The elder brother responded without hesitation. Miranda had her back turned to the two which allowed her to smile slightly; he still had interest in her.

He had been admiring her and not just the assets she held either, he had been looking her directly in her eyes when he had admired her. What did he see in her eyes that he admired was still a mystery but one that was enjoyable to say the least.

Shepard hummed behind Miranda which made her turn around to see her looking out the window of the med-bay, the raven haired woman looked out to see Aya and another adult Asari sit down at the now vacant Mess Hall table with a little Asari child and Iliana. The little child sat in the new Asari's lap which led Miranda to conclude she was her mother. "Well I guess Ty was right. That or she wormed her way out of a quick impending death." Z said with what Miranda detected as anger.

"She could be innocent." The Commander responded.

Z snorted slightly, "That or Ty let his feelings get in the way of his better judgment."

Miranda looked at the elder brother with thoughtfulness wondering why he held such resentment towards this new Asari. She had seen a slight glimpse of his raged mindset and she knew both brothers held massive tempers, but to outright hate someone just by looking at them was something new for her to see from him. On the opposite spectrum, Shepard looked less than pleased at his response, but he was too busy staring out at Ria to notice, "Why do you hate her?" Miranda asked aloud.

There was a slight, but well hidden, show of shock from the green eyed brother as he turned to meet her eyes. It must have been different for someone to be able to read his look and body language so quickly considering he had nearly hidden his hatred for the Asari. Z's eyes met hers, his eyes held more resentment and anger than she thought was possible for him, "I held my brothers lifeless body in my arms back when we fought those biotic extremists thinking I lost him." He motioned to the Asari with nod of his head, "That woman out there deserves more than my angry glare and resentment for what she almost caused, and she's damn lucky I respect my brother's choices that I won't execute her."

"And if she is innocent?" She asked before Shepard, who she could tell was about to ask.

He shrugged, "She probably is to an extent, which means my anger and resentment will turn to action when I find the bastard who caused all this." He shook his head slightly, "I'm supposed to protect my brother from harm. That's what older siblings do. Miranda, you know that feeling as much as me, but what you don't know is the feeling and the memory of holding your sister in your arms without a pulse or any life in her body." He turned his gaze to Shepard, "And neither do you, Shepard. If you ever experience that then not only will you understand why I won't just let something like this go, but you will also have my deepest condolences because no one should ever go through that."

Miranda and Shepard stood in silence as the green eyed brother laid back down and turned his head away from them. The Cerberus Operatives gut felt twisted when she thought of what it would be like if she was in Z's shoes and it had been Oriana. There was no doubt she would feel the same way if it had been caused because of someone else. "You're wrong about one thing Z." The Commander finally spoke. Z turned to look at her and she continued, "I do know what the feeling is like. I felt it on Akuze as my men were all killed by Thresher Maws. I felt it on Virmire when I had to leave my friend behind. I understand your anger, _but _do not think you are the only one in this room who has lost, or almost lost, someone you loved."

The first human Spectre's voice was shaky full of pent up rage or sadness at the memories of the times she lost her comrades and friends. Miranda wasn't quite sure which emotion it was, but Z nodded slightly in understanding, "Then I am sorry for what you had to go through and that I dampened your cheery mood." His stare turned more or less colder than it had been, "But don't try to make me understanding of a woman who played a part in almost costing me my brother."

"I wasn't. I was trying to make you understanding of your brother's decision so you didn't question his judgment."

The elder brother chuckled, "Good luck with that because we both have been questioning each other's judgment for years now."

Before Shepard could respond, Jack strode lazily into the med-bay with a slightly confused look on her face. "We recruiting kids or something?"

"You seriously think I would do something like that Jack?" Shepard questioned with surprise in her tone.

Jack shook her head, "Nah, not you. I was worried Cerberus was trying something."

Miranda couldn't fight the urge to roll her eyes at the comment. She understood where the biotic was coming from with the things she was beginning to see thanks to Shepard and Ty. They both were showing her truths about the organization she worked for, truths she had ignored and excused without second thought, but right now wasn't about that.

Haley needed their help.

"Can we please get on with this, she could be getting hurt." Miranda stated.

The tattooed biotic waved her off, "Yeah yeah Cheerleader, we're working on it. So what am I doing?" She asked as she looked to their leader.

"I was thinking a biotic bubble around her and a barrier for yourself if you think you can manage it."

"Just tell me when you're ready." The tattooed biotic said as she moved to Haley's side. Miranda moved to the biotic restraint and nodded to Jack who put up the bubble surrounding the three of them and a barrier around herself. Miranda deactivated the biotic restraint and as she did a purple hue started to form around Haley's arms and body. The raven haired woman activated her own biotic's giving herself a barrier to at least shield her from any type of blast so she wouldn't end up like the mercenaries back on Omega.

The hue didn't start exploding though, but Haley's breathing started to quicken as her heart rate began to rise. As Miranda started to go to the machine, the young biotic's eyes flung open as she sat upright grabbing at her amp and her chest while her eyes darted across the room. Jack lowered the bubble shield with a slight sigh of relief as the Cerberus Operative went to the young biotic's side and rested her hand on hers, "Haley, it's okay. You're safe on the Normandy." She reassured.

Haley looked around more taking notice of Jack, Shepard and Miranda. Her eyes finally met Z's, "Z, did Aya and Iliana make it? What about you? Are you okay?" She asked frantically.

"Calm down Haley, everyone is fine. I took an omni-blade to the gut and Ty got slammed around, but other than that we're fine. It's you I'm worried about." Z said sitting upright.

The young biotic laid herself back into the bed as she let out a sigh, "Better than before but still in pain."

Miranda began checking her vitals over to make sure that nothing else was wrong. It seemed that everything was returning to normal, she rested her hand on Haley's forehead. _Still warm, but cooling off._ "Ty? Where the hell are you now?"

"Hold on Shepard…And Miller if you ever go after Aya, her daughter, any of my friends or family ever again, this will be the least of your pain."

The raven haired woman turned around at the sound of a man screaming bloody murder from Shepard's omni-tool. Everyone looked wide eyed at her omni-tool including Shepard, "Maybe I should've answered this privately." She muttered.

The screaming faded as there were footsteps heard, "Excuse me, pardon me, don't mind me just coming through. Ouch asshole, I stubbed my toe on your body." The sound of a kick was heard leaving Jack and Z with a smirk and Miranda and Shepard still staring in awe at her orange omni-tool, "Sorry about that. Miller needed to toss some wood in his fire and he left his whole hand in it for a little too long and then his unconscious cronies got in the way on my way out. Anyway, what's up?"

"Ty you've got some unresolved personal issues." Haley called from her bed.

The purple eyed brother chuckled slightly, "You don't know the half of it. Great to hear your voice Haley, you had me worried back in Ortega."

"Sorry." She replied sheepishly.

"We gotta stop meeting like we have the last two times, it gets my blood boiling."

* * *

Ty walked at his normal pace on the way back to the Normandy as he made his way through the markets and crowds of people. On the way to teach Miller a valuable lesson in not leaving your hand in a fire too long, Nyreen had met up with him and the pair caught up as they walked. She hadn't changed much since the last time they had spoken, still the noble Turian that did what she could for others when she could. It was one of the similarities the pair shared and one of the things that had attracted them to one another. Whatever trouble she was getting into or avoiding was uncertain of, but he hoped for her own sake that she would stay safe.

The galaxy would benefit from some more nobility.

"I'll do my best to get better at fighting so it doesn't happen again." Haley responded bringing him from his thoughts.

"I know you will. You're a fighter Haley, you always have been."

His friend had proven how much of a fighter she was through the many trials she had faced in recent months. She was stronger now than she ever had been physically and mentally. Time and training would only make her stronger. "Shepard, I need to get back to healing her before we have to depart." Miranda said.

"Alright, I'll leave you be. Jack, are you going back down to your quarters?" Shepard asked.

"Gonna go shoot the shit out of that crate with the Illusive Man on it actually." Jack responded with a smirk in her tone.

The purple eyed warrior couldn't help but smirk himself. It was good that the crate was getting some use; it was as close as they were all going to get to shooting the Illusive Man right now. As he thought about the crate being used he remembered that there were guns waiting for specific people in the Cargo Hold. "While you're down there Jack, your pistol I customized should be on my workbench. Just take yours. The others are for the rest of the crew and if you want another just ask." Ty explained.

"Mind designing a shotgun?" Jack asked.

"After I finish the ones I have in mind for Thane, Samara, Zaeed and Kasumi…sure why the hell not."

"Okay. Later Ty. Talk later Shepard?" The tattooed biotic asked.

"Yeah I'll be around." The N7 responded.

It was silent on Shepard's end for more than a few seconds as he walked. Had it been a normal silence he wouldn't have been bothered by it, but this silence was deafening. The conversation awaiting them when he got back was definitely going to be different from any other they had had. He waited a few more seconds until couldn't take the silence anymore, "So am I just in your ear now?"

"Yes. Are you almost back here?"

He had covered a lot of distance while speaking to them and if he kept pace he'd be arriving momentarily. "Yeah, about another minute or so. Where do you want to talk?" Ty inquired.

Another deafening silence followed that sent more unease through the purple eyed warrior. This really was a talk he was not looking forward to. "Is my cabin okay with you?"

"Yeah that's fine." At least she would be on her own home court where she was comfortable, that went a long way for sensitive talks. It was probably why Shepard had most of their talks in his room. "I'll stop by to see my brother, Haley and Ria and Aya. After that I'll probably get my new arm armor off since I don't want to walk around wearing it, but I'll see you up there afterwards."

"What's the deal with Aya and Ria anyways?"

"Meaning where are they going?" He asked as he exited the markets. He really didn't know. All his time from the Normandy to Miller and back he hadn't spared to much thought to exactly how they were going to be transported back to the Citadel. "Aya's going to take her in until Ria gets back on her feet. As for how they are getting there, I don't know. I haven't figured out how to get them to the Citadel without having to place my trust in some crappy ship taking them there."

Shepard was silent for a few moments as she contemplated the conundrum he was facing, "Ria has her child to care for and if this Kelham guy is as dangerous as he appears then he might be able to pirate the ship."

She was right, but it did little to soothe how Ty felt about the situation. He had come to that conclusion himself before and hearing it from someone else didn't make it feel any better. "Yeah. I'll see if I can get an old contact or something to give them a lift or see if Braum has a friend who he trusts."

Braum probably knew someone trustworthy that would keep it under the radar of Kelham. "We'll talk about it when you get back."

"Among other things." Ty murmured. "I'll see you shortly Shepard."

"Be safe Ty."

"And you cheer up…seriously Shepard, cheer up. You're making me worry and I'm not good at the whole worrying thing." He replied with unease creeping into his voice.

"We need to talk Ty."

The purple eyed warrior sighed, "I always hated that line. I'll see you shortly."


	81. Chapter 80

Chapter 80

We Need to Talk

Ty spent an hour speaking to Haley and Z about the fight, what the plan was at the moment and questions about their full recovery time. For the moment they both weren't going to be fighting any time soon for obvious reasons, but both were recovering quickly thanks to Braum for the elder brother and then the Normandy medical team for the injured duo.

Being the younger brother that Ty was, he couldn't help but point out some new things he had seen forming between Miranda and his brother as they were both standing in the room. The Cerberus Operative went to the defense which didn't help her case while the green eyed brother just smirked triumphantly and remained silent.

They had yet to talk alone as far as the purple eyed brother knew yet he couldn't help but wonder if his brother had joined minds to her when no one was looking to get in some conversation. By the looks they had traded one another afterwards it seemed the assumption was correct, either that or seeing his brother nearly die had broken many of the reservations the Cerberus Operative held.

After speaking with the injured pair the purple eyed warrior found himself speaking to three of the four Asari. Alia was roaming the Normandy Crew Quarters with a limping Kasumi, who had taken a liking to the surprisingly happy child, while the mothers and Iliana chatted with Ty. The thief and Alia apparently shared some interests in books which was the major hit off between the two, that and Kasumi just being Kasumi.

Seeing Ria again in a non-hostile way wasn't as hard as the former mercenary had expected it to be, but his brother was a different story. The elder brother voiced his concern to him about trusting her again despite knowing full well it was really Kelham who was to blame. All in all it was just Z holding a grudge until he was positive there would be no more incidents.

In a way Ty wished he'd let it go but he also knew that his brother had good reason for it. He had been in his brother's shoes almost today when he saw his brother "die" right in front of his eyes. Z would probably move on eventually but it wasn't the younger brother's place to do anything about it except try to get his friendship with Ria back to normal.

During their original talk outside of the Normandy things didn't get really heated, but Ty had let her know of her seeds of doubt and how he felt about her betrayal–not that it wasn't pretty obvious.

He learned that her daughter's father was not him for starters but also took nothing to do with either of them anymore. The warrior didn't prod for more information because he could see pain in her eyes that the relationship had caused along with the pain she felt for cheating on him and not being able to tell him due to a lack of courage.

While he spoke with Ria, Aya and Iliana he saw Thane, Garrus, Mordin and Zaeed all on separate occasions, seeing Zaeed though was a good laugh. The veteran mercenary had done a double take before he realized who had commented about his good eye getting foggy and calling him an old man.

In response he retorted, _"God damn you're still fuckin' alive?"_ It was a snarky comment more than really questioning his being alive since he had helped during the fight for Ortega, but he didn't stop there. _"What in the hell are you doing on a god damned Cerberus ship? You gettin' paid to kill them from the inside or somethin'?"_ The old veteran paused a moment but before Ty could answered he continued, _"How well is it payin'?"_

Reminiscing with the old man again was entertaining to say the least. The former mercenary would never say he missed him to his face unless he could follow it with a punch line about his eye, but it was good seeing him again. After Kasumi and Alia got back from visiting Garrus in the main battery the thief was called into the Med-Bay to look at her injuries. It was then Ty took it upon himself to leave the four Asari to themselves so he could get unarmored and finally go see Shepard.

To be honest, the purple eyed warrior was actually dreading the conversation they were about to have. Their short conversation about her wanting him to promise to kill her if she ever showed any signs of indoctrination had been bad enough, but now they were actually going to go in further depth about it.

Never could he really recall dreading a conversation with the sapphire eyed beauty, but he was now. He was genuinely worried about her and why this suddenly came up.

_Things always go sideways when they start getting good_, he let out a sigh as he entered the elevator, _well let's hope this isn't about to be some really bad conversation that will make me dread ever deciding that now was a good time for trying again with love. _Ty hit the button in the elevator to Shepard's quarters and the elevator doors closed allowing him to slightly groan privately at the situation he was in.

The tattooed fighter had promised her and himself that he wouldn't lose her like he lost Ka'Reena and that included losing her to indoctrination or him having to kill her. He cared a lot about Shepard; hell love was actually starting to sound more right every time he thought about them being together.

She was so caring, and beautiful and smart and could have any person in the galaxy if she wanted but she chose him for some strange reason and was so hell bent on making things work between them. Ty also wanted things to work between them, he wanted something to finally go right and stay right, not go off and get screwed up like everything else had.

There was so much about the woman that was tantalizing, her touch, her smile, her eyes, her personality, everything about her made the former mercenary want her and want everything to work out for the best. He saw happiness with her and even though it was a long road to it through Collectors and Reapers, he could see it like a single bright star in the night sky.

When the doors opened the sound brought Ty out of his thoughts and to what lay ahead of him. _We'll solve this_; he thought as he walked forward to her door, _there won't be anything to worry about_.

As he reached the door he knocked on it, not wanting to just barge into her sanctuary like a barbarian, "Come in." Her muffled voice called. Ty tapped the green holo opening the door and walked in only to not see the woman he cared for in sight. He approached her desk where he spotted her raven black hair draped down her back and onto her blue wifebeater covering her angel wings on the couch.

Shepard was hunched over looking at something in her hands as the former mercenary got down the stairs, "Hey." He greeted.

The object in her hands was a frame that he noticed as the one with some slideshow of her and who he assumed was Elizabeth. "Give me strength Lizzy…I'm sorry…for everything." Shepard whispered under her breath. Ty barely caught it but acted like he didn't knowing it was a personal moment for her leaving him to sit down on the couch adjacent to her on the edge of it. From his seat he was close enough to comfort her yet still not close enough to see the picture in case she wasn't ready to tell him.

Shepard put the frame down and remained hunched over with her hands covering her eyes, _definitely not the best start._ The tattooed fighter stayed silent as he watched her breathe, _maybe now wasn't the best time_. He crossed his legs and sat waiting for anything, a get out or a stay or really anything, but he didn't want to push.

She was one of the strongest people he knew, but even with all her strength and strong will she was still human and had her limits emotionally, mentally and physically. Watching him get slammed around probably didn't do anything good for her either. _Well tally points off for me already._

A few moments of silence passed before she let her hands fall from her face, the normally strong woman looked weary and offered a weak smile, "Hey." She greeted finally.

Ty looked at her with care, "Hey. You still want to talk?"

Much to his surprise the tired woman nodded slightly in response. She was never one to shirk from her duty or a conversation that was needed. "Yeah…I'm sorry for putting you on the spot with that promise back on Omega, but after what happened today with Samara's daughter…" Shepard paused again and Ty could see a slightly haunted look take its place on her features. _What the hell happened today? She looks like she took on a Thresher Maw alone._

The long haired man uncrossed his legs and scooted himself closer to Shepard, but still adjacent to her, so he could put his hand on her knee, "Hey, whatever happened down there isn't ever going to happen again, okay?"

He didn't miss Shepard tense up at his touch and for some strange reason it struck him hard. She had never tensed up by his touch nor could he remember himself tensing up to hers. As he was about to retract his hand, the weary Commander relaxed and grabbed his left hand with both of hers and put it against her face. _What did Samara's daughter do?_ Her eyes remained closed as Ty let his thumb slowly move up and down on her cheek in an attempt to get her to feel better. "I need you to make sure that no one ever controls my mind again Ty and if they do… do not let me hurt anyone." Pain was clear in her voice.

It was definitely a better promise than killing her but not one he was going to take just yet; he needed to figure out what had shattered the strong woman. When she had looked at him initially the former mercenary had seen so much change in her eyes, the normally bright sapphire jewels were shrouded in darkness with little to no sign of the woman he cared deeply for holding on anymore.

The look she held had stared at him in the mirror many years ago and there was no way he was going to let her fall down that dark path as he had. "Shepard, you would never allow yourself to hurt anyone you cared about. Secondly, the only mind that is ever going to be allowed inside yours is mine if I have any say." Ty said firmly.

Her cheek moved slightly in a smile but it soon faded, _almost got her back with that one. Just have to keep trying until she gets out of this. I won't let her push me away as I had pushed everyone I cared about away._ "When I was with Morinth trying to stall long enough for Samara to get there she…ended up straddling me and then her eyes went black…all my thoughts were being turned against me and into wanting her. I allowed her to put her hands on me and…I'm sorry."

_Hmm, it sounds like the Asari mind suckers have more power than I thought_. Ty was surprised by the ability that Morinth had. It sounded like his own ability to rip information, just instead of ripping information you were hypnotizing the person into believing the thoughts you wanted them to think were their own. A great tactic for the type of hunter she was but not something he was going to try to learn himself. Ripping information was a line he wasn't fond of crossing and changing someone's thoughts was just as bad.

What he was more surprised at was that Shepard felt so guilty about what happened, it also explained her early promise she wanted him to make. Why would she feel so guilty when obviously it was Morinth that had screwed with her mind? "You feel like you betrayed me, don't you?" He queried.

The woman nodded slightly, "You and everyone I swore to protect and do better for…I'm so sorry Ty." Ty felt liquid hit his hand. _Morinth you are so lucky you are dead or I would find you and kill you. _Every fiber in his being yelled to him to grab her and pull her into a hug, but she let go of his hand and let her hands drop to her legs. The purple eyed warrior let his hand drop despite knowing it would give her the wrong intention, but it was the only way for him to proceed to get her back on her feet after knocking herself to the floor emotionally and mentally.

There were a lot of defining moments to relationships where your decision would lead down one of two roads; one road was the end of the relationship and moving on leaving someone heartbroken. The other road continued the relationship and worked through the hardships.

This moment was Ty's to choose the direction of and to him it wasn't a question any longer of where this relationship was headed. In this moment he knew that his decision would cement all the foundation they had put since they started talking, kissing and flirting more. This decision was him deciding that he was indeed in for the long term and he wasn't going to allow some Asari brain sucker ruin that.

Ty stood up, still not giving the right intention to the woman who had tears running down her face, "So." He started. Shepard looked up at him with tears running down her cheeks and sadness etched into her features like a carving. "You believe that after everything we've talked about that I am going to allow some Asari brain sucker to knock you down and then just walk away." The long haired man moved in front of her and put both his hands out for her to grab, "I told you I was always going to be the one to pick you up and crack a joke about you falling, take my hands Shepard."

"I-"

Now was his time to interrupt, "Shepard, from day one what we have has been your decision to either keep going or stop. I'll be here for you as a friend if you want but if you want to continue down the path we started, if you still want to give us a try, take my hands."

"I want to continue Ty. I really do but…" She shook her head slightly as she looked down at her hands, "I feel like I let you down and I feel like that's all I'll do to you in the future is just…let you down."

If that's what she saw then it was time to inform her of what he saw, "Really? You really see yourself letting me down? You who took the time to get to know me for who I was instead of believing the propaganda? You who worked your way past my barriers, which I might add was a damn solid fortress, and brought me back from the hell I inflicted on myself for years?"

He had brought her from looking down at her hands to looking him in the eyes by what he was saying, apparently he was strumming her heart strings, "You think you'll let me down when you have worked yourself into my very heart and soul. That's the future you see? I guess I need to work on my communication then because I've obviously been giving off the wrong signals."

She chuckled slightly at his comment, "You want to know what I see?" Ty asked. She nodded slightly, "When I think about the future I see something grand. I see myself with a woman worth fighting my damned hardest for still going out on adventures and making great memories every day, someone I will follow to the depths of hell no matter the results because she makes me believe."

The former mercenary crouched down to her level and looked through her eyes into her soul, "I see myself with her because I've come to cherish seeing her every day, whether it be seeing her smile or laugh or seeing her take down a group of mercenaries who think their hot shit." He stood up and put his hands back out, "That's what I see."

That moment when Shepard looked up at Ty he knew she was back and that they had a long road together that would either end with the Reapers or go on far beyond that. "She sounds incredible." She said with a smile on her face and in her voice.

The purple eyed warrior shrugged slightly, "Eh, she has her bullheaded moments when you have to break through that thick skull to make her see what you've been trying to show her…but she's worth it."

His love interest's smile grew, "Sounds incredibly like a guy I know."

"I bet he is just a fucking stud."

Shepard chuckled a little and put her hands into Ty's and squeezed them as he gripped hers and pulled her up. "I meant all that Shepard and not just in a pep talk way. I am going to fight my damned hardest so there can be a future with us after the Reapers."

She hugged him tightly with her arms around the back of his neck as she pressed her head into his chest while he hugged her back, "I know you will and I'll be fighting right alongside you." Shepard said quietly.

Ty turned his head and kissed the side of her forehead that was facing him; _we'll make it through this._ She pulled off his hood then leaned up into a gentle kiss that he reciprocated. As they parted his love interest rested her head back into his chest while he rubbed her back, "I'm sorry for today. All hell broke loose in that district and I had held onto some of that information longer than I should have. I'm sorry for endangering not only my life and my brothers but everyone else on this ship as well." Ty said genuinely.

"Just a normal day in the life of Tyler Rhoddy, huh?" He could feel her smile into his chest causing him to smile as well knowing she was coming back around. Shepard let go of him and took a small step back as she put up finger quotations "Tyler Rhoddy has died many times."

"…Damn that Batarian for telling stories." He muttered.

"Oh yes damn the man who healed you and your brother, that makes sense." She wisecracked.

The purple eyed warrior pulled her back into a hug only to let his hands move down to her hips and begin to tickle her where he had found the last time he did. Shepard yelped with laughter as she began trying to break away from him but he had her exactly where he needed her to not allow her any escape. "You are cruel." Shepard managed to get out before Ty got her again making her jump a little into him.

He shrugged as he picked her up bridal style, "Maybe, but you still enjoy it."

"Where are you taking me?" The N7 asked while laughing a little.

"To the bed, _Commander_." Ty said without missing a beat as he made his way around the coffee table.

"Are you attempting something, _Specialist_?"

Once he reached the edge of the bed he stopped and looked to the sapphire eyed beauty, "Nope. Not while you call me Specialist at least."

He looked down at the bed then back at the woman in his arms. She looked at the bed then back at him as she realized his line of thought turning her look into glare, "Don't you dar-"

He dropped her onto the bed.

The former mercenary couldn't help but chuckle to himself about dropping Shepard. It wasn't every day you saw the great Commander Shepard disoriented because she was dropped ungracefully onto a mattress. Shepard got her bearings then looked up to him with a raised eyebrow, "Was that necessary?" She asked feigning agitation.

"Necessary?" Ty shook his head, "No. Funny?" He nodded his head with a smirk, "Definitely and totally worth it for the Specialist nickname."

Shepard readjusted herself as she sat up on the edge of the bed where he was standing, "Maybe you shouldn't call me '_Commander_' then and just say my actual first name."

_Hmm, what the hell is her first name?_ After everything he had gone through from the vids he had seen of her to the documents he read, the tattooed fighter couldn't remember ever coming across her name. Not even an initial that he could start guessing off of. Ty racked his brain and all his memory of everything he read about for a name but came up blank and judging on the look on Shepard's face she realized he didn't know. "Uh right, do I get a hint?"

"You don't know my first name?" She questioned in a quizzical manner.

The warrior scratched his head as he thought, "Uhhhh…hmm…nope, can't say I do."

Shepard grabbed him by his tank top and pulled him forward making him follow her onto the bed and land on his hands in an attempt to stop himself from landing full force on her.

He had not been prepared for the pull.

She noticed his unbalanced posture and turned him onto his back then got on top of him. Her eyes still had red around them and there were still glimmers of tears in them despite this turnaround that they had gone through.

Behind her eyes though he could see her fire again, an intoxicating fire mixed with the smell of strawberries. "How do you not know?" She queried, apparently she was as confused as he was.

"I don't know if you saw the vids you were in or seen the written down shit I have but they all talk about you as '_Commander Shepard_' not Commander enter-first-name-here Shepard." He explained and moved his hand in the open space between them horizontally as he said enter-first-name-here.

It was odd that they never had mentioned her first name but she was a hero and an icon so people needed a symbol, not a first name. "Vanessa."

"Definitely wouldn't have been my first guess."

She smirked slightly, "What was your first guess?"

"Sapphire."

Shepard shook her head with a full smile, "Wow."

He didn't have a first guess and trying to guess her name would be like trying to guess what the exact hour and day she had her first kiss. "Yep that's me, Mr. Wow and his partner in crime Sapphire." He said with a smirk.

"How about no."

"Not even a little?"

"No."

Ty crossed his arms and pretended to pout, "Fine, be that way." She leaned down to him and planted a kiss on his lips; it was really a peck since she retracted herself before he could really savor it. "We still need to talk, don't we?" He asked.

His love interest sighed and gave a nod, "Yeah. You want to talk like this or back on the couch?" Shepard asked.

"Why not just let me lean against your pillows and headboard and you can lean against me between my legs so we can be comfortable…and so I can comfort you better."

Shepard nodded and un-straddled him allowing him to sit up and kick off his shoes before scooting back to the headboard. He opened his legs so she could sit in-between and get comfortable. She got herself comfortable then rested her head against his chest, the sapphire eyed beauty grabbed his hands and rested them on her stomach and there they sat while they spoke. Their first subject tackled was Elizabeth Armstrong and their relationship before Akuze and how she gave her life to allow Shepard to escape.

That led to how she told her sister Taylor and how she lost connection with her while she hunted down Saren. Shepard had allowed more tears to fall during the conversation at the reminder of all the pain she had felt then while the former mercenary did his best to comfort her and wipe away the tears when he could. Ty learned her nickname Elizabeth had given her, Nessa. It was a shortened version of her name, but he knew that the nickname was not his to use.

As the conversation ended they sat in a comfortable silence for about ten minutes before Shepard began speaking again but the conversation was about how she thought he should handle the transportation of the four Asari down in the crew quarters. She gave Ty the option of letting them stay aboard since they would be reaching the Citadel in five days after stopping in a few systems to deal with something for Zaeed as well as Tali being accused of treason. He had to stop her when he heard treason, "Whoa whoa whoa, treason! What the fuck?!"

"My sentiments exactly." Shepard responded quietly.

Anger began to build within the purple eyed warrior; this was the second time a Quarian he cared for was being tried for something ridiculous. _"Who the fuck do you think you are?! Trying to exile an innocent family over what? Me and my relationship with their daughter?! She did more for your species than any of you fuckers have done. All you do is piss and moan about how the Geth ruined your lives instead of doing something productive so you no longer have to live in these ships!"_

Ty shook his head getting the memory from his mind, "If Han'Gerrel and Zaal'Koris have any part in this I swear I'm going to break their face masks." He said bitterly.

"Ty." Shepard chided. The former mercenary remained silent causing his love interest to look back to him with worry, "Something like this has happened before?"

"They tried to exile Ka'Reena's family because of Ka'Reena's association with me."

"Oh..." She looked shock at his statement but looked for him to continue, "What happened?"

The former mercenary remembered the day well, as if it had happened yesterday. He remembered jumping all over Gerrel's and Koris's politically bullshit forcing them to back down with threats and making them look like a bunch of asses. "I defended her family and Ka'Reena. Told them they could shove that exile up their ass because Ka'Reena showed the value of the Quarian people to many people when I knew her. Berated them for their childish antics, told them that their stupidity is the reason why people frown upon the Quarian race because all they do is care about themselves instead of doing something to change for the better like Ka'Reena had."

"That wasn't it was it?" Shepard asked.

Ty shook his head; no he had gone further than that. "No. I told them if they could get their heads out of their asses and start seeing the Geth as a people and stop seeing them as an enemy they might be able to get their home world back and I continued to jump down their throats as they tried to interrupt me until they finally shut up. Promised them if they did exile her family they would pay dearly but didn't tell them what I would do. Shala'Raan, another Admiral, talked down the other two I had been going after since I was visibly angry and she wasn't sure if I was bullshitting or not."

"Were you?"

In the rage set mind he had been in he was capable of anything. Would he have done something that could cause the mass genocide of a whole race, probably not but the threat was enough. _I'm probably a damn terrorist to them now…at least her family didn't get exiled. Not like I spend time on the Flotilla. _Ty shrugged to himself "Yeah since they didn't exile her family or Ka'Reena."

"And if they did?"

"Didn't happen so I don't know what I would have done. Probably best to leave it as that." The silence that followed was once again a comfortable one instead of the deafening one that had happened earlier.

Ty found himself running his fingertips gently along the N7s stomach feeling her muscles and tracing the lines that formed her abs. "Those Admirals had no right to exile her family." She stated.

"I know. Quarian's are an emotional and verbal race because of being trapped in those suits. Sometimes they act but don't think about how ridiculous they are being. Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to show them how stupid they are being. Raan was only there to help defend her family, the other two were there to battle with each other and exile them. I was there to kick their asses for their stupidity."

"I'm sure Ka'Reena would've been proud of what you did for her family."

"She'd have done the same thing had it been switched, she was very verbal when it came to Quarian infighting." He evaded the compliment. His Quarian girlfriend was not one to remain silent and let the others pass around stupid ideas. The Admirals were probably ecstatic when she had left for her pilgrimage.

The Commander looked back at him with an amused glint in her eyes, "She liked kicking ass and taking names?"

A smirk formed on his face, "She was like that when I found her. I can't be fully blamed."

"I'm going to use you as my scapegoat when I'm yelling at Alliance Admirals in the future and the Council. 'What did Cerberus do to you?' 'It wasn't them it was that Alliance Criminal I swear, his personality rubbed off on me.'" Shepard imitated the Admirals and herself.

He couldn't help but snort humorously at the idea, _like she really needs me as a scapegoat for that. Shepard will kick their asses into shape if she has to. _"I'll take all the credit for making you fun."

She stared at him with a challenging eyebrow, "Hey, I was fun before you."

True she probably had been, but that wouldn't make for a funny joke. The purple eyed warrior nodded, "Yep and I made you more fun."

"Na uh."

"Yeah huh."

"No way, I was totally this fun before I met you." She challenged.

"Nah, totally my corruption." He responded with a smirk firm on his face.

Shepard turned away from Ty with a huff and muttered, "I was totally fun before I met you."

Seeing his love interest get defensive made his smirk turn into a fond smile. He kissed up her shoulder and nibbled down on her neck causing her to gasp in shock, he then sucked on the area for a moment then kissed his way up to her ear, "Don't get so defensive Vanessa, it's the first sign of guilt."

"Don't make me prove you wrong." Shepard responded trying to ignore his actions as he began kissing back down her shoulder while his hands glided their way across her stomach.

"Ah, but if you have to prove me wrong then that means anything you show me would be my corruption so I would be right."

He could tell that he had out played her. Add in his distracting technique and she was having trouble trying to continue her argument with him since she was battling against her desire to turn around and kiss him, amongst other plans. "Hmm, but there is something you can't take blame for because we have yet to explore it." She had lust laced in her tone, "I could prove to you that I was fun and I would be right." Shepard grabbed Ty's hands and guided them out from under her shirt and back onto her the clothing.

The lack of her skin under his hands was saddening, as great as her plan sounded Ty knew two things were bound to happen. The first was his brother was going to be leaving with Haley soon so that meant an interruption any second now or the Asari's would call for him to figure out where they were going.

On the other spectrum for his personal feelings it just didn't seem right to do anything after her emotional breakdown. It'd be like taking advantage of her emotions or at least that was what it felt like. "Shepard, I'd like to entertain that thought more, but I feel like I'd be taking advantage of you. No matter what you say, you are still burdened by today."

Shepard turned around to face him with her sapphire eyes looking directly into his purple ones, "You wouldn't be, Ty." Before he could retort she leaned in and kissed him on his lips parting them with her tongue and beginning to explore a more passionate lip lock. As the kiss deepened her hands found their way to his face and Ty found his running up her back.

While he was thoroughly enjoying the moment and kiss they were sharing, the warrior was also anticipating the interruption. He didn't want to be completely bummed out by losing himself completely, this way when it did happen he wouldn't be fully surprised.

The N7 guided her hands down to the bottom of her shirt as she began to take it off in the midst of kissing Ty. He found her hands and helped guide the shirt up and over her head as it revealed her torso which only now had a bra covering it.

The purple eyed warrior found himself examining his love interest's body noticing the small bruises she had gained from combat. He leaned in and kissed the few she had gaining a throaty pleasured pain hum of approval as she ran her fingers through his hair gently. A shiver made its way down his spine at the simple feeling while he continued to kiss his way up her well-toned body.

It was almost odd that there hadn't been an interruption yet, maybe there wouldn't be and they had time to get past this point and at least get Shepard to release some pent up tension.

His love interest grabbed at the edge of his shirt and started trying to get it off as she looked over her shoulder, "EDI, no interruptions from the crew and do not tell them what we are doing. If anything say we are talking, got it?"

"Understood, Commander." EDI answered.

Ty raised an eyebrow as he helped her take his tank top off, "Thinking ahead are we?"

"Damn right." Shepard tossed his tank top off the bed, "I want you all to myself and no one is going to spoil it for me." There was a hunger in her eyes that he had only ever seen partially but now it looked like a wild animal was about to get unleashed, _hmm makes for hellcats in bed she said, maybe she wasn't kidding_. She came in for another kiss but he was ready this time and met her lips with his and then their tongues met once again. Their kiss started out fast but soon they slowed down savoring each second, taste and moment they were together.

He ran his hands down her shoulders and to her breasts letting the tips of his fingers glide down the bare part that her bra did not cover then down the cup of her bra. He let his hands continue downwards onto her abs as they broke off their kiss to allow her to catch her breath while he kissed the side of her neck and shoulder area all the while running his fingers back around her sides to her back.

Her hands moved to her waist and began unbuttoning her jeans and then proceeded to guide Ty's to push them further off of her butt, he got her jeans down to her thighs when she broke off all contact to fall backwards onto her back and continue to get her jeans all the way off. The purple eyed warrior helped her get them off then tossed them to the side. _Still no interruption? Hmm…_ His love interest grabbed his hands as he got between her legs and pulled him back down to her.

They both smiled intimately as they met each other face to face. Ty ran his hand up Shepard's right leg feeling her bare skin on his hand. Her skin was so smooth and the smell of strawberry's had become more intoxicating as he inhaled it with each breath. Her legs, like the rest of her body, were well-toned with muscle that he could feel as his hand glided across her leg.

He N7s right knee rested against his side as he moved back down to kiss her. She held his right hand with their fingers intertwined and her hand pressed against the bed. His love interest's grip was strong as if she didn't want to let go of him thinking that if she did he'd float away. Ty kissed her neck and sucked on it slightly as his tongue drew imperfect circles on her skin only for her other hand to stop him and guide his face back to hers.

They kissed again, passionately, until Ty broke it off to start planting kisses down her chest, on each breast, further down her stomach and on each bruise he saw with each getting a moan of approval. He kissed down to her waist and to her right thigh slowly kissing down it while Shepard ran her fingers back into his hair. As she "guided" him towards her waist again he saw a blue hologram pop up at the other end of the room, _seriously?_

"Shepard, Z and Haley wish to depart and would like to see Ty before they do so. Also Aya and Ria wish to speak to Ty about how they are leaving as well." EDIs synthesized voice called. _And there is the interruption. Well it wasn't the crew, nice loophole EDI._

Shepard let out an agitated groan; clearly she had other plans and had forgotten about both groups requiring their attention. "Can't they wait a while longer?"

"They wish to depart as soon as possible to not hinder our mission." EDI responded.

There was a slight childish glint in the Commander's eyes which caused Ty to begin stifling his laugh at her expense. "Ugh, fineeeee. We'll be down in a minute." She groaned.

"I will inform them."

Shepard crossed her arms under her breast and looked at Ty as she said, "Damn them."

Ty smirked, "Damning the man who saved my life, that makes sense." He wisecracked.

She stared at him like he was no help at all whatsoever, "We're finishing this tonight."

She wasn't giving a choice; he was staying with her while the others used his room.


	82. Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Not a Toy

Ty stood with his brother and Haley at the airlock as they got ready to say goodbye to each other for what was probably the last time for a while. They needed to go back home and recover more while the Normandy and her crew had some business to finish among themselves before taking on the Collectors.

Still, it was saddening to have to say goodbye again.

"You two sure you are feeling alright for travel? I mean you two did get pretty beat up?" He asked.

His brother just smiled at him in reassurance that he was going to be just fine. "I'll be fine Ty, don't worry about me. That asshole didn't kill me and I've faced down worse odds with less backup." Z answered.

With a faint nod the purple eyed warrior turned to their female compatriot. Haley shrugged in response to his questioning look, "Can't say I've been through worse, but I'll be okay. The doctors took really good care of me."

She was right of course. Ty could attest to how well the docs on the Normandy worked from personal experience. Never once had they failed to find a treatment or procedure that would fix whatever injury he or the others had. "Doctor Chakwas and Miranda like to do their best to help." Shepard said as she walked up from the hall.

The three nodded in greeting to the Commander before she took her place next to Ty. She was wearing her black knee length shorts and her blue wifebeater this time instead of her jeans. The N7 had refused to put them back on after declaring that they were continuing where they had left off after seeing his brother and Haley off.

Despite it still being unusual to see Shepard in her gym shorts, Ty thought she still looked gorgeous. Everything about her from the way her hair was laying with a few strands draped over her shoulders and resting on her chest, to her beautiful genuine smile and sapphire eyes kept him captivated. He just wanted to boost her up against the wall and kiss her, but he pushed the thoughts down and focused back on his brother and former girlfriend, "So Shepard, did we _interrupt _something?" Z asked with a knowing look.

The younger brother smirked a little as a faint blush coated the Commander's cheeks, "We were just talking about some things I needed to get off my chest."

"Uh-huh. Yeah, Ty and I did a lot of _talking _when we were together too." Haley said with a smile.

Normally Ty would have left her there for the fun of seeing her blush and try to defend herself, but the emotions she had shown back in her room stopped him from doing so. Right now she needed a hand, "Seriously though, we were talking about some important relationship stuff." He said trying to ease Shepard's embarrassment.

Z examined his brother's look for a few moments than nodded in understanding that he was serious. "Everything okay?"

Shepard nodded silently still trying to get her blush to go away as well as not letting her emotions get the best of her. "Just some things bothering her, but I was doing my best to help her through it." Ty answered for her.

"Then I know you were doing a great job after everything we went through." Haley said thoughtfully. Z nodded in agreement with Haley. They knew Ty couldn't ever stand seeing anyone upset and when it was someone he was with he always tried his best to get them through whatever it was whether it was relationship stuff or just outside forces.

"Well in that case we'll get out of your hair. Besides, I heard you're heading out to the Valhallan Threshold cluster to the Raheel-Leyya system, you got a day or two of travel depending on if you stop in any other system."

That was where the Flotilla was located at the moment and where the trial for Tali would take place. _I just hope they don't do anything stupidly rash before we get there. The last thing I want to see is Tali being exiled._ "You guys still got a little ways to go, but hopefully soon it'll be over and then we can prepare for the biggest fight of our lives." Z said.

"We'll be back in no time. Don't forget what we talked about, alright? Don't want you to miss out on the fun." Ty said. Z nodded and took a step forward then pulled his brother into a hug; Ty embraced his brother tightly as if it was the last hug they'd ever give each other. "Stay safe. Take care of Haley for me."

"I will. Keep yourself and this crew safe."

Ty nodded to himself, there was no way he was going to let anyone harm this crew. Not while he drew breath. He let go of his brother with the intent to see him again with the whole crew intact, "I will." Haley walked forward and gave him a big hug as well which he reciprocated. The younger brother rubbed her back slightly and said, "Stay safe for me, alright Haley. And keep up your training, just don't hurt yourself."

"I'll do my best, stay safe for me okay."

"I'll do my best."

"That is what I am afraid of." Haley joked.

Ty chuckled slightly as Z reached his hand over to Shepard; she shook his hand as he said, "Good luck Shepard. Don't let the weight of the galaxy get to you. Life is too short to spend it getting stressed out of your mind. We'll kill the Reapers don't you worry, so enjoy your time and enjoy my brother."

Shepard nodded, "Thank you and I'll do my best to put that into practice."

His brother grinned with amusement in his eyes, "I hope for Ty's sake you do."

The younger brother rolled his eyes slightly and shook his head with a smirk; _she completely set herself up for that one._ Shepard blushed once again at the comment as she let go of Z's hand, before she could let her hand drop Haley grabbed her hand with both of hers and stepped forward.

She looked down at the Commander's hand which was reminiscent of their goodbye when he and her went their separate ways, "I wanted to thank you for what you've done for not only me and Z, but also for Ty. It means the world to me that you were able to get him back from where he was and for him to still be standing here with all of us." Haley looked up to Shepard and continued, "Ty is a special person to me and he always will be, but he is yours now Shepard, never let him go." The biotic let go of the N7s hand and wrapped her arms around her neck as she hugged the taller woman.

Shepard hugged her back with a small smile forming on her face, "I won't."

The young biotic let go of the Commander and began to step away before stopping herself with a look Ty could notice from miles away, it was her "_oh fuck it_" look.

And sure enough.

"Oh fuck it." Haley leaned in and gave Shepard a peck on the lips stunning the first human Spectre, "That was for helping save my life twice. Better than an autograph too." She said as she came down from the peck.

"Not for saving Ty's?" Z asked with a smirk.

He wasn't the only one with a smirk though; his younger brother also had a huge smirk on his face as he watched his current girlfriend try to make sense of what had happened while his former was more or less nonchalant about everything. "No, the things I'd do for that we will not speak of…ever."

Shepard had a deep red blush left over from the kiss, but Haley had a slight red tint to her cheeks as well, "It's time for us to go then. I'll send you a message when we get back, I'll also send that picture I took of Elnora when I do so you can show everyone."

Ty had nearly forgotten about that but nodded, _wonder how oh so innocent Elnora is enjoying Illium prison._ "Alright, stay safe out there. Love you both."

"Love you."

"Forever and a day Ty." Haley said with a smile.

The former mercenary smiled and watched them walk into the airlock, before the door closed to pressurize the four waved goodbye to one another and then the door closed.

_I'll see you guys soon._

He looked to Shepard; _I still need to go tell our four new passengers their sleeping arrangements before heading up to where I'll be staying._ "Well one last stop for me. You going back up to your room?"

"I'll be up there. Don't take too long." Shepard looked around him, "Joker as soon as Z and Haley are off, get us out of here and start heading to the Valhallan Threshold."

"Aye Aye Commander, any stops in-between?" Joker asked.

"No I want to settle out Tali's treason before they try anything rash."

"Good. Tali doesn't deserve that crap."

The pair left the cockpit and began walking towards the elevator with near identical thought patterns on the situation. It was such a strange accusation to fire at Tali of all people and one that smelled of political ploys just waiting the minute they got on board. _Just have to figure out what their game is and beat them at it. Or just beat some sense into them with threats. Not like my standing with them can get much worse anyways._

Ty's omni-tool opened up allowing EDI to appear on it, "Ty, I have set up a link to the Mess Hall for you so you can relay your message to your friends instead of going down to tell them. When you are ready, you may talk to them." EDI said. _Good plan EDI, I'm sure it'll make Shepard happy and judging on that look she is giving me I think she is telling me to do it now. _

"Alright EDI, I'm ready." He heard Aya's voice talking to who he assumed was probably Ria when he interrupted, "Hey ladies, just to let you know we're going to bring you to the Citadel. It'll be about a five or six day trip since we're going to stop and do some missions during that time, but while you're staying on the Normandy you can use my room to sleep and relax in. If you need anything, ask me or EDI we'll figure something out."

"Thank you Ty and tell Commander Shepard thank you as well. Iliana and I are going to be up for a little while longer, but Ria is going to put Alia to bed. The poor girl is already passed out." Aya answered.

Alia had to be tired with whatever she had gone through and it made Ty happy that he was telling them now so Ria could get her into a proper bed for the first time in a while. _Now comes the recovery phase for both mother and daughter. I just hope some time on the Normandy will be good for both of them._ "Did Uncle Z and Haley leave?" Iliana asked.

"Yup just did." The purple eyed warrior paused for a moment, "…They did say goodbye right?"

"Yep, right before they had EDI get you. Where are you staying if we are using your room?" Iliana asked.

_Man I'm about to give them ammo for their cannon of shit giving. Don't got much choice though. _There was going to be a bombardment of comments for what he was about to say, but he still did, "In Shepard's cabin."

He could practically feel Aya holding back her evil cackling for the ammo just given so easily. "Well, have a good night then Ty. I'm sure you will make the best of these bedding arrangements!" Aya said with a laugh coming on.

"Ha ha ha." He retorted slowly with mock agitation.

"Good night Uncle Ty. We'll see you tomorrow right?" Iliana asked.

"Yep I'll be around. Night ladies and tell Ria good night if she already left."

_That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. _"We will. Night Ty, don't stay up to late!" His friend said before losing herself in a hysterical laugh.

_One of a kind friends…What can you do?_

The Galaxy map area was surprisingly empty as Shepard and Ty rounded it. It was weird not seeing Kelly standing at the terminal or any of the other crew members standing around it, but they had to sleep at some point. _Can't force them to work through both the day and night cycles. Well, actually, I'm pretty sure if the Illusive asshole really wanted to be an even bigger dick than he is he could. _

The pair got into the elevator and Shepard hit the button for her quarters than slowly backed up a few steps while the doors closed. Ty leaned himself against the back wall as he rested his head against it and closed his eyes. It was always great seeing his brother and Haley, but he had wished it would be for longer or that it was with Jessica, Darian and their dad as well just so the whole group was there.

Times like these were always hard to cope with, but thankfully the warrior was amongst friends who made not seeing his family not hurt as bad. All of the squad together made his second family when he was home on the Normandy away from his home. He wondered how things would be after the Collectors were defeated and who would part ways first or if any of them would part. In the end that decision came down to what they ran into during their so called suicide mission and what happened directly after.

When he had joined his intention was to cut loose the moment the mission was over and Haley was safe. Now though things were different. He had grown attached to the squad, the ship and the Commander of said ship and squad. What lay ahead for them all was about as unknown as the Collectors were.

As Ty relaxed a little more he felt gentle fingers run across his forearm, grabbing his attention as they traced designs on him. He opened his eyes and looked to his right where Shepard was leaning against the wall on her shoulder looking at him.

The look she was giving him was of desire which reminded him of what her promise was, he was for releasing her tension but if that's all she wanted to do than he would be fine without. The former mercenary didn't want to use the emotional state she was in to get laid, hell he didn't want to just get laid. He wanted to have their moment when they had a few hours to themselves without having to worry about the fight ahead of them, and now didn't seem like the time for it.

He could barely believe his own thought pattern due to the fact that Shepard was stunning and they both really wanted each other, but he was going to hold off on making love until he felt the time was right. His heart and mind were of the same mind knowing this had to be done right otherwise things could turn down the wrong path. Ty didn't want what they had to turn into an on again off again thing like he had had with Tara so long ago. "You okay?" Shepard asked.

He gave her a faint nod, "Yeah. Saying goodbye isn't ever easy even if it is only for a little while, how about you? You feeling any better?"

She nodded after a moment of pause, "For the most part. I still don't like what almost happened, but I'm just glad you are still with me."

"I wouldn't leave you unless I absolutely had to. That or you decided the Illusive Man was right and joined with him which would pretty much be a buzz kill."

The doors opened and before Ty could push himself off the wall Shepard grabbed his hand and began tugging him slightly as she said, "Well I guess I just have to prove that it won't happen now wont I."

Ty let himself be dragged into her room, but as the door closed he stopped fully and pulled Shepard back to him. They were chest to chest as he moved some of the hair out of her face from the spin he caused. She was damn gorgeous and he was glad to be here with her even if it meant dire consequences for himself down the road. Just being able to be with her was worth whatever hell came next.

"Listen, I know what you want to do and I'm all for it, but I can't do it tonight. Not after how I found you tonight. I know you don't see it as me taking advantage, but it doesn't seem right to me to go completely through with this, so this is what I propose."

He had his hands on her hips as he shifted the N7 to her right so her back was facing the small wall that was a part of her desk and model ship collection then continued, "For tonight I help you blow off some steam so you're pent up sexual tension gets released, but that's it. You don't need to do anything for me except enjoy yourself. When the time is right, I'll be ready to do more than this."

"Are you sure Ty? I don't need to blow off steam I-"

He gently pushed her hips backwards making her walk slowly until her back was against the wall. Ty stared deeply into her eyes, "Shepard you do. Your eyes don't hide the truth from me."

"Maybe I'm just not used to having someone read them so well." She said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

He moved in but before their lips connected he stopped and leaned his forehead on hers, "Well it's good we met when we did then."

"I wouldn't change it for the world." Their lips connected in a slow passionate kiss that each savored. As they broke off the kiss, Ty grabbed Shepard's hands and backed away from the wall, "What do you have planned for me my faithful Specialist?"

"My dear Commander if I told you then it would ruin the fun of the surprise, now wouldn't it? Come on let's get to the bed at least." He said as he pulled her into him and then picked her up bridal style.

Shepard huffed slightly at being back in the predicament she was in again, being the helpless damsel wasn't something she was known for nor would it ever be. This wasn't ever going to be about her having to become a submissive person to a strong willed man, nothing about their relationship would ever force her to change who she was for him. He found how she was now beautiful and while he had a strong will in battle, he didn't force it upon others he cared for. Picking her up in such a manor was merely to get from point A to point bed while also looking for a reaction.

"Please don't drop me this time."

And there was the reaction.

"Well since you asked so nicely milady I will have to oblige."

She let out her beautiful laugh at his statement then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up slightly to kiss him, or at least that's what he thought she was going to do but instead she ended up biting his neck. The bite was a playful one that would certainly leave some teeth marks, but not for a long period of time. "Hellcat huh?" He teased.

Once more she began laughing while she still had her teeth in him making her release his neck as she did. "Oh you have no idea."

He got them to the bed and got onto his knees on it then hobbled his way across until he was in the center of the pillows. From here he turned so his back was against them and sat down with Shepard still in his lap. She looked up to him and decided she was going to untangle herself from him and push him down all the way onto his back before kissing him yet again.

Ty savored the kiss before breaking it off and sitting back up with her still forehead to forehead with him. "Tonight is all about you. Now if you don't want to undress yourself completely that's fine. I know it probably isn't that fair since I'll still be wearing my shorts so what-" She interrupted him by planting her lips against his and letting her tongue explore his mouth before she stripped off her blue wifebeater so she just had her bra and shorts on.

He pulled her back into a kiss as he leaned further back so she was lying on top of him with his hands resting on her back. She brought both of her hands to his face as they kissed both putting a lot of passion behind it as they always did.

Ty left her lips and began kissing and sucking on her neck for a moment before he moved down to her left breast where he did the same thing on the fabric where her one of her rose buds remained hidden. The sapphire eyed beauty let out a throaty hum before she wrapped her arms around his head and leaned forward into him as he kissed her chest.

His body was telling him to un-strap her bra and forget waiting, but his mind stopped him as he himself stopped much to the disappointment of the woman he had been kissing. "You gonna wear those shorts?" The man asked.

"No, but did you have to stop?" She asked in return.

"Actually yes. I need to get my boots off." He motioned to his boots with a nod of his head.

Shepard looked back with a small frown at having to suddenly stop because he hadn't had the time to kick his boots off. The frown was then replaced with a smile, "Well let me help you out and then you can help me out." She grabbed his left boot and untied it then took it off. She repeated the same to the other before tossing them both to the side of the bed getting two separate clunks of weight as they hit the ground.

The N7 grabbed his hands after that and pulled him forward until she fell onto her back and he was once again over her. Ty kissed her lips again but as he went to leave again she bit his lip and held it with a smile until she let go letting him kiss down her belly once again. He moved her left leg to the same side as her right so he was no longer between her legs then began helping her remove her shorts.

After he got them off and Shepard was just in her underwear he grabbed her hands and pulled her up to her knees so they were both on their knees and chest to chest, "I need you to trust me with what I have planned. It may sound stupid, but it's something that will work for this situation."

"I trust you Ty."

It was a good feeling knowing that he had Shepard's trust for this. Haley and Ty, and Ka'Reena before her, had to forge trust in the bedroom because of the different circumstances both women had. Hearing Shepard just openly giving it was good and slightly shocking. He wasn't sure how he had gained such trust but he still planned on building a more intimate trust between them.

This wasn't going to be like some sexualized trust fall exercise, it was just a basic understanding that many people skipped out on. Knowing all you had to say was stop and he would stop immediately or if she found something to awkward about what they were going to do all she had to do was say she didn't want to and he would understand. These somewhat simple concepts were just basic steps of trust between the sheets.

Ty gave her a kiss on the lips then sat down with his legs out to the sides and said, "Turn your back to me and sit between my legs."

She nodded and did what he said, sitting between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder, "What next Ty?"

The former mercenary kissed up her shoulder to her neck making the N7s body shake slightly from the soft touch. He then rested his chin on her shoulder as he continued, "Sit however you feel most comfortable." Shepard crossed her legs as she leaned further back into Ty while he kissed her neck more and began running his fingertips up and down her inner thighs. Her skin was soft and her legs were very well toned like the rest of her body.

Even though she practically went into hell each day her body remained more or less untouched by the dangers they faced with only a scar along her right thigh from ages ago by the look of it. The scar didn't do anything except add to the already beautiful body she had. "I don't know if anyone ever told you, but you have a beautiful body, Vanessa."

He noticed a slight blue hue form around them for a second but then it disappeared as Vanessa began to smile, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, we haven't even done anything yet." He teased as he smiled into the kiss he put against her neck.

He ran his fingers back up her thighs and to her belly. It had been so long since he had found himself in such a moment with someone he cared deeply for. Sure there had been Aria back on Illium and all the times he shared with Vanessa herself, but while those moments were intimate he hadn't done what he was planning now.

Vanessa reached her arms behind her and wrapped them around his neck as she enjoyed his hands running across her body, "I hope you don't plan to tease me all night."

"Actually I intend to guide you as we explore your body and mind, that training we talked about starts now. I'll do what I am doing now but more touchy feely, and if you want to go further than what we do all you have to do is specify what it is you want. At some point I'm going to join my consciousness to yours for a whole new experience."

Ty gently ran his hands up her stomach right below her breasts then he glided his hands back down her stomach. "I trust you Ty." She whispered as she arched her back slightly from his hands moving to her inner thighs but not going any further up,

"I know you do, but we have to trust each other in the bedroom as much as we do on the battlefield. You trust me out there and in here, but you have no idea how this is going to go and your mind has never been touched in the way I will connect mine to yours tonight. It can be a very trying experience if you are not ready."

"So like the Asari have multiple versions of melds, you do as well?" She questioned.

"Yes which is why it is important I am careful with you. A persons mind is their temple and, as you saw back on Omega, I can destroy someone's mind if I'm not careful."

She hummed softly in acknowledgement of his caution. He hadn't given much thought to what he had done since he had originally come up to see her; whether that was good or bad he was unsure. "What if you think I am not ready tonight?"

"Then I won't join my mind to yours but we'll still get you to blow off some steam."

His mind joining was still up in the air for the night, but getting her to blow off some steam was inevitability. "I'm not a toy, Ty. You won't break me."

The purple eyed warrior chuckled softly, "If you're not a toy, then why am I playing with you?" He asked as he ran his fingers up her thighs again.

"Because you are such a tease."

Ty stopped rubbing her thighs and brought his right hand to her face so he could turn her to look at him. She stared into his eyes with pure elation from what he had been doing to her but he looked back at her with wary caution in his, "If you want to stop at any point, tell me and we will stop. Now questions asked and no arguments. I don't want you to feel forced into this or uncomfortable with me, Vanessa."

Having her become uncomfortable with him or feeling forced was something he worried about at the moment. She could read his unease and with a simple gesture she broke it. She brought her hand to his face and gave him a tender kiss on the lips; after they parted she stared deeply into his eyes, "You will never make me uncomfortable. I want this Ty and I want more, but I respect your reasons for why you chose this instead. You are one of the most caring people I know when it comes to this and that means a lot to me. I care a lot about you and as I told Haley: I am not letting you go."

She leaned in again and they kissed passionately easing his worries completely as their tongues danced slowly with each other. The pair broke it off slowly, both not wanting to leave the others lips. "You won't hurt me, Ty." He nodded slightly and her hand left his face only to grab his hands and put them back on her thighs, "Come on. Let's get started so we don't have to stop if someone interrupts." Vanessa said with a smile. The former mercenary smiled and with that they began their "training session."


	83. Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Touch of Innocence

_"When will I see you again?" Shepard asked. Ty stood at the edge of her bed in front of her as she sat staring at her hands resting on her knees. She hated goodbyes and she couldn't believe she had to say goodbye to him. They had finished their mission and she had to prepare for the Reaper invasion and get support from the Alliance but Ty couldn't come with her. His family had called him back to make preparations of their own. Shepard couldn't stand saying goodbye to him; she needed him at her side where he promised to be. _

_ He remained silent for a long moment. "…I don't know." _

_ Shepard felt her heart skip a beat hearing the uncertainty in his tone. Her hands clenched her jeans tightly as she summoned up the courage to ask the looming question between them, "…Will we ever see each other again or is this it?" She choked out. She felt her tears coming on at the thought of having to abandon everything that had accumulated between them. _

_ Ty knelt down in front of her and put his hand over hers to comfort her, "I can't predict the future but there is one thing that I know. My heart will always belong to you." _

_ She felt the tears come out of her eyes; she knew that this was just as hard for him as it was for her to do now. He held the same regret of having to leave and breaking the promise they had made of staying together regardless. This was definitely it. "I'm sorry Ty." _

_ He gave her a sad smile and wiped her tears away, "I am too. If we survive this war come find me, I'll be waiting for you."_

_ Shepard felt his hand slip away from hers, why did it have to end this way? Why did it have to end at all? She saw him turning to leave but she couldn't stand to see him leave not after everything they had been through. They had promised to find a way to make it work and she had to try. _

_**I won't let him go without a fight**__. Shepard grabbed for his hand to pull him back but her hand missed his and he continued to walk away. "Ty wait!" Shepard yelled as she stood up. He continued to walk towards the door as she began to chase after him. She reached him and attempted to grab his hand but he suddenly disappeared. _

_**What the hell?**__ Shepard looked around desperately to find him only to see him at the door looking back at her, she had to tell him her feelings this would be her only chance. "Ty I have to tell you something please wait." She said as she began to jog to him. _

_ "Goodbye Shepard. Stay strong in the coming fights and never lose hope. I'm sorry I couldn't make this work." _

_ "Ty wait it we can still work this out, please wait." Shepard pleaded as she reached him. _

_ There was still a chance for them to stay together, there had to be. She reached up to his face to remove his hood, "There's something I need to tell you Ty, something that I should have said a long time ago…I lo- NO!"_

_ Before her eyes blood began to redden Ty's tank top and he began to fade away, "I'll always watch over you." Ty said as he faded into nothingness. _

_ "NO!"_

* * *

Shepard flung up and looked around her room seeing the dead form of Ty sitting on the couch with a round through his skull. She felt tears begin to pour down her face burning with pain. "I'm so sorry Ty…I'm sorry I couldn't save you." Each tear felt like acid burning her face. How did she let it happen? How could she let it happen?

The N7 felt a hand touch her shoulder; she looked back at the hand and saw him. His purple eyes looked at her with care and worry. She looked back to the couch to see that no one was sitting on the couch. "Hey, I'm right here." Shock set in when she turned back to him but it quickly wore off as she wrapped her arms around him. He was safe; he was still here with her. Tears continued to roll down her face while she gripped the man she had thought she lost.

_It was just a damn nightmare_.

"I thought I lost you." Shepard cried into his shoulder.

"It's okay I'm here, I'm here." Ty whispered. Shepard let go of him and brought her hands to his face feeling it making sure he was real and this wasn't another dream. After satisfying herself that she was no longer dreaming she brought her lips to his letting her tongue push through to his.

He was still confused at the situation but he kissed her back with passion helping to reassure he was one hundred percent real and one hundred percent still with her. After breaking off the kiss she wrapped her hands back around him resting her head on his shoulder feeling content in his arms while his hand rubbed her back in an attempt to sooth her.

She felt so scared that he was gone forever to the point that she felt that holding him was the only way to keep him there. She could feel his hand gliding up and down the bare part of her back as he kissed her shoulder. Why would her mind create such a nightmare and then continue it after she awoke? It was heartbreaking seeing him leave and then fade away into death. Seeing him with a round through his skull took that heartbreak and murdered a little bit of her soul just for good measure. With him in her arms again the wounds began to nit themselves back together.

Shepard let go of him and sat up fully as she looked at him, his purple eyes searched deep in her eyes looking for something in them to help him. "Same nightmare as before?" Ty asked.

She shook her head, no though that nightmare seemed more preferable now that she had seen this one. "No. We had defeated the Collectors and I was going back to the Alliance to get support against the Reapers while you were called back by your family to prepare."

Ty looked at her with slight confusion, "And I left?"

Shepard nodded slowly, "Yes…and we weren't going to be able to continue to see each other or talk to one another so we…parted ways."

His look turned serious, "Fuck that."

"…You wouldn't leave?" Shepard asked her heart beginning to race.

He looked at her with a stone cold serious look, "I would never leave and never talk to you or see you again. No fucking way. I plan on that future of us being together living in peace after the Reaper War becoming reality as long as you want there to be a you and me." Shepard wanted that more than anything and she could feel her heart nearly beating out of her chest knowing he was still with her.

Hearing him pledge that he would never just leave and never speak or see her again was a huge comfort as well. Knowing that what she felt for him was reciprocated kept her grounded and kept the haunting dream from worming its way back into her thoughts. "How are you feeling, feel anything abnormal with your head aside from the nightmare?"

Shepard's heart skipped a beat as she remembered the hour they had spent together exploring her body and then joining their minds. To describe the feeling she had as he did it felt impossible to do because of how complex it had all been. She could feel his love and care for her wrap around her during the moment, her sense of touch became more receptive and as their hands touched her body she could feel her all of the nerves under her skin when his hands glided across her arms and stomach and down her thighs.

She could feel the nerves where her hands were touching and all of the nerves from his touch and her own were sending waves of pleasure over her. Every inch of her had never felt more alive than it had in that moment. She could feel his mind inside her as they both entered their joined conscious while their hands unconsciously continued their actions. She remembered it clearly; they were sitting as they were in the real world with them both wearing exactly what they were back outside of their minds.

She could remember the kiss they shared inside of their joined conscious but she remembered him breaking it off, "Vanessa." He had said. Hearing her name said with such care and feeling…it surround her body made her heart inflate to drastic proportions to the point she felt it was going to pop. Shepard could feel her body quaking at his touch as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She wasn't Commander Shepard in this moment; she didn't have to be the stone hearted warrior. She could be Vanessa Shepard with him, she didn't have to worry about being judged or watched by anyone. Now it was just the two of them, her Ty and his Vanessa, two souls from different sides of the Galaxy coming together as one.

The blackness of their joined consciousness changed as stars began to fill in all around them turning into a breath taking sight. Inside their joined conscious they had both stopped all actions but in the conscious world they had not and all the feelings from the conscious world were still flooding over her as all the emotions of the duo swarmed one another.

Shepard leaned back further into Ty as he kept his hands and arms wrapped around her waist. No words were shared between the two as she placed a kiss on the bottom of his chin before they shared the spectacular sight with one another just letting their emotions flood the other.

Ty continually shared his comfort and care with her and she could feel his unwavering belief and trust in her abilities through it all. No words were capable of describing the feeling it made her feel but the waves and waves of pleasure crashing over her body signaled them both to return from the moment. Before leaving she shared her last guarded emotion with him and didn't hold any of it back as she let it crash over him.

Like the bright stars surrounding them she let her love shine through and though she wondered if it had been too soon to let him know about that feeling welling up inside her she suddenly felt his own love for her surround her very essence.

Before the connection had ended Ty kissed the top of her head and said, "To whatever end I'm with you." Shepard wasn't sure how to respond to it but she knew that her biotic's would have flared up if they weren't inside a joined conscious. She was sure all the emotions she had felt from it transmitted over to him due to the sudden feeling of humor she had felt from him.

With that he brought them both out of it slowly with Shepard literally being able to feel the gentleness he was using through the whole thing until her vision had become her bedroom once more and the waves of pleasure she had felt inside the joining became like tsunamis of pleasure.

Shepard shook her head slightly bringing herself back to the moment in time she was in where Ty was awaiting her answer, nothing felt off about her except what the nightmare had done to her. Her love interest was worried though; she could see it in his eyes. He was genuinely concerned about what he had done with her the night before worrying about any side effect that could have happened from the joining.

The N7 rested her hand on his, "You didn't hurt me Ty."

He didn't look completely convinced, "You are sure you are fine?"

She nodded, "I am, aside from the nightmare at least." Shepard laid down again resting her head on his side since he was sitting up then put her right hand on his belly letting her body relax. She felt his right hand begin to rub gently up and down her right bicep, "What time is it?"

"Around five in the morning right now. Still a few hours before we have to get up and going. We're still a bit a ways out from the Flotilla I'd guess so just going to be an easy day or two for the squad before it's back to getting shot at."

The N7 nodded slightly against him as she began to figure out what the next few days would be like. After Tali and Zaeed they were going to the Citadel to help Thane and drop off Ty's friends. From there they had to finish up Project Overlord which she had been putting off since she had received it but that needed to be done. Maybe they would do that before the Citadel, and then there was the data on the Shadow Broker she had to bring to Liara to help her out.

There was still a lot to do before going for the Reaper IFF it seemed but her thoughts stopped dead in her tracks as Ty spoke up, "Stop working V and get another few hours of sleep."

_V,_ Shepard smiled a little at the new nickname. She liked how it sounded coming from him. Shepard sat up slightly so she could look at Ty, she liked the new nickname but what bothered her was that he wasn't going to sleep again. "You still can't sleep?" Shepard asked.

He gave her a small kiss, "Don't worry about it it's just how I am, get some sleep I'll be here when you get up." He reassured. She didn't feel comfortable going back into her sleep with the worry of the nightmare appearing again, apparently her worry showed on her face. Ty brought his hand to her face, "Go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

Shepard leaned up to him and kissed him softly on his lips before lying back down next to him; she shut her eyes and felt his hand gliding gently across her arm. He was still with her and that nightmare could go to hell for making her think otherwise.

* * *

Ria opened her eyes slowly as she felt her heart racing and her body moist with sweat. Nightmares had clouded her sleep as of late but she had hoped they would have ended after finding Alia. She had wished that having her daughter once again would have ended the nightmares involving losing her. The former mercenary sat up slowly and looked around the room, Aya was still asleep on the plush chair while Iliana slept on the bed with Alia.

She had taken a pillow and the floor next to her daughter in hopes that being in the vicinity of her would make her feel better, in part it did but she couldn't shake the fear that she would wake up and Alia would be gone again. Ria looked at her sleeping daughter's peaceful face and went to rub her forehead but stopped herself short because she didn't want to wake her.

The Asari herself felt cold as she wrapped her arms around herself trying to get some heat to warm her body, she had taken off her armor after getting onto the Normandy and had set it up under the desk where Ty kept his gear. With the normal heat provided by her armor gone she was left her only in a purple tank top and black knee length shorts while her sweat covered body did little to help against the chill in the air.

The tank top was designed similarly to her chest plate in terms of the neck line and arm holes being in the same places but the slight difference the tank top had was the neck line going down slightly in a V shape only showing the very top of her chest where her collar bones were.

Ria shook her head trying to get the dreams to go away while she stood up to try and walk off the nightmare. She walked silently to the door and manually opened it with a space small enough to fit her body through and then let them close behind her. She checked the time as she walked to the Mess Hall and saw that it was nearing six in the morning. _Same time as always…I hate these damn dreams. _

The Mess Hall was deserted and dark due to it still being in a night cycle but there was a figure sitting at the table alone with something in front of them. It was the human that had showed her daughter around the Normandy; Miss Kasumi was what her daughter had ended up calling her. Her bare feet brought her further into the Mess Hall bringing the Asari closer to the human woman. "Can't sleep?"

The human must have thought that she was alone or just didn't hear Ria walking up due to the slight jump she had, "Sorry." Ria apologized.

Kasumi looked back at her, "You can't sleep?"

Ria let a smile onto her face, _so that's how she wants to play it? Very well._ "I asked you first but yes you are right." The former mercenary sat down next to the hooded woman and relaxed in the chair. While she wanted to be able to sleep she couldn't help but find comfort in the silence that had fallen between them. The woman wore her hood up which reminded Ria of Ty but she wore a black and silver armor with it.

She had a purple paint or tattoo on her bottom lip and another right below it, her eyes had a certain gleam to them and she had an accent that Ria hadn't heard in many humans. "Nightmares huh?" Kasumi asked as she looked back at the object in front of her.

It was an obvious guess and no doubt had been expected by anyone who knew what had happened to her and her daughter. Instead of responding Ria remained quiet clasping her hands together in front of her in an attempt to calm her nerves and not remember the dreams. "If I may, what has you up this early?"

"Just some old memories I can't seem to escape. What about you? Getting chased by a dark scary boogeyman?" Kasumi asked in a playful manor.

Ria wasn't sure what a "boogeyman" was but she figured it was something bad. Through her interpretation she was "graced" with an image of Kelham holding her daughter by the back of her head. She felt her anger rise and chills run across her body, "You could say that."

"Hey are you alright?" Kasumi asked.

A gloved hand touched her skin which brought her attention to the fact that a few chairs had begun to lift with a blue hue around them and her hands had biotic's swirling about them. She instantly dropped everything around her in slight shock as her biotic's died down around her. _Kelham has to pay for what he did. With the goddess as my witness he will pay. _"Sorry I…It's just…" She couldn't get her words right which made her shake her head and bring both of her hands to her face covering her eyes trying to block the image from her mind.

Her breaking point was becoming closer and closer with each dream. Every night for the past two years was plagued by different nightmares that all revolved around her failure to save her own daughter, though Ria couldn't see her she could sense movement from Kasumi. "How is Alia doing?"

It was a tad bit random for her to ask but the Asari thought to her daughter. She showed surprisingly little effect of being held captive, ever since she had met Ty, reunited with her mother and then met this crew she was smiling so much. There were so many stories she wished to tell her mother of about things she had seen since coming on the Normandy and about this woman next to her in particular. Alia was healing better than she could wish for. "…Better than I expected."

"She's a strong girl for her age, most people would be pretty messed up after going through what she did. It must run in the family." Kasumi said. Ria forced a laugh as she dropped her hands, her daughter was far stronger than she was and she certainly didn't get it from her father. Alia was strong because she had to become strong.

"I wish I was as strong as she is…maybe the joining's I had with Ty before we separated transferred over to her."

"Is that possible?" Kasumi asked.

Ria shook her head; it was wistful thinking to wish Alia had inherited the traits from such a great forgiving man. "No, not to my knowledge at least."

"Then it definitely came from you. Everything you went through would have broken any normal parent in this universe and the fact that you're sitting here with your daughter in the next room proves it." Kasumi said.

A strange feeling began to build up within the former mercenary as the human woman spoke. She felt it in her gut but she wasn't sure what _it_ was. Why would this human woman care so much about her? They didn't know one another, the only thing they had in common that Ria knew of was that they were both up early and both had a friendship with Ty. "Alia loves you more than anything, you know that right?" Kasumi asked.

Every emotion she felt echoed across her body shell shocking her in her seat. Alia had told her many times from the hospital to being on the Normandy that she loved her but Ria felt like a failure. The hooded human's word hit her heart strings hard as tears began to well in her eyes, "Yeah." Ria choked out.

"Use that as your strength then. Love is one of the strongest forces this Galaxy has. Well that and the Reapers."

She choked on her laugh; this woman had a nice sense of humor. The Asari looked over to Kasumi who was facing her completely now, she had no reason to do anything but let her wallow in self-pity yet she was doing her best to help her. "You have a lover that gives you strength?"

Kasumi looked over at the device on the table but then looked away quickly, "I did. The memories are all that's left of it though."

Ria glanced at the foreign device trying to figure out what it was; she had never seen anything like it before. The way the woman spoke though was as if she, like Ty, could see the memories and feel them as if they were happening again. After Ty lost his friends and Ka'Reena she had attempted to warn him of losing himself to those memories, sooner or later reality and the memories would merge and he wouldn't know which was which if he didn't gain control of it all.

He seemed to have it all controlled now which made her happy but this woman seemed to need the same talk, "Memories are powerful and can be good but to be consumed by them can lead to your own destruction." Ria began.

Kasumi looked more than attentive at her words; she looked as if she had wanted to talk to someone about it but never did. "But it's hard to let him go, he meant so much to me."

The Asari turned to her, "Losing a loved one rips our hearts apart and the memories is all we have that keep them alive to us…but allowing yourself to be consumed by the memory will hinder you. You mustn't let go of the memory, you never should let go of those good memories but to think that is the happiest time that life will ever give you is foolish and will stop you from seeing all the good things around you. Ty never let go of the love that he and Ka'Reena had to the point he didn't allow himself to give his love to anyone else and it nearly destroyed him, not physically but emotionally and mentally."

While Ria hadn't seen him the last two years she had witnessed his worst moments a long side Aya. Kasumi nodded slightly in response, "I witnessed that." She looked haunted by whatever she had witnessed firsthand. If Ria had to guess it was likely a memory of his judging on the lasting effects that seemed to linger on in her.

Witnessing a painful memory was terrible but witnessing it firsthand still made the former mercenary shudder now and then. To say Ty was a different person now then he was six years ago, or even four years ago was an understatement. The man who he had become then would have shown no mercy to her no matter if her daughter was standing next to her or not, that was the how bad things had gotten.

Ty was coming back though; he was becoming the man that Ria loved as a person when they first met. He would always cherish those memories of his past that were good but he was living in the present day again not to be dragged under by the past. "You must live for the present, as an Asari I have a long life span but I do not look to my past or my future. If I do I would miss out on so much around from seeing Aya, Iliana and Ty again and creating new memories with the three of them to seeing my daughter grow. I don't want to miss the great things that are happening now."

As much as she was trying to explain to Kasumi why she should always remember those great memories she was also in a way giving herself her own pep talk. Hearing herself talk reminded the former mercenary of what was important and she could not let the memory of Kelham ruin her time with her daughter. Asari had long life spans but that was not a guarantee and she had to live each day like it was her last and create wonderful memories with her daughter before the Goddess called her from this Galaxy. "Did you rub off on Ty or did Ty rub off on you?" Kasumi asked with a faint smile.

She smiled slightly; they had rubbed off on one another the young man showing her things she had forgotten and the older Asari passing on what wisdom she could. "I believe it was both…live your life well Miss Kasumi, cherish the memories and find strength in them but do not believe that is the only good life will give you. Find love again with someone who deserves yours and never stop creating great memories, it is the most we can do before the Goddess calls us all back to her care."

Something changed in Ria in that moment, she felt…peace. She hadn't felt it in two years but as it swarmed her body she began to stand up, she felt the need to be near her daughter and that was where she planned on going. Kelham would not haunt her any longer.

A gloved hand grab her hand as she began to walk away brining her attention to Kasumi, the woman looked up at her and Ria saw her eyes gleaming under her hood not as troubled as they once looked, "Thank you Ria."

"And thank you for the talk Miss Kasumi."

The hooded woman smiled sheepishly at the title, "You can just call me Kasumi."

Ria smiled, "I will do my best. If you still feel troubled just come talk to me or talk to Ty, he will know more than I on what may help you but I am always open to help others. Take care Kasumi."

Kasumi let go of her hand, "You too."

* * *

After Ty had told her to rest Shepard spent the next two hours doing just that, she couldn't remember falling asleep again but she did remember waking up to the feel of Ty moving followed by his voice. As soon as his body was gone from under her head and arm she began to wake up more though she still didn't have her wits completely about her only catching bits and pieces of what he was saying. "List…He'll ge…I kno…Z…nd if Ria wan…Hey I know I almos…Her child was kidnapped that entitl…Yeah…Wait for us…I know we'll be there in five or more days but you gotta trust me."

Shepard's vision and hearing became less clouded as she leaned up onto her elbows and saw Ty standing next to the bathroom, "She has a right to choose if she wants to or not…Kelham won't be an issue ever again so just wait until we can do it together. Alright, take a breather for a while Z. Don't get in any trouble." He shook his head with a smile to himself though he was unaware of the N7 watching him, "Hey I got it from you, trouble just picks on me because I'm the youngest…Alright stay safe…Love you."

He shut down his omni-tool and began walking back towards Shepard, as he got to the stairs he saw her leaning on her elbows, he frowned to himself. "I hope I didn't wake you up with my talking."

A smile made its way to her face seeing him grow upset at himself for thinking he woke her up with his call. She shook her head and motioned him to come back to the bed, "You didn't." Leaving had woken her up but she wasn't going to confine him to the bed, he'd probably make a joke about it anyway if she tried.

Ty walked down the stairs and made his way to the bed, he was still without his shirt just wearing his new black clamdiggers letting Shepard see all of the scars and body art he had in their full splendor. The scars on his right peck caught her eyes as they always seemed to do when she saw him without his shirt on, she wished he had never had got them but she couldn't change it and he didn't want to.

That made it okay. Her eyes traveled up from his abs to his chest tattoo of the bull skull with Tatanka above it where his hair was draped over his shoulders. From there the N7s eyes trailed his jawline and then to his lips, which she couldn't wait to feel on her skin or against her lips again, and then she made it to his eyes.

His purple eyes were like two flawless jewels that never stopped shining, full of fire but also full of compassion and history, good and bad. They were like magnets that continued to bring you closer and closer to them even if you were both standing twenty feet away from each other. Ty walked back to the left side of the bed where Shepard was still laying and watching him, handsome didn't even come close to describing him but she couldn't find what word she felt fit him best. "Shepard you're staring." He said with a smile coming on.

Shepard looked away as an awkward smile made its way to her face, Ty sat down next to her as she turned back to him, "What was that about anyway?"

"Z letting me know he made it back safe and what he plans on doing when he goes to the Citadel." Ty said.

It sounded so simple yet he looked severely weighed down by the conversation. Conflicted between whatever options he was left with. What was his brother up to? Shepard raised an eyebrow in response, "What does he plan on doing?"

"Killing Elias Kelham, he wants to do it himself but I feel Ria should be given the choice to do it if she wants to." Ty answered.

That explained everything, he was stuck between letting his brother get the vengeance he wanted and letting Ria get it. Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the only thing bothering him, he had worry in his eye and she could see it eating away at him. Shepard pushed herself off her elbows so she was sitting up and put a hand on his, "What's bothering you?"

"I'm worried about him. I've seen him lose his temper before and go into that bloodlust he had back on Omega more than once and each time…" Ty shook his head to himself dismissing the conversation. Shepard didn't let it pass though. He looked scared, not something she had seen often on Ty if ever and she wasn't going to let him face it alone.

She got onto her knees and straddled Ty's lap to not only stop him from going anywhere but so she could see directly into his eyes. The N7 wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and rested her forehead on his as she felt his hands rest on her bare thighs. "Talk to me Ty, I'm here for you." Shepard said softly.

"I know you are. I just hope he listened to me…I know I'd want to go do the same thing he is if I was in his shoes but based on what happened on Omega this Kelham guy isn't a completely brainless criminal. Organizing what he did makes me worry that he has precautions set up in case we would strike against him."

"Could anyone really be ready for someone like you or your brother showing up on their doorsteps?" Shepard asked.

Shepard noticed the smirk come to Ty's face as well as an amused look in his eyes, "You're still flattering me and my skills? Be careful _Commander,_ flattery is a dangerous tool." Ty said sarcastically. She smirked as she rolled her eyes slightly, "I thought the same thing until Ortega…I've met many skilled fighters in both tactics, shooting shit and fighting hand to hand but I always felt confident that I could beat them and I always did but that mercenary nearly got us both. If it weren't for you and the others there'd be two less Rhoddy's in this universe."

"I'm just glad I got there in time and Braum was able to fix you both up."

"You and me both but thank you; keep this up and you'll start catching up to me in how many times I've saved your ass." Ty said jokingly.

She smiled, "You only do it because you like staring at it."

"And might I say what a fine ass it is."

Shepard gave him a small kiss on the lips, "He'll be okay Ty, you don't need to worry."

"I know, seeing him like this must be how it was looking at me just this isn't as bad." Ty said. The pair sat in a comfortable silence just resting their foreheads on the others. Shepard wished to just lie him back down and lay together lost in each other's comfort and touch but as usual duty called and the miscreant crew was up and going.

"Shepard its Miranda. I found some more information on Project Overlord that was being blocked from us. You aren't going to like it…None of us will." Miranda said in a tone between disappointment and sadness.

Shepard looked towards the intercom in her room with Ty, Miranda never sounded like that about anything. Her professional attitude always won out no matter how serious the situation was or bad, now the question was what the hell shook the powerful biotic up? "When did you start cutting around the Illusive Man?" Shepard asked.

"Is Ty around?"

"Uhhh?" Shepard looked to Ty who nodded so she continued "Yeah he is."

"Ty I'll say this once and only once and if you try to tell anyone else I said this I will deny it but you…you were right." The shocked look on the purple eyed warrior was priceless hearing such a confession but Shepard also had a shocked look on her face. "I knew Cerberus wasn't rainbows and sunshine but with what you've said about Cerberus stealing your life and then what we found with Jack and…now this I'm beginning to see things I didn't see before. Thank you."

"…EDI are you playing a joke on me because this is damn ingenious?" Ty asked.

To Shepard's surprise she heard Miranda chuckle with humor in her tone before she continued "I'm being serious Ty though I understand why you asked."

"I guess you're welcome then." He responded awkwardly.

"Shepard after I show you this we're going to want to have a team meeting, I think after we deal with the Migrant Fleet we should head straight for this." Miranda said.

"That bad?"

"Imagine what Cerberus did to Jack and Ty and think off the next worse thing possible."

"Indoctrination?" Ty asked.

"No but I also understand why that would be your next thought, there is no way to explain this, there is no excuse that would be reasonable…You really need to see this Shepard." Miranda said.

This was really beginning to freak both Ty and Shepard out, Miranda never was like this. Details on a mission had never shaken her up. "I'm on my way then, see you soon Miranda." Shepard said.

"Later Randa." Ty said.

Miranda chuckled, "My sister calls me that but your welcome to use it, see you soon."

As Shepard looked back down at Ty his eyes were filled with surprise and wonder, he had never expected for Miranda to admit he was right and neither had Shepard. "When did the rest of the ice queen melt?" Ty asked.

Shepard smirked, that was a good question. "I think it was a mixture of your talks with her and my own, that and having feelings for your brother."

"Glad to see her coming around and seeing Cerberus for what it is, gonna be weird adjusting to this version of her though."

He was right about that. Miranda was a good person but she had been blinded by the Illusive Man's smoke and mirrors unable to see what Cerberus really was. This new Miranda was actually moving away from the organization that was funding their mission and for that the N7 was thankful.

Shepard couldn't wait to cut ties with Cerberus but she always worried about losing Miranda and Jacob because of it. Seeing as Jacob almost got fooled by the Illusive Man to attack Ty's family and the man being not too pleased about it and now Miranda was seeing the organization for what it was she wasn't worried in the slightest of losing two of her new friends and comrades. "We should get moving, I gotta go check on the four new passengers and whatever Miranda has sounds important."

She couldn't deny that so after giving Ty a long kiss she dismounted him and grabbed his arms to help him up, "You gonna shower?" Ty asked.

A shower sounded good after the night before and the nightmare of the morning and with the sudden thought she had a smile made its way to her face. "Yeah, you want to join me?"

"Tempting Shepard but I want to make sure Alia and Ria are okay. I don't know if Alia is going to be having nightmares about her time with Kelham but I know Ria is." Ty said.

"Okay, I don't know how long it will take to go over everything with Miranda but when we are done I have a feeling an immediate team meeting will be called."

Shepard gave Ty a hug that he reciprocated and then gave him another passionate kiss, as they broke off from one another Ty said "I'll see you soon V."

* * *

With that Shepard gave him a quick kiss and then they parted with Ty looking around for his white armored tank top hoodie and boots and Shepard heading to the shower. He found both on the floor where they had been tossed and got his tank top on first and then his boots before departing Shepard's cabin with the intention of making sure his friends were okay.

He got into the elevator and hit the button for crew quarters to begin his slow descent down. Beside the conversation with his brother still troubling him slightly he was feeling good about everything from how the mission was turning out to his and Shepard's relationship.

The team was getting stronger and after they solved the remainder of the crew's missions and finished up whatever else they had to do then it was finally time to get that Reaper IFF and take the fight to the Collectors. That was going to be a hard fight but Ty had no doubt in his mind that they would pull through, Shepard was leading them and that was all that needed to be said about that.

Doing his most intimate joining with her was even more intense than he remembered it being on his side but maybe that was a testament to the strong mind of Commander Shepard and the amount of emotions they showed one another.

The elevator doors opened to the crew quarters and as soon as the doors opened he was gifted with the sight of Thane kneeling down to Alia with Kasumi behind her, "Your heart is strong and your soul true little one, let it shine through and brighten those around you." Thane said.

Alia nodded and Kasumi had a smile on her face, in response Alia gave Thane a hug and said "Thank you Mr. Krios."

Thane returned her hug then they let go of each other, "I hope to see you again Alia." He said. The assassin stood up and then took notice of Ty there, "Ah Ty I was hoping to speak with you if you had time."

Ty nodded, he had some things he wanted to speak to him about as well and just hadn't found the time to speak to him. "Of course Thane, Kasumi have you had your leg checked out yet? You know you shouldn't be moving too much with what you sustained?"

"Chakwas said to meet her in an hour so I'm waiting for her, and you should talk by the way." Kasumi responded.

Before Ty could respond Alia made her way over to him and Ty picked her up in a hug seeing what she was coming over for, "Hey there my little companion, how are you?"

"I'm good; can you tell me another story today?" Alia asked.

"Most definitely but first I gotta talk to my friend Thane but you can count on hearing another adventurous tale of some sort."

"Yay!" Alia yelled as she raised her hands in victory.

Her youthful innocence even after what she had gone through made the former mercenary smile. While he was not prepared for a child anytime soon he couldn't help but wonder what his own would be like. "You go with Kasumi for now and make sure she doesn't over exert herself, she has a habit of ignoring my advice."

"Okay, oh Iliana was looking to speak with you earlier." Alia said.

Ty put her down, "If you see her let her know I'll be around." He looked back up at Thane and asked "Would you like to talk in the Life Support room?" Thane nodded slightly in response, "Be good Alia and try not to hurt yourself Kasumi." Ty said as he followed Thane into Life Support.

The pair entered the Life Support room and the purple eyed warrior followed the assassin until he sat down at the table in the room. Ty sat across from him with his back facing the Drive Core that he could see through the window. "I am happy Shepard allowed your friends passage on the Normandy, with the stress of the fight on Omega the innocence of Alia and the humor of Aya and her daughter has been a great relief for all those they have encountered." Thane stated.

Ty chuckled; _Aya has been making friends it seems. _"Aya and Iliana do that but how has Alia helped?"

"Consider what you chose to do for Alia. Despite your history with her mother you chose to go find and save her and return her to her mother. She was an innocent child caught in a fight that she did not know of; though some of us would never say it out loud we all would risk our lives to save a child. Their innocence is something we as fighters see worth in protecting. To see that innocence on this ship has melted some of our stronger crew members. She helps remind them of what they are fighting for and has brought a certain relaxation to the ship." Thane explained.

The words he spoke were truthful, there was no way Ty could have just left an innocent child to whatever type of life was awaiting them in the hands of mercenaries, criminals, thugs, or just all around bad people. He nodded understandingly to the Drell, "True. How are you holding up?"

"I am well. Kepral Syndrome doesn't kill quickly and with the amount of exercise I get on the Normandy it delays it very slightly." He went quiet for a few seconds and looked down for a moment but then looked back up at Ty with a conflicted look, "I did not wish to trouble you with my personal matters but there is something I must ask you."

Ty nodded, he would be there for Thane as he had with the others on the Normandy for whatever he needed. "Whatever it is I'll do my best to help."

"You are kind. My son Kolyat I fear has begun to follow a dark path." Thane said solemnly as he stood up.

He walked over to the wall that had guns in it behind glass but Ty stayed seated for the moment, the purple eyed warrior had been unaware that Thane had a son let alone that he had been with another woman. Then again Ty hadn't asked a lot about his personal history. "Like as a mercenary or as an assassin?" Ty asked.

The Drell remained silent for a moment remaining in contemplation on the matter at hand. "An…assassin. He is on the Citadel, for now." Thane stated.

If he was on the Citadel than he could strike at any moment and they wouldn't be able to stop him. This was not a good sign. "Have you spoken to Shepard about this?" Ty asked.

Thane turned back towards Ty as he nodded, "Yes I have and we are heading there soon but I was hoping you might have some contacts on the Citadel that may keep an eye out for him."

Ty nodded, Darian worked the bar and heard a lot about the criminal underworld on the Citadel and the gun store clerk and tech store clerk would likely prove valuable in looking for Kolyat. "I assume he is a Drell?" Ty asked.

He nodded and Ty opened his omni-tool to give Darian a call. Being a Drell would definitely make him easier to locate. "Hey Ty I'm on my shift and this place is packed can it wait?" Darian asked.

"Just have a mission for you, keep your eyes and ears open for a Drell on the Citadel named Kolyat Krios. Likely an amateur trying to make his way up in the criminal world."

"Krios? You do realize he is the son of an assassin who would likely break my neck for looking for his son?" Darian asked.

The assassin's reputation apparently preceded him, if Darian was scared of pushing him than that meant Ty would need to be worried if he got on his bad side. "I'm working with his father Darian."

"…Oh. Do you want me to do anything if I do find him?" Darian asked.

Ty looked over to Thane unsure of the parameters of what he wanted done, tailed, brought in by Bailey so they could release him and keep him out of the life, "Do you want me to have him tailed or something?"

It was a possibility that he would realize that he was being tailed and he would either try to hurt who was tailing him or stop what he was doing. Uncertainty filled the Drell's look before he shook his head, "He might hurt someone if he finds out he is being tailed. I would just like information on his location or who he is meeting with."

"You hear that Darian?"

"I'll get my contacts looking discretely, he won't know it but he'll be being watched from a distance."

Whoever he hired would definitely be the best of the best so the purple eyed warrior held no doubt in what his second in command told him. "Thanks Darian, get back to work slacker." Ty joked.

"Fuck off, stay safe out there Ty." Darian said and shut off the comm.

Ty shut his omni-tool down and Thane bowed slightly before sitting down, "Thank you Ty your help is appreciated." Thane said.

"You're welcome Thane but it's what friends do…I do have a question in return though if I may ask?" Ty asked.

"Certainly."

"My mother…she was an assassin wasn't she?" Ty asked. He knew he just needed to ask his father for more information but he knew Thane had known his mother as well. He wanted to hear from him about what his mother was like.

Thane nodded, "Yes and a very good one. Never failed to surprise."

"How did you two meet up?"

"Not in a normal manner I assure you, do you know of the Compact?" Thane asked.

He knew of it but to say he was expert was false. Grissom had spoken to him about it years ago in brief not sharing too much about it knowing the young man at the time wouldn't have understood the complex answer at the time. "Yeah my friend Grissom explained it to me once, the Hanar saved as many of your people as they could because your people were overpopulating the world and you hadn't discovered space flight yet. Because of that you guys have an agreement of a sort where you help the Hanar in return for them saving you although it is voluntary but most do not deny it because to do that is frowned upon, right?" Ty asked.

Thane nodded once more and said "Simply put but you are correct, I, like your mother, was chosen by the Hanar at a young age to be trained to become an assassin. We met sometime during our training and we became competitive with one another, always pushing the other to be better. We took several contracts that required an infiltrator and a sniper for cover."

"I assume you were the sniper?"

Thane nodded but then Ty saw something he used to see coming often from Grissom, he was about to relive a memory, likely the one they were speaking of. "Laid prone looking through the scope, area is well concealed but cramped, "Krios surely you enjoy small spaces more than me." Kaskandura teases. I shake my head in amusement, "Of course Kas, I do not think you could fit in it anyway." I respond. I focus back on the area before me, outdoor bar where target always comes to at this time but many guards are waiting for him to arrive. Kaskandura is blending in at the bar next to a man with blonde hair, moments pass until the target appears, "We're on Krios." Kaskandura states. Target moves towards blonde man, "Hold Krios he's coming towards me." Kaskandura orders. "Holding." I reply. Blonde man moves suddenly, chaos ensues." Thane remembered.

If Ty's intuition skills were still on then his slacked jaw held reason but he wasn't sure, "Was the "blonde man" my dad because I remember hearing a similar story once but there was no mention of my mother in that story?" Ty asked.

Granted his father didn't speak of their real mother until recently but he could remember something similar to this story being told to him once. "We did not know it at the time but yes, your mother sought him out after we escaped to figure out why he had killed our target." Thane said.

"Love at first fight huh?" Ty asked with a chuckle.

Thane gave a faint smile in response, "It would seem that way. Your father did not speak of this?" Thane asked.

"I think he didn't see my mother or was unaware that it was my mother at the time but he also hadn't told us about our mother until recently so he might have left it out on purpose. Either way he really wanted that guy dead, what happened to you and my mother during the fight?"

"Your father had hidden his knife in his sleeve and when our target reached the bar he slid the knife to his hand and jabbed it into the man's throat. He said something but I am unsure of what it was and Kaskandura was not sure either." Thane began.

"Those who torment the innocent meet the devil, welcome to hell fucker." I believe were his words." Ty explained.

It was one of his many one liners that he told those he killed and it seemed to have caught on with his sons as well. "I see, he let the knife go and let the man fall down but as the guards began to react he began throwing knives taking out the ones that would open up an escape route but the guards began shooting anything and everyone."

That was reminiscent of what his dad had told him, chaos literally ensued and instead of his dad leaving through the escape route he opened he stayed and killed all the guards. The living innocents used his escape route and when the coast had become clear his dad left as casually as he had come, "Your father did not know it at the time but while he took on the bulk of the force Kaskandura and I began protecting the remaining innocents that were escaping from guards. Your father learned from that mission I believe and began being more subtle to not have such a chaotic incident that threatened innocent lives."

That's how his dad explained it as well, it was a lesson learned to not threaten innocent lives with a kill no matter how difficult it made the mission. "How did you two plan to kill the target?"

"I am unsure of your mother's decision, she just told me she had a plan but would not tell me what it was. She liked to surprise people." Thane answered.

Ty chuckled feeling the small connection to his mother. "I see where me and my brother get that from."

Thane smiled, "One of the many traits you received from your parents. I should let you go, Aya's daughter wished to speak with you."

"Thanks for the talk Thane and I'll let you know if I hear anything about your son."

"Thank you Ty." He responded.

The former mercenary nodded and left the Life Support room to go find Iliana to see what she wanted to talk about. Maybe she had news on how Ria and Alia were doing or maybe Aya needed something but wasn't going to ask.

As Ty made his way to the Mess Hall he heard Samara's voice in a scolding tone, "Grunt you are going to apologize to Alia, am I clear?" Ty turned the corner to see Samara in a seat at the table but a biotic orb in her right hand with a biotic aura swirling around her hand while she was no doubtly staring a hole through Grunt though he couldn't see her eyes.

Grunt was standing on the other side of the table looking down slightly, "Sorry Alia." Grunt apologized.

Zaeed, Jack, Garrus, Iliana, and Aya were all trying not to bust out in laughter though Ty was the one to begin chuckling, "Aw you are just a big softy." Alia said as she gave Grunt a hug. Grunt let out a defeated sigh and patted her on the head, "Just don't tell anyone." He grumbled.

"Zaeed your next." Samara stated.

"Sorry sugar tits, I aint gettin' on my knees for anyone, unless it's you." Zaeed with a cocky smirk.

"As you wish." Samara stated casually. The biotic energy jumping from her hand to Zaeed was the only warning he had to what came next.

Zaeed suddenly began floating in the air and began turning until he was face down, as suddenly as the energy surrounded him it left and he fell face flat onto the floor with a grunt of pain. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees looking over cautiously at the Justicar who had the biotic energy in her hand again. "I have a few hundred years left Mr. Massani, I have no problem with doing this for another few centuries." Samara dared.

"Uh fine, I can't believe I'm doing this…I'm sorry for making a damn joke." Zaeed groaned as he got up.

Alia beamed as she looked over to Samara, "Thank you Justicar Samara."

"It was an honor Alia but please just call me Samara." Samara stated.

_Looks like her innocence helped her to get Samara on her side for taking on Zaeed and Grunt. _"Rooting out injustices big and small Samara?" Ty asked.

Samara turned around to see him, she nodded with an amused glint in her eyes, "I am though I did find some personal enjoyment in it."

"Showing the boys that the women on this ship can be tougher than they are?" Ty asked with a smirk.

"Something like that."

Iliana and Aya were sitting on the kitchen counter while Jack and Garrus stood on opposite sides of the battery stairs. _Strange, Kasumi is usually where Alia is now. _Ty looked to Garrus and Jack, "Where's Kasumi at?"

"Med-bay, docs patching up her leg." Jack answered.

"She fought it all the way there though." Garrus commented.

Ty raised an eyebrow in question, _why would she fight it? I know she's stubborn but even she knows that she needed her leg fixed up._ "She was having fun with Alia and didn't want to leave her with us. Afraid we'll be a bad influence." Jack said with a smirk.

It was Aya who jumped in next, "Can't say she is wrong, look at what Ty did to me and you're all his friends." Aya joked.

That was a false statement; she had been corrupted long before he became the shining example of being a bad influence. Thankfully he had Iliana on his side, "Mom you were corrupted long before you met Uncle Ty." Iliana joked.

"I refuse to confirm or deny that." Aya responded.

"And they were all corrupted before me as well." Ty said motioning to Jack, Garrus, Grunt who had sat down at the table, and Zaeed.

"What about Samara?" Garrus asked.

"When you are able to corrupt a Justicar and live to tell the tale let me know and I'll try."

Iliana hopped off the counter and walked towards Ty, "Uncle Ty can we talk somewhere private?" Iliana asked.

_Something is definitely bothering her if she wants to talk privately. _"Where's Ria?" Ty asked.

"In the doc's office with Kasumi, she forced her to go with words and a good push or two." Jack stated.

Ty nodded in response and said "We'll talk in my room then, come on Iliana." He motioned her to follow and they two walked back to his room in a comfortable silence, as the doors closed behind them he looked at the younger Asari who had worry in her eyes. "What's wrong Lia?"

Iliana rubbed her temples trying to get her thoughts straight or massage a headache away. "Where to begin, okay first off Ria woke up at like six this morning from a nightmare I assume and left the room for some time. I tried to ask if she was okay this morning but she told me she was fine and not to worry."

That meant Iliana was worrying, she was a smart woman and despite not growing up in the life that Ty and Ria led or the one her mother had done she caught onto anything and everything suspicious. It was safe to say to always trust Iliana's gut when she thought something was up. "I don't blame her for having nightmares or anything I just…" Iliana trailed off.

"Worry a whole lot like your mother does when she knows something is up."

Iliana gave a faint smile, "Yeah."

"I'll talk to her." He would figure out if she was truly okay or not, even if they hadn't been around each other in two years her quirks were the same and her eyes couldn't lie. "Any idea what's up between Ria and Kasumi?"

She gave a shrug with a look of contemplation starting to cross her features, "I assumed it was because Kasumi has taken such an interest in Alia…but I guess it is kinda weird now that you mention it."

"It might be that, what else is bothering you?" Ty asked.

While Ria had been a valid worry of hers there was more she was wanting to speak about but wasn't sure if she was going to. Instead of letting her decide he chose to bring it up himself, "I was…Well I…do you…" Iliana began wringing her hands as she tried to ask something but couldn't.

Ty began to chuckle realizing exactly why she was having trouble speaking. "My my Lia do you have a crush?"

"No!" He raised his eyebrows at her with a smirk on his face, "I mean…Goddess stop smiling…Fine yes I do." Iliana admitted reluctantly.

"On?"

Iliana began biting at her bottom lip until she finally sighed, "…Haley."

Ty wasn't in the least surprised by whom it was but he was surprised at her nervousness, maybe she was worried Haley was taken or that Haley wouldn't reciprocate her feelings. Both were possible and both could be the reason why she was asking him in secret and not her mom.

Aya wouldn't mind but she would likely hope that Iliana didn't end up having a kid anytime soon as any parent would. "Iliana you know Haley enjoys being around you."

"I know but I was just hoping if you knew if Haley was taken or just wanted a friendship that way I wouldn't make an utter fool of myself to her. Seeing her hurt, I want to be at her side helping her get through stuff like that." She said.

"That isn't it either is it?" Ty asked.

Iliana shook her head and said "No, we Asari live for centuries and she doesn't…I know the reality is that eventually you, Uncle Z, Mr. Rhoddy, Haley, Darian, and Jessica are going to be gone…but I worry if I fall in love with Haley that life is going to be even harder without you all."

It took some questions but they had finally reached what was truly bothering her. Being a short lived species and having strong spiritual beliefs allowed Ty to not really worry about the inevitability of death. He worried about losing his friends and family early but in the mindset he was in at this moment he knew he would meet them again someday.

That wasn't to say he wouldn't be crushed by the death of his friends and family but his beliefs told him that he would meet them again no matter what. "Lia it's going to be hard no matter what but you would sure as hell regret it a whole lot more if you could have fallen in love with Haley and you chose against it. Haley is single and wants a serious relationship with someone; someone who she feels comfortable with who she knows will love her and be faithful to her. I wanted her to find that person but maybe she already has and none of us knew it."

Iliana looked at him hopefully, he knew that Haley liked the Asari but she like Iliana didn't want to ruin their friendship. "You think she loves me?"

"I know she loves you but how much is for you both to figure out, no one ever fell in love without taking a leap of faith. She's going to be at the Citadel when we get there so when we do get there I want you and her to be as you normally are but when you have a private moment just ask her. You both may surprise yourselves, just don't surprise your mom with a child she may have a heart attack."

Iliana chuckled and gave Ty a hug, "Thank you Uncle Ty."

"You're welcome, if it all turns out well you have my blessing. I honestly can't think of anyone who actually cares more for Haley than you do aside from me and don't worry about the future stuff. Just live in the now and create great memories to remember when we're all waiting for you with the Spirits."

"You just win these fights and live long enough so I can." Iliana said.

"You know I will do my best." Ty said.

Iliana released her hug which he did as well and both headed back out to the Mess Hall, as they turned the corner Shepard's voice came over the intercom, "I need all the ground team to the comm room right now. Drop whatever you are doing unless it is vital to the safety of the Normandy and her crew." Shepard ordered.

Ty furrowed his brow as he stopped, something wasn't right. If he could judge her emotions as well as he thought then she was about to rip a bulkhead out of the Normandy if she could do it without endangering the crew. _She and Miranda were going to talk about some project thing that was bad…that didn't sound like bad, that sounded worse._

Samara, Zaeed, Jack, Garrus, Grunt and now Thane who was sitting at the table as well with his chair to the wall looked up at the intercom and then to Ty all with the same look he had.

The profound silence that had followed made Aya squirm a little, "Creepy." Aya whispered.

"Ty?" Jack asked.

"Miranda cut around the Illusive Mans blocks for something called Project Overlord, said it was bad."

"That sounded worse than bad." Jack responded.

On that they could agree. Whatever Miranda had shown her hit a raw nerve and was pushing on it repeatedly. "Grunt think you can finish that in thirty seconds?" Ty asked as he motioned to his meal.

Grunt nodded and began shoving the food down faster than before, "That sounded bad, what did I miss?" Kasumi asked as she walked out of the Med-Bay with a slight limp still.

"Not sure." Garrus responded.

"Is your leg fixed up?" Ty asked.

"No not completely but Chakwas told me to go because it sounded important." Kasumi answered.

The crew began moving with Samara and Thane getting out of the seats and pushing them in and Zaeed, Jack and Garrus beginning to move towards the elevator. Ty looked at Aya who was looking at them all with confusion and worry, "Keep yourselves down here, I have a feeling there's about to be a lot of shouting up stairs."

Aya nodded and said "We will, not our business anyway." Grunt let out a loud belch and got up with his plate as the crew began chuckling to themselves about his belch.

Ty smirked but he knew that would probably be the last lighthearted thing they experienced for a few hours. "Come on Grunt lets catch the elevator before they leave without us." Grunt nodded and the two began following the others.

_What the hell did the Illusive Man do now?_


	84. Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Treason

"Is this everything?" Ty asked his tone as firm.

Miranda gave a faint nod, "It's everything I could find that wouldn't allow him to trace the hack to me."

"Good he hates it when you hack his shit."

The room went silent after the brief conversation. The whole squad was spread across the entire comm room table all in deep thought or attempting to hold back their anger at what they had just learned. Ty and Miranda happened to be the only level headed people in the room and that wasn't by choice for either.

If the purple eyed warrior had it his way he'd be among the angry squad members threatening to rip the Illusive Man's head off but even his grand temper was out matched right now. Shepard was at the far end of the table with biotic's swirling around her as she gripped the table and it creaked under her grip.

Pissed didn't even sum up her emotions. She would rip the table out of the floor if she could and if the Illusive Man was present she would likely beat the living hell out of him in a blind rage. He had never seen the woman in such a raged mindset, judging on the quiet of the squad it was worse than when she had attacked the mercenary that had nearly killed his brother.

Miranda was standing on the opposite side of the table from Ty who was at the corner of the table next to Shepard. At the moment they were the ones dictating details and trying to figure out what they were going to do next. Well they knew what they were going to do, they were going to go to this Project Overlord and they were going to shut it down for good. What they were trying to figure out was how to go about it and how to calm their commander down.

Shepard had been basically chanting a string of curses to herself since they had all entered the room. She had yet to speak to any of them with Miranda handing Ty a data-pad to read over and explain to the others. The raven haired woman looked shaken up by what she had learned and the reaction from the N7, not only had she found out his terrible information but their usually level headed leader wanted to tear apart the funder of their mission along with a bulk head.

Jack, Garrus, Tali, Zaeed, Kasumi and Grunt were on one side of the table while Jacob, Samara, Thane and Mordin were on the other side and all were quiet except Miranda and Ty listening to the two discuss as calmly as they could what Project Overlord was.

In his mind Ty was imagining himself torturing the Illusive Man in a multitude of ways in an attempt to keep himself calm for everyone's sake including Shepard who he knew was a ticking time bomb. He knew Cerberus crossed the line many times, he had heard of the many failed experiments they had when Shepard became a Spectre and visited the dozens of uncharted worlds she had.

Reading this and knowing they had to stop it themselves was different. All the deaths the project caused and how ridiculous the Illusive Mans want to control all the other races baffled the warrior. All of it justified by "Protecting the future of humanity" or some other line he had come up with to keep those who did live in his organization in line.

That justification wasn't working on this crew or his top agent. Miranda saw no justification for what they were looking at and Jacob looked even less pleased about it. He and Ty had their own little spat already only to find out he was getting played, seeing more of the Illusive Mans shining moments shook the very foundations of his loyalty to the group.

"So what's the plan aside from helping Tali first and then taking out this abomination?" Ty asked.

"We find the Illusive Man and kill him." Shepard stated her tone as cold as steel.

Ty looked to his love interest who had spoken a solid sentence for the first time since he entered the room; while he agreed the man needed to die she wasn't in the right mindset right now. She wasn't thinking as the calm minded individual she really was. "Right, Miranda?" Ty asked ignoring Shepard's comment.

"We can't do anything for those who died there other than give them their last rites I suppose." She was right about that, trying to find a way to control the Geth had led to everyone that had been working on the project being murdered by all the synthetics they had. As far as they knew there was only one survivor holding out somehow, he also happened to be the lead scientist and someone Ty was just dying to meet.

The man had a lot to answer for as far as he was concerned and Ty made sure debts like that were paid in full. "I'm fairly certain that we can save David by disconnecting it all but his sanity…would any of us be able to walk away from this sane?" Miranda asked Ty. Once again the raven haired woman spoke the truth. From what little they did get they knew David Archer, the lead scientists brother, was hooked up to a machine or something of that sort.

They weren't sure how it all worked or how he was hooked up but he had been able to communicate with the Geth and now he was connected to them by some means and unable to control what they were doing. He seemed to be an innocent bystander in this all yet Ty wasn't sure how it all fit together. For starters whoever thought it was a good idea to enter the Geth's minds was definitely a grade A idiot but then there was the wonder of how they got it to work and how they had him connected.

Was it just a needle or something in the back of the head or something attacked to his forearm or something of that sort? If it wasn't something as simple as those how bad was it really going to be? Could he recover from being inside the Geth mind? What had made him their guinea pig?

Those were all worthy questions but Ty found himself asking one more, _how could someone allow their brother to do something like this or have it done to him?_ What was the head scientist's reasoning for allowing this to happen to his brother? Did he volunteer him or did they force him?

"This is fucked." Jack spat.

She spoke the mind of the entire room. "The Illusive Man I believe has shown his true colors to us all but it would not be wise to cut ties with him until after we are done with the Collectors. We need his funding. After that I would not be against bringing him and this lead scientist to justice." Samara said.

Ty nodded in agreement with the Justicar; while he hated to admit it they needed the Illusive Mans endless resources. After the Collectors were dead they had one more reason to kill him. "She's right. We cut loose now and we might not be able to stop the Collectors. He could take the IFF for himself while we're trying to get this crew strong." Ty stated.

Without that IFF they wouldn't be able to reach the Collectors and then it was likely they would take more colonists or bring the Reapers early. Zaeed shook his head to himself, "I've done some bad shit in my time but this Illusive Man is a goddamned monster."

This wasn't getting any closer to being done and all it was doing was fueling the fire the longer they stood there. They needed to finish this debrief and relieve stress before they all snapped. Ty tossed the data-pad he had onto the table and stepped forward, "Alright listen up, we all agree this is monstrous right?" Ty asked.

Everyone in the room nodded except Shepard who seemed to be in her own little world, "Okay and we all agree that we help Tali and then take this out and save this David from this monstrous bullshit?" They all nodded once again, "Okay and finally we agree that the Illusive Man deserves to be killed but due to mission parameters we cannot for now correct?"

They all nodded once again much to some of their reluctancy, this was a good sign for whatever one was worth right now. The squad was on the same page and knew that killing the Illusive Man or threatening to would only hinder them or leave them unable to finish their mission.

"Good that means we are all on the same page as a unit which means that after we leave this room none of us speak about this around my friends. We've all seen some bad shit, everyone in this room and everyone on this ship but we do not need to go around stewing about this in our down time. Any conversation on this happens now or not until we are actually on this mission. So if you have anything to say get it out of your system now." Ty ordered.

In a strange way it felt good to be falling into the old habit of ordering around a squad, memories of going over mission parameters and debriefing after it was over flashed through Ty's mind as he waited for the squad to speak. "Despicable." Mordin spat.

"I'm going to rip his spine out of his ass with my biotic's and beat him to death with it." Jack said angrily.

"Feed him to the Maws." Grunt growled.

The room went silent after that, Ty looked to them all one last time seeing if any of them had anything to say but all shook their heads as his eyes reached them. Another good sign for whatever it was worth, they still had fire in their eyes but they also had a tighter lid on their emotions than they had when they first came together. "Okay now we are going to go about our business as usual, if you want to spar I'd be happy to oblige to help release tension."

There were scattered nods among those who wanted to spar before the purple eyed warrior continued, "Any talk of this Overlord bullshit or fighting amongst one another or around Aya, Iliana, Ria or especially Alia is out of the question. We're a team and all of us can't wait to shut this shit down so don't think any of you are angrier about this than anyone else in this room. If you want a fight you are going to spar with me in full contact, understood?" He asked.

Everyone nodded; he held no doubt that they were now all on the same page. There would be no infighting and there would definitely be a line of people wanting to spar. "Good, now go have fun and attempt to forget this bullshit for now." He pointed to Garrus, "Garrus you have the look in your eyes that tells me you need to spar so you're first, I'll be down shortly." He nodded then Ty looked to the large squad, "Dismissed."

The bulk of the squad except for Ty, Miranda and Shepard left the room, Miranda ran a hand through her hair as she let out a sigh, "That went better than expected." Miranda stated.

For the most part she was right but deep in the eyes of some of the squad there was a new fire of hatred for the Illusive Man. _Just have to get their minds off of it long enough and we won't have an incident. _"Yeah well we'll see how that works out when we take on this mission. I volunteer myself right now to go down and I expect you'll want to go down with me." Miranda nodded, "I'd stay away from Jack for a while or come down to the hold with me when I go to relieve some stress."

"I always thought I was doing something good you know, I never thought…"

Miranda stopped; the last thing the purple eyed mercenary wanted was for her to breakdown and lose all confidence in herself. His opinion of her when he joined hadn't been very high but now she was someone he considered a friend, she needed some support right now. "It wasn't your fault and you did do something good, you brought back Shepard when we need her most."

She gave a nod of thanks for reminding her, "True I did, I'll be down in the hold."

Ty nodded appreciatively as Miranda took her leave leaving him with a severely pissed off Shepard, he hoped she would say something other than continue muttering her string of curses but she didn't. After a few moments of silence between the two he let out a sigh, he didn't want to join his mind to hers without asking or telling her he was going to but silence wasn't going to calm her down. "V we need to talk."

He put his hand on hers and joined his consciousness with hers bringing them to his Zen garden and right onto the bridge that crossed over the pond. The table she had been leaning on was replaced by the railing of the bridge that crossed the pond as she stared into the koi fish pond. "How are you so fucking calm?" Shepard asked with anger.

"Because you need me to be." She turned her head slightly to look at him with a fire of hatred still burning in her sapphire eyes, "Trust me if you had been fully calm and in control I would have gladly been the one chanting curses under my breath but you needed me and Miranda as we are."

"We should gut the Illusive Man and deal with the Collectors ourselves." Shepard spat.

Ty shook his head; this wasn't the Shepard he was accustomed to. This was more like him when he lost control of his anger. There was really only one way to bring her out of it, a stern voice and a reality check. "Are you fucking listening to yourself right now?" Her eyes turned to slits as she glared at him, "Shepard you had Jack, you know psychotic biotic who hates Cerberus with all her being, silent that whole time. The whole squad was silent except when I talked to them and here you are wanting to disembowel the Illusive Man."

Shepard turned to him anger in her posture, this was the first time since he joined the Normandy that he had seen her take such an aggressive stance when talking to him. "And you don't?" She asked anger filled in her tone.

"Shepard I want him to pay as much as you do, Cerberus is the one who killed my grandfather and the Illusive Man has threatened the lives of my family on two occasions already. I want him dead for that and everything else he has done but is killing him going to do us any good aside from the immediate relief of killing him? Think for a moment without involving your emotions." Ty said.

She turned away and leaned forward onto the railing again, Ty felt Shepard's overwhelming anger turn to sadness as he began to saw tears impact against the railing. "I've been avoiding this since we first started out, all those people are dead and one of them is attached to the Geth mind…If I had known I wouldn't have waited this long, I would have acted I swear I would have." Shepard said with a tone of regret.

So this was the cause of her anger. She hadn't acted on it and now they knew everyone was dead there and another was still attached to the Geth mind. What ifs and should have dones were what plagued her mind now, had she gone sooner could she have saved more lives? Had she acted sooner would there be sanity left in the man they had connected to the Geth network? "Shepard they were dead and had David connected long before we knew this mission existed."

"Yeah but I could have saved him earlier on, he might not have a shred of sanity left because I didn't act on it." Shepard stated angrily at herself.

He had worried about Miranda having a breakdown when it was really Shepard who was going to have one. She needed him for support now, "So we finish up with Tali and go save what sanity he has left, put Daniels and Donnelly on installing my remaining upgrades on the Normandy that I had in mind while we are helping Tali and that solves those two things. We go and save David and we get him someone who can help him the most and then after we're done with the Collectors we give the Illusive Man the finger and deal with the Reapers and then Cerberus afterwards." Ty said.

Shepard nodded slightly and Ty brought her into a hug blanketing her with comfort and care as he attempted to make her feel better, this just added another reason to kill the Illusive Man. Nobody made Shepard hurt and feel regret and the Illusive Man had succeeded in putting himself right at the very top of Ty's kill list after the war was over.

* * *

Tali, Shepard, and Ty stood in the cockpit of the Normandy as they were approaching the Flotilla with Ria, Iliana, Aya and Alia with them who were all interested in seeing what the Flotilla looked like. The crew was more or less cooled off now though they still all wanted to kill the Illusive Man after the mission was over. Shepard had come back around after the first day and was back to her usual self helping the crew along with Ty to get past the initial anger they felt.

Now their focus was solving the accusations of treason on their Quarian squadmate. "No offense to Ty but are you two sure about bringing him along?" Joker asked.

"I was thinking the same thing Joker." Ty said. Shepard and Tali looked to him in question, "I didn't leave a very good impression last time. Threatening the Admiralty board for trying to exile Ka'Reena and her family because of me pretty much put me on their shit list." He reminded.

_And that is probably putting it lightly. I wouldn't doubt being held a gun point the moment they see me for the things I said. _"Well we could always use your threats if things get heated." Shepard said with a smirk.

As fun as shouting down the Admiralty board for a second time sounded, this wasn't a good time. With Tali being accused of treason the last thing he wanted was to be the cause of it. "Shepard this isn't really the time for that, if Tali gets exiled because of my mouth I'll never forgive myself nor will she ever forgive me."

"It'll be fine Ty. Some Quarian's have a respect for you and what you said. I think Admiral Koris took to your idea of peace between the Geth and Quarian's." Tali said.

"It wasn't my idea, it was Ka'Reena's."

Ria held Alia in her arms as she stood next to Jokers seat while Aya and Iliana stood on the other side as they began to approach the Flotilla, to hear about the size of the Flotilla and to actually see it in person really proved how understated the size was. "I always thought it was exaggerated when they spoke of the size of the Quarian fleet." Aya marveled.

Alia seemed in awe herself as she and Ria both looked out the window, Ty heard the voice of a Quarian come over the comm to which Tali stepped forward with Shepard as Ria and the others stepped out of the cockpit, "Be safe down there Ty."

Ty nodded and Iliana gave him a hug to which he reciprocated and let them leave afterwards, "After time adrift among open stars, Along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began." Tali recited as he approached behind them.

"Welcome home Tali'Zorah." The voice answered.

"We need a cleaning crew, our ship is not clean." Tali responded.

The purple eyed warrior couldn't help but chuckle a little, "I think she's saying you fly a dirty girl Joker."

"Hey the Normandy is the cleanest baby there is." Joker retorted with a smirk.

"EDI?" Ty asked.

"The Normandy is a clean vessel Ty, as to my own opinion on your joke I will say that some of the things that Joker has booked in his extranet bookmarks may make this ship dirtier than anything the Quarian's would be able to clean." EDI retorted.

That got smiles out of Ty and Shepard and likely Tali judging on her body language, "Joker?" Shepard asked with humor in her voice.

"I have absolutely no idea what it is talking about." The pilot responded defensively. The three laughed to themselves much to Joker's dismay but he continued bringing the ship in as Shepard brought her helmet to her head and put it on. Ty brought his hood up and allowed his full mask to activate as the three waited at the air-lock doors for the Normandy to dock.

He looked to the doors for a moment and let out a sigh as he waited. He wasn't sure if everything was going to be okay with Tali, not with how ridiculous the Admiralty board had been with Ka'Reena and her family. He couldn't understand why they would do such a thing over something as ridiculous being with him.

During his time as a mercenary he had seen Quarian's who had abandoned the Flotilla for mercenary life and some who joined on to find something for their pilgrimage. Those that did return were never frowned upon as far as he knew yet because Ka'Reena had known him and been together with him they would exile her after death and her family.

On the other hand he knew Shepard wouldn't allow them to exile Tali from the Flotilla but there were some things that she couldn't hard head her way through and this was one of them. Ty had been lucky that they took his threats so seriously regardless if he would have gone through with them or not, if they could prove her innocence and make asses out of the board then that would certainly assure Tali not getting exiled. "You're worrying." Shepard stated bringing him out of his thoughts.

It was strange having someone who knew him so well again. When he hadn't been around his family or friends he had grown used to people being unable to read his emotions and quirks when he was doing something like worrying. Being on the Normandy as long as he had been allowed for the whole squad and Shepard to pick up on those quirks, Shepard was just the one to call him out on it the most. "The board isn't known for being smart in their decisions sometimes." Ty answered.

She rested a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him and in a way it did but the sound of the Normandy docking brought his attention back to the moment, "Do you two wish for some alone time before this?" Tali asked slyly.

Ty smirked behind his mask and he could tell Shepard did as well, "It might be a few hours if we do." Shepard retorted.

Tali shook her head to herself, "Oh Keelah I knew saying that was a bad idea."

Shepard motioned the two to follow as she led the way through the air-lock doors and through decontamination, "You'd think with all of our advance tech we'd make quicker elevators and decontaminators." Ty sighed.

It was so strange they never invented anything for that; it wasn't like doing so would be inconvenient. For all the stuffed shirts on the Citadel that had to travel from the Wards to C-Sec to the Presidium and anywhere in-between they had to use the elevators. Speeding up the elevators would allow them to get to meetings quicker instead of having to head out thirty minutes early to ensure the elevators got them there in time.

"Don't remind me of long elevator rides." Tali said with a shudder.

"Garrus really enjoyed those long rides though; I thought it was a great bonding time for us all." Shepard replied with humor in her tone.

"Ugh I know he likes to remind me of them all the time, and I like to remind him I have a shotgun."

"And a pistol that you smack people in the face with." Ty wisecracked.

"And an airlock." Tali retorted.

Ty chuckled as he leaned against the wall while they waited for the decontamination to finish; he still couldn't figure how Tali of all people was being accused of treason. Tali, who looked after her own people before herself all the time, would never endanger the fleet and that was the only reason that he knew of that could be used to accuse someone of treason.

Quarian politics, hell politics in general never sat well with him and he couldn't stand the thought of Tali actually being exiled from her home. Being exiled from your own people wasn't something he wished upon anyone in life. Living knowing that you could never see your home again without being chased out or killed was a terrible feeling some days when Ty would actually really think about it. Tali wouldn't be able to handle it as well as he and his family had or at least he didn't think she would.

The airlock doors opened and Shepard once again motioned the two to follow as she exited the Normandy, _Spirits if you're listening if this all goes well I would really appreciate it._ The three began walking down the corridor when a Quarian captain and his soldiers approached them, _don't freak out, don't freak out, Spirits don't allow them to freak out_. "Tali'Zorah va- What is he doing here? Put your hands up." The captain ordered as he and his men pointed their guns at the former mercenary. _Oh my luck fucking sucks,_ Ty thought as he began raising his hands.

"Some respect you Ty they said, it'll be fine they said." Ty said sarcastically.

To his surprise Tali stifled a laugh while Shepard suddenly stood right in front of him, "Put those damn guns down right now." Shepard ordered.

"That man is a known criminal of the Galaxy and has history of threatening the Admiralty Board." The Captain said.

History was a little of an over exaggeration, it was once and they really deserved it. "History my ass, it was just once and I had all the reason to since none of you cowards would stand up for three innocents." Ty retorted.

"If you're going to shoot him you're going to have to go through me. This man is a loyal friend and is no threat to anyone on this ship, I trust this man with my life if that's not good enough for you then I demand to talk to an Admiral of the board." Shepard replied firmly.

_That probably isn't a good request either. _"Ask for Raan if it comes to that." Tali's voice sounded through their comms since she cut her auditory emulators. "Captain Kar'Danna trust me he won't cause any trouble other than a sound disturbance if he doesn't shut off his auditory emulators."

"You're saying I have a big mouth?" Ty asked.

"Yes and you don't know when to keep it shut." Tali responded with humor.

He kept his hands up as Kar'Danna and his men contemplated whether or not they were going to let him through, "Lower your weapons." Kar'Danna ordered allowing Ty to lower his hands and Shepard to step to the side after giving him a wink and likely a flirty smirk that read between "you owe me one" and "I've got your back."

Ty wasn't sure which it was but he was happy to have someone like her with him. "Sorry Captain Shepard but we were all under orders to watch out for him…after last time Admiral Han'Gerrel and Admiral Zaal'Koris were worried he would show up due to his history with Tali." Kar'Danna said.

"Not surprising I guess based on what Ty has told me but I never reached Captain, I'm not technically enlisted in the Alliance either." Shepard responded.

"Then why am I called Specialist?"

"Because you're…special?" Tali responded.

"I'll just take that as a compliment." He responded with a shrug.

The captain gave Shepard an old ship blessing and "confined" Tali to the ship until the trial was over and allowed the three to move on to meet Admiral Shala'Raan. Ty heard whispers among the Quarian's regarding their thoughts on Tali and the trial. There were also two separate groups who held an opinion on him, one thought he was the usual scum, _"he's a criminal and deserves to die and blah blah blah,"_ Ty thought to himself.

The other group remembered what he had said years ago about peace and hoped that somehow it was possible. He gave them a polite nod of approval since they were looking at him at the time. "Ty I have a serious question for you." Shepard began.

"Shoot."

"If they have a place of memory here for Ka'Reena would you like to go pay your respects?"

That was a question that Ty had been asking himself since hearing from Shepard about this mission, Ka'Reena's parents would likely have some sort of place for their daughter but Ty himself had two separate places for her. One in the real world and one in his Zen Garden that also included his friends he lost to the Suns. "No, that's their own place for her and I have my own place to pay my respects. Let's just stay focused on Tali." Ty said.

Shepard stopped suddenly and turned back to him making him abruptly stop, "Ty we can spare the time afterwards." She stated firmly.

While her intentions were good he couldn't bring himself to cause more problems for his former lover's family. He shook his head, "I know we can but I'm already causing a ruckus here just by having a presence. The last thing her family needs is to not only have the wounds reopened by seeing me but they don't need the ignorance of some of these people verbally attacking them again."

She searched his eyes for something that Ty knew she wasn't going to find and that was a break in his fortress of stone, "Ty." She said tenderly in an attempt to get him to go.

"Trust me Shepard I'll pay my respects after this is over when we're back on the Normandy and if it'll make you feel better you can come." Ty said.

The N7 gave a small nod with a confused look before continuing on. She hadn't thought about his Zen Garden judging on her look or wondered where it was since she had never seen it. The memorial he had for them was on the other side of the garden from where he had spent most of his time at which was mostly on purpose. He tried not thinking about it or remembering it when he entered his mind, some things just didn't heal no matter how much time passed or how much you were able to put behind you.

They soon approached Shala'Raan and her greeting sent a chill down his spine just by the change of words in Tali's name, "Tali'Zorah vas Normandy." Raan greeted.

Tali spread her arms and greeted her obviously missing the change of name. "Aunty Raan." She gave the older Quarian a hug and then turned back to Shepard and Ty, "Shepard this is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay." She paused for a moment then looked back to Raan, "Wait a minute Raan you called me "vas Normandy"."

"I'm afraid I did Tali." The Admiral turned to Ty, "Greetings Ty. I hope your time aboard the Rayya is less confrontational than last time." Raan greeted with a slight bow of her head.

He nodded to her, he did too but things were already turning out to look bad. The former mercenary didn't want to resort to threats again but at this rate things looked to be heading back in that direction. "I hope it is too but if they already stripped her ship name I can't guarantee that my mouth will stay shut. Well unless Shepard here tells me to keep it shut because she is going to shout instead."

Tali shook her head in response as Shepard chuckled, "So I take it being associated with a human ship is a bad sign?" The commander asked.

"They stripped my ship name, that's like declaring me exiled already." Tali responded in a bit of a frantic voice.

Ty couldn't blame her, for Quarian's they were all basically one giant family and this was the worst kind of family meeting to have. This was like having a family meeting where you were committing one of your family members to rehab or an asylum.

Things were bound to get ugly.

"There are some who still know you as vas Neema Tali, come I promised the other Admirals that I wouldn't keep you." Raan said as she motioned for them to follow.

"Ty try not to threaten anyone. I'll handle the shouting if it is necessary but I want us to be as diplomatic as we can." Shepard said as they began walking further into the room.

_Good plan…if it lasts. _"Diplomacy, eugh." He said with feigned disgust.

"Ty." Shepard chided.

"Fine I'll do my best."

* * *

"You fuckers! How dare you spring this on her so callously and use it as a ploy in this trial!" Ty yelled as he pointed his finger in the direction of Koris and Gerrel. He had lost his cool and diplomacy went straight out the airlock. "Do none of you possess a fucking heart or are the Geth all you care about and seeing to the smearing of a woman who has done more for the Quarian people than any of you have ever done!"

Shepard put a calming hand on Ty's shoulder which did help but his wish to jump up and rip the two heartless Admirals heads off didn't subside. Her father was likely dead and they just used it as a ploy for a trial that actually held no meaning on Tali herself. All this trial was about was the Geth and whether or not the Quarian's should go to war.

Ty wasn't sure if Shepard or Tali were aware of the background reason of the trial but he was damn sure going to tell them. These Quarian's had a lot of nerve to accuse Tali of treason while really only caring about going to war or not. "My friend has a point but with all due respect Admirals the safety of the Flotilla has to come first. The Normandy and her squad stand at the ready to help." Shepard said in her calm diplomatic voice.

"I need to take a walk before I do something I regret." Ty said as he began walking away.

* * *

The three sat on the shuttle as it made its way to the Alarei; Ty stayed away from most the Admirals while Shepard and Tali had gone around talking to them. He doubted his anger would stay contained because of the shit they pulled in the trial, springing on the possible death of her father and the deaths of all those who were on the Alarei…it was infuriating.

He did get to see Zaal'Koris give his usual defense of his ship the vas Qwib Qwib and how he thought about transferring to the Iktomi or the Defrahnz which made Ty laugh to himself. He wasn't sure that if he explained the joke if anyone would find it as funny as he did.

Now though they were heading to the Alarei to take it back to prove Tali's innocence, find her father hopefully alive and work some of the anger out on the Geth that took the ship. That last part was mostly Ty but it was still an important task. "Ty you okay?" Shepard asked.

He forced a laugh that didn't come out as humorous, "They don't even give a damn about Tali. They are just using this as a fucking scapegoat to talk about a war that will kill them all."

"Caught onto that as well I see, don't worry will take back the Alarei, find Tali's father and set this right." Shepard reassured.

Ty nodded absently as he waited for the shuttle to land while Shepard and Tali spoke to one another about the mission and the Admirals and why the subject of the Geth made this such a heated trial.

He just wanted to kick the crap out of all the Geth on that ship for some frustration release. All this added onto his already growing anger over the information they had gained from Project Overlord and the Geth who had killed the Quarian's were just the unlucky bastards who had to face his rage.

The shuttle landed and Shepard stood up first with Ty and Tali following soon after to embark onto the Alarei, "Let's go kick some synthetic ass." Ty said as he grabbed one of his special tomahawks for his right hand and one of his pistols for his left.

The room they entered had two Geth troopers in it and by the looks of the room it was a mess hall of some sort judging by the kitchen counter on the left side of the room. On the other end of the room from where the squad entered were two doors. As Ty threw his tomahawk with as much strength as he could without thinking of any angle the doors opened and more Geth troops with a few Hunters came marching in.

His tomahawk nailed one of the troopers right in its flashlight head taking it down before the tomahawk returned to his leg holder. "Watch for the Hunters." Shepard said as she and Tali took cover.

Ty saw a cloak shimmer and unloaded his predator pistol into the Hunter as he pulled out one of his normal tomahawks and closed the distance quickly. Once he was in swinging range he began smashing his tomahawk into the Hunters face killing it with as much hatred as he could muster at the moment.

The trial was a sham and they were trying to exile Tali just so someone could get support for the war or peace and that pissed Ty off. She was one of their own and they had no problem whatsoever using her as a tool to get what they wanted.

_Fucking disloyal bastards! _Ty smashed the Hunters face completely with his boot. Then to top it all off they sprung her father's predicament on her without so much as a warning or letting her know in a nicer way. Raan did it trying to protect her however that worked and Koris and Gerrel were just being complete assholes.

He ducked into cover and dragged the Geth trooper that had been in front of him with him as he began smashing his tomahawk into its head as well. Tali's combat drone was buzzing about as he dislodged his tomahawk and Shepard biotically exploded her own pulls with shockwaves.

The only Geth Ty had come across were those attacking the Citadel during Sovereigns attack but even though they were trying to kill him he believed that the Quarian's could achieve peace with them. That was what Ka'Reena believed and a dream she had and what was he getting for believing in such a dream?

The Quarian's were apparently running tests on Geth parts which somehow miraculously built themselves into real troopers and such and had taken over a Quarian ship killing all those on board. When one really thought about it they had likely done it as a defense for their own lives because once again the Quarian's were screwing with them.

Ty got out of cover and let out a wordless yell as he tossed his tomahawk into the final cloaked Hunter dropping him to the floor with a thud. He stormed over to the Geth and pulled his tomahawk out of its head and searched the room for more Geth to work out all his frustrations. Were the Quarian's even trying for peace?

_Why was it always kill the Geth kill the Geth when they were the ones who created them? There has to be some way for them to coexist_, he thought as he looked down at the Geth Hunter, _Ah yes but then there are fuckers like Xen and old war machines like Gerrel while Koris is the only person who believes in peace but is threatening my friend with exile because he is a moron. _The Geth twitched and Ty activated his new enforcement gauntlet then slammed it down into its head crushing it.

Shepard and Tali had been scouring the room listening to an audio journal and getting credits judging on the slight smirk that Shepard had after searching a terminal. Usually that would have made the former mercenary chuckle or smile in return seeing her be the human being that no one had the privilege to know except those she held as friends.

Seeing her search an area like some kind of adventurer really showed the person in her that you would never hear about in the stories they would likely write about her in the future after this was all over. That thought usually would have brought humor to the situation for Ty and make him smile but all the emotions that were running hot right now clouded that.

As Tali and Shepard approached he looked up from the Geth to them both, "Why is peace un-attainable? Why is it that the Quarian's who are the creators of the Geth can't see past the fact that they are A.I. and see them as comrades or friends? The Geth acted in defense because they asked if they had souls and out of fear the Quarian's attacked instead of thinking through what they were doing. Why is it the question was so feared when the answer to that question is so damn simple in my eyes?"

The look behind Shepard's mask changed from her normal look to a bit of shock and a desperate look of not wanting to have this conversation right now, "Ty I know you have a strong opinion against the war on the Geth and I don't disagree with the idea of peace but right now we need to stay focused on the mission." Shepard said in an attempt to stop the conversation from happening.

"Just because you befriended one A.I. doesn't mean all A.I. are the same Ty. The Geth drove my people from our homeworld; they followed Saren and attacked the Citadel. You know that, you were there and saw what they did." Tali answered calmly but with a bit of defense in her voice.

He had been there and he had seen what the Geth were capable of but that was in no way all of the Geth. If it had been they'd all have been screwed which left one question, where were the other Geth? "The Geth could have obliterated your people yet they didn't. They stayed behind the veil until Saren showed up and a _contingent_ of Geth who we all know wasn't the full mass followed him. If it had been all the Geth we all could have been wiped out. Why is it impossible for an A.I. to have feelings or a soul?" Ty asked as he looked back down at the Geth.

"It isn't if you don't believe it isn't Ty." Shepard answered.

"Shepard?" Tali asked incredously.

"Listen you two we have a mission to do and likely a lot more time for you two to debate your points. Standing here and talking about it isn't going to get anything done and there are a lot more Geth here. You two have known each other for years so don't let this get in the way of your friendship." Shepard responded firmly.

Shepard had her head back on straight and that made Ty smile behind his mask as he nodded, she was right. Debating with Tali of all people wasn't going to solve anything; they were on opposite spectrums on the war and with their opinions of the Geth. "Alright. Tali I love you like a sister but I don't believe the Geth is an enemy to be exterminated nor should they be controlled, I don't think this war that the Quarian's want is right but that isn't what we are dealing with here and now. I'm not going to argue with you about it here or back on the Normandy, your beliefs are yours and mine are mine."

Tali nodded and Shepard chuckled, "You two want to hug this out."

The Quarian smacked her in the back of the head, "Nope but that made me feel a bit better."

"Let's go oh glorious leader." Ty said as he motioned in the direction they had to go.

Both Tali and Shepard chuckled before the commander began leading the way out of the room they were in and into the next which had a med-bay and a piece of Geth tech in it. "Ty watch our backs." Shepard ordered as she and Tali entered the room.

He couldn't stop himself, "Yes Ma'am!" He shouted and snapped a salute. The pair chuckled then he continued, "Eugh. I need to wash my mouth out with something now; military formality makes me want to puke. They all sound like they have poles wedged-"

Shepard cleared her throat a little, "Specialist less talk more watching."

"That nickname makes me want to stomp someone's face in."

As the purple eyed warrior kept guard Tali and Shepard spoke to one another about a Geth repair drone that was in the room that Tali had sent to her father. He didn't catch all the details but he did hear that it wasn't enough to prove her innocence so he waited a little longer for them to finish talking.

Shepard led the way out after their conversation ended and stopped by a monitor to hack it, after her hack was successful Ty saw her cock an eyebrow up in question, "Geth Shield strength upgrade? Hmm that might be useful if we could apply it to our own shields."

"Doubtful, the Geth don't engineer their materials to be used by organics." Tali responded.

"Still worth keeping just in case." Shepard replied.

The squad found a Quarian log which the N7 activated, "I really don't like hearing these guys find out that they are being hacked or if they are being killed but if you find it necessary I'll stand watch." The former mercenary said.

Hearing all of it left a lasting imprint on his mind and made him remember hearing his own friends trying to escape the Setting Sun as it deteriorated around them. "Sorry Ty I'm just trying to get a grasp of the situation."

"I know, better that than going into the memories of this place I guess." He said as he began watching their backs and the doors leading to the next room.

The new log was the Quarian's finding out the Geth had infiltrated their computers before the log shut off, Shepard motioned for the squad to move on so Ty fell in behind as they walked into the next room. As the door opened the former mercenary spotted a Geth Hunter before it hit its cloak and disappeared, "Hunter." he announced as he aimed his pistols around looking for it.

He could hear the footsteps it made as it walked around the room allowing him to trace it's movements without actually being able to see it. "Hey asshole that cloak doesn't hide your footsteps." The purple eyed warrior taunted the Geth. _And you are right…_He scanned the room listening to the footsteps until he saw the shimmer of the cloak and began open firing on it, _there!_

The cloak dissipated and Shepard and Tali joined in his assault unloading their shotguns into it blowing holes into its chest and head until it fell over dead. His female counterparts searched about the room while he headed towards the next door to make sure it was clear. Much to his surprise the room was clear but near the door was another log. _Wonder what happened to this one_, Ty thought as he walked closer to it.

Once he was about to activate it he stopped himself, there was an ominous energy about this one though he was unsure of what it was that made it feel that way. The energy around it wasn't as dark as the energy on Pragia had been but there was definitely something off about this one that he later wished he had heeded as a warning.

Ty activated it and a woman began speaking.

All instincts told him to shut off the damn log but he felt like he was in a stasis field watching this woman's last words echo through the room. His feelings on the Geth-Quarian war started to rise again while he continued to hear the words coming from the woman even after they had finished. So many lives were already wasted on such a foolish idea, the Quarian's didn't have the strength to fight the Geth and then with their weak immune systems…._this war would end with their ships being blown up above their damn homeworld_.

"Ty?" Shepard's voice and hand resting on his shoulder brought him back to reality.

"Mommy loves you very much." Ty whispered under his breath but it was still audible for the others due to his mask.

"At least her child still has a parent." Shepard attempted to comfort.

Ty shook his head, "For how much longer I wonder…This war has already cost too many lives, harmed to many innocent bystanders and it hasn't even started yet."

Before the others could comment he pushed forward and through the doors into what appeared to be a chemistry laboratory with a mixture of Geth Troopers and Hunters in it. All found cover except the Hunters who the purple eyed warrior killed with extreme prejudice right off the bat before getting in cover. _Why don't they look for another way?_ Ty questioned mentally.

_"Because like all the races in this galaxy mine is as stubborn if not more so as all the others. We fight and squabble with each other over mistakes made many years ago hoping that one day we may walk upon our homeworld again."_ Ka'Reena's voice echoed in Ty's head.

He was joined by Shepard and Tali in cover before he popped out again and shot at one of the standing Geth troopers taking its shields down before ducking back into cover due to his own shields dropping. _A war will kill their own people; the Quarian's could go extinct because of a war with the Geth. And what if the Geth don't want war? What if they just want to figure out why their creators attacked them? _Ty questioned the memory of Ka'Reena again.

"Ty we're going to get flanked from here, go take that Geth out." The N7 ordered motioning to the Geth moving to the cover on their flank.

Without out a single word the former mercenary grabbed his regular tomahawks and dashed across the room to the cover the Geth was about to get into. Unfortunately for the Geth he reached the cover at the same time and began unloading on the trooper slicing wires and its torso until he slammed the blade of his tomahawk into its flashlight head.

_"I've often wondered if peace with the Geth was possible. There was so much knowledge lost over the years by my people of what actually happened between us and them but I know for certain that not all of my people sided against the Geth. Some protected them seeing them as more than just machines but most of my people don't know that and any speak of it is blasphemy because "the Geth drove us from our homeworld and are heartless machines" as one of the Admirals told me. You aren't wrong though, a war with the Geth is a death sentence to my people and I hope that it won't come to that, that someday more of my people see things the way I do."_ Ka'Reena answered.

Ty got into cover and put his tomahawks away as he heard Shepard detonate one of her pulls and Tali send out Chiktika the combat drone. The final Geth were destroyed but he sat still for a moment, he couldn't stand hearing her voice without seeing her so he closed his eyes and focused on the memory as he brought one of his knees up so he could rest his arm on it.

He felt a presence next to him but he ignored it as he opened his eyes and saw Ka'Reena standing in front of a window looking out to Illium with a younger him standing next to her. The former mercenary felt another energy enter his mind but he focused on the memory listening to the final part of their conversation, _"Someday the fighting has to end, the bloodshed, the hatred. All of it has to or we'll all lose more than we gain." Ka'Reena said._

_ "Yeah." Ty responded lowly. His own thoughts then were of him stopping his own fighting for her but he never voiced the thought, mostly because he didn't need to. _

_ His Quarian bondmate turned to him, "I don't mean that just for my people Ty, I mean that for you as well. You can't go on this way consumed by your anger and revenge. It all has to end or you will lose more than you ever will gain from it…" She grabbed his hands and intertwined her three fingers with his five. "I love you too much to see you fall down this path forever." _

_ "I know. I'll get myself under control again that's a promise."_

He felt a hand on his shoulder so he looked over to his left and saw Shepard kneeling there, "Sorry. Just been hearing her voice and wanted to see her before we continued." The purple eyed warrior apologized.

"I understand but you don't need to apologize. This whole Geth-Quarian war is a deep rooted issue for you and I agree with her and you. They can't continue on this war idea and expect to live…The Reapers are coming and if the Quarian's don't get this idea out of their heads they'll be wiped out and the Galaxy as a whole will be down one race to fight against the Reapers…I don't want to lose Tali to something so stupid, peace has to be achievable the Quarian's created the Geth there has to be some way." Shepard said.

Ty wasn't so sure anymore, after seeing what he had he wondered if the Quarian's could ever really move past hating the Geth. "I don't know if there is but we won't find it here, come on lets go." He said then ended the mental connection bringing them both back to the Alarei.

After they both got their bearings again they both stood up, "You okay Ty?" Tali asked.

He nodded, "Yeah just remembering a lot of Ka'Reena right now." Tali nodded understandingly and they followed Shepard to a console. The former mercenary decided to stand watch in case it was another recording, the last one had already played through his head too many times.

It wasn't long until he heard Tali raise her voice towards Shepard, "A war we don't need? If I take off my helmet I die Shepard, a single kiss could put me in the hospital!"

"Hey enough!" Ty raised his voice getting the attention of both Tali and Shepard who were both looking at him in shock.

He knew that he had just been arguing with Tali when they first got on the ship but he was back in his senses and knew that right now was not the time for this kind of debate. "Listen Tali neither Shepard nor I believe that this war is a good idea because despite what it might sound like to you we care, deeply. Not only about your safety and wellbeing but the wellbeing of your race as a whole. The Quarian's don't have the man power let alone immune systems to take on a Geth army who can repair and rebuild themselves on whim or just create more. They need to focus on the Reaper threat that happens to be right around the corner."

A threat to every single one of them, gaining their homeworld back wouldn't do anything if they didn't defeat the Reapers. Ty turned to Shepard and continued, "Shepard I agree that the war is needless because I don't want to see Ka'Reena's race extinguished or see Tali hurt but right now debating that point with Tali isn't going to do anything. We are a minority opinion amongst a race that hasn't set foot on their homeworld in centuries. They want to see their world again, they want to be able to walk around without their masks on without worrying about dying and they see war as the quickest way to it. If peace is achievable it is not going to be gained right this second, right now we need to find Tali's father, save this ship and get Tali acquitted because there is another war we are fighting right now. Now hug it out and get focused."

Both Tali and Shepard let out sighs of defeat and apologized in unison, "Sorry Shepard."

"Sorry Tali."

"Now kids can we get back to the task at hand?" Ty asked.

"Come on lets go." Shepard said motioning for the two to follow her. The squad hammered their way through the next room fighting off more Geth until the machines finally stopped coming. Shepard and Tali led the way finding another log that spoke of Rael'Zorah wishing to take back the homeworld.

Ty couldn't help but be understanding to the man's wish wanting to build a house for his daughter but at what cost would he go to? He was risking his daughters ability to see her home as it was now, was that really worth the cost? As they proceeded into the next room Ty saw a dead Quarian body on the ground that he noticed right away, _oh no,_ "Father!" Tali yelled in shock and sadness.

_Damn it Rael._


	85. Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Paved with Good Intentions

_This isn't right, _Ty thought as he and Shepard approached Tali as she knelt down next to her father. _She has lost her mother, Ka'Reena and now her only living family member, granted she didn't have a very strong relationship with him but that doesn't matter, loss is loss, death is death._ Rael had really screwed up this time and now his daughter was dealing with the consequences that he left behind.

The sins of a father as the old saying went.

_ Damn it Rael why would you leave your daughter with this shit storm?_ Ty hadn't known the man to well exception of the little Tali had told him but he didn't want to allow himself to believe he just left his daughter to deal with all of his problems. He knew it was highly likely that he would have to come to terms with the fact that her father had indeed left her with this really big problem, his sudden new blind optimist just didn't want to believe it yet.

"You wouldn't just die like this!" Tali cried.

_And here I've been just lost in my own arguments about the Geth-Quarian war that hasn't happened yet arguing with someone who I see as a sister when I should have been focusing on the mission and be comforting her. I can be a fucking moron. _The purple eyed warrior had completely forgotten that Tali's father was likely going to end up being dead somewhere on this ship and allowed his anger to cloud his thoughts once again.

Before Ty could step forward to comfort Tali Shepard beat him to the punch, "Hey, come here." Shepard comforted as she gently grabbed Tali's arm and stood her up.

The pair hugged one another, Shepard held Tali tightly as a sign of an apology as well as hoping to comfort her. The former mercenary hadn't been the only one that had argued with their Quarian teammate, the N7 had also spoke her own reservations on the conflict she was now being thrown head first into. "D- damn it. Damn it." Tali cursed as she cried.

Ty put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look from behind his visor though she wouldn't be able to see it. The blind optimist in him had hoped Rael somehow survived for her sake but deep down he knew it wouldn't have been possible.

All the optimism in the galaxy didn't change everything they had seen throughout the ship, all the Quarian's had gotten killed likely in the initial strike and those who didn't made sure their mistake didn't put the fleet in danger before their deaths.

He didn't agree with anything he had seen going on here from the Geth killing the Quarian's to the Quarian's experimenting on the Geth but all these deaths were still hard to see. There was so much loss of life here and there would no doubt be more in the future.

_This time I won't abandon her like I did when Ka'Reena died_. Tali and Shepard released one another and Ty let his hand fall back down as Tali took a step back, "I'm sorry." She apologized.

Shepard shook her head and swiped her arm through the air, "You have nothing to apologize for."

"Maybe he knew I would come, maybe he left a message." Tali said as she crouched back down to her father's dead body.

She activated her omni-tool and began working on it, his heart told him to stop her knowing that whatever he had left behind would be more harmful than anything else but he didn't. He hoped whatever it was would eventually make her stronger if nothing else.

Shepard lowered her head slightly as Tali was working no doubtly in a bit of guilt of the same kind that Ty felt for debating with her on this mission.

They had both lost sight.

Ty put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her that everything was going to be fine between the three of them to which she put her hand on his and gave him a faint nod confirming she was going to be okay. "Tali if you are hearing this than I am dead." Rael started. The former mercenary listened to the message as Rael used his last words to order Tali to destroy the main Geth hub that was in the room ahead, the Geth interrupted him as he was recording his message with the message ending showing him trying to turn and run.

_He didn't even get to tell her that he loved her_; he thought with a shake of his head, _maybe he wouldn't have anyway though I didn't Rael well enough to guess that._

"Thanks dad." Tali said with sadness still clear in her tone.

It was disheartening to see her in such a state of sadness, hopefully she wouldn't remain like this and would use it to make her stronger though he wasn't sure if anyone going through such a sudden loss could just bounce back and not let the death keep them down. He hadn't bounced back right away after all the deaths he went through.

Oh no instead of bouncing back he went on an eight year revenge mission that consumed his everyday life and left him a shell of who he used to be, that's how he handled loss apparently. It wasn't until his time on the Normandy and with Shepard that he felt like he was actually recovering. He wasn't going to let Tali shoulder this alone and he doubted Shepard would either.

Tali and Shepard began leading the way towards what was the last set of doors with Spirits knows what behind them. The optimist in the former mercenary told him it wouldn't be that bad but the realist in him told him that it was the Geth's main hub so they would have it heavily guarded with bigger guys.

As they entered the room Ty began cursing the realist in him for being right, Shepard motioned them to slow down and get low, "A fucking prime, seriously!" Ty whispered through their comm.

"They don't see us yet and this glass wall will keep us safe from gunfire when they do." Shepard said as she surveyed the area. She pointed to the prime, "We should attempt to single out the prime last and kill the two troopers and the hunter first that way we don't get out flanked or overwhelmed." They crouched behind the desk in front of them as the N7 looked to Tali, "Tali on my go hack the trooper." She looked to Ty next, "Ty use one of your special tomahawks to take out the hunter. That will leave either one trooper and prime or just the prime if we are lucky."

"Yeah and the last time we were lucky was when?" Ty asked.

Shepard looked up at the desk, "No way. That's a Migrant Fleet model ship!" Shepard nearly exclaimed.

Both Ty and Tali let out sighs as they shook their heads while Shepard fit the little box into one of her armor compartments, for a moment he had thought he was about to witness the completely military strategizing Shepard to which he would have poked fun at.

That lasted until she saw the model ship and fell back into the normal person she truly was. He wasn't entirely sure if he was upset that he didn't get to give her a hard time or if he was happy to see such a human side to the woman in the middle of a fight.

"Seriously?" He asked.

"Is now the time Shepard?" Tali questioned.

She shrugged, "What I have only a few more spaces left and I couldn't find this one anywhere." She looked to them, "Don't judge me."

Ty shook his head but was smiling behind his mask, he doubted any of the stories of her heroism in the future would include that she was an avid model ship collector. There probably wouldn't be any story about how in the middle of battle she had grown excited to find one of the missing ship models she was looking for to collect. He would just have to tell that one himself someday. He looked to Tali, "You ready?"

"Hey wai-"

"Shepard the grownups are talking." He interrupted with enough humor to let her know he was just joking and enough sarcasm to still sound serious. Tali chuckled and gave Ty a nod of affirmation, "Okay let's do this than." The purple eyed warrior grabbed his special tomahawk off his thigh as Tali prepared her hacking program.

They were going to have to take on this prime and others to shut down the hub and some things were better off doing sooner rather than later. "Hey we still haven't figured out the plan for the prime." Shepard reminded.

"Come on Shepard you know us." Tali said.

"Yeah we'll just improvise our way through this regardless of a plan." Ty said.

Shepard sighed, "Good point, I didn't have a plan anyway."

Tali activated her hacking program on one of the troopers making it awake and start shooting at the other trooper and the prime. The hunter turned its head towards Ty and the others before activating its cloak, it had apparently not been fooled by their plan but that was fine. It was walking right into the trap the former mercenary had set.

It began heading around the glass wall to get to them, _not today hunter, today you miss your game,_ Ty thought as he tossed his special tomahawk down the hall. The tomahawk began to turn at the corner and as the hunter reached the area the tomahawk pierced its flash light head making its cloak deactivate. The tomahawk disappeared back to his holder leaving the hunter to fall down on its own, that was one down and one really big one to go.

The trooper Tali hacked was able to take down the other trooper before the prime annihilated it, "Told you we'd get lucky." Shepard called out as she took cover against the glass wall at the corner.

"No you said if we are lucky, you never said we would get lucky." Ty called back.

"That's a technicality." She retorted.

"And that's why I am right and you are not. So any plans or we just going to bum rush him and hope for the best?" He asked.

He had done stupider things so it sounded like a sound plan especially now that he had shields unlike all the other times he had taken on bad ideas. Bad ideas weren't as bad any more with the extra protection he was granted by the shield system he had. "That thing has shields still and likely heavy armor plating, bum rushing may not be a good idea." Tali responded as she sent Chiktika out to weaken the prime.

Okay so maybe bum rushing wasn't such a good idea but at least he had attempted some type of plan instead of just trying it. That had to count for something. Ty made his way to around the corner and began unloading his pistols into the prime as well trying to lower its shields. So the plan for the moment was to wear it down, a similar protocol to taking on a Colossus but with this version they didn't have to dodge a giant death beam. "Ty how do you feel about biotic charging?" Shepard asked.

_That sounds like a crazy plan; I have to take up that offer now_. "I've gotten pushed around by you, Miranda and Jack so I'd say my opinion on the matter doesn't really matter since the idea sounds crazy and crazy is like my cousin." Ty said as he got back in cover.

"Activate your blade armor and grab your tomahawks then, I've got an idea." Shepard responded.

He put his pistols away and activated the blade armor program Braum had given him, as soon as he did blades appeared on his gauntlets and bicep guards; _oh this upgrade is going to be one of my favorites._ He had sharp knives attached to his armor, he could now just flail his arms around and as long as he hit something he would deal damage.

As Shepard reached him he pulled out his tomahawks, "So plan?" Ty asked.

"I grab you, we charge forward and hit him then you take his legs out, you get out of the way me and Tali unload our shotguns into him." Shepard explained like she was explaining something simple.

"Why do I need my blade armor then? I can just use my tomahawks for that."

"Just in case he grabs you that way you have protection and it makes you look dangerous." He could tell she was smiling behind her mask, "And sexy."

The former mercenary smirked behind his mask as he shook his head, "You have enough juice that I won't end up ripped apart right?"

Something told Ty that she was smiling evilly behind her mask as she wrapped her arms around his waist under his arms, "Don't you trust me?" Shepard asked. Her tone matched what he thought she was doing, she was either picking up on his crazy ideas or she had always had crazy ideas and he just trumped most of them.

"You yes, biotic energy that could rip me apart like a black hole if done wrong, no." Ty answered.

Her arms around him were comfortable and he wished that they weren't in battle so he could do something other than look at the prime with the sapphire eyed beauty behind him, "Are you two ready?" Tali asked over the booms over her shotgun.

"Ready." Ty responded.

"I didn't really think this through." Shepard replied.

A smirk made its way to the purple eyed warriors face before he felt the biotic energy wrap around them and all the tingles that it caused. He felt them shoot forward phasing through the glass wall and right into the prime. That comment sounded like him, hell he had said it before because like Shepard he never thought that far ahead.

As they slammed into the prime they came out of the biotic charge and time felt slower as he gathered his bearings quickly and charged forward on foot slamming his tomahawks into the legs of the prime running between them. He made short work of making sure the prime wouldn't be able to stand cutting the legs up and moving behind it as soon as it started to collapse.

He holstered his tomahawks and deactivated his blade armor as he moved out of the direct path of Tali and Shepard who held a Claymore and Tali who held an Eviscerator at the ready, "Bottoms up you synthetic bastard." Shepard said.

The five repeated roars of their shotguns echoed in Ty's ears before the Geth toppled to the floor full of rounds and looking like someone had a penchant for overkill. Seeing as it was Shepard behind the plan and she was a one woman war path it made sense.

_Well that wasn't so bad, time to shut them down and get Tali acquitted,_ he thought as he approached the pair. "Since when did a Claymore hold two rounds?" Ty asked curiously.

"Oh I added the upgrade to it a while ago, I liked the Eviscerator but the Claymore has more damage and I figured getting an extra round out of it might save my life someday." Shepard responded.

There was definitely logic to the thought pattern; he had never really considered it not being one who used a shotgun all that often especially one that dislocated his shoulder with each use. "Makes sense." He said with a nod of approval.

"So how was your first time biotic charging?" Shepard asked a smirk clear in her tone.

"Who said it was my first time." Ty teased.

Shepard feigned disappointment slouching and lowering her head, "Aw I was really hoping I was your first."

Ty couldn't help but to laugh as he shook his head, "You're about ten years late for that give or take."

"That…that wasn't what I…Damn I really should have thought that comment through."

"Keelah can we please not talk about this in front of me, I really don't want to know the details." Tali said.

"But if it was me and Shepard you would?" Ty asked.

Their Quarian teammate took a step back looking a bit appalled at the thought,"Wha- No! No no no no, absolutely not." Tali pleaded as she put her hands up trying to keep Ty from continuing.

"It would take a few hours to explain anyway- Ow!" Ty said as he rubbed his arm where Shepard had punched him. She had hit his bicep guard and it still hurt. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing for her own defense or if it was just plain bad for him, _probably a bit of both. _

Tali and Shepard proceeded to check the hub to shut down the Geth and find out what information was on the terminal that Rael wanted Tali to bring back to Xen and Gerrel. If the former mercenary's instincts were right this was going to be something that Tali really wouldn't want to hear. The problem was that they needed to play it to figure out what information Rael had and if it would prove Tali's innocence. If it did then they would have to consider carefully what the repercussions of the information would be for not only Tali but everyone it involved.

A video log of Rael and two other scientists began to play talking about how they were making new Geth to test their weapons and try to find some way to defeat the Geth. The other scientists wanted Tali to send more stuff that wasn't as small or in better condition so they could get more Geth on the network but thankfully, in Ty's eyes, Rael told them no and to leave her out of it.

For whatever that really was worth now, she had still gotten dragged into a political shit storm regardless. Still it was at least good to know that he didn't want her involved in this despite the fact that this was all very wrong. He also didn't tell the others because he wasn't going to wait for politics when they were so close since he had promised Tali that he would build her a home on their homeworld.

The recording finally ended and there was an eerie silence that stood for a few moments, her father had done something awful but his intentions had been good. Then again the road to hell was paved with good intentions. Shepard finally broke the silence, "He wanted to keep his promise." She attempted to comfort Tali.

"I didn't want this Shepard…Keelah I didn't want any of this." Tali said solemnly. She began to pace, _ah crap she's pissed,_ Ty thought as he took a cautionary step back. He had weathered many storms but being on the brunt end of a pissed off Quarian was not a storm he wanted to stand through. "This…this is all his fault, I tried to ignore the signs but when the other Admirals hear this they'll…" Tali looked back to Shepard, "We can't show the Admirals this."

_Oh this really is going to suck. Spirits now would be a great time to figure out something to help. Ka'Reena I know you are watching, don't allow Tali to get exiled, for Spirits sake don't let her be exiled._ "Tali without this we can't prove your innocence." Shepard argued.

"You don't think I realize that Shepard, do you think I want to live the rest of my life knowing that I cannot see the fleet again? But I cannot go into the court room and say that my father was the worst war criminal in our history, I cannot!" Tali responded.

This was not good, sure things usually always ended up getting turned on their heads but this was definitely going to be on the top of the list for moments that really went screwy. If they couldn't figure out how to prove her innocence without this data she was looking at a life where she would never be able to return to her home.

_There has to be something we can do. Think damn it think! _Suddenly an epiphany hit the former mercenary. "Maybe you won't have to."

Shepard and Tali looked at him in question, it was either the Spirits doing or he was having an actual epiphany for once. He didn't really care what the real cause of it was, as long as it worked it could have come from the Illusive Man and he wouldn't have cared.

That might have been an over exaggeration.

"We saved the Alarei." Ty started.

"That isn't enough Ty, you know Gerrel and Koris. They are going to want solid proof." Tali responded.

He nodded and began pacing slowly, she was right and he was about to give them the solid evidence they needed. "Then we'll give them proof of your innocence, your service record. "You proved the worth of the Quarian people to everyone in the Galaxy by fighting along Commander Shepard against Saren" do those words ring a bell?"

"Keelah Ty that was a private message to Shepard from the council how did you-"

"You hacked my messages before you even knew me?" Shepard asked with shock in her tone.

To say he hacked it would imply that it had been difficult to get the information, which it hadn't been. Alliance knew how to hide things well and their firewalls were probably state of the art. They just didn't have state of the art enough to go against someone like Ty or Murphy. "I had to see who was looking after my sister. That's not the point though, she fought by your side against Saren, she risked her life to prove that he was a traitor. She got that information on Haestorm, all she has ever done is care about her people and has done more for her people than any of those sniveling Admirals who are trying to exile her." Ty explained.

"Keelah Ty you might be onto something." Tali said.

"You hacked my extranet mail account?" Shepard asked still flabbergasted. "That is a private account that is encoded on some of the highest frequencies."

Ty chuckled at Shepard's shock though if she wasn't paying attention he was going to have to reiterate all of what he had said, he couldn't resist a bit of self-congrats though. "Nothing is to high frequency for me." Ty responded with pride.

"Shepard focus, did you catch that all?" Tali asked.

"Yeah I did and I think I know how we can do this without showing this but…we hadn't even met and you hacked my mail?"

The former mercenary shrugged, "And your Alliance file and some video recordings of you scanning Keepers on the Citadel, and a lot of other stuff. I research the people my friends and family fight under very thoroughly. I also know you sent a message to your mother after I left your room today." He offered.

"You still hack my mail?!"

He shook his head with a chuckle; she really was surprised by all this. "No just had messages sent to your mother flagged so I knew if or when you sent a message to her. I didn't read it I just wanted to know when you did it. If you're worried I might find something weird in your extranet history then don't 'cause I don't look at that, whatever weird stuff you are into on your own isn't my business."

It was very likely that Shepard's jaw was hung open by the silence that followed which made Ty and Tali laugh to themselves, "I do not look at weird stuff." Shepard retorted.

"Come on we gotta go before the Admirals decide we're dead and blow this ship up while we're on it." He said with a shake of his head.

"If they ever fire on a ship while I'm on it I'm going to be extremely pissed, I've gotten enough space time to last a lifetime." Shepard said as she began leading the way.

"Or two." Ty said to himself as he fell in behind them.

* * *

As the three re-entered the Rayya Ty heard the sound of Koris and the other Admirals talking to one another and it seemed they were deeming the three of them dead. There was no surprised reaction or wonder how they could deem such a thing from either member of the squad, it was so much easier to name them all dead instead of just waiting.

Quarian marines had been killed so someone like Commander Shepard had no way of surviving right? Because she didn't take on Saren or manage to survive a Reaper exploding and its pieces falling on top of her or get blown up on her own ship and come back from the dead. A few Geth were so much tougher than all of that.

"It looks like they started the trial without us." Tali said.

Ty snorted in disgust, "Of course they did. Why wait a reasonable time for us to do what we do best when they can just name you exiled and treasonous when you can't defend yourself."

All of this political crap really irritated the former mercenary. It was all ploys and games trying to convince people to their own point of view, sheep herders trying to herd their sheep usually towards a slaughter. Honesty was lost to politicians and it was inconvenient to most of them. "We'll prove them all wrong, Ty mind-"

"Keeping my mouth shut so I don't fuck up any chance of Tali being proved innocent. No I don't mind at all. I'll sit on the stairs while I watch the next greatest ass ripping of the Admiralty board second to mine." Ty responded. Tali and Shepard chuckled as they all picked up their pace and made their way quicker to where the trial had been being held. Shepard had some sort of plan that would end in her shouting down the board, what that plan was she had yet to tell either of them.

The squad entered the room and walked briskly as Raan was asking the other Admirals for their decision despite not wanting to give up on Tali and Shepard with Ty probably a side note on it all. Tali and Shepard stormed down the stairs with gasps of shock coming from the Quarian's in the room as they passed by; they had all been told they were K.I.A. so their shock was warranted. It also made the former mercenary wonder if they ever questioned just how much their Admiralty board lied or twisted things to suit their own needs.

They had to put a lot of trust in their leaders just as the inhabitants in Council Space or Alliance Space had to but their trust in the Council or the Alliance leaders. This trust however was only faintly different, they all lived within the same ships and if they failed to do something like make immediate repairs or displeased the captains of certain ships it would result in immediate deaths or departures of ships from the fleet.

Ty stopped and sat on the stairs to watch Shepard bring down a rain of fire on the ignorant Admirals for trying to exile their friend. It would certainly be a spectacle worth watching. "Sorry we're late." Tali said not hiding her anger.

"Tali'Zorah saved the Alarei; I hope this proves her innocence." Shepard started but like Ty guessed back on the shuttle ride back Koris was going to be the first to interrupt.

"Her innocence was never in question, only her judgment." Koris said.

_Oh if this wasn't such a delicate matter I would be down there tearing you a new one for trying to do this to Tali,_ Ty thought as he bore holes into the Admirals behind his visor. "Is there anything you found on the Alarei that could put more faith into Tali'Zorah's judgment?" Raan asked.

_Here it comes, _he thought as he used his visors to record this moment. The others on the Normandy were about to get a live feed from the trial, _Live from the Rayya it's the Admiralty board's ass ripping fiesta._

This was the moment of truth and Shepard's one and only chance to prove Tali's innocence; if this failed she would be exiled from her home. _Come on Shepard I believe in you, you can do this._ "Follow my lead Tali." Shepard said through their comm. "No Admirals we didn't find anything, I don't see any more point in this trial if you aren't going to take my word or Tali's word for anything, Tali lets go." Shepard said as she began walking away with Tali in hitch.

"What the fuck are you planning Shepard?" Ty asked through their comm. He was one for winging plans, he did it all the time but this was a damn gamble. If they didn't fall for whatever she was planning Tali was screwed.

"Trust me Ty."

"I do."

"This trial has yet to end!" Koris yelled.

"Bingo." She said.

"Damn ingenious Shepard." Ty congratulated. He had forgotten how Koris hated to have someone turn their back on him.

On a moment's notice Shepard spun around and pointed her finger at the Admirals, "No this trial is a god damned sham!" She yelled. There were gasps of horror from the Quarian's in the audience and from the Admirals. "Tali'Zorah is an innocent woman and none of you give a damn about her do you?! This isn't about Tali nor is it about Rael and the lost souls on the Alarei! This is about the Geth and all of you squabbling about yourselves on what to do."

"That is preposterous-"

Shepard began pacing as she interrupted Koris while Ty was mentally cheering her on like a cheerleader, pom-poms included. "Admiral Koris here wants to make peace with the Geth and is using this trial as a ploy to make you all think he is right. Gerrel here wants war so he wants Tali's innocence to a degree only so it proves that you can all fight the Geth when you really can't. And Xen, don't even get me started on her weird experiments on the Geth." Shepard continued.

_GO SHEPARD!_ Ty thought as he was smiling big behind his mask. This was good, better than he had anticipated. "You have no rig-"

"Wrong Gerrel I have the only damn right!" Shepard clarified as she slammed her fist into the table. "While you are all fighting over a damned war that will make your whole race extinct, I am here fighting for my friend who is completely innocent of these charges. None of you have the right to do this to Tali! She knows more about the Geth than anyone else; you should be listening to her not putting her on a damned false trial."

Shepard walked back a few steps and pointed at the exit while the former mercenary was trying not to allow his hysterical laughs to escape his mind. "Out there she has not only saved the Galaxy once but has proved the worth of the Quarian people over tenfold and is continuing the fight by my side against the Reapers and the Collectors saving this damned Galaxy again while still watching out for her people and making sure you all have a home to live in. And what thanks is she given? Absolutely fucking none!"

She looked over to Tali, "And she never asks for recognition either." The N7 turned her gaze back to the Admirals who visible flinched once her eyes met their masks, "But what do you all do with your power? You all do nothing but whine like you have tummy aches instead of actually doing something productive for your people." Shepard pointed at Ty and continued, "Ty there has helped your people more than you have and none of you even know it!" _Shepard wait_-

"Do you think those random salvage gifts, or the credits just were from some random benefactor or another Quarian. No it came from that man right there who watched after one of your own while you all tried exiling her and her family for another stupid reason!" The N7 declared.

_How the hell did she…she hacked me_, Ty came to the realization, _damn and I thought I was good at keeping a secret_. "Tali'Zorah is innocent of these ridiculous charges that have no precedent or truth to them, if that isn't good enough than I'll be taking _my _little sister and going to a ship and family that actually gives a damn about her." Shepard finished.

The silence from the Admirals was glorious and if it weren't for Ty's self-control he would have stood up and shouted a fuck yeah so the whole Galaxy would hear it. "Have the Admirals rendered their judgment?" Raan asked with a smirk in her tone. She was the only one who gave a full damn about Tali out of these Admirals and Ty was happy that hadn't changed.

The three Admirals pressed their buttons after a few moments of looking at their feet like scolded children, "In light of your service Tali'Zorah this court sees you innocent of all your charges, Commander Shepard take these gifts of appreciation for representing one of our people, we appreciate what you have said today." Raan said as she activated her omni-tool.

"If you appreciate what I have to say then listen close, war with the Geth will end in the slaughter of all Quarian's. There has to be a way for peace or you will all die before stepping foot on your homeworld. If there is anything I can do to help bring peace in this conflict so that you all may walk on your own homeworld without your masks or suits I will gladly find a way…And with all due respect Admirals I was representing one of my people."

Ty chuckled to himself and ended his recording as Tali and Shepard began walking out of the trial while all the other Quarian's filed out themselves. He followed them further away from the trial area watching Tali who was still in a bit of shock, "No- no one has ever spoken for me like that…Thank you for being there for me when my father…thank you."

The N7 pointed back to where they had just come from, "We can always go back and get you exiled if you want." She offered humorously.

Tali laughed to herself for the first time since they found out her father was likely dead. "No I'm fine like this…besides its fun watching you shout."

"Agreed, but before I forget." Ty grabbed Tali and brought her into a big hug and swung her around once.

"Ty!" Tali chided as she laughed.

He finally let go after setting her back down on her own two feet, he was happy that everything had worked out as it did. Not only was Tali going to be okay but he got to watch Shepard shout down the Admirals. Today was definitely turning around from what had happened earlier. "That's for all the crap I said to you today, I'm sorry but at least it all worked out in the end."

"I'm sorry for getting angry with you. You and Ka'Reena always had your hearts in the right place when it came to your reasons behind peace." Tali said.

Ty nodded but grabbed Shepard's hand and pulled her into his arms then lifted her up so her waist was what his arms were wrapped around. Her armor certainly made her heavier but he wasn't about to say anything about it, that was just asking to get hit. They rested their visor and helmet covered foreheads against one another, "And you my dear commander, you are damn hot when you shout at people."

"I know." Shepard replied with pride. He smirked to himself unable to do anything that he really wanted to do on this ship and in full armor. After another second he put her back down on her own two feet, "Thank you both for trusting me, I knew it wouldn't look that great but I had a plan." Shepard said to them both. Tali and Ty nodded, it was a ballsy move but she had yet to make a decision that went completely wrong. "Okay before we leave is there anyone you want to talk to Tali?"

"Raan and Reegar mostly. Veetor is gone it seems and maybe Kar'Danna on our way out other than that if you want to talk to the other three Bosh'tet's then I will follow you Shepard but I would not expect a warm reception from them."

"Alright then lets g-" Shepard was interrupted by a little Quarian child next to Ty's leg looking up at them. The former mercenary was staring in awe at the child who happened to be wearing a blue and white suit. Judging on the designs and the sudden feeling he had he knew that this was Ka'Reena's little sister that she never met.

"Ex- Excuse me could I speak with you." The child asked towards Ty and Shepard.

"Tera'Reena you came to my trial?" Tali asked.

"Tera'Reena?" Shepard asked in a bit of shock. She had already put the pieces together just as Ty had.

_This is her sister that means her parents are,_ Ty searched the room and saw a male and female Quarian standing not too far away. They both nodded at him in appreciation as well at Shepard, "Ye- Yes Tali, I didn't want you to be alone." Tera'Reena looked up to Shepard and continued, "I wanted to thank you for looking after my friend, sh- she wasn't what they said she was and no one would listen to me but you saved her."

Tera'Reena walked up to the N7 and tugged at her arm so she would crouch down, Tera hugged her to which Shepard reciprocated, "Thank you so much, she is like an older sister and I didn't want to lose her."

"You are welcome but I should thank her for all the times she has saved me and stood by my side when others told me I was wrong." Shepard said.

"She knows and she's happy to have met you." The little Quarian said as she let go of Shepard. "Please be safe."

"I will." The commander replied with a nod.

Tera walked over to Ty next and tugged at his arm as well so he would crouch down to her, he was still in a bit of awe at seeing Ka'Reena's sister but he crouched down and Tera wrapped her arms around his neck in a big hug. "Thank you…Thank you so much for giving my sister a great life and protecting me and my family." She said.

He wrapped his arms around her and as he did Ka'Reena suddenly appeared next to them only visible to his eyes and wrapped her arms around them both. "I-"

He was interrupted by both Tera and Ka'Reena as they spoke in unison, "Shh you don't need to say anything, you are a good person and no amount of modesty will change that."

Tears began forming in his eyes as Ka'Reena let go of them both and wrapped her arms around just Ty and leaned her head against his temple, "_I approve of her, love her as you did me."_ Ka'Reena whispered to him then disappeared slowly as Tera let go of him.

Tears began rolling down the purple eyed warriors cheeks as he forced a laugh, "You sound like her and I have no doubt she'd be proud of you." he looked to his team, "All of you."

"Will we meet again?" Tera asked.

Ty put his hand on her little shoulder; he had no doubt that he would someday cross paths with her again. Likely when she embarked on her pilgrimage, he would be her guardian angel. "Count on it Tera'Reena nar Rayya."

Tera put her hand on his, "Then it's a promise."

Ty chuckled as he let go of her shoulder, _she reminds me of you Ka'Reena._ Somehow he just knew Ka'Reena was still standing there with them smiling at them all and that made him happy. Tali crouched down and gave Tera a hug wishing her well, as Tera was about to leave she looked at the three, "Good luck and fly safe." All three nodded and with that Tera, nearly skipping, left them and went back to her parents.

The former mercenary wiped at his eyes feeling stupid when his hand hit visor and mask, "Ka'Reena's sister right?" Shepard asked at Tali.

Tali nodded and said "Yes, she's six years old."

"And the best of Ka'Reena lives on in her." Ty said not hiding the choked up voice he had.

Shepard rested a hand on his shoulder giving him a sympathetic look, "You want to head back to the Normandy Ty?" She asked with care.

He shook his head, "No I'll be fine, let's go talk to the others."

After a moment of consideration the N7 nodded, "Come on Tali'Zorah vas Normandy." She said motioning for them to follow her.

"Yes…Captain." Tali said quietly in admiration.

As they walked Ty looked up at the ceiling with a smile.

_Thank you Ka'Reena._

He felt her smiling down on them.

**A/N: Hey all, I just want to note that I'm almost positive that Quarian's don't actually get suits until adolescence but for the sake of the ending moment Tera has one. If I am wrong and they can have suits at that age then this note doesn't matter and we can all ignore it. Anyways thank you all for sticking around still, this story has definitely become more successful than I thought it ever would and the amount of pings it gets when I post a chapter and even during the week when I don't continues to amaze me. ****Have a good one and I'll see you next time.**


	86. Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Paying your Respects

Shepard, Tali and Ty stood in the elevator as it brought them down to the Crew Quarters. The two women of the group were going down to get something to eat while Ty just wanted to get his gear off and relax. Fighting the Geth and dealing with Quarian politics had tired the purple eyed warrior out yet he knew this was just the tip of the iceberg for fights. They were heading into another shit storm that lacked politics but would be so much worse if what little information they had was fully true.

Someone hooked into the Geth mind unable to control them and a facility full of murdered Cerberus scientists. They were in for something bad, it was just finding out how bad it was when they got there. He'd be ready though, he wasn't going to sit out this mission, not with how Shepard reacted when they heard the news. She needed him down there with him and Miranda needed him as well, she was about to witness likely some of the worst Cerberus had to offer and was no longer the ice queen who could bat it away with an excuse.

For now though it was time to rest and recover from their current mission. Tali seemed to be handling the whole thing a lot better than Ty thought she would. He still saw her as his little sister and the younger more innocent woman she had once been years ago so maybe he had underestimated how much she had grown.

Then again she wasn't exiled and Shepard did rip the Admiralty board a new one all in the name of friendship so that had a lot of weight to it. The N7 really knew how to make people in higher up positions look like a bunch of squabbling children fighting over someone stealing a toy.

The group had talked to all the three squabbling Admirals and then after that they spoke to Raan, Reegar and Kar'Danna. When they spoke to Gerrel he had tried to call Shepard's bluff. Not wanting to just give away the information they found to someone who had just tried to exile her friend the N7 left it up to Tali if she wanted to tell the Admiral about the information, which Tali didn't. It would seem she too held a bit of a grudge over him caring about the war instead of her well-being.

Reegar as well called their bluff but he had done it more subtly by telling them he was happy they didn't have to talk about the data they found. He was a smart guy and understood what would happen if they went to war right now with the Geth though he would go anyway because he was a marine and he followed orders.

They all had to hope that the Admirals wouldn't do anything rash.

Ty hadn't said much to any of them being loss in his own thoughts after seeing Tera'Reena and what he hoped was the spirit of Ka'Reena instead of just his mind playing a very mean trick on him. He had deep spiritual beliefs but knowing that his mind was different than others made him doubt what he saw sometimes. He wanted it to be real, maybe their spirits lived on through him and his special connection to the world around him. Maybe all spirits lived on through those they cared for and he was just one of the few that could see them.

The purple eyed warrior wished it to be true, maybe that was enough.

After they got back on the Normandy Shepard told Joker to head towards Aite so they could take care of Project Overlord and put an end to the crap that was going on down there. Once they set their course Shepard had made her two squadmates wait in the elevator as she went into her room to take off all her own armor and get in her casuals before their trip down to the Crew Quarters which they were on at the moment. He had a sneaking suspicion she had done more than just take off her armor based on how long it took but he had no evidence to support his conclusion.

Not yet anyways.

Ty wasn't sure exactly how much they had left to do before the IFF but he did know Thane had a mission for them on the Citadel with his son and Zaeed had some mission of his own. The purple eyed warrior still hadn't heard the details of the mission though knowing the old veteran as he did it was likely something to do with kicking a group of mercs asses that have some relation to Vido so he could get closer to killing him.

If they found Vido then Ty had a few words to say to him about the "truce" he wished for. The first words would be "go to" and the final word would be "hell." No one had ever tried to ask for a truce after trying to kill his family so Vido either thought he could be really convincing or he thought they were desperate and afraid of the attacks continuing.

They weren't.

Each day they grew closer to taking down the remaining people who had attempted to kill him and his family and destroy Ortega district in the process. The only question that remained for those left would be who is first, Kelham or Vido.

The doors to the elevator opened bringing Ty from his thoughts and letting the three go out, "You ladies go eat I'm going to get this gear off." Ty said.

"You coming out afterwards?" Shepard asked.

He shrugged. Ty wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do immediately after getting his gear off, a shower sounded nice. "I don't know. May take a shower if it isn't occupied and then…I dunno I have something I need to do just don't know when I'll get there."

Shepard nodded understandingly, she seemed to understand what he meant and the importance it had to him. "Just let me know if I can help."

And there she was, the woman who cared for him so much that she would shoulder the storm with him if she could. He hoped she would be there with him, now of all times. "I will. For now though you two have a crowd to please." He said motioning to the filled Mess Hall.

Shepard and Tali looked at the Mess Hall seeing most of the ground squad excluding Mordin, Zaeed, Thane and Samara who weren't anywhere to be seen at the moment while they all watched the recording Ty had sent them.

While the two women had their backs turned to him Ty walked away towards his room, he usually would have stayed around to bask in the comradery and banter of the crew but his mind was clouded. Seeing Tera and the spirit of Ka'Reena had really hit him hard and reminded him that he had never truly paid his respects to his crew.

Eight years of hunting down and killing those who had done it and he had never taken the time to stand in front of their memorial to say the words he hadn't gotten to say and grant them and himself some peace.

"How did they-" Ty got into his room and the doors shut before she finished her question. In his room he saw Aya and Iliana playing a holo game of chess and both looked extremely focused meaning the next move was really important. They were so focused that neither had noticed the former mercenary walk in. He moved to his table and began taking off his guns first setting them in the neat order he always had and then putting his tomahawks and his bicep and forearm armor onto the table as well.

It felt nice to have all his gear off as he made his way towards the shower, the new weight that the new armor added was still something he was getting used. "Anyone using the shower?" Ty asked.

The two Asari looked up from their game in confusion, "Ty? When did you get back?" Aya asked.

_Definitely an important move._

"Just now, been in here for a minute at least." Ty responded as he stopped at his bathroom door.

He didn't want to barge in if Alia or Ria were in there, that would certainly make things awkward. "Oh, um no I don't think anyone is in there. Alia went with Samara to learn more about meditation I believe and Ria…I don't know where she is." Aya said as she began to try to remember where Ria was.

"I think she went down to the Cargo Hold for some target practice or maybe she wanted some time to herself to think since Alia was with Samara." Iliana said.

_Hmm, I'll have to check on them_. Time on the Normandy had definitely made things easier for the two Asari but going through what they had gone through wasn't something that disappeared over night. "Okay. I'm going to shower so you two can get back to strategizing how to win."

Ty left the two to shower where he let the water wash off some of his more confusing thoughts along with whatever was on him from the fight with the Geth. He wasn't sure you could call it their blood but he knew it wasn't oil or acid so he was unsure of what to call the light colored liquid on him. It washed off easily enough and EDI had yet to tell him that he caused a disruption in the Normandy's filtering systems or something of that sort so that was a good sign.

Joker would be fairly pissed if something bad happened to the Normandy because the guck left over from the Geth caused his ship to not respond properly. After he finished with his shower and finished doing his usual routine of brushing his hair and such he headed back out to find Alia and Ria.

His first stop was Samara's room after stopping for a moment to see the crew still gathered together talking with Shepard and Tali about their commanders grade A ass ripping. They each held smiles and there was laughter from many of them as well. It was nice to see them all there having a good time but he continued on his way set on his mission of finding his two missing Asari.

As he entered Samara's room he saw Alia sitting crossed legged next to the Justicar who was also sitting crossed legged with a biotic orb in her hands as usual. The younger Asari had a smaller version of the orb in her hands but it was still perfectly shaped. They both looked focused so Ty decided that he wouldn't ruin that focus.

He was about to turn and leave when Samara's voice stopped him. "Ty you are back." She stated.

She either had psychic abilities or his boots and the way he walked continued to give him away. "Yeah. We all just got back after dealing with politics." Ty said.

"I saw. It was good of you to show the crew that as I have assumed you did. Though we are all aware of Shepard's dedication to this crew it has heartened them more so to see it in such an action. Solving our personal matters has gained her much respect among the crew but seeing her defend Tali so fervently and knowing she would do the same for anyone of us has reminded our crew once again how one of a kind Shepard really is and why we have sworn our own oaths to serve her as comrades and as friends."

To be honest that hadn't even a part of why he had done it. He had just thought it would be funny and it turned out better than he could have expected it to be. "I'm glad to have helped though if I'm honest I had no idea it would do that." Ty admitted.

"In any case I am glad you were able to help Tali and through her the others as well. Would you like to speak about anything else?" Samara asked.

Ty shook his head but then realized she likely couldn't see him, he wanted to keep this short and sweet for their own focus and so he could go do what needed to be done. "No I was just checking to see if Alia was still with you but now I have to go find Ria."

The Justicar gave a short nod but offered little else in terms of movement. "We spoke at length before she went to the Cargo Hold for target practice. She has much on her mind though what her burdens are I do not know." Samara said.

"I'll go see her now then, I'll see you later Samara." Ty said.

"Be well Ty."

With that the former mercenary left and boarded the elevator to head down to the Cargo Hold, he wasn't sure if Ria's mind was still on Kelham after the short talk the two had but he didn't doubt it. She was doing better that much he could see.

There was something in her eyes that showed a bit of peace but there was something else that he wasn't sure of there. She seemed conflicted…confused.

_Maybe she's conflicted about wanting to kill Kelham…_The former mercenary shook his head to himself, _no that can't be the only thing. If there is one thing I know its revenge and it does not cause too much confusion. It's rather black and white actually; it may be a part of it but not the whole reason._

As the doors opened Ty heard utter silence which made him worry, you didn't go down for target practice to not shoot guns. That was like going to a buffet and not eating anything or going to probe planets and not bringing your probes.

He walked further in to the Cargo Hold as he looked for Ria only to find her sitting on a crate as she let her legs hang off opposite sides. She rested her head against a crate behind her head with her eyes closed; even with her eyes closed Ty could tell she was definitely troubled. "Ria." He greeted letting her know he was there as he walked closer.

The Asari nodded at the sound of his voice but didn't open her eyes as she stayed in whatever deep thought she was in. Ty found a crate in the vicinity of her and sat on it. Just like he did with Jack he would be there for her until she realized he wasn't going anywhere until she talked about what she was thinking about.

Stubbornness was his specialty, among other things.

"How did it go?" Ria asked with her eyes still closed.

"Good. Still hate politics but Shepard is sure as hell a lot better at it than I am." Ty responded.

Ria chuckled, "Goddess save us all if you ever enjoy politics Ty, the universe wouldn't know what to do with you."

It was the purple eyed warriors turn to chuckle. It would be a cold day in hell before he ever enjoyed dealing with politics especially in the case of the coming war that would surely test his patience for politicians. He could bludgeon quite hard so maybe that would help get them together. "Heh yeah I don't think anyone would know what to do with me in that case." She smiled to herself but remained silent.

For a while they sat in silence listening to the hum of the Normandy until Ty decided it was time to get to the bottom of her troublesome thoughts. "…What's troubling you Ria? I know that look on your face."

Ria opened her eyes finally and looked at him attempting an innocent face, it was frankly quite late for her to try now but he didn't fault her for trying. The distance between them since what he saw as her betrayal to now had grown to become like the distance between two separate galaxy cores and because of this she forgot how well he could read her.

They might not have been intimately together longer than any of his other relationships but that short time plus the years they remained friends allowed him to spot her tells with ease. "What look?"

Ty pointed at her face, "That look right there. The one that is trying to hide the fact that you were just having a very confusing argument with yourself."

"Yeah…you could say that." Ria said quietly.

"Ria you can't cold shoulder me and tell me it is nothing especially when I know something is wrong. We both know how stubborn I am."

The Asari chuckled again with an actual amused smiled on her face. "That we do Ty, that we do."

After a few moments of contemplative silence she let out a sigh. "Anger is a poison."

On that they could agree, Ty knew more than most on how poisonous anger could be. He had said before that it growing angry had made him stronger and physically it may have and still did but that didn't change the fact that the anger had destroyed him from within. His demon switch wasn't the same thing that had done it anymore thankfully; he had changed that as best as he could.

The potent anger that had taken over him during his years of revenge had been the poison in his veins that continued to fuel itself as it got re-oxygenated through his heart. Each time his heart had pumped then it had pumped that poison further through his body until he was no longer the person he liked.

Thanks to Shepard and his family he was no longer that person, he wasn't the rage addict he had been. "Kelham?" Ty asked.

Ria nodded silently, "I feel at peace because I have Alia in my arms again. I found this peace when I spoke to Kasumi after waking up from another damn nightmare and afterwards I didn't feel the need to kill that bastard but now I wonder what that says about me." She looked to him and he could see the conflict raging on within her mind in her eyes. "Am I just excusing that man for the hell he put my daughter and me through? He shouldn't live for what he did."

The conflict and circle argument that she had been going through continued to rage on as she looked away from him. "But I look at Alia and she wouldn't want something like that. She is so peace loving and if I do go on a mission like that and I don't..." Ria became shrouded by anger and she let out a wordless yell as she grabbed a crate with her biotic's that she had likely been tossing around before and tossed it again.

The crate let out a thundering boom like the storm within the Asari. She wanted to kill him because she believed that by just excusing him she was forgiving the man for the hell he caused her, a hell she couldn't allow herself to forgive. If she did go on a revenge mission like his she didn't know if she would make it back and that would leave her daughter without a parent. It was a tough battle and Ty hoped his solution would help, "Ria you don't have to kill him."

His former girlfriend glared daggers into him for a moment before she shook her head and let out a scoff of indignation. "Don't you dare talk to me about not chasing down someone for revenge Ty." Her sharp eyes met his again with a boiling anger behind them, "You of all people have no right."

Ty was sure if she had said that before he killed Scrum or met Shepard he would have gotten pissed, or the more likely he would have exploded and yelled at her. Instead he smiled both physically and mentally, mentally he smiled because he knew what the past him would have done and by not doing it he knew he had finally grown away from that being he had become. "Aint that the truth." He rubbed the back of his neck where his Blue Sun tattoo was, "I chased down the people I hated for years non-stop pushing away all the people I cared for because of it."

The former mercenary brought his hand out from behind his neck and grabbed the nine sided star pendent around his neck. He didn't need to reiterate everything he had done, everyone around him now knew the story. They all knew what he had done, who he had lost and how it had affected him.

As he traced the star with his finger he thought about what Ka'Reena and Shepard would do in this situation. Both women had a huge influence on him and their words past and present were helping to guide him on a gentler path, or as gentle as a path he went on could be. He still had to fight there was no way around that fact.

_They would tell her to seek peace not violence. Shepard had tried to stop me from killing Scrum even when he told us about the bomb he had planted in Haley's head. Told me I was above revenge, I wasn't then, I may never be but I know Ria and she is above what I had become and what she would become by following that path._ "And here I am afterwards happier than I've been in years, but don't mistake me saying that you don't have to kill him for me saying that he doesn't deserve to die or is going to die."

"What do you mean?"

There was a peaceful solution for this, or at least for her. She wasn't the only one who wanted Kelham dead. "My brother wants him dead because I almost died when we attacked those biotic extremists and he now has a man to push all the hate at and that man is." Ty paused for dramatics.

"Kelham." Ria whispered to herself in astonishment.

He nodded and smiled to her; while he wasn't sure he wanted to just let his brother go crazy on the guy it would serve to allow Ria to be at more peace. If anything he'd just shoot the guy and be done before his brother really lost it, his brother didn't need to let loose on Kelham to feel better. Killing had never solved anything for Ty and letting loose on his enemies really hadn't either.

In the end his friends and Quarian lover were still dead, nothing other than some sort of Lazarus to the extreme project could change that and even then doing so was wrong. It would be a selfish desire to bring them all back from the dead and he knew they'd likely be pissed at him for doing so and acting how he had after they died. _Death is just another part of life as Grissom once told me. _"Like I said, you don't have to kill him but that doesn't mean he will live. His days are numbered."

Her eyes lost their edge as he allowed his to bore through them and into her soul with care, "Ria you're a good person who should focus less on revenge and more on the happiness your daughter gives you. Get away from the life we both lived and start new somewhere else. Your daughter needs a parent and you're the only one she has and loves." Ty said.

"I need to make a living to take care of us both Ty." She shook her head, "Taking contracts is all I've ever known, it's all I'm good at. I don't have anything to my name anymore." Ria said.

It probably wasn't his best idea but he began chuckling to himself for a reason Ria was yet unaware of. She glared death beams into the former mercenary obviously not finding humor in what she had said. "Ria you really haven't checked your account yet have you?" The Asari gave him a questioning look before she opened her omni-tool and after a few seconds her eyes grew big in surprise.

_My work here is done._ Ty jumped off his crate so he could head up to Shepard's cabin. "You really think I'd let you just go with Aya with no credits to your name, nothing to take care of your daughter with except what Aya would no doubtly offer." He gave her smirk, "Come on you know I take care of my friends."

He began walking towards the elevator leaving Ria still speechless but he soon heard feet land on the floor and begin to run at him. Ty turned around just as his former girlfriend wrapped her arms around him and began crying silently into his chest. He had given her more credits than she had ever held in her entire life; she probably didn't even need to work ever again if she invested right. "It's like you forgot that no one has a high enough security on their accounts for me to take or put creds into."

_And if you ask Shepard no one has high enough security for me to not hack into their mail. _"Thank you so much Ty…I-" Ria cried into his chest.

"Consider it an apology for not being there for you when I needed to be and as a welcome home gift." Ty said as he rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her.

He knew that Ria was likely dealing with the thoughts of not being able to take care of her daughter and herself while with Aya and worrying about leaving Alia while she would be out on a contract. Truth was all they had both ever known was mercenary work; they weren't exactly types to sit in an office and listen to someone micromanage over their shoulders.

Watching Alia and the happiness she brought her mother and those she came into contact with was enough to convince the former mercenary to help his friend retire early. The life they knew wasn't meant for a parent of a child, she needed to be there with Alia watching her grown and become who she would grow into being.

The former mercenary had no intention of just dropping them off on the Citadel with fifty credits and wishing them good luck. Ria needed to be with daughter now not be out trying to make a living as a mercenary anymore and with the war coming the Citadel would be safe for a while. Still Ty doubted the Reapers would give up on it and if he knew Ria she wouldn't sit quietly while the whole Galaxy was at war, she'd find some way to contribute to it.

She finally relinquished her grip on Ty and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Now then with that stress finally gone from your mind how about we talk about the other thing on your mind while we head up so you can stop wrestling with yourself loathing." He said with a smirk as he motioned her to follow him into the elevator.

"Other thing?" Ria asked as she followed him.

He had finally figured out the other part of her conflict and it was going to be fun to be on the other end of teasing someone about having feelings for someone else. "You know what I'm talking about Ria stop feigning innocence." Ty said as they entered the elevator.

"Oh…that thing…" She shuffled her feet, "Do we really have to talk about it?" Ria asked.

The purple eyed mercenary smiled internally as he stopped himself from hitting the button, he really was going to enjoy this. Ty crossed his arms to show that he wasn't going to do anything until she talked. "Goddess I'm not a child Ty. I'm a grown woman." Ria pouted as she crossed her arms in protest.

"Ria this can be a quick conversation or a very drawn out one. I can have EDI stall the elevator as long as I want." Ty said.

"Regardless of the crew getting frustrated." EDI piped in over the intercom.

Having EDI on his side made him smile more; there was no way around this now. "Exactly EDI." Ty agreed.

With a dramatic groan and sigh the Asari finally realized the ball was firmly in his court. "Okay fine, I don't know what I feel okay it's just…" She looked down at her toes, "The last time I felt something like this was a long time ago and I screwed it up…for both of us."

Well that was some sort of progress so Ty hit the button and the elevator began to ascend. "Stop beating yourself up about that, you got Alia and she's a whole lot better than being stuck with me."

"She could have been ours." The Asari whispered to herself.

That was a fact he was aware of and it was actually quite saddening for the purple eyed warrior. While he was in no rush to have a kid, the fact that a great childlike Alia could have been his daughter was upsetting. "She may not have been who she is because of that. The daughter you have now may not have been the same as the one you could have had with me, and Alia is amazing the way she is. Could haves and should have dones are just as bad as the poison anger fuels you with."

She nodded silently, he hadn't been fully aware that Ria still held those feelings for him still. Maybe in another life or if things hadn't gone the way they had something more may have formed between them. "I appreciate the thought Ria, I really do but that ship unfortunately sailed the moment I lost my friends and the moment I came onto this ship."

"I know…I'm happy for you, just don't break her heart."

"I won't. Back on topic though you don't think she is into you either right?" Ty asked.

The Asari sighed likely hoping he had forgotten about that conversation. He hadn't. "She had someone, a human male I assume and her memories of him are all that she has left. I don't know if you know but that morning we talked she was staring at some device in a contemplative manner like she wasn't sure anymore, I think she has become consumed by the memories as you were." Ria explained.

"Damn it Kasumi how'd you manage to hide that from me." Ty muttered under his breath. She was never seen out of her room that much anyway but the former mercenary never thought that she would literally spend all day and night just looking at her memories of Keiji and her. That was not healthy for anyone especially if that's all you did day and night.

Kasumi had been out more lately ever since Alia and Ria were on board and his former girlfriend felt something for the thief but as far as he knew Kasumi had never been with a woman. Regardless of Asari being called mono-gender they were essentially females and Ty had no idea whether or not Kasumi had any preference on that or not.

This was definitely something he had no idea what to do about which meant he was leaving it up to Kasumi and Ria to figure out. Hopefully they would figure out whatever it was going to turn into whether it be a friendship or something else. The way Ria spoke about their previous relationship reminded him that she enjoyed the companionship and comfort of being with another person just as much as he did.

Before Ty could say much else the doors opened and as he looked out he saw Kasumi standing at the door, "Hey Ty, hey Ria." Kasumi greeted with glee.

"Hi Kasumi, what are you doing?" Ria asked before he could greet the thief himself.

_You don't realize you're already wanting to fall in love with her? _"Looking for you two actually." _Looking for us both? If you're looking for her then you are in the same boat. _It seemed that being on the Normandy guaranteed someone falling in love, or multiple someone's. The thief looked to him, "Shep's looking for you Ty, I think she's worried about you." Kasumi stated.

"That's nothing new. You all still crowding the Mess Hall?" Ty asked.

"No we spread out a while ago though seeing Shepard protect Tali boosted the moral for a lot of the guys. Shepard's still here if you're looking for her." The thief said.

"Alright." He wanted to go sit with her but after making sure his friends were okay it was time for him to go get his own head straight. "Mind telling her I went up to her room to meditate?" H asked.

"I'll let her know. You going to be okay Ty?" Kasumi asked with a hint of worry.

He waved her off and smiled, "Yeah I'll be fine. You two go talk if that's why you were looking for her otherwise go have fun." Ty said. The two said their separate goodbyes and Ria exited the elevator allowing Ty to hit the button for Shepard's cabin, as the elevator ascended he closed his eyes and rested himself against the back wall.

It was time to pay his respects.

* * *

Shepard spent a few more minutes talking with Kasumi and Miranda who wanted to go over who was going down to Aite with her, which she had chosen Miranda and Ty for, and how they were going to handle it all. There was no questioning of ending the abomination there it was just figuring out if they would act like they didn't know that they had a man plugged into the Geth or making sure whoever was still alive knew that they knew.

In her rage the N7 wished to burn down the base after saving the kid and kill all those involved but now that she was a bit calmer she decided to go with acting like they didn't know so whoever was alive didn't contact the Illusive Man when they got out. The glowy eyed leader of Cerberus didn't need to know how much they knew and that she wanted to gut him slowly, he would find that out when it was too little too late.

After finishing her conversation with Miranda and taking notice of Kasumi bringing Ria with her into her bedroom to talk for a while Shepard decided to go make sure Ty was okay. Meditating was a good way of telling her that he was going to be visiting a memory or something of that sort of Ka'Reena. He had said he had a place to pay his respects for her and that he would bring her but she didn't know if he meant a literal place or just a memory.

Both were possibilities. She knew paying his respects was important; she herself was going to do it soon. The N7 had received a message from Hackett giving her the location of the SR-1s crash site and she planned to go place the monument and recover the dog tags that she could find.

Most of the crew was going to be getting some rack time since it was becoming the night cycle on the Normandy and it was getting late as it was, hours had passed while they were on the Alarei and time continued to fly after they got aboard the Normandy.

Shepard herself felt a bit tired and was looking forward to getting some sleep and having Ty with her was an added bonus. She was happy to lend a hand to his friends but was even happier that by doing so meant that she didn't have to hide that she was with Ty. She also got to be with him each night without having to worry about someone seeing her leave his room, or in this case see him leave her room and that was a great bonus as well.

Not to mention getting to blow off some steam with Ty giving an extra hand.

Shepard smiled to herself as she relaxed against the wall, they hadn't made love or anything of that sort but just to have been able to do what they had done was enough for now and she was happy to have gone through with it. From the actual actions to the joining everything had been fantastic. She was happy that he had attempted the joining with her and that it had been very fulfilling in more ways than one.

From being able to be with him in such a tender way that still echoed in her mind and heart to the amount of pleasure she had received from something that normally wouldn't have granted her the tsunami like waves it did. Satisfied didn't come close to describing how she felt afterwards and she wasn't sure there was a word that would fit how she felt.

The doors opened allowing her to exit the elevator and enter her room in search for Ty, after making her way to her desk she found him lying on his back on the bed with his legs hanging over the edge at the foot of it. She checked her terminal quickly for messages but found none that were new.

The N7 couldn't help but wonder what her mother would think and say once she received the message and read it; would she be even madder? Would she berate her for using Cerberus of all groups to fight the Collectors? There weren't any other options than working with them so the Reapers and Collectors didn't win, she had to hope her mother would understand

She put the Quarian model ship box in her trash since she had already put the real ship in the display case after putting it together while Ty and Tali waited for her to get her armor off. Shepard stifled her chuckle at her own foolish desire to put the ship in the display before doing anything else while making her team wait without knowing that she was actually doing it. Now she was sure Ty did know, _he probably thinks it is funny_, Shepard thought with a smile.

Shepard looked to Ty's still form seeing him still in his new white and purple tank top and new black clamdiggers that were both padded with armor and still comfortable to wear with his boots already put off to the side. He looked comfortable but it was hard to tell what was going on in his mind or how long he had been inside of it, time moved differently there and he could have been there for a day by now.

_I just have to hurry. _She turned around to take care of Vic before heading over to her purple eyed lover. Shepard smiled to herself as she filled his water up and gave him some more food; it felt good to refer to him like that. There was no doubt in her mind or heart now, she loved him.

The commander began humming slightly to herself to the melodic tune coming from her music player near her bed. It wasn't from any of her assorted songs, something that Ty had likely put on before he sat down. There was a woman singing in a language that Shepard did not know and didn't recognize as any Earth language but it was still very pretty. She was made a mental note to get the song on her playlist.

After finishing up with Invictus Shepard made her way down to Ty, as she reached the bed she laid down next to him and looked up at the stars before she intertwined her fingers with his and joined her mind and his once again. It took a few moments but she got her bearings seeing that she was in his Zen Garden at the bridge that crossed the pond, she looked down and saw the purple flamed candle in the pot floating through the pond being moved by a current that wasn't moving very fast.

This place was just so magnificent and just being here washed away all the stress off like a warm blanket on a cold night. Shepard began her search for her lover as she walked off the bridge and through a path that curved through cherry blossoms. _If only this place was real,_ Shepard thought as she looked around, _maybe after this war is over he'll be able to have a place like this. _

The path led her through the cherry blossoms and closer to a building when she finally saw him; he stood in front of a square shaped stone that stood his height thanks to a rectangular base that it sat on. It had an oval shaped golden plaque at the bottom of the square shaped stone with words etched into it.

As the N7 approached she took notice to Ty's head being bowed and his arms crossed resting on his stomach, a moment of silence or just a moment to mourn she assumed as she reached him. Shepard remained silent with Ty as she examined the memorial with nine names etched into it.

She didn't have to read them all to know who they were but she did read the plaque and the top of the stone which held two different phrases, the top read,

_"In loving memory of those who I was honored to call my friends and loved ones. May your spirits watch over me and those you loved."_

The bottom plaque read,

"_Our Spirits never truly die with our bodies, they pass on and into the next world where the traveler never tires, the lover never leaves, and the hungry never starve. All friends, lovers, and family you lose you will meet again but do not think they have abandoned you for they will march by your side into the toughest battles you face and carry you when your legs can no longer hold your weight. They will meet you across the sea with open arms." – Grissom._

Shepard found truth in that statement as she thought back to all the people she had lost and how she had made it this far. Her crew had her back there was no doubt about that but she knew without some of the people she lost like Ashley and Liz stoking the fire in her heart when she was alone and needed it most she might have given up after some of the ass kicking's she had taken.

She snaked her hand under Ty's arm and to his hand which she grabbed and intertwined her fingers with bringing it down to his side as she rested her head on his shoulder to let him know she was there for him. "Thanks for coming." Ty said his voice catching in his throat slightly.

"Sorry I took so long." Shepard whispered back with care in her tone. Knowing how different time moved here it was likely she had been exceptionally late.

"I've just been here staring at the names not being able to bring myself to say anything or at least rest my hand on it." Ty said quietly.

It was a hard thing to do that much the N7 knew. She had done enough for one life time but due to the career she had Shepard knew not to say that they were the only ones she ever would have to do it for. Tempting fate wasn't something done lightly when lives were what you were tempting with. "Have you paid your respects like this before?" She questioned.

"…No, not really. This is actually at our home with some of our other memorials for people each of us loss. None of them have real memorials or graves that I know of, the guys have our ship on them and I don't know what Ka'Reena's parents did for her."

Ty squeezed Shepard's hand a bit tighter as he lowered his head again; for all the strength the man next to her had it was hard to forget he was still just a young man who had experienced each loss as a teenager. They say time mends all wounds and maybe for some it did but for personally losses like this not even time could fix it.

While the people around you consoled you and helped where they could with your mourning the truth was they eventually moved on if they weren't affected. When they moved on you still lived with the pain that the loss brought you, you were reminded each day by the absence of the people you lost and maybe if you were lucky one day it wouldn't hurt as much.

The closeness she held with each of her crew members was what helped her to keep pushing forward because regardless if they had gone through the loss with her or not they still had her back. That helped, knowing that someone was there for you no matter what hell you were going into. She wanted to be that for Ty right now, to be _his _support after all the support he had given her.

"And all I could do was make this stupid thing and put their names in it with something Grissom once said to me." Ty said.

"It's not stupid. They'd be happy to know you created something to honor them; they know you care Ty, that you loved them like a family and more for Ka'Reena and Tara." Shepard said before she kissed his shoulder while she rubbed her thumb up and down his hand in attempt to sooth him.

Shepard didn't like seeing him like this but he needed to do this for himself and for the friends he lost. "I know. Just easier to insult my own work than it is to admit that I never took the time to visit the one thing I had created so they had some semblance of a memorial. Our little group was the only family some of them had and I am proud to have been a part of that, to have been there for them as they were for me when I was so far away from home and my own family."

Tears began to well in his purple eyes, the usual life filled purple gems now held deep sorrow and regret in them. "To have had such loyal friends watching my back and backing me when I had no idea what I was doing, to have lived and fought beside them." The tears rolled over and dripped down his face, "To have loved and been loved by them. Damn it I promised myself I wouldn't cry 'cause Kar and Gallick would laugh."

The N7 let him let go of her hand as he wiped the tears from his eyes, Shepard rested her hand on his back and gently ran it up and down in an attempt to comfort him. His voice lost all its strength and it began to waver more and more with each word he said. "They all taught me so much in so little time, they showed me the meaning of true friendship and how hard a Krogan head can be." He forced a laugh through his tears at his own comment but then he continued, "And what it meant to be in love and so many other things that I don't have the words for."

He had never allowed himself to do this, he might have cried to himself or taken all his sadness and put it into his hatred and need for revenge but he had ever allowed himself to go to their memorial after he created it and just say some words or speak to them.

After all these years Shepard was thankful that she had gone to Lizzy's grave and cried her eyes out alone while she spoke to her and remembered all the good things they shared while cursing that she was gone. It didn't change what happened; it didn't change how sad it made her that she would never get to see Lizzy in person again.

What it did was allow her to cry all the tears she needed to cry and say all the things she wished to have said or had said and wished to have said more or for a longer time. Maybe it helped her recover more or maybe seeing Ty like this just hit her heart chords and she was happy to be there for him knowing what he was going through and how it felt to be in his position trying to find something to say.

He was tougher than many soldiers she knew but everyone had a breaking point when they could no longer hold their tears back. Some had larger breaking points that after a hard loss they could years and years without shedding a tear but all it took was one memory or one dream and that breaking point would be reached.

Other than the words he said Ty was a silent crier, he didn't have a sob that echoed across the garden or anything of that sort. Tears just streamed down his face as he tried to fight against them. He finally approached the memorial and rested his hand on top of the square part. "I'm sorry I never just listened to what each of you told me and left the Suns while you were all alive. Sorry I wasn't on our ship with you all as it went up in flames, sorry I couldn't save any of you from death, sorry I never told you all that I loved you as brothers, sisters, lovers and my crazy head-butting uncle."

His grip on the stone tightened and tears plopped down onto it, "I'm sorry for everything including that bottle of Ryncol I hid from you Kar that ended up getting broken. You were right I should have allowed you to get drunk it would have made the fight more interesting. You guys shouldn't have left so damn soon but one day we will all meet again on the shores of the afterlife and throw the beach party you always wanted to throw Brad…I love you all and miss you more than anything, yes even a hardass like you Gallick."

He gave the stone a final squeeze, "Thank you all…for everything." The Zen Garden began to disappear and soon Shepard was back to staring at the stars passing over. She sat up after getting her bearings and looked to Ty who had tears on his face still, the N7 wiped the tears from his eyes before he could then gave him a tender kiss on the lips.

"That was harder than I thought it would be." Ty said his voice still carrying the same sadness as it had before.

Shepard brought their intertwined hands up and kissed the back of his, she was happy to have been there for him but she wanted to see him smile again. She couldn't stand seeing him in such a sorrow filled state. "It's never easy but I'm glad to have been able to be there for you when you did it." Shepard said.

He nodded to her in thanks. "Thank you. If you hadn't showed up I might have just left without saying anything again." Ty said.

It was a likely scenario; she had done it herself with Lizzy until she finally built up the courage to just let it all out. Shepard leaned down to him and kissed his lips tenderly, they had a bit of a salty taste to them from his tears but she didn't care. Even if he had bitten his tongue and blood had covered his lips she would kiss him like it was the last kiss they would have. She sucked on his bottom lip before backing away, "I'm happy that I give you strength."

Shepard let go of his hand and sat all the way up, she kicked her shoes off and as she began to take her blue wifebeater off she felt another set of hands run gently up the sides of her back bringing her shirt up with them. The feel of his hands gave her goosebumps but she smiled as she helped him take her wifebeater off the rest of the way.

For someone who liked to engage in close quarters combat he had a very gentle touch. He wasn't rough or impatient and liked to run his hands across her skin. She couldn't complain, she enjoyed the feel of his hands running across every inch of her body.

After she tossed it to the side she felt his arms wrap around her stomach and his lips press against the crook of her neck, she closed her eyes as she savored the feeling it gave her as he continued up her neck and to her ear.

He soon rested his chin on her shoulder, "All my strength is yours as long as you want and need it."

_Why am I not surprised that even after all that he still is trying to be strong for me when he doesn't need to be. _Shepard turned back to him and rested her hand on his cheek as she smiled, "You just never cease to amaze me Ty."

"I aim to impress." Ty said with a slight smirk.

Shepard smiled more but she needed to be his strength tonight not the other way around. He still had tears welled in his eyes threatening to pour over and she could see the sadness in his facial features with no mask of any sort hiding or trying to hide it. _He would be bleeding out and he'd still put me before his own wellbeing_.

It took a few moments to realize that he had done that before but for Garrus instead. Shepard closed the distance between them and rested her forehead on his, "You've been my strength before Ty, let me be yours tonight." Shepard said tenderly.

Ty gave a very faint nod not wanting to bash their heads together then Shepard brought her lips onto his gently allowing the two to share a tender kiss.

The kiss they shared was slow and continued to be slow as Shepard turned herself more towards him until she no longer had to arch her neck in his direction. She helped him take his tank top off and then they moved to the pillows to be more comfortable. Shepard had Ty straddled as he leaned back onto the pillows so he was still sitting up.

The pair shared another slow tender kiss before Ty broke it off and rested his forehead on her chest, he let his fingertips run along her sides as Shepard rested her hands on his shoulders and ran them from their end to his neck back and forth in an attempt to comfort him. She was content in their position hoping it gave him some semblance of security or comfort also enjoying the feel of his warm steady breath on her chest.

A few more moments passed like this until she felt his forehead leave her chest but she then felt his lips begin to work their way up the center of her chest until he kissed the bottom of her chin. Shepard lowered her head back down towards him and caught his lips with her own savoring each second that they were together.

As they parted Shepard waited to see what he wished to do next whether it be rest his head against her chest again or lay down or kiss again. "I'm here for you Ty, whatever you need." Shepard assured.

Ty nodded again and engaged her lips with another slow kiss and for part of the night they spent their time kissing or just holding each other while Shepard attempted to ease the nerves that he was feeling that she knew all too well. They finally laid down with each other to sleep and much to Shepard's surprise she had no nightmares that night.

The real nightmare was about to come.


	87. Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Man's Reach Exceeding his Grasp

"What's the deal? Why are we stopping in this Nebula?" Ty asked as he followed Shepard into the elevator. They were entering the elevator from the Crew Quarters both of them fully armored and armed with all their weapons. They had been on their way to Aite but they took a sudden detour to the Pylos Nebula and now the ship was in orbit of the planet Jonus in the Nariph system.

Shepard hit the button for the CIC then looked back to Ty as the doors closed, "There's a ship about to crash into the planet, we're going on board to stop it." Shepard answered.

Sounded normal enough for their line of work, actually it sounded easier than most of the stuff they had done recently. Jumping onto a descending ship in an attempt to stop it wasn't going to be a picnic by any stretch of the imagination and knowing their luck it would be full of enemies as well.

Still compared to an all-out war in the streets of Omega and taking on a Thresher Maw on foot jumping on a hell bound ship would probably be a reprieve compared to those. "And the name of said ship is?" Ty asked quizzically.

"The MSV Broken Arrow." Shepard replied.

"Oh." _Broken Arrow…and I thought my ship had a cursed name after it crashed, they practically asked for shit to happen._ A sudden wave of déjà vu came over the purple eyed warrior; he had said something about calling a ship that at some point in time. He thought about it than remembered one of his conversations with Shepard back when he had shown her his first kill at eight years old.

"I told you that it would be asking for trouble naming your ship that but nooo someone had to tempt fate." He said. Shepard chuckled in response to his small I told you so moment. It wasn't like she had any control of what the people called their ship but he couldn't resist it. "So who's going with us? I assume it's the three man deal as always. You did say once that you always travel in threes."

Another chuckle made its way out of the sapphire eyed beauty, "Make fun all you like but it works. Zaeed is already waiting for us at the air lock, Geth are on board and we'll be racing against time." _Yup knew it wasn't going to be completely easy. _"…you're okay right?" Shepard asked.

Ty raised an eyebrow in response; he wondered why she was worried about him working with Zaeed. He had done it before coming onto the Normandy and there was no issue between them, they'd likely throw sarcasm at one another but that was a normal occurrence. "With the old man? Yeah we're good. We'll likely be giving each other a lot of shit but that's normal."

Shepard stopped the elevator before it opened the doors then turned to Ty; the look she gave him looked like she thought he was dodging her real question. _Did I miss something?_ "Not what I meant Ty." He had an oh moment realizing she was really talking about how he felt after paying his respects. He gave her another nod, "Yeah I'm fine, I feel a bit better finally taking the time to visit and say the things I did. You being there was a big help as well."

It felt good going there and finally letting himself speak to them instead of leaving, it was the first time he had allowed himself to let himself cry, to really cry and grieve without going into a raged mindset afterwards. Crying out of sadness and being comforted by Shepard until they fell asleep instead of crying, getting pissed and then going out to kill a bunch of Blue Suns made him feel better than he had about the situation in a long time.

He still missed them and wished they hadn't been killed, he probably always would but this step in a grieving process that had lasted eight years was a good one. Shepard grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes checking for signs that he was lying but Ty smiled and gave her a kiss on the lips.

Her worry for his wellbeing was another big help. His family had always been there for him but being in the mindset he had been in at the time made him not listen to them as he should have. If they were on the Normandy with him now he wouldn't doubt that by being around them he would feel the same as he did with how it was to have Shepard be there for him.

They parted from one another with smiles on their faces, "I'm good V thanks in no small part to you. Come on we gotta go save a ship that was cursed the day it was named." Shepard nodded with her smile still in place before opening up the elevator doors allowing them to exit and head towards the cock-pit.

The pair walked briskly to the air lock and soon Zaeed was in sight with his arms crossed as he leaned against the doors. He looked bored mixed with a reminiscent gleam in his eye which told Ty he was probably thinking about an old mission of his to pass the time. _Probably thinking of Jessie, _the former mercenary mused. While he loved his tomahawks he didn't name them, they were a part of him once they were in his hands but he didn't fantasize about holding them in his hands.

_What would I call them anyway? _The former mercenary mulled over the thought for a moment, _I think I'd call them lefty and bam bam. My other set I'd have to name righty and boom pow. _He stifled his chuckle at his thoughts as they approached the veteran mercenary. _Maybe I'll leave the naming of weapons to Zaeed. _He nodded to the pair, "'Bout time. We've got a ship carrying volatile chemicals on board about to crash into a planet and you." Zaeed pointed at Ty, "Don't answer your bloody comm when we call ya."

Now it wasn't like he blatantly ignored them, there was a very good reason he didn't answer. "Sorry I was in the shower." He didn't bring his comm into the shower with him; hell nobody brought their comm into the shower with them. "But let's not forget the time when you didn't answer my call when you were about to get ambushed by a bunch of Blue Suns." Ty retorted.

Zaeed barked out a laugh as he got a nostalgic look in his eye, "Ha! Those bastards wouldn't have stood a chance if that stripper hadn't been paid off. That reminds me of a time this Asari girl sold me out to a bunch of Bloodpack, that put a sour note in our relationship." The veteran mercenary said.

"Only you would call getting sold out to a bunch of Bloodpack a sour note." The former mercenary said with humor.

As the Normandy began to dock with the Broken Arrow the three entered the air-lock and Ty took notice of a lack of Jessie on Zaeed's back, "You still haven't fixed Jessie up?" He asked.

The man had been procrastinating getting around to it since the purple eyed warrior had met him. The pieces weren't terribly hard to get a hold of, it wouldn't be easy but it wasn't like he didn't have any spare time to fill out an order. "No, still have her with me though. Someday I'll fix Jessie up and she'll be just as she was all those years ago." Zaeed said with a tinge of sadness mixed with hope in his tone.

Ty chuckled, _and only you would be so attached to your weapon to have that sad puppy dog eye look on your face. Then again if I lost my tomahawks or broke them I'd probably look like that too._ "You know my offer still stands, I'll fix her up if you want me to."

The veteran mercenary turned around holding a serious look on his face and his tone matched his look as he pointed an accusatory finger at him. "Nobody touches my Jessie except me."

He raised his hands up in a surrender motion, "Alright alright. I don't need that speech again."

_Geez I feel like I asked Garrus if I could recalibrate his guns for him. He'd probably react the same way. _"Masks on guys we have work to do." Shepard said as she put her helmet on.

Ty pulled his hood up and his full mask activated while Zaeed put his mask on as well, he tried really hard to keep his mouth shut but it started going, "You still have two eye holes on that despite only having one eye that works? You could at least put an eye patch over it or something." He said sarcastically.

"Didn't we have this conversation before? Until you change whatever it is you call that outfit you can't tell me what I should and should not wear." Zaeed retorted.

"I'll have you know this armor is relatively new and completely in fashion." Ty responded defensively.

"Kid you wouldn't know fashion if it slapped you in the head, kicked you in your testicles and then ripped them off and showed you 'em." Zaeed said with a hearty laugh afterwards.

Shepard joined his laugh as Ty rubbed the back of his head in an attempt to think of a good comeback to have the last word. The veteran mercenary had really thought that one out and it was really hard to top it, seemed impossible actually.

Lacking a good comeback and hearing the air-lock doors begin to open the purple eyed warrior grabbed his pistols and said, "I may lack fashion sense but try not to cough up your lungs trying to keep up with me old man."

"Try to stay focused on the mission you two, I don't think Chakwas wants to patch up bullet holes today." Shepard said.

"Don't worry Shepard; with Ty here we're sure to get our asses shot off." Zaeed replied.

"I'm not that unlucky." Ty said defensively as the doors opened letting them enter the crashing ship.

* * *

"What was that you said before Ty? "I'm not that unlucky?" This is the same shit I remember gettin' in when I was around you!" Zaeed yelled over the gunfire.

This was not his fault, even if he tempted fate by saying he wasn't unlucky this situation could not be blamed on him. The Geth were swarming them while Shepard was attempting to re-stabilize the engines before they reached the point of no return.

Which happened to be coming closer with each second.

"I recall all those "problems" being because you started the shit storms before I even got there!" Ty retorted. Rounds impacted against the barrier in front of Ty and Zaeed, Shepard's hands continued to dance across the console in front of her but getting their asses shot off wasn't helping. The former mercenary got out of cover with his sniper and aimed down his sights, there were three Geth near one another so he took a deep breath and fired off three rounds killing all three of them.

"Shepard what's taking so damn long?" Ty asked as he got back into cover.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize I was an expert at re-stabilizing an engine let me just activate the program on my omni-tool that does it in ten seconds and we'll be on our way." Shepard replied sarcastically. He understood that neither of them knew what they were doing and EDI's guidance only got them so far but he really didn't like the idea of going down with this ship.

Had it been his own ship filled with his crew when they were attacked his preference would still be to get out alive if he could but if his death was inevitable than going down with his ship wouldn't feel so bad. This wasn't his ship and he had no intention of dying now.

Ty checked his omni-tool for EDI's countdown and saw that they had two minutes left, "Two minutes left Shepard. If you're being dramatic now would be a great time to stop." He announced.

"That is not helping my stress level Ty!" Shepard yelled back with a bit of humor in her tone but still with more stress.

"You know I once thought of retiring by blowing up a ship with myself on it. It doesn't seem as great of an idea now that we're on a hell bound ship." Zaeed commented.

The purple eyed warrior gave a faint chuckle as the veteran mercenary got out of cover with his Viper and began firing at the Geth. After he fired off a concussive shot he got back into cover next to him, "Come on old man surly a beach would be far better than that kind of spectacle. Besides why would you want to retire? Look at all the fun we have." He said sarcastically motioning to the ship around them.

Rounds ricocheted against their cover, "A ship on a hell bound destination, getting shot at and put into suicidal odds at least twice a day with no hazard pay. This is not my idea for a bloody holiday." Zaeed replied.

"True enough." This was the farthest thing from a holiday but still better than dealing with mercenary plots to kill his family, Admirals trying exile his friend and Cerberus experiments. "I'll take a beach any day, as long as I don't get arrested while I'm on it." Ty said.

"Ha! The day you get arrested is the day that Cerberus doesn't preform twisted experiments, the Krogan's become fertile and the Reapers never existed." Zaeed said.

"So you're saying that the Alliance and Council are both too incompetent to catch me?" He asked with humor in his tone as he got back out of cover and shot more Geth.

He destroyed four more flashlight heads before having to take cover again. "No, you just happen to be with the one woman who could bail your ass out in both situations." Zaeed responded.

The sound of the engines finally activating drowned out Ty's laugh, he had a point on that though that was not the reason he was with her. He would never use her as a way to get out of trouble, that didn't mean she wouldn't bail him out anyway but he'd try not to let it come to that. "Engines are stabilized. Let's clean up the rest of these Geth and then get back to the Normandy." Shepard said over their comm.

"Sounds good." Zaeed said.

"Let's finish this." Ty responded.

"Shepard I now have access to the ships systems and will be able to guide you to the remaining Geth." EDI said over the comm.

_Wish she had gained access earlier, didn't need the stress of thinking we were going to crash into the planet's surface. _"Alright lead on EDI. Zaeed switch to your Avenger, Ty keep your distance and pick off targets but if we get to an area where you think your pistols will be more effective don't hesitate to switch." Shepard said as Zaeed finished off the last Geth in the room.

"Got it." Both men responded in unison.

* * *

"I'm telling you old man I had more kills than you." Ty said as the squad re-entered the Normandy.

"I counted thirty five Geth that you had kid, I had forty five." Zaeed replied with confidence.

He did have forty five but that included all the combos he and Shepard had set off plus the few they had done together. The thirty five that the former mercenary had weren't counting any of his combos; Zaeed was clearly turning the score for his favor. "Yeah and those extra ones came from combos you and Shepard set off together which doesn't count towards your personal score. If you take all those combos out you had thirty three." Ty responded.

"Even if you take those combos out I still have thirty seven." Zaeed replied.

"No 'cause you're still counting our combos and I'm not. If I counted my combos with you I would have thirty nine." Ty said.

If he was going to debate who had the most kills he needed to at least count it fairly. Still there was one fact both men were ignoring for the moment which was going to get shoved in their face soon. Shepard chuckled to herself as she took her helmet off, "I still had more than both of you so let's just end it there. EDI reset our course for Aite." Shepard said.

"Yes Shepard." EDI responded.

"I still can't figure out how she managed that since she was working on the console for at least three minutes." Ty said.

"The ship _was_ still crawling with Geth Ty." Shepard responded.

That it was and the fighting had lasted another ten minutes as the squad had moved through the corridors of the ship with EDI's guidance bringing them to the remaining Geth.

She could have probably opened up a few airlocks and vented most of the Geth out but considering the synthetics didn't need oxygen it felt safer to put a round through them. Since they were synthetics they'd just float around until they were crushed by entering an atmosphere and if they survived that they could land on a planet and harm more people.

A round through the flashlight head stopped that possibility.

Ty took his hood off as the three began walking towards the elevator and pulled out his hair tie that he used to ponytail the crown of his hair. After putting the hair tie on his wrist he ran his hand through his hair finding it wet from sweat, _guess that shower was pointless_. "I'm going to check out the research terminal before I head up to my room to change so you two go on ahead." Shepard said as she parted from the group to Mordin's lab.

"I'll talk to you later Shepard." Zaeed said.

"Later Shepard." Ty said.

Zaeed and Ty entered the elevator and hit their respective buttons so they could head down to get their gear off and relax. Their time on the ship killing Geth hadn't been a relaxing break and they still had to go to Aite and shut down Project Overlord. Another mission which wouldn't be a vacation of any sort. "So Zaeed you really going to retire after all of this is over?" Ty asked.

"I'm gettin' old Ty, if I'm going to spend my last days the way I want then I'll take a beach and sun over gettin' my ass shot off." The former mercenary nodded and chuckled a little, he couldn't blame the man for wanting to rest from conflict.

He had done a lot in his life over all the years, got his face shot to hell and now was on a suicide mission. There came a time when it was time to rest from the fighting and Zaeed believed his time to rest was coming soon.

Ty hoped after they beat the Collectors and defeated the Reapers he'd one day get to step away from the fighting, he wanted to fulfill that promise just as Ka'Reena would have wanted him too.

"The Reapers and Collectors threw a wrench in my early retirement and I still have some unfinished business with Vido. Afterwards it may be time for me to find a place where me and Jessie can relax. Don't know how long it'll last, might just take a vacation instead." Zaeed said.

"You'd probably get bored."

"Maybe. Blowing up a ship in front of Omega still might be the better option." Zaeed said with a chuckle.

He doubted it was the better option, especially for him and Aria. Aria would be extremely pissed and he'd have to hear her rant and rave about it. It might be a selfish thought but he hoped the veteran mercenary wouldn't do that for his own sake. "Nah that would be a waste of good explosives. Why blow yourself up when they could be used to blow up some unlucky bastard that interrupted your peace and quiet." Ty responded.

Zaeed chuckled again, "Not a bad plan either. So you and Shepard huh?"

"Yeah. Surprises the hell out of me still but, yeah we're together." Ty responded.

The veteran mercenary shook his head with a look of disbelief. "You'd think with all the shit you went through you'd stop being surprised when things don't go the way you think." Ty couldn't help but laugh at the comment, he had a point. He had planned not to fall in love again, he had planned to never get close to anyone besides his family and current friends and neither of those plans had happened.

It was a pleasant surprise actually.

"You managed to find two damn fine women in one life, most aren't lucky enough to find one." Zaeed said.

Ty nodded in agreement but then smirked, "You have some long lost love that I don't know about old man?"

"I only have one long lost love and that'd be Jessie." Zaeed responded.

"I think you got some personal issues Zaeed." Ty said with a laugh.

The doors opened to the Crew Quarters bringing both of their attention away from their conversation. "You and me both kid. Now get the hell out so I can go down to my room."

Ty chuckled as he exited the elevator and headed to his room to get his gear off. He entered his room to find Iliana once again playing holo chess but this time it was with Ria while Aya, Alia and Kasumi watched on. Iliana seemed to have the game won based on the slight smirk teasing at her lips while Ria looked at the pieces intensely. "Iliana are you embarrassing the adults again?" Ty asked with humor.

"Hi Uncle Ty. I wouldn't say I'm embarrassing them since they put up a decent fight but just like mom Ria is playing right into my hands." Iliana said confidently.

Ria let out a sigh and moved a piece forward taking one of Iliana's pieces. "I should have just resigned." She said in a deflated tone. The former mercenary chuckled to himself seeing the Asari look so upset at the situation she was in. She had obviously tried her hardest and still the younger Asari of the two had clearly out played her.

"Don't worry Aunty Ria the match is over now, checkmate." Iliana said as she moved her piece into position.

"How did you- Goddess you sacrificed your piece for the win." Ria said as the realization hit her.

The former mercenary began taking off his gear while his room was filled with Iliana's laughter, he heard the sound of Ria scooting her chair back and standing up a sigh of defeat making its way out of her. "So Ria I recall you being really good at chess, nearly beat me a few times. What happened?" Ty asked.

"She's a genius and I don't mean that in a jest. She was always five steps ahead of me." Ria explained.

_A genius? She's always been smart but I wonder just how smart she's gotten since the last time I played her_. He had been the one to introduce playing the game to the younger Asari as a way to help her with hacking skills and tactical skills. A lot of hacking techniques got there basis from the tech behind games like chess and other extranet games and while one did not move on a small chess board in real life it helped to keep her mind working.

"Well in that case, Iliana if you're up for another game I think I'll have to see just how smart you've gotten since last time." Ty said.

"You're on Uncle Ty." Iliana said as she began resetting the board.

Ty turned around and saw that Ria had moved to the bed and had Alia in her lap while Kasumi sat next to her, "Since when do you play chess?" Kasumi asked.

It wasn't a well-known fact about him, he made off handed comments about it now and then but it took seeing him play to make anyone to believe him. "I learned a while back and being as smart as I am-"

"When have you been smart?" Kasumi interrupted in a joking manor.

He rolled his eyes in amusement for interruption of his own gloating, "Being as smart as I am I picked it up quickly and gave Iliana here a liking for the game. Still seven zero deficit with me in the lead but we'll see if that changes."

Great tactics wasn't something anyone that had fought beside him would ever accuse him of, his plans were usually thought of at the last moment and usually still weren't all that good. In chess though he did quite well and had yet to be beaten by his friends, his father was the only one who beat him in it every time they played and his brother never had the patience to sit down and play.

Ty sat down in the chair across from Iliana who had a slight smile on her face, "I won't go easy on you." Iliana said.

"I'd hope not. I'd hate for me to win within the first fifteen moves…again." Ty teased.

"Hey that's not fair it was the first time I had ever played the game and I was still learning." Iliana defended.

"A win is a win and a loss is a loss. Now come on let's see if you can beat me."

Five Hours Later

About half way through the match Ty had realized he wasn't going to be able to win the match due to how quick Iliana's mind had become and how he was moving straight into her hands as she was into his. She had always showed promise and a high level of intelligence and while this was just a game the fact that she had outsmarted him so quickly surprised him.

He hated the tactic that he was using now but it was legal and he wanted to test and see if she would see it coming. They both only had a few more pieces left on the field and his next move would either end in her being able to checkmate him or a draw if he could stall long enough to figure out how to get them to not be able to make a legal move so they would have to call it a draw.

During his time of contemplation the former mercenary had replayed the game through his head a few times to figure out how he allowed himself into a situation where it was either lose or draw and he still hadn't found the exact move he made that cost him a W. If he was honest he really didn't care about winning but knowing his mistake would help him the next time they played so he wouldn't have to resort to what he was now calling his own martyrdom.

Kasumi, Ria, Aya and Alia were still watching with intensity as the match continued, apparently neither Aya nor Ria had lasted as long as Ty had and they also thought he still had a chance at winning but he knew all too well that winning wasn't an option now.

Tying or losing were his only options left.

"Ty you should just resign now and save yourself the embarrassment of me checkmating you as well. You know I have all the moves in my court and you're just playing around in my world now." Iliana said confidently.

He had to hand it to her; she knew when victory was at hand though her overconfidence would play into his hands. "Well well you've turned into quite the smack talker haven't you, but you see." He moved his piece so that it was protecting his king all the while knowing he was about to lose it for a greater cause. _You will be missed my friend._ "You've neglected to notice something." Ty finished.

Iliana took his piece without even thinking looking quite smug about what she believed to be her victory. "No you neglected to see that you dug your own grave, checkmate." She said.

"Wait a minute. You actually fell for that move?" Ty said in astonishment. He really hadn't thought she would but as the optimist in him thought her overconfidence clouded her judgment.

"Wait what?" Iliana asked as she scanned the board.

As the former mercenary was about to move in for the tie his doors opened revealing Shepard in her blue wifebeater and black jeans which were showing a bit of wear and tear now though he was unsure of why. There were a few rips at her thighs showing the white strings holding it together while also showing a bit of her tanned skin under them. "Hey Shep you missed out on a real game." Kasumi greeted.

The N7 took notice of the chess board and her eyebrows rose looking to Ty in surprise. "You weren't kidding about the chess thing were you?" Shepard asked.

"I told you that are some things you don't know about that I can do. You're just in time to see me cause a tie but quick question; do you wear those when we are out in the field?" Ty asked.

Shepard nodded. "Sometimes. Depends on the day really." She shrugged to herself, "I can run miles in these but I prefer my shorts."

"That explains the tears." Kasumi said.

"My thoughts exactly Kasumi. Anyway Iliana as I said you neglected to notice that you were playing right into _my_ hands." Ty said.

Iliana facepalmed herself finally realizing what he was talking about. "All those sacrifices just to tie. You knew you were going to lose early on, I saw it in your eyes but I never thought you would sacrifice your pieces to make sure I couldn't make a legal move to checkmate you." Iliana said.

Ty took her piece that she had moved and said "I believe this match is a draw. What did we all learn ladies?"

"That you are willing to make sacrifices to avoid a loss on your record?" Kasumi asked.

"Never underestimate Ty?" Aya asked.

Iliana shook her head groaning in disappointment at herself, she had forgotten the number one rule about anything from chess to a real fight. He hoped she never had to apply the rule in a fight but it was still a good lesson to learn. "No the lesson is that Ty is never out of the game until the board is cleaned. Something he drilled into me when I was first learning." The young Asari groaned.

Ty nodded and said "Though all those are true Iliana is right but it was the game and fight is never finished until the board or field is clean."

"And I just took that piece without thinking." Iliana said as she facepalmed herself again.

"Ah don't beat yourself Iliana you had me beat half way through, I just resorted to a tactic that I never really use. I was testing to see if you would catch on. Now you know so you'll keep your eyes open for it."

Iliana nodded and cleared the board as Ty got up and looked to Shepard, "Anything going on?"

"No just checking in on you and the others. We're about two hours from Aite." Shepard said.

Ty nodded, that meant it would soon be time to go in head first to a Cerberus base that would be littered with bodies and answers to their remaining questions. Hopefully they were able to keep David alive and get him the help he would be in dire need of thanks to being plugged into the Geth. "Then game time again." He said his tone dropping knowing what they would find would be something very bad.

There was no sense in deluding himself with blind optimism when it had to do with Cerberus, they were walking into hell. All that was in question was what level of hell they would find themselves in. He left his thoughts and looked to Shepard who was in the same mind set as him. "You okay?"

"I don't like it but we have our mission parameters that you and Miranda came through with when I wasn't…myself. Go in, save the brother and shut down the base, permanently." Shepard said.

Her explanation was the censored version but Ty was happy that they weren't going to speak in depth about it in front of the four Asari. "Shep you still bringing down Miranda and Ty?" Kasumi asked.

"Yeah." Shepard replied.

Kasumi nodded and said "Good, not sure some of the others would be able to stay focused down there. Not to mention Grunt would likely puke all over the Hammerhead again."

_Yeah I'm sure Jack would have a- wait did she say the Hammerhead? _"Wait a minute, we're taking the Hammerhead?" Ty asked in surprise.

"Way to ruin the surprise Kasumi." Shepard said jokingly with a smirk.

"Sorry Shep." Kasumi apologized smiling as well.

"I'll leave you guys to it then." Shepard said as she began to leave.

* * *

Ty was on Shepard's tail as she left, "Hey wait a minute we have to discuss this surprise you thought of. Seriously the Hammer-" The purple eyed warrior's voice was cut off as the doors closed behind him. Ria smiled as he left, she was happy that he found someone who had a sense of humor since she knew what a Hammerhead was and why he wouldn't like it.

"What's a Hammerhead?" Alia asked quizzically to no one in particular.

"It's a type of vehicle little one, a vehicle that can shoot straight up into the air due to its boosters and then come back down." Ria answered. _And if she made a Krogan puke I wouldn't doubt that she isn't exactly the best one to have piloting it._

"And when Shep drives it there is a lot of going up and coming down without the boost aiding to slow down the fall." Kasumi said with a shudder.

"Bad experience?" Ria questioned.

The thief nodded, "Oh yeah. I wasn't joking when I said that Grunt puked all across the Hammerhead. Compared to what Tali has told me about Shep and the Mako I guess the Hammerhead is better though I use better lightly." Kasumi said.

_Ah the Mako, another vehicle that isn't exactly the best. _"I'm going to grab something to eat, anyone else coming?" Aya asked.

"I could definitely eat." Iliana said.

Aya bumped her daughters shoulder playfully, "Something other than sadness." She joked.

"Ha ha mom." Iliana responded dryly. Both Asari parents had all suffered defeat at the hands of Iliana, there was a little satisfaction granted by seeing her finally not win.

"What about you three?" Aya asked as she stood up.

"I'll come. Are you coming mom?" Alia asked.

She nodded patting her daughter on the head, she could eat right about now but there was something she needed to do before it. "Yes I'll be there but I'd like to speak to Kasumi privately a moment." Ria said.

All three Asari nodded and Alia hopped off her lap and went with Iliana and Aya to the Mess Hall. Kasumi looked to Ria with a questioning look as the Asari crossed her left leg and turned more towards the thief. "What's up?" Kasumi asked.

_Here we go. _After the talk she had with Ty she couldn't stop thinking about Kasumi or the strange feelings welling up inside her. She now knew that she was starting to like her and the more time they spent together the more the feelings continued to grow. "I-…" Ria stopped suddenly finding it hard to say what she was about to say. "This seemed so much easier to say in my head." She finished as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Kasumi put a reassuring hand on Ria's thigh, the slight touch sent a small shiver across the Asari's body but she was able to hide it from the thief. She couldn't let these feelings rule over her, she needed to speak her mind and find out if there were any mutual feelings here or not. "Hey don't stress yourself out about anything, it's just me remember."

_That's why it's hard. _"Yeah I know. I just don't want to make things awkward…It's taken me by surprise but I have become attracted to you since coming on board the Normandy." Shock crossed the thief's features at the straight forward statement. "I don't know if you share any feelings besides liking me and my daughter or if you are even attracted to me or my race, it's been a confusing transition for me and I don't know if that has anything to do with this."

Ria stopped herself from starting to ramble; she didn't need to go into too much depth of the transition of hunting for her daughter and worrying about Ty killing her to having her daughter and Ty no longer holding a grudge. Kasumi had seen it so far and they had already talked about it, "Goddess this really worked out better in my head. Let's just go get some food before I make an even bigger fool of myself."

She stood up and turned to leave only to feel Kasumi's hand grab her wrist. The Asari turned to look back at the thief who had confusion in her eyes. "Ria I've never been really attracted to any one besides Keiji and a few other men. I've never felt a connection like that to another woman." She said tenderly.

Part of Ria felt sad but she nodded in understanding, she was not here to force her feelings on Kasumi. She had wished them to be known and figure out what the next step was, she had prepared for rejection and now she was going to box those feelings away so they wouldn't interfere. "I understand." The Asari answered.

_Could be worse I suppose, could've become disgusted and angry even though I know she isn't like that. _The Asari attempted to leave again but felt Kasumi's grip stop her, once again she looked over in question to the thief thinking that all words that needed to be said had been. "Wait I didn't mean to phrase it like that." Kasumi said.

A chuckle escaped Ria, "I am not offended by being called a woman. I know my race all look like women. Mono-gendered or not we are all very womanly as human women are."

No point in hiding from the fact that they had the body structure of what almost all other races females had. "No that's not what I meant by that. I was still a bit confused to finish what I was going to say. I meant that I never felt a connection to women like I did towards Keiji until I met you. That really sounds sappy doesn't it?"

Ria's heart began to beat faster, was this Kasumi making a joke or was she being serious. This definitely wouldn't be a funny joke, playing with people's emotions for fun was not something the Asari agreed with. She looked into the thief's hooded eyes trying to read them for answers.

There was no jest in her eyes.

"You're…you're serious?" Ria asked. Kasumi nodded and patted the bed for Ria to sit back down to which she did. She had prepared for rejection not acceptance, more confusion added onto her already confused mind.

"Yes. I enjoy your company and I feel something for you. It's too soon to call this love but I'd be happy to give you a shot." The thief winked a playful smile forming on her lips.

Her heart was nearly beating out of her chest now. "I…are you sure?" She asked. She didn't want the thief to think she had to do this. Sure she wanted to hug her and end the conversation before any second thought was formed but that wouldn't be fair to the thief.

She was aware that some humans frowned upon cross species liaisons and relationships, especially when it came to females of their race getting together with Asari. Really they had always been like that; Ria had researched enough about them to know they once were against same sex relationships in their own race like it was some sort of plague. Some were still like that but they were a dying breed in a diverse galaxy.

Ria wasn't sure why they would be against it, if the person was in love and happy than why did it matter? Love held no barriers and happiness was hard to find in the crazy galaxy they lived in. She was well aware her own race wasn't any better in some aspects looking down on other races like they were all fools or believing themselves so high and mighty that the other races shouldn't have ever become advance.

For all that though she knew that Kasumi didn't fall into those groups of people frowned upon cross species liaisons and relationships and didn't really care who others fell in love with as long as they were happy. Still that didn't mean jumping in head first without asking if she was sure about her own feelings.

Kasumi rested her hand on Ria's, "I am, are you?" The thief asked.

"I am…thank you." She hadn't expected this and being given a chance to see where things headed meant a lot to her. It wasn't a straight no; it was a yes for now. What happened between them was in their hands.

"Don't thank me yet I still have to survive this mission and then there's still the Reapers. Either way I'd be happy to spend more time with you and see where this goes. I do enjoy a good love story and this one has a great leading woman." Ria blushed, her comment definitely answered whether or not the thief thought she was attractive. "Ha! I got you to blush already. I enjoy that look, I'll have to try for it more often." Kasumi said with a smile.

Ria smiled in return as her blush got deeper. She wasn't sure how their relationship was going to work out but she was happy to be giving it a shot.

* * *

Ty was first out of the Hammerhead and the feel of solid ground under his feet was something he was beginning to savor. _Damn I'd take Valera's shuttle stunts without the inertial dampeners on over this vehicle. _He brought his hands to his stomach; _ugh I haven't felt this sick since Val decided to do repeated barrel rolls for fun._

"Oh terra firma how I missed you so." Ty said as he stamped the ground a little. Solid ground had never felt so good.

"What was that?" Shepard asked as she came out.

"I said, "oh terra firma how I missed you so." I thought Valera's stunts were crazy, and all we did was come down and land…for now."

There was still an entire mission ahead of them which left the possibility of having to use the Hammerhead even more. It certainly felt like it was going to be the worst part of the mission so far. "Terra Firma?" Shepard asked.

"I'm shocked that you don't know what it means Shepard. Then again those weird terrosity protesters have deluded its meaning with their idiotic "Remember Shanxi" bullshit. Basically it means solid ground." Ty explained.

"Oh see I thought you were thinking of joining those racists for a moment." Shepard responded.

He would only join them so he could destroy them from the inside if he had too. They were becoming more and more like Cerberus every day. For all he knew they were a part of Cerberus already acting as their recruitment drive for xenophobes. "Me? Join Terra Firma? You do realize my best friend is a Turian, Ka'Reena was a Quarian, my squad had more Aliens than humans and that I brought four of my Asari friends onto the Normandy one of which I was in a romantically involved with once right?" Ty asked in a joking tone.

If there was ever someone who couldn't be accused of xenophobia it was Ty and the fact that he already hated both Terra Firma and Cerberus pretty much made it clear that he had no intention of joining them. Then again Shepard and everyone who knew him knew that, her comment was merely a jest since he had made one at the Hammerhead.

Gavin Archer began to speak to Shepard over the comm informing them that they were facing a massive virtual intelligence break out and something told Ty he wasn't meaning Avina was going to become readily available. _Then again who'd want to have Avina? If EDI was about to become readily available then I'd be excited, then again I already have EDI on my bike and omni-tool. Being the only one to have her exception of the Normandy itself makes it more special._

They were going to have to retract the transmission dish before said V.I. launched itself off world and into the extranet. _Or the Normandy,_ Ty thought, _I don't think EDI and Joker would like that too much. _

_ Especially Joker._

After Archer got off the comm Ty looked to Miranda and Shepard as they began to make their way to the building in front of them, "So V.I. break out? Anyone want to wager if that break out happens that either David will die or kill more people. I love it when shit gets worse." Ty said his tone lacking all humor.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Miranda said with a small shudder.

"Yeah I do too." Shepard commented her voice low. The former mercenary couldn't deny the ominous feeling in the air, they had yet to find any dead bodies but he could already feel the dark energy this place had. It wasn't as strong as Pragia, not much was that bad but it was still early. If this had turned into a V.I. breakout then things were bound to get worse. "I knew this was going to be bad but the more I think about it the more I think it's going to get much worse." Shepard said.

Her lack of blind optimism spoke volumes to her squad; she usually didn't think the worst at the beginning of a mission. The N7 was always the first to say things wouldn't turn out as bad as they thought even when it was highly likely that it would. _If she's already thinking this is going to get worse…man this is going to like Pragia. _

Ty shook his head; he didn't want to jump to that conclusion yet. He wouldn't delude himself into thinking it would be easy or that it wouldn't be bad but he really didn't want to think it would be as bad as Pragia. The facility had left its mark on him in a way no other place had, he really didn't want two of those in one life. He had enough scars embedded on his mind, gaining more didn't sound appealing. "Yeah I get that too when I get near Cerberus facilities."

"I hope we're wrong about this." Miranda said solemnly.

"You mean this getting worse or false information about David being in the Geth mind?" Ty asked.

Truth was he wanted them to be wrong but Miranda wasn't one to pass on false information and she had gotten it directly from the Illusive Man, though Ty hated the man information was one of his weapons. If he had it hidden away then it was the truth.

Another reason he knew they weren't wrong was that he had learned to trust his gut and the bad feelings he got, especially when it came to ominous energies he could feel. Being more in tune to the world around him allowed him to know more precisely when bad things had left their scars on the area they had happened in.

Pragia was a fine example of that.

"I want to say both but my Intel says otherwise about the kid, its more just hoping this doesn't get worse." Miranda responded.

"Ah well at least you're not in denial." Ty said.

The group made it into the building and made their way downstairs while an automated message told them to check in with security but by the look of the place and all the dead bodies scattered around Ty had to bet that their security detail was dead.

Not that he was checking in kind of person anyway.

"I seem to remember less dead bodies at the last Cerberus facility I was at, I mean the one before the Teltin facility you know when Jacob slammed me around and you shocked me." Ty said lightly slapping Miranda's bicep as he walked. "Ah the good old days right? Back when you hated me and I got on your nerves constantly."

"You still get on my nerves Ty." Miranda deadpanned.

"I know princess but don't ruin my nostalgic moment."

Shepard shook her head in disappointment towards the loss of life and likely remembering other Cerberus bases she had found. "They all look a lot like this when I see them." She said her tone carrying her disappointment.

"It's a shame really." Ty stated. He received a surprised look from Miranda to which he shrugged, "I don't like Cerberus at all but all this death and for what? Experiments that fail and leave mass graves behind them? Is that all worth it in the end?"

How much could people sacrifice and justify until they finally realized that the greater good didn't exist to them anymore? "I- I don't know, war with the Geth would be bloody but other than Saren and other rogue pockets…" Miranda stopped herself.

_But other than the Geth that followed Saren and rogue pockets the Geth haven't posed any real threat. They haven't amassed for a war; if they had they probably could have taken over colonies or killed whole colonies already. _

It all came back to the Illusive Mans wish to control the other species he considered threats to humanity so humans could become the ruling species.

The man was crazy plain and simple.

Ty rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder since she stopped walking as well. "I'm not holding this over your head Miranda." He looked around at all the dead bodies and the blood stains on the ground, Miranda had followed Cerberus for years with and unyielding loyalty it was only now she was seeing things differently and it was shaking everything she knew up.

"This is the Illusive Mans doing in my opinion. The only thing that I hold you responsible for is bringing Shepard back and I have to say you did a damn good job of that." Ty said trying to lighten her mood. Miranda tried to fight back a smirk but failed at it while Shepard shook her head with a smile. This mission wouldn't be rainbows and butterflies; he had to try to keep the mood light for all of their sakes. "And you kept her all natural too and that is just an added bonus."

"We are not going to talk about my assets right now." Shepard stated.

She opened herself up for his next comment. "Assets? I was talking about your personality, face and eyes and such. Is having your mind in the gutter a good idea right now?" Ty asked.

The N7 rolled her eyes. "Come on lets go." As they reached the bottom Archer appeared on a screen in front of them and once again began speaking to Shepard. He had apparently hidden in a computer room on the far side of the facility which screamed coward to Ty and a great many other suspicions since Archer was the only one still alive.

It seemed someone's self-preservation and selfishness got the better of him while all his co-workers were killed around him. He was the lone survivor now but his being alive wasn't bad, someone had to answer for the deaths here and since he was the lead scientist it only made it right that he'd be the one to answer for it all.

The purple eyed warrior saw the dish controls Archer had told them about and moved over to them with Miranda having to step over a body before continuing on their way. Once they reached the controls Ty looked to Shepard for approval of hitting the button to which she nodded.

Archer disappeared from the screen and the N7 made her way over shaking her head mumbling something about cleaning up more of Cerberus's problems.

With her history it seemed she had always been cleaning up their dumbest ideas so he couldn't blame her for being agitated about that. Instead of making a comment he hit the button to retract the dish while Miranda activated a log from Archer for Shepard to hear. After all the logs back on the Alarei they had listened to the former mercenary didn't want to listen to this one.

The information within likely was about more deaths or about the project itself, things he really didn't want to hear about since he could see the outcome around him. He tuned the log out and focused on making sure the dish retracted hoping for a swift end to the problem of a V.I. outbreak.

If the V.I. got out then they were basically all screwed and Ty wasn't fond of the idea of some rogue V.I. killing people at whim because they weren't able to stop it. Those deaths would remain on his conscious as well as Shepard's and Miranda's. The Illusive Man obviously didn't have a conscious so he probably would sleep well at night regardless.

As the dish retracted fully Ty heard two words he really hated when it came to technology, "System error." A voice sounded off. Before Ty could voice his disapproval an unintelligible voice sounded off and the sound of it pierced through his ear drums and left him trying to cover his ears to stop the pain it caused.

"Fuck!" He shouted in pain. Thankfully the scream stopped allowing him to recover from the literal piercing sound, Shepard and Miranda were at his side the moment they saw him cover his ears and shout in pain.

"Are you okay?" Shepard asked concern in her eyes.

His ears were still ringing and they ached from whatever that voice had been, he was okay other than that. "Other than my ears hurting yeah. Why aren't you ladies in this pain?" The purple eyed warrior asked.

"I don't know." Shepard shook her head in confusion, "It was loud and I couldn't make sense of it but it didn't do any harm to my ears."

"Your genetically modified hearing might be the cause. If your hearing picks up on the softest of sounds than you can bet a sound like that will pierce your ear drums." Miranda explained in a clinical manor. Ty nodded in understanding while he silently cursed his great hearing. "That sounded like Geth communications." She continued.

"Sounded like someone screaming in pain to me but I wouldn't doubt that either." Ty said.

"The V.I. has overridden the controls and is still trying to beam itself off the planet, you have to stop it. You will have to destroy the antenna inside the dish." Archer explained over the comm.

_Of course. I guess that's what I get for hoping things would go smoothly. _"Great. Last time you touch a button Ty." Shepard said sarcastically.

"That was _not_ my fault." Ty retorted.

The door that they entered locked behind them which meant that the only way now was forward and to the tram that Archer said would bring them to the dish. The unintelligible voice of the Rogue V.I. sounded off again as they made their way towards the tram once again crippling the former mercenary for a moment. "Ty would your mask block the sound out?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah just give me a second." He said trying to shake the ringing out of his ears. A wave of nausea had come with that scream from the amount of pain it sent through his ears. If this thing was going to continue to do this than he'd become a liability if he didn't activate his mask. He activated the visor of his mask which also served to keep his ears protected from outside sounds.

"Can you still hear me Ty?" Shepard asked through the comm.

"What?" He responded feigning deafness.

Shepard caught on and shook her head in amusement before motioning them to continue on. Another computer warned them of a Geth presence and to "Remain at their stations until an all clear is given." _Yes let's continue to hide around technology while a Rogue V.I. has control, that makes perfect sense…Dumbasses._

As they entered the next room they found some Geth and thus started a fire fight. "Ty head up to the upper floor and take out targets, Miranda with me." Shepard ordered.

"On it." Ty said as he grabbed his sniper off his back and headed to the upper floor of the room. When he reached the kitchen area that had a sight on the rest of the large room they were in a group of Geth ambushed him. "Fuck me." The former mercenary crouched down behind a counter feeling less than safe.

A Geth hunter attempted to sneak up on him only to receive the butt of his rifle across its flashlight face. The swing destroyed its head taking it down permanently, Ty flipped his rifle back around and popped out of cover aiming down the short sights between him and the three remaining troopers. Only one was out of cover but that didn't last long once his round pierced through its shields and into where its throat would be.

"Covering fire would be nice Ty." Shepard came over the comm.

"Sorry that you sent me into an ambush. I'll be right with you."

"Not like I did it intentionally." The N7 mumbled. Ty activated his blade armor and enforcement gauntlet after boosting his shields then made a mad dash for the two troopers cover. He slid over the counter top they were hiding behind tackling one of the troopers and knocking its gun away as he did. The former mercenary then slammed his enforcement gauntlet into its face destroying it for good.

The second trooper attempted to attack him only to receive his regular bladed gauntlet to its face, he used the momentum from the swing to turn his body around fully his enforcement gauntlet still ablaze and cocked back ready to meet its next victim. "Die!" He slammed the orange fist into its upper chest causing his hand to go straight through.

_That's the last one up here, now I can help the others. _Ty deactivated the omni-gauntlet and pulled his regular bladed gauntlet back through finishing the trooper if it hadn't been already. He moved quickly to the upper balcony his rifle still in hand; the Geth had already fortified their position and had pinned Shepard and Miranda down with gunfire.

_Time to get to work. _The former mercenary aimed down his sights and found his first target in the form of a Geth Rocket Trooper, _well that's just cheating,_ Ty thought, _let's even the odds._ He pulled the trigger and his round pierced the Geth's shields and went through its flashlight head, he moved his aim to his next target which happened to be a regular trooper and pulled the trigger twice nailing it in its chest and killing it.

One of the Rocket Troopers suddenly aimed at him and fired off a rocket making the purple eyed warrior dive back to a safe wall he was near before he ended up how he was back on Omega when they recruited Garrus. Rockets and him had a very one sided abusive relationship and he was the one who was being abused.

The missile impacted against the wall which sent a shockwave through it and into Ty's body, he fought back a shudder remembering the explosion that had nearly killed him in full clarity like it had only been yesterday that it happened. Forcing the memories of the pain away with a shake of his head the purple eyed warrior got out of cover quickly and fired off another round killing the Rocket trooper before he decided to fire his rockets again.

An overload technique exploded two separate Geth's while lowering the shields on another but that one was unlucky enough to get caught in a Biotic pull. "Miranda slam that one!" Shepard ordered.

"I'll crush you!" Miranda said as Ty saw another biotic orb hit the poor Geth.

There was a biotic explosion once the Geth hit the ground sending his new buddies that had just arrived flying. "Nice move!" Ty yelled.

"Take them out Ty."

"Your wish is my- ah screw it those bastards are as good as dead."

There was a faint chuckle that he was able to make out over the sounds of his sniper cracking through the room. "Trying to sound proper for a moment?" Shepard asked.

"No I was going to say command commander but it sounded really stupid when I thought about it."

Ty finished off the remaining Geth then jumped down to the second floor to meet Shepard and Miranda so they could make their way to the tram. _One wave of Geth down, more than I want to think about to go._

They entered the next room that seemed to be some sort of waiting room and music was playing that neither member of the squad was satisfied to hear by the looks of slight disgust on Shepard's and Miranda's face and Ty feeling his own agitation growing as the music continued to play. For him the music was muffled and it still managed to annoy him.

A few more seconds passed and he couldn't take it anymore, he sought out the speaker finding it quickly and pulled out his pistol. "Oh for fucks sake that shit needs to stop." The former mercenary took aim and shot the speaker three times for good measure. The sound of the music dying allowed the three to relax as Shepard and Miranda gave him a nod of approval.

The tram arrived and they all hopped on, as it began to travel towards the dish Archer came over the comm again, "The V.I. is moving the dish manually and it has a clear transmission to an orbiting satellite, this is going to be tight."

_It wouldn't have been if none of you had decided to connect a human being to the Geth mind. _Ty shook his head and looked to Shepard and Miranda. "Am I the only one who finds a lack of logic in a V.I. moving something manually? It doesn't have a physical form so how can it move something manually? It may not be "automatic" but manually just doesn't make sense." Both Shepard and Miranda gave him looks that were between bewilderment and a faint understanding. "What?" He asked like his comment made complete sense.

"Why are you trying to make sense of something like that?" Miranda asked.

"Break up the monotony of being serious all the time, make you two furrow your brows as my thought enters your own thought pattern. A strange bit of fun." He shrugged, "One of those I guess but you have to admit I am partially right."

"He has a point." Shepard admitted reluctantly. "Unless Archer means the Geth are moving it manually." Shepard said.

Ty brought his hand to his chin in thought on her theory. "But you see the V.I. may be using the Geth but they still aren't the V.I. in a sense. The Geth are just terminals for its use where the V.I. might not have a physical body." He explained.

Shepard shook her head a smile forming on her lips. "Ty try not to confuse yourself because you're getting in depth about something that may end up giving you a headache with circle arguments."

"Well aren't you all just a bunch of fun killers."

He received more head shakes before the tram reached its destination and after exiting they made their way to the dish and into more firefights. Finding more fights wasn't too much of a surprise, the V.I. didn't want to be stopped and since it probably knew where they were going before they knew it had set up defenses to stop them. What the V.I. wasn't prepared for was the might of the three fighters who were tearing through its defenses.

Or Ty hadn't thought it had until they found themselves up against a Prime which managed to pin all three of them down behind cover. The bright side of the situation was this one was the last Geth in the area at the moment; the down side was that it was a Prime and they were a pain to fight.

A round hit Ty's cover again when he suddenly had an idea that fell into his crazy stupid ideas. "Hey if I got close enough could you use a biotic push to send me flying at it?" He asked.

He figured if he could tackle it he could let loose with his tomahawks killing it a lot quicker than taking down its shields and armor. Sure the plan could go severely wrong like being swatted out of air but it beat getting shot at. "Is now really a good time for your crazy ideas?" Shepard asked.

"Eh it depends on who you ask. Actually would you be able to create steps-"

"We'll just go with the push. Miranda draw its fire, Ty just shout now when you want to fly." Shepard said.

"Aye Ay-eugh! That just felt wrong." Ty feigned disgust as he pulled his tomahawks out.

"You're never going to get tired of making fun of formal commands and responses are you?" Shepard asked with a smirk in her tone.

"No not really. Sometimes you all sound too uptight for my tastes. You just need to cut loose more. Crack jokes and stop with all the sirs and ma'am's and all that other stuff, you're all just people after all regardless of rank."

He understood the whole level of command and the need for respect in a military organization since you didn't need people going AWOL or getting their asses kicked by higher ups for being a smart mouth but there was a difference between formalities and responding like a robot. Military life wasn't a ray of sunshine but being all up tight didn't help anyone. Taking the time to get to know your men and let them know that informality was okay off duty and even during fights if it was harmless banter should be a priority.

Looking at Shepard and her squad was a prime example of the loyalty gained through such work and how well your team synched up with you because of that. Ty's old squad was another example, they had thrown formalities out the airlock long before starting and they were not only one of the toughest groups around at the time but they were also the closest of friends.

"I thought we did great at cutting loose a few nights ago." Shepard said and Ty could hear the tease in her tone.

"Oh for- can you two just focus on this for a moment. I don't want the details of your private life." Miranda said with a bit of pleading in her tone.

Miranda got the Primes focus so Ty ran out like a bat out of hell and as he neared a good distance he yelled "Now!" He felt a biotic energy cocoon around his body and then he flew up and forwards with his tomahawks back.

The feeling of flight was adrenaline pumping but it soon ended once he crashed into the Prime with his blade armor bicep guard first. Unfortunately he didn't cut straight through it as cool as that would have been. He tackled it to the floor instead and the moment the Prime began to slide on the ground under him he began to unloaded swing after swing on the synthetic.

He may not have cut the Prime in half with his tackle but body surfing on top of a Geth while destroying him was just as good. By the time they came to a stop there was little left of the Prime that didn't hold the marks of destruction from the purple eyed warrior's tomahawks.

Ty stood up and stamped down on its face crushing it to make sure it was indeed dead. "Well Ty you're crazy ideas still work." Shepard said.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Ty questioned.

"Always." Miranda deadpanned.

From there the squad continued on until they reached their destination of the antenna, which was of course crawling with Geth. Shepard scanned the area quickly looking for the best route no doubt. "Ty use your cloak and go around taking out the supports, we'll keep their fire drawn to us."

"Glorified bait, that's lovely." Miranda said sarcastically.

"Careful Miranda you might be showing some personality." Ty said with a smirk as he activated his cloak.

The Geth came pouring out as Ty ran to the first capacitor; he took down its defense revealing his target so he took a step back and shot it. A flame lit informing him that it was about to explode, instead of waiting for it to explode he began running to the next one hearing the explosion as he ran which took out the first strut of the four there.

Part of the former mercenary told him that doing this was going to come back and bite him in the ass, instead of listening to it though he shut the thought down and focused on the task at hand. He only needed to take out three to bring it down but as he ran to the next one he heard the muffled angry unintelligible voice scream making him thankful that he had his visor still activated.

He pushed on and took out two capacitors which took out the two support struts. _Now we just have to figure out how to shut this place down and we'll be done in no time. _Ty looked around deactivating his cloak as he did, much to his surprise the Geth all deactivated suddenly and fell to the ground like they were killed. "Ty was that you're doing?" Shepard asked as she and Miranda came out of cover.

"No, weird though."

More explosions sounded off above them bringing their attention to the fourth support strut also being destroyed and the imminent disaster above them coming straight back at them, _Oh shit I knew this was a bad idea!_ "You have got to be kidding." Shepard looked to her squad. "Run!" She and Miranda turned around and began running off the dish.

Ty didn't need much coercing as he took off at a full sprint with the most ground to cover from the dish back to safety. He was catching up quickly but Miranda and Shepard managed to jump off before him and back to the catwalk. The former mercenary wasn't moving fast enough, he activated his demon switch hoping it would make him faster like always as he felt the floor under him becoming less sturdy.

His feet began pushing faster under him propelling him forward each time they touched the ground. If he was going to die from one of his stupid ideas it wasn't going to be because he forgot that support struts supported the dish above them. He wouldn't give his friends the satisfaction of making fun of him for something like that in the afterlife.

The purple eyed warrior reached the railing and jumped to it and then off of it towards the catwalk but jumped a tad bit short of what he wanted.

He landed hard stomach and chest first onto the railing of the cat walk causing a loud thud and almost a few cracked ribs though his armored tank top saved him from that. "Owwwwww!" Ty groaned as he forced himself forward. He flipped and landed on his back leaving him staring up at the sky. "Ow." He groaned again from the thud.

"Good to see your habit of hurting yourself is still going." Shepard said with a chuckle.

"Ha ha."

"I'm surprised he didn't get himself killed again. I think it's fair to say that it is because of us that he is still only injuring himself instead of getting killed." Miranda responded with a smile.

With another groan the former mercenary sat himself up to see both Miranda and Shepard both still sitting down, Ty let his demon recede and shook his head. "Support struts support; maybe we should have thought that part through." He said.

"Yeah I admit I think we should have seen that coming." Shepard responded.

"Well it was Ty you sent to take them out. That might have been your problem right there." Miranda said cheekily.

All three of them laughed to themselves before finally pulling themselves off the ground and back onto their feet. He couldn't deny that so far on this mission everything he had touched pretty much got destroyed. Footsteps echoed on the catwalk bringing their attention to the same man they had seen when they arrived. "Looks like Archer. Figure he has anything to say for the crap going on here?" Ty asked.

"He damn well better have some answers." Shepard said. The N7 made her way towards Archer while Miranda and Ty followed a few steps behind. "What the hell is going on here?" She asked with anger in her tone.

Archer looked down momentarily then looked back into her eyes. "Man's reach exceeding his grasp."

_I have a feeling Cerberus says that a lot._


	88. Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Project Over the Line

As Ty exited the Hammerhead with Miranda and Shepard he let out a sigh of relief, he was thankful that he was no longer in that cursed vehicle. After having to jump across lava with it and then dodge a Geth shooting a beam at them from a ship at both Vulcan and Prometheus stations he was actually happy that Atlas station wouldn't require them to ride around any longer in the Hammerhead. The vehicle had barely any armor to really protect them and then there were also the boosters.

He fought back a shudder at the memories of shooting straight up to dodge gunfire and when they had to jump rocks to get over the lava. The lack of armor allowed them to feel heat warming up the bottom of the vehicle and made him sweat in more ways than regular perspiration. The purple eyed warrior wasn't claustrophobic but dying in a small confined space, or melting which was the more likely, was not how he saw himself leaving this world let alone how he wanted to go.

The only two good moments they had were being able to see a beautiful sight line and when they were at Prometheus, unfortunately both were brief moments. There was something beautiful about the sky on Aite and the rings that surrounded it that helped to let you forget that not only was it likely its moon was going to collide into the planet but there was a disgusting Cerberus experiment going on here.

It was sad that such a beautiful sight would be destroyed and was being contaminated by Cerberus. Still that only helped to motivate them to finish taking down this base and give the planet some peace before it eventually got destroyed by its own moon.

Prometheus's moment was Ty losing control of his laughter when they heard a log about one of the Cerberus scientists dressing up as a Geth for Halloween and scaring the crap out of everyone.

They might have all ended up getting killed by Geth but it was still hilarious to the purple eyed warrior, even Miranda allowed herself to crack a smile at the joke the person played regardless of how un-professional both her squadmate was and the man who had pulled the prank had been. Seriously though that was a great prank, the looks on the faces of all the scientists he scared would have been so priceless to see in person.

Ty couldn't even access the memory because of how fresh all the deaths and other dark energies were and for him that was a sad occurrence. There weren't many memories he would willingly jump into that involved Cerberus but that one would have been great.

During their time going through the bases they had learned more information on how the V.I. had broken out but there was some information still hanging right in front of their faces where they couldn't see it. They knew that this facility would hold David; they knew that he was hooked into some machine that had allowed him to communicate somehow in the Geth mind but was essentially taken over and they knew Gavin Archer was still alive and had something to do with all this.

The why was easy enough to figure out, all they had to do was input the Illusive Man wanting to have a way to control the Geth and then input a catchy cause that covered up everything else like making sure a war with the Geth didn't take more human lives and you had your disgusting Cerberus experiment perfectly justified.

What was really left to figure out was the hows, how was David in the Geth mind, how did his brother fit into all this and how the hell would the get him out safely? The former mercenary knew the answers to those wouldn't be fun to find and definitely wouldn't be easy in the case of getting him disconnected from the Geth but there was no choice in the matter. They were going to get him out of here and hopefully get him some of his sanity back.

Throughout the mission the green face and its painful screech had been haunting them at every turn and through process of elimination the squad deducted it was David's face digitized and his haunting of them was against his own will. Ty still had his mask activated protecting himself from being stunned by his scream and he was looking forward to taking it off without the repercussion of a piercing scream making his head feel like it was splitting open.

The group entered Atlas station and they were greeted by an ominous feeling that surrounded the area, for the purple eyed warrior the energy of the station felt closer to Pragia than all the others had. This was it; this was where all the evil had originated from. For the others to be able to feel even the smallest bit of it just like Shepard and Jack had on Pragia meant that what was coming was going to be worse than expected.

A chill filled Ty's body making his hands feel like ice cubes while the rest of his body's temperature began to drop with it. He brought his hands to his arms and rubbed them to get warm in vain. "Did we just walk into a freezer?"

Shepard looked to him shaking her head then a sudden realization hit her, "Ty…if you're cold…"

"Pragia." Miranda uttered in shock.

"Oh this is going to suck." The former mercenary bounced on the balls of his feet trying to get a semblance of heat to get back into his body. "Come on, if we find a fight maybe I'll be able to warm up. If we don't I'll turn into an ice cube." He was trying to lighten the mood and managed to get a smile out of the two but they were sad smiles for the fact he was once again going to be freezing cold for a mission.

"If memories start to bombard you again make sure you do what you did back on Pragia. It helped alleviate you from all the memories." Shepard reminded. He nodded and motioned for them to move forward with a small wave of his hand.

It was time to stop this once and for all.

The squad walked cautiously down the hall their pistols at the ready in case a Geth came out of nowhere, the former mercenary was doing his best to keep the coldness he felt out of his mind trying to stay focused on the mission itself instead of everything around him. As they entered a room a log of Gavin Archers began to play. "Archer's Log 135.3: For years my brother has been a handicap. That changed today. His autistic mind is the breakthrough I've been looking for - - he can communicate with the Geth! Such a tremendous grasp of mathematics. It seems serendipity is alive and well in the 22nd century."

Everyone screeched to a stop. "He used his brother…all because he wanted a breakthrough…" Ty stopped himself and brought his hand to his forehead. Echoes of memories played through his mind; he could faintly see Gavin almost giddy while he hooked his brother into…something. The former mercenary couldn't figure out what it was but it looked bad.

"Ty?" Shepard questioned resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I saw…I don't know really know what it was but that asshole looked fucking happy to be hooking his brother into some sort of machine. I knew there was something wrong with Gavin but I figured it was just this place." Ty explained.

He had let him go without reading his memories and now he was walking around freely somewhere at the first station. When they finished up here it was possible he would leave before they could get back to him and then he'd be able to continue on doing these twisted experiments on other people. "Are you sure?" Miranda asked.

While he had explained his abilities the best he could to the others and mission debriefings like Pragia had allowed Miranda to learn more she was the least accustomed to seeing it in action. Hearing about his near mental breakdown in the Teltin Facility from the memories the place held was entirely different than seeing him slip into a memory and come out knowing more.

"Yeah…people leave imprints of memories on everything they do and my ability allows me to see that. When it is strong like Pragia or here I can slip into it or hear things that happened while everyone else remains oblivious to it. Those memories aren't always full when I get them but they aren't lies or forged how I want to perceive them, they can be like a foggy mirror showing the past or a perfect scope. You heard the log he was excited to find out his brother was a breakthrough he was looking for."

She nodded slowly, "True. So you couldn't make out the mechanism they used?"

"No." Ty shook his head. That had been the foggiest part of the memory and they hadn't finished hooking his brother into it but he knew from previous Cerberus history that it would be bad. "It's going to be bad, I can feel that much."

"We're stopping this." Shepard stated her tone firm. Both Miranda and Ty nodded silently, _Gavin you will not get away with this, I will not allow you to get away with this. _

With that they moved to the elevator which was locked and had sparks flying from the door, "Am I the only one that thinks it would be funny if we pressed the button and Avina popped up to tell us that the elevator is out of service." He received small chuckles from the others; the former mercenary was trying to keep his mind off his cold body that seemed to grow colder the further they moved into this facility. Shepard moved to a console and clicked a button making the elevator rise up to eighth floor then forcefully drop back to one. "Wow a puzzle elevator. Now I've seen it all." Ty joked.

He was just trying to alleviate the mood for the others and himself, they were at the core of everything now and the path would only get darker as they proceeded. "We have to get it to seven, that button raised it up by three so let's find one that gets it to four and then hit that one again." Miranda said.

"I wonder if this V.I. has been playing extranet games or something because this definitely seems like something you'd find in one of them." Ty said thoughtfully as he walked over to another console.

It certainly was a strange occurrence, hacking programs were one thing but this was a strangely well thought out way to delay them further. Maybe the V.I. was growing desperate seeing how they had taken down just about everything it had thrown at them or maybe it was just toying with them. Trying to have a laugh at their expense.

_The constant screaming it does kind of dissuades that theory._

The former mercenary hit the button and the elevator ascended to four, _hmm well that's convenient,_ he thought moving away from the console and towards the doors. Shepard hit her button and the elevator ascended three floors. "Well that worked. Seems a bit easy doesn't it?" Their commander asked.

Ty shrugged, on one hand it did but he wasn't complaining. The sooner they reached the core processor and disconnected David the better it would be for all parties. He would get the warmth in his body back and they'd shut this facility down saving David in the process. It was a big win for everyone involved, exception of Gavin and the Illusive Man of course but the squad really didn't give a damn about their wants. "Nah just getting lucky for once."

Had he thought through what he said he would have immediately taken cover or backed away from the doors. He had forgotten one of the golden rules of doing a mission.

Never.

Ever.

Tempt fate.

"Ty!" Shepard panicked.

"Move!" Miranda called out.

"Fuck me."

_Oh yes getting lucky for once, lets tempt fate and see what shit gets thrown at us_, he cursed. A Geth Prime and two Geth troopers stared back at the former mercenary their guns pointing at him before the sudden realization of his own terrible luck finally set in moving his body into action. He ran and slid to the cover on his right side narrowly dodging the rounds that were fired at him. "I'm getting tired of my shit luck!" Ty yelled to Miranda and Shepard as bullets ricocheted off his cover.

"You'd think you would learn not to say things like that on a mission!" Shepard yelled back.

She had a very valid point, saying things like that had led to more than a fair share of moments like these. It was either after asking for the Spirits to lend a hand to which they would laugh and throw him a shit storm because why the hell not or it was commenting on things going their way for once. No matter how many times it happened he continued to do those things and he continued to get these results, he knew he was thick headed and it took a while for things to sink in but this was getting ridiculous.

"This was bound to happen since Ty touched a button." Miranda teased.

Both women had yet to grant him covering fire, probably because they were having too much fun watching him stay low in cover. "Ha ha very funny! Care to help me out here!" Ty shouted back.

"Miranda use overload on the Prime, Ty use your cloak to get out of there then take out the two troopers without going in close." Shepard ordered. There was no debate from the purple eyed warrior; he activated his cloak at the same time that Miranda used her overload technique bringing down the shields of the Prime.

Ty moved quickly from his original cover back to where Shepard had taken cover. He holstered his pistols and pulled out his sniper rifle taking aim at the two troopers hoping this fight would warm his body up though he knew better based on all the fights in the Teltin facility doing nothing to make him feel better. His Viper's rounds cut through the air piercing both flashlight heads toppling the two to the floor followed by the sounds of the Geth shutting down.

His cloak deactivated revealing him to the Prime again but this time he was ready.

He aimed down his sights as Shepard and Miranda open fired on the Geth with their Locusts whittling its armor away with each burst of rounds.

_Bye bye._ The former mercenary let loose a flurry of rounds emptying his clip into the Prime killing it and then adding a few extra rounds in to be sure. The crew didn't waste time after the Geth toppled to the floor dead, they entered the elevator and hit the button to bring them down to the bottom of this facility where the core was.

Of course it wasn't going to be that easy though.

Before they knew it the elevator stopped then began to rise quickly then it dropped causing all three members to stumble in an attempt to find something to hold onto. "Damn it I hate this stupid place!" Ty shouted crashing into a wall shoulder first. The elevator rose again and dropped further down but stopped and began to rise again.

The drop and stop made their stomachs continue to try and catch up with the change in direction and Ty couldn't help but feel like he was back in the Hammerhead. The elevator continued to rise until it stopped and remained still. "Well at least-"

"Don't say it!" Ty interrupted Miranda. He was too late as fate knew what she was about to say and had to have a laugh again. The elevator descended at a rapid pace like all of its main mechanics had given out. By the feel of their rapid descent they were looking to become smears inside the elevator if they didn't do anything. "Damn you straight to hell you damn virtual interface intelligent son of a whore!" With a quick wave of his omni-tool he tried to activate any remaining safety protocols to stop their imminent death by elevator drop.

A screeching noise of metal trying to slow down sounded off slowing the elevator only briefly before it crashed at the bottom. The squad all lost their balance and fell to the floor crashing hard leaving them trying to regain their breath and wits.

"Worst. Elevator ride. Ever." Shepard groaned.

She got that right. Citadel elevators and the Normandy's elevator never were missed so much between the three till now. "I, Ty of the Normandy, will _never_ complain about the slowness of our elevator again." Ty let out a groan of pain as he sat himself back up, Miranda was on her hands and knees trying to get her bearings next to him while their commander was on her back staring up at the ceiling tiredly.

"Agreed." The Cerberus operative said leaning back onto her knees before letting out a deep breath.

Each of them took a moment to gather their wits again setting off once again as soon as they did to finish the mission. They had to be getting close if the elevator was any indication of a really desperate move to kill them and if the chills in the air becoming like frost around them following the former mercenary everywhere he went. Hopefully ending this would go a whole lot smoother than the rest of the mission had gone but none of the squad was holding their breaths for that to happen.

They knew they'd likely suffocate if they did.

Upon heading down a hallway the green door button to the next room began to move across the door onto the wall and still moving in a way a door button shouldn't move. Everyone traded troubled glances with one another once it reached an originally locked door that had been on their left. "Can anyone say creepy?" Ty asked.

"Do you feel anything in there Ty?" Shepard asked.

He allowed his senses spread to the next room feeling nothing other than his gut telling him it was a trap. "Nothing memory based or life forces that had been in there recently, Geth or humans. Feels like a trap though and the closer we get to the core the colder I get so take that for what you will." Both women nodded when the door opened but seeing as they now had no other choice they entered it and approached a console that was waiting for them to use.

Trap was what echoed within each of their minds but the door behind them shut once again leaving them with no choice but to touch it. "Be ready, I wouldn't be surprised if this thing brought a Reaper down on us." Shepard before touching it.

"Why would you even say that?" Ty questioned with a tired sigh. "Look at our luck so far."

She gave him a small smile then touched the button, suddenly the green they had been seeing attached itself to her omni-tool and her eyes began to glow green as well. "Shepard?" Ty asked worry thick in his tone. She didn't appear to hear him turning around in a daze and starting to walk back towards the doors. "Miranda what the fuck is going on?"

"I- I don't know." She answered looking just as worried as he felt. They followed slowly behind her wondering what the hell was going to happen and preparing for anything that could happen. The doors had opened again which was good news but just as their commander collapsed outside of them they slammed shut cutting Ty and Miranda off from her. Ty ran to the door in an attempt to hit the green button but only managed to slam the door as the icon jumped away from his hands each time he reached for it.

"Stop toying with me!" He yelled kicking the door with a straight kick. The green icon faded away and after a few more kicks he brought his hands to his knees in exasperation. "Damn it all to hell. I can't hack a door that no longer has the thing I need to hack it."

_What the hell are we going to do now? _They were trapped inside this room with no way out and Shepard was out there on her own not looking ready for any kind of fight. "It must have infected her omni-tool and through it her cybernetics." Miranda deducted worriedly trying to do something on her omni-tool.

"So it's in control of Shepard?" Ty questioned.

_If that V.I. hurts her I'm going to give it a virus it will never forget!_ No one was going to take the woman he cared for from him, definitely not some V.I. who he was going to unplug.

"I don't know. It's possible but if it was wouldn't it have attacked us instead of walking her out?"

"Good point." It wasn't like the thing wanted them alive so leaving them trapped in here instead of killing them didn't make sense. "And if I know Shepard she won't stay out of control of her own body for long. She'll probably try to find a way to shut down the V.I. so we can get out of here." Ty stood up straight. _But I'm not going to wait that long._

Miranda nodded but didn't look content to just wait, he couldn't disagree and he wasn't one to stand by and wait anyways. "Think we can pull these doors apart manually if we destroy all tech connected to it?" He asked.

Destroying the tech would also serve as a way for him to vent his frustrations that this V.I. was giving him. The Cerberus operative mulled over the thought for a moment before giving a short nod. "It is possible; it'll still be hard to pry those doors apart."

"Hey it's me we're talking about, I got hit by a Thresher Maw arm and survived I'm sure pulling apart doors won't be much more difficult." Ty responded activating his enforcement gauntlet. "Just point out the pieces that need to be crushed and I'll handle it."

The woman snorted in amusement at his ready to destroy mode. "If you crush the hydraulics then we really are screwed. Let me handle it." She approached the door with her omni-tool activated then used her overload technique on different parts of the door. Sure enough the door began to loosen up until she stepped back and motioned him forward. "Now you can use all that strength to open the door."

Her tone was more playful than it had ever been clearly amused by his crush everything in his path way of thinking. It was a nice change from the once completely serious Ice Queen. Ty rolled his eyes and moved to the door deactivating his gauntlet as he did. "As you wish princess for I am but a loyal servant to our queen."

He gripped both parts of the door and activated his demon switch, the cold air seemed to warm up as he pulled the doors creating a space small enough for him to fit through. Ty slipped his way through and continued to hold the doors waiting for Miranda to follow him.

She began to slip through using her biotic's to help him push the doors further apart but before she made it through something collided into him knocking him away from the door. The purple eyed warrior fell to the ground chest first catching himself on his hands stopping the imminent face plant from coming. "What the fuc-" He stopped when Miranda's pained scream echoed through the hall.

Stuck in between the doors was the woman's ankle being crushed while she was lying on the floor writhing in pain. Without thinking any longer on what had knocked him over Ty sprung to his feet activating his enforcement gauntlet as he did and aimed a huge punch right at the door. The punch nailed the door sending it sliding in the opposite direction allowing him to pull his friend out of the door way. There hadn't been much point then since the door became jammed but he wasn't going to take any chances.

He applied what medi-gel he had to her leg hoping to at least ease the pain, by all standards it seemed she had taken his role in getting injured on a mission and for the purple eyed warrior that was not a good thing. He didn't care about his own injuries regardless of how bad they were but seeing his teammate writhing in pain from a shattered ankle was hard to watch. "Leave me here, Gavin Archer is following after Shepard and was trying to slow us down." Miranda ordered pain thick in her tone.

"You _did not_ just try to give me a crappy order." Miranda snorted in pained amusement at his comment. "You should know by now that I don't follow crappy orders, hell I don't usually follow orders at all least of all any order you've ever given me." The medi-gel eased her pain but didn't fix her completely. It would have to do for now, they had a Commander to catch up to and a Cerberus scientist that was going to get a broken leg in return for giving a broken leg. "Come on princess." Ty lifted her up bridal style so she wouldn't slow them down or have to put pressure on her foot, "I may not be the dashing knight you wish to save you but I'm the ogre you're stuck with until we're done here."

This time Miranda actually did laugh at his ridiculous statement. Laughter was a great medicine and helped to take your mind off the pain so Ty was doing his best to keep her mind off of it. Gavin was going to get an enforcement gauntlet to the knee for doing what he did unless Shepard beat him to it.

* * *

"Please make it stop." David begged. Ty and Miranda stood in a silent shock as they stared at David. They had made it to the core finally after getting a message from EDI that the V.I. was trying to upload to the Normandy and Shepard was fighting off Geth while attempting to stop it.

Despite whatever happened to her she had killed tons of Geth on the way to the core and within it, their bodies were scattered across the place so that was a positive in its own way. She had stopped the uplink and now they were all staring at David, Ty had expected it to be bad, the memories and cold feeling he had had been the warning that what he would see would be similar to Pragia but he hadn't expected what was in front of him.

"Spirits." He whispered in shock.

David looked to be completely naked aside from the circular mechanism surrounding his waist though that wasn't attached or clothing. He was suspended in air and looked to be crucified without the cross, his arms had tubes and wires within them holding them up and his eyes were being held open by claws on his upper lids and lower lids. His mouth was being held open by two large tubes that looked to go down his throat and the back of his head looked to have one in it as well.

This was haunting.

"I saw his memories, he begged you not to do this!" Shepard spat angrily at Gavin. The energy of this room was like that of Pragia crowded into one space, he could hear the echoes of screams from David as the project failed and his cries for it all to be stopped. He could feel the fear, pain and mass confusion that had occurred in his autistic mind when he had been plugged in.

Ty deactivated his mask allowing his vision to longer be guarded fully by his visor regardless of how bad the sight in front of him was. His legs were quaking under him and the cold feeling he had felt like a winter storm in his own body. Had he been completely out of it he would have thought he saw his cold breath coming out in this warm room. Their commander turned to the doctor anger clear in her posture, "Who the hell gave you the right to play god!"

"People who were too afraid to make difficult decisions themselves. When they pray for a miracle, they're really praying for men like me to make tough choices. If my work spares a million mothers mourning the loss of a million sons my conscious will rest easy." Gavin stated.

"You think this is justified by that?" Miranda questioned in disbelief from the purple warriors arms. "Look at your brother! He'll never be the same because of this sick twisted experiment that you did all for your ambitions!"

She was right by all accounts to be angry but Ty wasn't really even listening, he just couldn't take his eyes off David hanging there in the center of this all. His mind was too occupied by the echoing memories coming from this room to take part in ripping this poor excuse of a man and a brother a new one. He wanted to go over and hurt him, he wanted to break his leg for knocking him down and causing Miranda to get her leg broken but he couldn't.

_David doesn't want any of this._ The purple eyed warrior could feel it, he could feel the man's emotions and simple wish to make everything quiet and be taken down from the machine. "The damage may not be permanent; he might recover some semblance of his mind." The doctor batted away her comment like it was nothing.

"You really believe that? He's going to be a lab rat for Cerberus forever!"

"Maybe but he will remain a well-cared for lab rat." Miranda began to struggle in his arms trying to get free despite knowing she couldn't walk without help. "At least he'll still be alive."

Ty didn't relinquish his grip on the raven haired woman who had now seen with clear eyes exactly what kind of group she was working for. Instead he began walking towards David and Shepard; he had to get this man out of this.

He had to make it stop.

They couldn't just leave him in there but he had no idea how to get him out safely and accessing the memories of this place to try to figure that out didn't seem like a good idea. "So you'll sacrifice the happiness of your brother for your own damn ambition?!" Shepard seethed.

He would have loved to be at her side threatening this man for what he did, he wanted to hurt him for what he had done yet he couldn't just leave David in there.

The autistic man needed help right now.

"The square root of nine hundred and six point oh one equals…" David's voice echoed across the room.

Not being a mathematician left the former mercenary unsure of what the answer would be, he'd gladly use technology to solve it but he didn't need to. "Thirty point one." Gavin whispered to himself. "What I've done to David is unethical."

A rage built up in Ty who had finally found his voice in all this. "No fucking shit! Do you have any idea what you've done to your own damn brother?! He is your damn family and you turned him into this!" The former mercenary motioned to David, "And all you can say is that what you've done is _unethical_? I may not believe in a hell but where you're going when you die better fucking torment you for the rest of all eternity."

"If he dies it's unforgivable." The doctor continued. "Let me take care of him. Please."

"Quiet. Please make it stop."

The former mercenary shuddered to himself hearing the pained voice and seeing tears running down David's face. There had been many bad things he had witnessed firsthand but this…this really took the cake. "I've seen enough of your brand of cruelty to know that he'll never be free of it here." Shepard turned away from the doctor. "I'm taking him away."

"No!" Ty looked over to see Gavin pull out a pistol and aim it at the back of Shepard, "Leave him! He's too valuable!"

Shepard dodged the rounds and Ty turned to protect Miranda with his own shields, thankfully the man had poor aim as well as poor judgment missing all his shots. Their commander approached him pointing her pistol at his jaw. Part of the purple eyed warrior thought she might pull the trigger but instead she back handed him using her pistol as hard as she could. The pistol whip blooded the doctor's nose and bruised his face nearly immediately from how hard she had hit him. He came up from the hit and again she swung hitting him harder than the first time adding on biotics to this one.

Gavin stood up looking fairly weak and lightheaded from the strikes only to be met with Shepard's pistol at his chin again. Her biotic's were swirling about her and if the former mercenary had to guess her eyes were blazing with anger. "You even think about coming after your brother and this bullet will be waiting for you! Then we'll see who's _valuable._"

"Shepard can we please get him down now, I- I don't know how much longer I can take this." The image of David was being burned into the deepest parts of his mind, his screams, his wishes for everything to become quiet. Everything was scarring itself into his memory banks.

Nightmares of this place were surely going to follow him for a long time.

"You're going to help us get your brother down without hurting him and you're going to do it now. If I even suspect you are hurting him more I will fucking kill you." Shepard said her anger through the roof.

"Where will you take him?" Archer asked.

"Grissom Academy, they can help special cases like David, minus the torture." She brought her finger to her ear, "Joker contact the Academy and tell them we have someone who needs their help."

"Aye aye." Joker came over the comm.

Archer began to disconnect the machine a fearful look in his eyes from the reprisal of Shepard if he screwed up. "The Illusive Man can fire me if he doesn't like it." Shepard stated walking towards the machine to do what she could to help the man.

"Square root of nine hundred twelve point oh four is thirty point two. It all seemed harmless. Square root of nine hundred twelve point oh four is thirty point two. It all seemed harmless."

_It all seemed harmless._


	89. Chapter 88

Chapter 88

The Price of Revenge

The elevator opened to engineering allowing Aya to step out and approach Garrus and Jack who were staring down at the Cargo Hold. Judging on their silence and pensive stares she had to guess that her fears for her only purple eyed friend were warranted.

They had left Aite in a relative hurry in an attempt to get as far away as possible from the planet and so they could meet up with an Alliance ship that would bring the man they saved to a place called Grissom Academy.

Other than those details Aya wasn't really sure what had happened, none of the ground squad had spoken about it and those that were on the Normandy for the mission only knew that someone had tried to hack into the ship and EDI. The main details of the mission hadn't been discussed around the four Asari and really that was fine considering they weren't apart of this mission, still Aya was worried.

Since the mission ended Ty had spent his time in the Cargo Hold either throwing his tomahawks into a crate painted like the Illusive Man, shooting the crate, or working on guns. He barely spoke to anyone giving rather short answers in what seemed like an attempt to keep conversation at a minimal, the only one he managed to not be short with was Alia.

She had an effect on the warrior that washed away whatever terrible thoughts and memories he had from the mission for the brief encounters they had.

It wasn't just him who was lost in thoughts of the mission, Miranda, who had been injured, and Shepard had become a bit more guarded than they had been since coming back from their mission.

Shepard managed to still take the time to visit her crew and try to be normal with them but the Asari could tell she was having trouble getting over what had happened. She was truly bothered and though her squad who hadn't been down there tried their best to keep things normal the one person the N7 really needed to spend time with was down in the Cargo Hold in a bad state of mind.

Miranda on the other spectrum dove in headfirst to work and filing reports doing what she could do while she recovered from a shattered ankle. Compared to the other two she didn't show how bothered by everything she was.

Her professional manor had taken over though to say filing reports for Cerberus was something that made her happy was completely false. Thanks to Aya's ability to read others well she knew the Cerberus operative couldn't stand doing it, the foundations of her loyalty to Cerberus had been shaken or, the more likely of the two, completely shattered.

In the few days since leaving the planet the trio seemed to be getting better their recovery from the events taking time to really set in. Ty had actually eaten lunch the day before with her and Iliana instead of skipping out on eating to keep himself away from everyone which was an improvement.

Miranda had come out of her office for a few hours talking to Shepard about the next mission and news from Braum about a package of armor waiting for them on the Citadel which was better than the short yes and no answers she had given. Shepard herself looked a bit brighter than she had smiling and laughing a lot more since the mission.

Aya hoped things would get back to a full swing of normal soon which was why she had come down to engineering. Shepard needed Ty right now and he needed her, no one was going to recover if they remained distant and the last thing the Normandy needed was a rift between the crew over something Cerberus did.

_I may be an outsider but that doesn't mean I can't do anything. _

She walked to the side of the Turian and peered down to see the purple eyed warrior throwing his tomahawks into the crate again. "Anything new?" Aya asked.

Garrus shook his head in response. "No. He's been at it for at least an hour now." The Turian explained. Aya let out a sigh, she didn't know what they saw or what happened to the man that they rescued but if Ty was still like this then it had to be bad.

In her time on Omega Aya had seen her fair share of things that ranged from bad to outright disturbing and so had her friend. He had experienced a lot in the ten years she had known him for so far, she had seen him utterly distraught and completely raged by events that had shaped him. For something to make him act this way what he had seen had without a doubt scarred its way into his memories.

"Must've been some bad shit down there." Jack said with a shake of her head.

Aya looked to them in confusion, hadn't they been debriefed on the mission? Wasn't that how things worked, ground squad went down then when they got back they debriefed the rest of the squad on the mission? "They didn't tell you guys?" Aya asked.

Both of them shook their heads no. _If they didn't even debrief the rest of the squad…_The Asari sighed inwardly, _then what they saw down there is even worse than I thought it would be. They're trying to keep the information to themselves to protect them._ "Shepard told me she didn't want to talk about it, said it was better if we all just moved forward with the missions at hand." Garrus replied.

"It's a polite way of telling us that shit down there was so fucked up that none of us really want to hear it." The tattooed biotic explained.

The Asari nodded in understanding. She could understand wanting to protect your friends from hearing about something bad that happened, had she the power to protect Ty from all the bad things that happened to him she would have in a heartbeat.

Usually there was no way out of giving bad news, Shepard had probably given enough bad news on missions to others that finally being able to protect her friends from the news was something she couldn't pass up.

"I should probably go talk to him." Aya said. He threw another tomahawk impaling it into the crate. She had been his friend for ten years, the Asari couldn't claim that she knew what to say in this situation but she couldn't let him continue like this.

As much as he would like to say that he was working out the stress and anger she knew him better than that. She had seen him work his anger out on the Blue Suns for years and he didn't get much happier by doing it, in fact his mood didn't really improve all that much.

Aya knew getting him to talk about what happened down on Aite would be difficult if not impossible yet she had to try. He wouldn't want to give her details on something that had affected him, Shepard and Miranda but if he wasn't going to talk this out with Shepard then he was going to talk it out with her.

If she could sit him down and comfort him to the best of her ability when he lost his crew and Ka'Reena then she could definitely do it now.

"I'd leave him be for a little while longer. Or at least wait until he's done killing the Illusive Man over and over again." Garrus said.

"You two aren't worried more time alone will be bad?" Aya questioned. Time alone seemed to be the cause of why he was still like this yet they believed more would cool him down.

Jack shook her head while Garrus stared steadily down at the purple eyed warrior. He seemed to be analyzing his comrade in extensive depth figuring out what would be best and if she was right about more time to himself being a bad thing. "Nah. Knowing him he's probably sorting out his thoughts so he can get back to the sarcastic dick he is. He'll come around soon." The tattooed biotic said with confidence. A smirk played at her lips after her statement. "If he doesn't I'll just knock it back into him."

There was certainly a good line of logic there; meditation wouldn't be all that good for him right now since he'd likely fall back into the memories of Aite and that would anger him more than he had been. If he didn't come around soon then he'd have Jack or someone else from the crew getting his head straight forcefully.

Knowing Jack she probably would quite literally knock it back into him.

Still Aya worried about her friend, she didn't want to see him go back to the mindset he had been in after losing his crew and Ka'Reena. She was likely worrying more than necessary when it came to that thought but the Asari couldn't help it, for starters worrying was something she did for her friends on a day to day basis when they were in pain or weren't themselves.

The other reason she worried was because she had seen her friend go through his tragedies and the man it had made him, she didn't want him to lose himself once more. He had lost everything that made him who he was from his sarcastic caring attitude to his smile and to see him have it back again made the Asari feel elated.

Her friend had come back from a dark road and by the Goddess she didn't want to lose him to it again. Aya felt a three fingered hand rest on her shoulder; she looked back to the Turian who gave her a sympathetic look. "Don't worry about Ty. If there is one thing I've learned about him it's that nothing keeps the bastard down for long."

He was right; nothing had ever kept Ty down in the dirt long. Even when he lost his crew and Ka'Reena he didn't give up, he lost himself to his anger but he didn't roll over and die. Every time he had been pushed to death he survived and came back stronger than before.

_Garrus is right, Ty will be fine. He'll bounce back soon._

"Garrus." Shepard's voice came over the intercom, "Get geared up, I want you to go down with me to help Zaeed take out this Vido guy." She said.

"On it. Sure you don't want to bring Ty down? This guy had it out for his family didn't he?"

The N7 let out a troubled sigh. "That's actually why I'm not going to bring him. He hasn't had a break from ground squad duty in a while and last time…" She stopped.

Last time the mission had turned for the worse somehow and left him like this. The last thing she wanted was to bring him down on another mission while he wasn't in the right mindset.

"I understand. I'll gear up and meet you at the shuttle. Ty's still down throwing his tomahawks so we'll see him on our way out." Garrus said.

"I know. I'll talk to him while I wait for you two. See you soon Garrus."

The intercom shut off and Garrus moved to the elevator, Aya followed him to go back up to the Crew Quarters while Jack headed back to her quarters. She wasn't sure if Ty would be fine with Shepard's decision but she hoped he would see the line of logic she was on. It wasn't like Vido could survive fighting Shepard and her squad.

Right?

* * *

Ty tossed his tomahawk again impaling it into the Illusive Man's head for what felt like the hundredth time then began his walk to go grab both of his weapons to start over again. If you asked him one hundred still wasn't enough for everything the glowly eyed bastard had done. He deserved to be strung up in a machine the same as all his experiments had and left that way for years until one day someone ended his life.

The crate he was abusing looked like someone had taken a lawn mower to it but instead of circular cuts they were all gouges going straight up and down. Had this been the real thing he'd have likely just thrown him out an airlock then blasted him using the Normandy's main gun that way there was no doubt of his death and no pieces for anyone to rebuild him from.

He had been at this since Aite taking breaks only a few times to work on the remaining guns for Zaeed, Samara, Kasumi, Thane, and Tali or to eat by himself. The guns had turned out quite nicely if he said so himself. Zaeed's had been one of the simplest to do since the purple eyed warrior hadn't painted it knowing the old man wouldn't want any. He had managed to make the scope on the rifle better though and engraved _Zaeed "Goddamned" Massani_ into the right side and _Old Man_ into the left.

Tali's had definitely proved to be the most difficult only because he had to create a stencil of the designs of her outfit by going back and forth between memories and the real world. He had taken her Eviscerator and colored it the same as her outfit and carved the designs of her suit into it, after that he added on a blade attachment to the front in case she was ever that up close and personal with no ammo or in need of a reload. For engravings he put _Tali'Zorah vas Normandy _into the left side and _Keelah se'lai into_ the right.

Next up was Kasumi's Locust which he painted black and silver like her outfit with a purple stripe down the center like the lip paint she had. He added extra rounds in each thermal clip so she had a larger supply before running out. Instead of engraving her name into it knowing she probably didn't want to really make herself obvious he engraved _Master Thief_ into the left side and _Gift for You _into the right.

This left Thane's and Samara's guns which turned out well enough for not really doing anything to them. They had asked him not to paint them or engrave anything for some reason so for Thane's Viper he gave it a better scope like he did Garrus's and for Samara's Avenger he did the same thing he did to Kasumi's by giving it extra rounds in each thermal clip for a larger supply.

He had delivered every gun he had designed to all their owners and for the moment everyone had better weapons, Shepard had customized her own Claymore so he didn't have to do anything to it unless he decided to paint it while she wasn't using it one day. Getting the gun from her without her noticing it missing would prove to be a challenge if he ever took it and then managing to paint it and put it back would really test his skills of stealing and replacing it.

_Could just leave an I.O.U. in case she came back early or something._

The former mercenary shrugged the thought off. For now he wasn't too worried about it, he was more focusing on trying to get his anger to subside by throwing his tomahawk into the painted Illusive Man's skull enough to make up for not killing Gavin Archer and not being allowed to kill the glowy eyed terrorist just yet.

At the time of finding David he had been stilled in shock and unable to comprehend much except the echoes of the evil memories the room had and his need to get the man out of the contraption he was in. The purple eyed warrior hadn't even thought about killing Gavin or at the least breaking his jaw so he'd always remember. He didn't even give him a threat to know if he ever got within a light year of David that he would end up being spaced after an ass kicking.

To be fair Shepard had threatened him that a bullet was waiting for him but sometimes a bullet wasn't enough to ward off someone. Some people were stupid enough or crazy enough to test their luck against a bullet where breaking something on them would serve as a reminder of what they shouldn't do, or at least that was his line of thought on the subject. Generally people tended to listen when facing down someone like Shepard holding a pistol to their jaw.

_And when someone like Shepard threatens to fucking kill you then you know you're screwed._

The woman tended to seek peaceful resolutions when possible and didn't tend to use the amount of profanity people like Ty and Jack used which meant when she did use them you listened up pretty damn quickly.

Ty tossed his tomahawk again piercing the painting right between the eyes. _I'll be coming for you next you bastard. One day you'll be staring up at me from the ground with both of your glowy eyes nearly shut from swelling wondering why you ever decided to be such a racist, evil, no moral holding, line crossing bastard. And then I'm going to kill you._

"Wow you really impaled the crap out of him." Shepard's voice called from behind him.

Ty forced a chuckled. It had been a while since he had heard that playful tone from her granted that was mostly due to him staying to himself. He missed it quite frankly and her voice had a soothing effect on his nerves. "Just being civic minded is all. Training for the day it's a reality." He tossed his second tomahawk impaling right next to his other one. "What's up?" He asked as he walked to get his tomahawks from the crate.

The former mercenary knew he could have used his other ones to save himself from having to walk back and forth but the walking allowed him to gather his thoughts in-between wishing he was killing the Illusive Man.

He pulled his tomahawks out and holstered them on the walk back towards his post and Shepard who was fully armed and armored up. "Need me for a mission?" Ty asked before she could answer his initial question. Truthfully he didn't know where they were right now, what mission it would be and if he was going to tell the full truth he really didn't want to go down right now.

Field work was fine and he was always ready to help her but right now he felt more or less burnt out from the last mission. Not many things in life could match up to what they saw down on Aite and to have had to feel everything there thanks to his abilities didn't help at all in the slightest.

If she asked him too he wouldn't care, he was still ready to fight and whatever they were doing was bound to have people trying to kill them so he'd be able to fight and imagine they were all the Illusive Man. Still the former mercenary knew that wasn't a healthy mindset to bring into the field, he had done it enough to know it really did little to help him in the end.

"No I'm bringing Garrus with me to help Zaeed kill Vido." Shepard stated. Hearing Vido's name garnered his attention but he nodded regardless, they were going down to let Zaeed kill him finally which meant he wouldn't get to kill him himself without screwing up the years of vengeance the old man had been waiting for.

_At least that bastard will end up dead._

He wouldn't escape Zaeed's rage and if he worked his death correctly the Blue Suns would know not to screw with his family anymore.

"Sounds like a plan. If you need me to cut him off or something let me know, I'll be down quicker than a Krogan can chug a barrel of Ryncol." Ty said.

He turned around to toss his tomahawks again only to be turned back towards the N7 who pressed her lips against his. Within the kiss he could feel all the emotions that had welled up in her and he immediately felt like a very poor lover. Once again he had lost himself to his anger and pushed away the person he loved, he hadn't been there for her when she needed him there and he hadn't kissed her since coming back from Aite.

The worst part about it was that he wasn't surprised by this, had he just grown so used to doing this that when he finally realized what he did it was like something trivial?

Shepard wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her heavily armored body up, she wrapped her legs around his waist while he walked to the closest crate hanging on him like a monkey deepening the kiss in an attempt to make up for lost moments.

There were no words that needed to be said, no apologies that needed words. Their kiss was enough for them to communicate everything from her missing him at night and in the mornings to him apologizing for those and not doing the rational thing by talking to her about the mission.

Talking to her and being comforted by the sapphire beauty had done him more good than trying to solve his issues by using violence. He sat her down on a crate and continued to kiss her, kissing wouldn't fix everything in a few seconds but after they were done with the mission they'd be able to spend some time together and help one another get past the things they saw.

They parted from their kiss and rested their foreheads together staring deep into one another's eyes passing their feelings back and forth to one another like a ball filling one another with the comfort they had missed out on since the mission. Ty brought his hand up to her cheek and cupped it allowing his thumb to caress her slowly. "Next time just kick my ass." He said with a smirk.

She smiled and laughed softly. The sound was beautiful to hear and a sound he had missed hearing over the last few days. Her smile was infectious and reminded him of all the feelings he felt for her and burned away all his previous thoughts of the Illusive Man. If there was one thing he wanted to do now it was to make sure he made her laugh and smile every day. "It wasn't your fault."

"Maybe, maybe not but still. Being with you has always helped me more than what I was doing, I'll try not to allow there to be a next time but seriously if there is just kick my ass back into shape or pull me into a kiss. Both will snap me out of it."

Shepard went in for a kiss but nibbled down on his bottom lip then released. "How's that for a mixture of both." He kissed her back as his answer smiling into the kiss before kissing down her jaw line and sucking on part of her neck. A throat clearing behind them stopped the pair from proceeding. Ty looked back and saw Garrus and Zaeed waiting the old man shaking his head while Garrus looked like he should have seen this coming. "Looks like I've got to go."

"Yeah, that or we have an audience who want a show." Zaeed made a disgusted sound and turned to go to the shuttle with Garrus tagging along. Ty turned back to Shepard who had a smile on her face. "Guess not." They kissed one last time then he took a step back allowing the N7 to hop off the crate and get ready to go. "Stay safe and if you need backup give a holler."

She nodded heading off to get in the shuttle and head down to whatever planet they were orbiting. Ty turned back to the carved up Illusive Man target and contemplated if he was going to continue to throw his tomahawks at it or move on to something more productive and less likely to continue to anger him.

After grabbing a special tomahawk and impaling it into the target one last time the former mercenary walked over to his bike to do some needed maintenance on it. It had been a while since he had checked over it and made sure he wouldn't suddenly be plummeting from the sky the next time he flew it.

Plummeting from the sky had been checked off his bucket list thanks to one Thresher Maw and The Broken Arrow.

He had EDI on it and he was sure she'd inform him of such a travesty before it happened but he preferred to be safe never knowing when flying his bike down to help would be needed.

It also served to allow him to take into account the events he had seen on Aite in a clearer mindset than he had been in. He needed to take the memories and lock them away and the feelings that they brought out of him in a similar manor he had done his own personal demons.

Doing so had helped him to recover better, right now he wasn't ready to conquer the freshness of the memory but one day he would defeat it and it would be a phantom of what it was now.

Seeing David hooked up the way he was stuck in an experiment he had never wanted to be a part of was haunting. The way they had hooked in those tubes and shoved them down his throat…Ty shook his head kneeling down next to his bike to start checking it over.

_You can't un-see a sight like that._

Then there was the fact that Gavin had done it to his own brother. The former mercenary couldn't imagine even harming his brother let alone hooking him into a twisted science experiment that would wreck his mind. Sure sometimes he wanted to smack his brother alongside the head but that didn't change the bond they had or his willingness to jump into hell itself for him.

To be able to do that to your own blood then try to justify it and then after realizing how badly you screwed up your own brother ask to continue to "take care of him" meaning he was going to continue doing the sick experiments that really screwed his brother up took real ignorance and a lack of care for his brother. It was like he assumed for starters that Shepard would let him do it and then if he actually had stopped it was like he thought the Illusive Man wouldn't force him to continue to do it.

_At least we stopped him and got David out of there…hopefully he gets better._

The former mercenary began running tests on his bike making sure all his systems were good to go while thinking about the last mission. He had preached to Tali about peace with the Geth back on the Alarei and while they had been taking down the synthetics the last few missions he had to wonder if the peace he sought was actually possible.

He knew that they had been fighting little pockets of Geth that weren't a complete representation of the entire race considering if they wanted to the synthetics probably could take down entire colonies and the ones back on Aite were controlled by the rogue V.I. but the wonder was still there. If every encounter they had was met by hostility trying to talk to them was seemingly impossible.

Was it possible that the Geth beyond the Veil had no intentions of violence and actually were hoping to communicate with organics in a less confrontational manor? Ty hoped so but there wasn't much evidence he had to back it up. Unless he managed to get into Geth space without getting killed or having them hack into his bike to bring him crashing down and then was able to talk to them to see what they wanted it was highly unlikely he would get that evidence, especially if they wanted him killed.

This thought led back to Aite and the Illusive Mans idea that controlling the Geth would avert the cost of human life lost to a war with them. The first flaw in that idea was that he was immediately assuming that all the contingents of synthetics that had caused trouble made up the majority of the Geth.

The purple eyed warrior didn't have evidence to back up his idea that peace was possible or that it was what they wanted but jumping to conclusions of war would lead to war. This brought him to the second flaw and that it was the Illusive Man trying to do this, an insane leader of a terrorist group who was seeking control of synthetics in order to prevent a war didn't sound all to convincing to Ty.

You were more likely to find a Batarian in a loving relationship with a human or a First Contact War human veteran and Turian veteran who had lost friends to the other side that held no hostility towards one another. A scarier thought was if the Illusive Man had succeeded in his plan what he would have done using his power over the Geth to the rest of the Galaxy.

War was the most likely of possibilities. Cerberus and the Geth against all the other races until Cerberus stood on top. Humans who were open minded and not xenophobes like most of the organization would be either converted through some type of twisted experiment if controlling the Geth was anything to go by and the rest of the races would probably be enslaved.

_All in the name of "peace" I'm sure. It all seemed harmless right?_

The echo of David's voice played through his mind sending a shiver down his spine before he stood up and took a seat on his bike to start reading his diagnostics. By all accounts his bike was in good condition considering not keeping up a regular maintenance in a while but it was possible EDI had been handling the technological maintenance for him.

Physical maintenance was still needed but that was mostly aesthetic stuff that would give him some more time to think like giving it a good clean and figuring out if he could upgrade the guns and if so how they would work.

Then again trouble was always around the corner for Team Normandy.

"Ty we've got trouble." Miranda's voice came over his comm.

"I thought we were doing pretty good with one another despite not seeing each other the last few days. I might even set you up on a date with my brother when we reach the Citadel." The former mercenary responded jokingly.

"Not the time Ty."

Her very serious tone grabbed his attention immediately stopping his next joke from coming. "What's going on Miranda? Something on the ship or with Shepard?"

"Shepard. I have a feed from Garrus that I'm sending to you now."

"I'll synch it to the HUD in my visor." Ty activated his visor and synched the feed Miranda sent him to it turning his vision of the Normandy to a fiery refinery. "Spirits." The entire place was ablaze and it didn't take long to figure out that it had been Zaeed to cause such a disaster. The feed was from Garrus's visor and within it he could see Shepard and Zaeed arguing with one another, the N7 looked beyond pissed in fact she looked like she was about to punch the old man into the next cycle of life.

"My sentiments exactly. Shepard is going for the civilians and judging on the schematics Vido will reach a landing pad long before they reach him."

Ty could already see where she was going. Vido would get away and Zaeed's loyalty would be non-existent considering he desired his revenge on the same level the former mercenary had. _Difference was I didn't set refineries on fire endangering the lives of innocents and screwing my chances at getting my revenge._

If Vido got away then there'd be a rift between the veteran mercenary and the N7.

Zaeed didn't care about the civilians, not when he was in his raged mindset trying to kill Vido and Shepard didn't give a damn about his revenge if it endangered the lives of innocents. Had the purple eyed warriors own revenge risked the lives of innocents he doubted Shepard would have stood for it. "Ideas?" He asked.

"Only one. Your bike is the only transport we have aside from the Hammerhead but the Hammerhead won't be able to catch a gunship if it takes off."

"And if it does I can chase that bastard down and send the coordinates to you guys." Ty finished. It was a good plan and one that would ensure that Zaeed got his revenge at one point or another, on the opposite side it allowed the former mercenary to ensure that the man who had helped to orchestrate the attack on Ortega and likely had showed support for killing his friends didn't get away.

"Right. I'm hoping you'll be able to stop him before that though, ending it here would make it easier for us and allow us to get to the Citadel finally."

Meaning they would be able to drop off his friends, help Thane, take out Kelham, a little shore leave if they were lucky and then they'd proceed on the final stretch to finish their mission. After they finished that the only mission he knew of was the Reaper IFF but the way Shepard seemed to think at night before Aite it felt like there was still some more to go that he didn't know about.

It was either that or she was considering their chances carefully.

Ty swung his leg over to the other side of his bike and began prepping to go. "Well only one way to make sure of that." He cut the feed from his visor and activated the rest of his mask. He was already fully armed exception of having his bicep guards and gauntlets but he wasn't going to waste time grabbing them and then not end up using them.

"Keep me posted if anything changes between now and the time I get down there. EDI set my coordinates for the landing pad; it's about time I give my answer to his want of a truce." He had a feeling Vido wasn't going to appreciate his way of saying no.

"I assume your answer is a no." EDI replied humor snaking its way into her synthetic voice.

A chuckle escaped the purple eyed warrior as his bike powered up and lifted off the ground. "I don't know, do you think shooting down his gunship counts as a no or is that more of a maybe?"

"I think that means no Ty." EDI answered.

"Well I guess that means poor Vido is going to be very disappointed." The doors of the Cargo Hold opened allowing Ty to pilot his bike out and head down into the atmosphere of the planet named Zorya according to his bikes navigation. He flew across the planet following the coordinates set to the base and refinery that was sure to still be on fire. "EDI patch me into Shepard's comms."

"At once."

"Little busy Ty." Shepard answered.

_Busy cleaning up a disaster left by Zaeed._ "Letting you know I'm on the move to cover the exit Vido is going for."

He heard her let out a sigh before unloading a Claymore round into some unlucky goon. "This whole mission has been a disaster, please don't get yourself hurt."

"Come on Shepard, it's me we're talking about." Ty replied a smirk in his tone.

She gave a genuine laugh at his joke. Falling back into their familiar banter and hearing the care for his safety once again proved to be some of the best medicine life had to offer him, if you didn't include the stuff they used to stop him from dying back on Omega when Tarak tried killing him that is. "I know and that's why I asked." Another round from her Claymore echoed in the comm. "Get there soon, kill him if you want at this point I really don't give a damn. Too many civilian lives were almost lost because of Zaeed's idiocy."

"I'll get there. Talk soon Shepard."

"Don't do anything too crazy." Shepard responded before shutting off the comm.

Ty focused forward and activated the guns on his bike preparing to shoot down the gunship once it came into sight. Vido's time was running out the same as Kelhams, now it was only a matter of how their lives would end instead of when they would.

The base came into sight and while most of the fires looked to be put out thanks to Shepard's actions there were still fires within the facility. _Damn it you old crazy bastard what the hell were you thinking? _His thoughts were obviously focused on killing Vido but that wasn't an excuse to endanger innocents or the squad. "Ty I have a lock on the gunship, it is prepping for takeoff and Shepard is still not in range to stop them."

"And let me guess, there's a bunch of stuff that will cause more fires and explosions if I shoot it down where it is." He stated.

"Yes though if we can remain close I can take control of their ship and stop it from leaving."

_Sounds like we can bring it down without me having to crash into the front of it or some ridiculous stunt like that._ The idea sounded pretty crappy but doing it would definitely make sure Air Vido would make an emergency crash landing, for the sake of EDI being a part of his bike now and Shepard not wanting him to get hurt he'd try the more subtle approach first."Works for me, land us on the closest building out of shooting range and one that doesn't have something that can blow us up. I'd rather not be exploded today."

His bike slowed down and landed onto a building overlooking the landing pad where an injured Vido and his men were boarding the gunship. From here he could have probably assassinated a few of them but that would have drawn attention to him and if this building had volatile chemicals under him that they could shoot then that would really turn the situation more FUBAR than it was. "How's it coming along EDI?" The former mercenary asked.

He didn't want to run the risk of having to shoot down the ship and taking Zaeed's vengeance, the old man was not in a state of mind that would leave him preferable to understanding that after harboring his hatred for so long someone else shooting down the ship led to his revenge being taken from him.

"Almost ready, their ship is taking off." EDI informed though he was fully aware seeing the ship lift off. "We must remain close Ty."

Zaeed came running out firing his gun letting out a raged scream in hopes of killing Vido, he managed to kill one of the goons next to him but not the man himself. _That's a shame, would have made things easier if he could have shot straight in his mindset._ "Alright, time to go." He lifted off and began following close behind the ship. "Mind tapping me into their ships comm EDI."

"One moment." A moment passed by while the gunship began to attempt to fly faster forward, _probably aware of my presence now thanks to their scanners_. "I have control, speak when ready."

Ty maneuvered his bike next to the cockpit of the gunship and waved to the pilot who was trying to figure out why the controls weren't working. "Ladies and mercenary shits, I've got good news and bad news for you. The good news is the flight plan you have scheduled is about to change and you'll be landing almost immediately." The pilot pulled out a pistol and tried to shoot him only for his rounds to impact against the glass without penetrating through.

With a shrug the former mercenary continued. "The bad news is the person in charge of your flight plan change is me which means you are about to have a severe deceleration followed by a sudden stop." Ty used his hands to imitate what was going to happen to the ship for the pilot as he spoke. "I'd like to suggest strapping in and praying to whatever gods you believe in because you're about to meet them." He gave the pilot a two finger salute. "Have a nice day."

EDI cut the comm and after maneuvering his bike out of the way the gunship changed direction from leaving the planet to heading right back down to the surface at a slow but still alarming rate for those aboard. Just as promised the ship crashed into the ground taking down a bunch of trees with it and creating a clearing for the shuttle to land and knocking the gunship around enough that all inside would be disoriented or injured.

_Hopefully dead as well._

"EDI bring us down near the crash, I'm going in to finish off the survivors and grab Vido if he's still alive. Contact Shepard and have her meet us at the crash." Ty said.

"Coordinates sent, do be careful Ty. Any mercenary not hurt by the crash is likely to be armed."

He smiled at her advice. "Yes mother."

"If that is how you see me then you should know I expect you in bed by nine."

Ty had to cut his auditory emulators to ensure that his laugh didn't echo across the forest alerting everyone to his presence. Element of surprise wasn't completely on his side but if there was some type of predatory animal out here he didn't want to risk it hunting him and trying to kill him. He really had to hand it to her for coming up with that one and nailing the timing and tone perfectly.

"Good one EDI." The purple eyed warrior complimented. She had really started to get humor and was definitely becoming more human than when he had first joined on.

His bike landed allowing the former mercenary to hop off and activate his cloak, slowly and carefully he approached the gunship his pistols in hand in case someone came out shooting.

He wondered if there were any survivors, the crash hadn't been too bad but the passenger area looked to have taken the brunt of most of the trees. The cockpit was completely crushed from the final tree it crashed into and by the looks of it the pilot had been impaled by a branch. _He's dead or dying,_ the former mercenary deducted.

There was no way he was getting out from being impaled which left however many guys in the passenger section of the ship and Vido. Ty got to the back of the ship and looked for a way to crack it open without crushing himself or getting himself shot to death in the midst of trying to get it open. "EDI can you open the back of this thing up?" Ty asked.

"All main systems are shut down…emergency power activated."

The door began to creak and groan as it tried to open itself barely budging at all. "Shit." He cursed moving to the side to try to help pull it hoping to move it enough for the thing to come down. Had he thought through the fact the crash would jam the door he would have at least attempted to keep it safe from breaking to make getting in easier.

"Guess tha-" The door slammed down where he had been standing seconds before. Inside the gunship the mercenaries looked to him in shock as he looked at back at them in shock that he almost had been crushed. _Spirits that is not funny guys! _Ty mentally shouted as his dead friends who he could practically hear laughing at him, they probably had a hand in the expert timing of it to which made him wish he never encouraged their sick sense of humor.

Instincts took over allowing the former mercenary to unconsciously kill the men who weren't Vido gunning them down in their seats. Once they were all dead Ty walked into the wrecked ship moving to be face to face with the soon to be deceased Co-Executive Officer of the Blue Suns. "I- I knew you'd come." Vido coughed.

"I'm here to formally decline your want for a truce." Ty said. He punched the mercenary in the face making the dazed man become more dazed. The former mercenary forced Vido's head back up to stare into his eyes. "You should have never fucked with my friends and family."

To his surprise the man smiled. "You shouldn't have been their friend then. It's just as much your fault as it is mine." He received a harder punch to the face for the comment.

"You're not telling me anything I never told myself and if you think it'll make me kill you quicker so Zaeed won't get his hands on you then you are poorly mistaken." Vido's eyes widened in shock knowing that the old man was coming and he'd do worse things to him. He began to struggle in his harness but it was broken from the crash and he wasn't going anywhere. "So until he gets here let's play a game called how hard do I have to punch you until I break your jaw?"

For the next five minutes the purple eyed warrior punched Vido in the face at varying strengths leaving the man barely conscious once Shepard, Zaeed and Garrus arrived. When he heard the shuttle Ty exited the gunship shaking his bloodied hand trying to get the pain to ease. "Turns out I have to punch using seventy five percent of my strength to break a jaw after punching it twenty times." Ty shrugged to himself, "You learn something new every day."

Shepard and Garrus chuckled at his attempt to make light of the situation. They were covered soot and smelled heavily of smoke thought that wasn't in the least surprising considering the circumstances they had been in. Zaeed looked the most serious of the three and was having trouble standing still having his revenge in his grasps. "Is he still alive?" Zaeed asked.

The former mercenary pointed behind him with his thumb. "Barely conscious but still alive." Zaeed moved to go to the gunship only to be stopped by Ty forcefully grabbing his arm. The old man looked to him his face showing the agitation at being stopped only to be beaten back by the purple eyed warrior's intense stare. "Next time you set a fucking refinery on fire to kill someone and endanger innocent lives I won't be stopping your target. I did this for me as much as I did you old man, I consider you a friend but what you did was moronic even by our standards." He squeezed his arm tighter. "Kill him and get your shit together."

Ty released his arm and walked away before Zaeed could respond leaving him to do what he had been fantasizing about for years. He met Shepard and Garrus at the shuttle who were both between relief of the mission being over and highly perturb at the veteran mercenary for what he did. "Nice work bringing the ship down." Shepard complimented.

"Compliment EDI, she was the one who really pulled through there." Ty responded. She nodded then ran her hand through her sweaty black hair. Even now Ty couldn't take his eyes off of her; she was beautiful in every way regardless of being covered in soot and smelling of smoke. "You manage to save most of the people?"

"Yeah. Wasn't easy since _someone _decided to set the whole damn pace ablaze but we got it done." Shepard replied.

"Can't believe he did that all to kill Vido. It hindered us more than it helped even before the civilians were in danger." Garrus said.

It sounded like a pretty sticky situation to be in and one the former mercenary was glad to have missed out on for once. He'd have likely grown more pissed at the old man than he already was for endangering the lives of his friends and the civilians. Had they been unable to stop one of the fires and got trapped they'd have all died because of Zaeed setting the place ablaze.

On the other hand he knew what it was like to be in that revenge raged mindset, granted he never did anything that incredibly stupid but he knew what it was to seek revenge for years and to finally have it within your grasps.

It had clouded his judgment in many instances.

"Anger and the thought of revenge makes people do crazy things." Ty said to himself.

Now it was time to see if Zaeed could handle what life after getting your revenge was like.


	90. Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Making a Choice

**A/N: Sorry for the delay!**

Shepard woke to stirring next to her followed by the body of Ty moving to sit on the edge of the bed. She opened her eyes to see the back of the man, his brown hair laid across his back as he bent forward resting his face in his hands.

His shoulders were sagged as if they were carrying a weight far too heavy for him to carry; she understood how dreams could do that having her own set of nightmares that caused her to feel the same as he looked.

She pushed the sleep from her mind knowing he needed her right now. Staying in his own thoughts listening to whatever memories or dreams would only make it worse for him the same as it did after Aite, the same it did for her before they had become so close.

The N7 sat up slowly allowing the covers to fall to her waist as she scooted closer to him wrapping her arms around his stomach and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. The purple eyed warrior's skin was moist with a thin layer of sweat, his muscles had the slightest shake to them but his breaths remained calm. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Ty apologized without looking up.

A smile tugged at her lips despite knowing he was in need of help. His constant putting her before himself no matter how much pain he was in never ceased to amaze her and warm her heart. "Bad dream?" She asked in return. Truthfully Shepard didn't need to ask, she knew thanks to the sweat and shake of his muscles added on with the way he was sitting and there really wasn't much else it could be aside from a memory.

He remained quiet worrying Shepard, the refinery had been hell on her own mind but she had noticed the almost solemn recognition in his tone at the last statement he had made when they regrouped. _"Anger and the thought of revenge makes people do crazy things."_

While at first she agreed with his statement based on how far off the deep end Zaeed had gone and what he did all in the name of killing Vido, looking at Ty now she knew he was thinking about his own revenge when he had made the statement.

The purple eyed warrior had spent years on revenge doing whatever he could to bring the Blue Suns to their knees, or at least the sector of Suns he had targeted. He had no doubt gone off the deep end more than once, the way she heard it from Kasumi and Z the man she had met at the beginning of this mission wasn't even close to how bad it had gotten.

_But he isn't that man anymore._ Shepard knew it to be true, sure he had a temper but he was no longer the revenge crazed man Kasumi and Z had to see. What she believed now was that seeing Zaeed had been like staring into a mirror for him seeing similarities to the state of mind he had years ago for the first time in crystal clear vision.

_Like when he saw himself transformed for the first time back on Pragia._ He had been in awe at seeing himself after transforming, hell she had been in awe because he wasn't going crazy in anger and chasing down Aresh. Ty had finally been able to see in a clear state of mind what his transformation changed on him and though it hadn't been a bad thing then, this time with Zaeed was different.

"…Are we bound to a set nature of being? Is true change impossible or do we revert back to what we are no matter how much we try to change?" Ty questioned.

Shepard knew what he was really trying to ask here and it pained her heart to see him unsure of the answer, an answer she did know and believed in completely. "Meaning are you going to end up like Zaeed or how you were before we met again?" He nodded in response to her question. "No you are not. That is not your nature nor are people bound to a specific nature, people can change and you have changed." She stated firmly.

Her purple eyed lover looked over to her searching her eyes for the truth behind her statement. Ty believed in her on a daily basis but when it came to things about himself he was never truly ready to accept what she believed as the truth.

Doubt in who he was had sowed itself into him after all the losses he had gone through, losses his doubt told him he could have stopped and constantly tortured his mind because of it. The N7 brought her hand to his and intertwined them. "The man you were before we met isn't who you are as a person, you have never been one for wanting to continue to fight but all this time you've never had a choice."

After un-intertwining her hand from his Shepard brought her hand to his face making sure he wouldn't turn away and allowing herself to stare into his marvelous purple eyes. "The man I have fallen for is a compassionate man to his friends, a passionate person when it comes to the things he believes in and the people he loves and an ass kicker to those who mean them harm. Your "nature" is not one of crazed violence."

"As long as you're here I think I can believe that." Ty responded a smile forming on his lips.

Shepard smiled and kissed him on the lips. "I'm not going anywhere as long as you don't. After all who's going to volunteer me for drinking contests against a Krogan and help me back to my room afterwards?" She asked.

Ty chuckled to himself. He had clearly forgotten about that while Grunt had not and planned to do it when they had free time on the Citadel next. It wasn't so bad, it wasn't like she was going to be head-butting him though she was probably going to end up with a headache just the same. "Yeah I guess you're right, no one else would volunteer you for that but me. I was thinking-"

"Uh-oh." Shepard teased.

She received a laugh from the purple eyed warrior who gave her a smirk afterwards. "I know right, I used to just wing everything I did and now I actually think. I blame you for this."

"I'll take full blame for you using that brain of yours. Alright hit me with crazy idea number one of the early morning."

"When we get to the Citadel and after we finish up helping Thane and finding Kelham I was thinking we should take some down time."

Down time sounded nice and the commander was sure the crew would agree. A warzone on Omega plus all the normal trouble they got into nonstop had definitely drained the crew; a little shore leave would help revitalize them…as long as no one shot at them. "There's an apartment suite that once belonged to Brad that he left me in case he ever died, I figure let the crew hang out there or on the Citadel let them relax a little bit before we finish up this mission." Ty suggested.

Shepard hummed to herself; it wasn't a bad idea as long as their resident troublemakers didn't cause any trouble and as long as trouble didn't show up on their doorstep to ruin their relaxation. By the sound of it Ty had other plans as well for what they'd do in their time to relax. "I'm sure the crew would appreciate a little bit of shore leave. Any other plans?"

"Maybe. You'll have to wait and see. For now you should sleep and worry about that stuff later." Ty said.

Shepard rested her hand on his again hoping to stop him from leaving again. "Stay?" She asked. She knew he probably would go back to sleep but having him leave again like after Aite wasn't something the N7 wanted.

"I'm not going anywhere." He responded.

Shepard smiled as his lips met her own and they laid down again. Maybe she hadn't fixed everything that was bothering him with a few words and a little bit of humor but for now Ty was in a peaceful state and staying with her in bed.

It took some time for them to stop kissing each other but as soon as they did Shepard fell back into her peaceful sleep next to Ty.

* * *

"No." Shepard stated firmly.

"Come on, I'm sure C-Sec's getting lazy. It won't cause any property damage and Joker would be none the wiser." Ty pleaded.

"No."

Ty let out a dramatic sigh lowering his head. "Fine you fun killer. Deny me the chance to give C-Sec and Bailey a heart attack by telling them we've lost all control and are heading straight for Zakera Ward."

Shepard rolled her eyes and turned to walk to the cockpit of the Normandy from the hall leading up to it. "I think Bailey will be just fine without thinking a large frigate is about to crash into his Ward. Joker we almost docked?" The commander asked.

"You know asking a minute after the first time you asked is going to get you the same answer, no I'm not. How about I do my job and you don't backseat command." Joker replied.

"Or we can just ask EDI to speed it up." The former mercenary offered. The N7 turned to him wearing a smile at his offer and the shaking head of her pilot. Joker really didn't like the idea of his ship being piloted by anyone else and definitely didn't like backseat commanders who asked him about his progress more than once.

Ty remembered Carson and Valera being pretty much the same but when he and Darian had done it they had done it to get a rise out of them instead of impatience. They would promptly scold them or threaten them in the case of Valera yet the purple eyed warrior couldn't help but think they had figured it out and decided to have fun with it as well.

Thane stood next to the airlock looking as stoic as ever as he waited patiently for them to dock. According to Darian his son hadn't done anything yet but there were whispers about an assassination contract on someone's life. Who had the contract and who it was on was unknown but Thane seemed nearly sure it would be his son.

The purple eyed warrior didn't doubt his comrade's certainty, he knew about assassination contracts better than anyone else on the ship though when Ty had said that he knew his son he didn't agree or disagree on that part.

He looked solemn at the statement and that's when the understanding that Thane didn't truly know his son dawned upon the former mercenary. Like him the assassin had left to kill those who had killed the person he cared about and when he finally came back his son was a different person and so was he.

_Samara had to kill her daughter and now Thane has to stop his son from committing a crime or from getting killed. _Ty sighed silently, _it seems we all screwed up or got screwed at some point or another. We'll stop this kid from going on a dark road and hopefully Thane can at least talk to him a little before his eventual passing._

It was a sad sentiment but one Ty hadn't forgotten or deluded himself of. Thane was steadily dying and unfortunately he was going to die sooner than the rest of them, unless they all died on this mission than they'd all die at the same time.

_Damn Kepral Syndrome, don't get why the Salarian's or the Hanar haven't come up with a cure yet. Not like they don't have the scientists, technology or the time to do it. Salarian's are probably worrying about some other species that have yet to become publicly known or some type of bio weapon…or a strange combination of the two._

Ty personally had nothing against the Salarian race; they just experimented on the strangest things and created the Genophage. As long as they didn't decide to deploy something as stupid as the Genophage again on other races then they wouldn't be near the top of his shit list under the Illusive Man, Cerberus and tied where the Blue Suns had been.

_Just gotta make the best of the time he is alive, hopefully his son will see that,_ Ty thought as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Making the best of the now instead of worrying about things that weren't in one's control was something he was trying to do himself, the memories of his own revenge trip had clouded his mind this morning but thanks to Shepard he had gotten past it and back to sleep much to both of their surprise.

With Shepard he didn't believe that he would fall back into the person he had been, she made him believe he could one day be free of the pains and failures of his past. Shepard made him want to live in the now instead of constantly reliving the agony's of the past and for the most part she had succeeded in helping him do so.

Things like the refinery on fire only served as painful reminders of his own revenge trip that he had gone on. Granted the purple eyed warrior had never set refineries on fire to get a kill but he had done a plentiful amount of things to knock the Suns down a peg. _Hopefully that'll be the last of those kinds of reminders, once we deal with Kelham it should be straight shooting to the end of this mission. After the Collectors we'll have to deal with the Reapers but that still seems far enough away to not really worry about._

_Not like they're going to show up tomorrow or something. We'd know…or at least I hope we'd know, if not we'd soon find out. Reapers are rather big and cause mass destruction so that's kind of hard to miss._

Once they finally docked and got through the decontaminator the trio headed down to Zakera Ward to ask Bailey if he had any more information on Thane's kid. Drell's weren't really known for their time spent on the Citadel much less Zakera Ward so if he had come by then it was likely that Bailey or C-Sec had made note of him.

Whether or not they knew he was trying to assassinate someone was a different story.

If they did know then there would be C-Sec officers trying to find him and arrest him already which wouldn't be good in the slightest. Sure it would give them a better idea of where to find him but if Kolyat killed a C-Sec officer then saying things would go sideways would be a massive understatement.

"Sorry for the inconvenience ma'am." The Turian C-Sec officer apologized for the slowness of the scanner.

"Once again, we live in the apparent golden age of transporting from one system to another and we can't make fast scanners or ele- decontaminators." Ty corrected himself quickly.

Shepard looked back to him wearing a knowing smirk. "What's the matter? Don't want to curse another elevator?"

"I'm not testing my luck, definitely when Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest son of a bitch in space." Ty replied repeating what the recruiter outside of the scanner had said.

He received an eye roll from Shepard and a small smirk from Thane. "Still what if the next one just stops and we're stuck there for hours until C-Sec gets around to us? It's not like broken elevators are on the top of the priority list. It's pretty much there with preaching Hanar's or complaining Elcor's, sure it's annoying but there's a guy getting to close to a Keeper and a known crime lord on the Citadel that we're just watching hoping she'll do something bad even though we know she's too smart for that leaving us stuck." Ty said.

His squadmates and the C-Sec officer shook their heads with smirks though the C-Sec officer wore a frown instead at the insinuation of C-Sec being incompetent. The doors finally opened allowing them to move to Bailey's desk where he appeared to be juggling a lot. "Bailey does your job ever allow you time to smile? I can see your frown lines from here." Ty joked.

Bailey shook his head. "Very funny, asshole." He mumbled the last part under his breath but the former mercenary still heard it and smiled. The C-Sec captain was a friend of his father and by extension was a friend of his and Z. "Seriously what did I do today to get both you and your brother in my precinct? At least you're in a cheery mood, you're brother nearly tore out a bulk head just walking through."

_Wait what?_ "Z's here?" The C-Sec Captain nodded. _Going for Kelham when I specifically told him not to and to wait._ "Stubborn bastard doesn't listen."

"Sounds incredibly like someone I know, or multiple someone's of the same family I know." Bailey commented.

"Stole the words right from my mouth Bailey." Shepard agreed a smirk on her face.

_If Z is here then he's going for Kelham ignoring my request to wait for us and give Ria the choice._ While Ty knew they were right about him being stubborn and not listening he couldn't help but feel surprised and a bit annoyed that his brother didn't listen.

_The thought of revenge makes people do crazy things._

The echo of his own statement didn't make the purple eyed warrior feel any better about the situation. _We've gotta help Thane first then I'll go after Z and hopefully stop him from killing Kelham._ "Has he done anything to get the attention of C-Sec yet or is it just a warning before the storm?" Ty asked.

"Nothing yet but he mentioned something about finding someone and killing them, actually he mumbled it under his breath like some sort of chant. Creepy." Bailey shook his head at the reminder of Z. "You want his location to try to stop him from destroying a building?"

Ty shook his head, he wanted to go stop his brother but Thane and the mission had to come first right now. "Nah, if you're keeping tabs on him then keep keeping them, I'll deal with him after what we're all here for."

From there Shepard took charge in the conversation as Ty allowed his thoughts to wander to his brother and his state of mind. His brother was looking to finally kill Kelham and if Ty didn't know what it was like to want revenge so badly he would question his brother's sanity.

The thing was because of his knowledge on wanting revenge and hunting the people down for years he knew in the end killing Kelham really wouldn't make his brother feel any better. There would be the initial satisfaction that he was dead but after it wore off there would be no satisfaction left. It was like coming to the end of a journey and figuring out that you had wasted too much time thinking about it before because the end wasn't all that entertaining.

You killed your target finally extracting the revenge you craved but no matter how long you drew out their death, no matter how much pain you caused them the moment you killed them all of it ended for them and you were left with the pain. Ty didn't regret killing the people who had killed his friends but harboring the anger for years and years had caused him to miss out on years of his life.

Had he just walked away after the Thresher Maw mission like he had planned to or killed Tarak and Jedore right after they killed his friends instead of dragging it out for years things would have been different. He could have experienced an entirely different life where he wasn't clouded by anger and revenge for years only to come out of it on a suicide mission.

Truly Ty didn't regret meeting the Normandy crew and Shepard, he hated that he had lost a lot of people to get here and thanks to hindsight being in twenty/twenty he knew there had been better choices to save them but he couldn't change that now.

The former mercenary was here on the Normandy now and for the first time in years he was no longer bound to his anger and revenge crazed mind, he had made a better choice and now he was on an upturn for once.

Now all he had to do was stop his brother from making the same mistake and then things would be peachy.

_Years I spent listening to them preach to me about harboring my anger and now I'm the one that has to stop Z from doing the same thing I did? Your humor isn't lost on me Spirits but damn you could have picked a better time._

"Actually he was selling a V.I. of you." Bailey said.

"Me?" Shepard asked in confusion.

"Yeah, when you deleted a file it would say "I delete data like you on the way to real errors."" Bailey recited.

Ty couldn't stop the laugh that escaped him at the thought of both the V.I. and the memory of Conrad back on Illium. "Wow Shepard that seems a bit extreme even for you, I guess that's where Conrad got his "I've fought people like you on the way to real battles" statement from."

"Laugh it up Ty." Shepard said.

"Buggy though, crashed every half hour and the error message was about how the Galaxy was at stake and you should fix the problem yourself." Bailey said wearing a grin at the commander's expense.

"Oh that's harsh Shepard. Forcing people to solve their own personal problems while the Galaxy is at stake is just rude. You need to get out there and help them fix things like their toilet being backed up 'cause spirits forbid they do anything themselves while the Galaxy is in danger." Ty teased.

"Ha ha." The commander faked a laugh.

They finished up talking to Bailey and headed up to the stairs to go find Mouse who not only was selling the Shepard V.I. but had been seen speaking to Kolyat. He was a duct rat or once was a duct rat when he was able to actually fit in the ducts.

It was a local slang for the poor kids in the districts who played and hung out in the ducts, those who were smart enough or lucky enough like Mouse grew to be too large to fit in them anymore and like most kids they turned to shifty crimes and shifty people for work.

Mouse would know who hired Thane's son and once they found him they'd bring him in with the help of C-Sec, find out who he hired Kolyat to kill and then stop the boy from following the path he was on. For Ty the strangest part of this all was someone hiring an amateur for assassination, a serious mission and potentially damning crime if you were caught.

You didn't give an amateur a chance to be in your employ by handing them an assassination for their first unless they had showed you their abilities or you were desperate to give the job away. "One thing I don't get is why someone would hire an amateur for an assassination contract. I know your name carries weight like mine does Thane but wouldn't you want to use smaller jobs to make sure he could shoot straight? It seems a hell of a risk to take for something as serious as assassination." Ty said as he rubbed the back of his head in confusion.

"If you had a kid that name dropped you as their father do you think someone would hire them?" Shepard asked.

"Probably, that or arrested and interrogated to find me. What I'm getting at is they're taking a risk, just because someone shares the same name doesn't necessarily mean they are as skilled as their predecessors." Ty explained.

Thane nodded as they walked. "True. Whoever hired Kolyat did not look past the name to observe his real training. Each of us were given training to gain our skills and reputation, Kolyat has not." The Drell agreed.

Shepard hummed to herself seeing the truth in the line of thought the two warriors were on. "So what your saying is whoever did this was desperate and didn't think to look past names or has planned for this to fail and have nothing come back to him."

Both Thane and Ty nodded in agreement to her statement. Whoever hired Kolyat was either too desperate to have someone killed to look beyond him sharing the name Krios or had a contingency plan for if the boy failed making sure he had no ties to the crime. A desperate criminal or a very smart criminal was who they were dealing with and the former mercenary wasn't sure which was worse.

A desperate criminal could cause more damage than a smart precise criminal, collateral damage mattered to smarter criminals who were trying to ensure that nothing could be tied back to them. Collateral damage always came second to desperate criminals who shot first and aimed second.

_I hope Kolyat doesn't do anything too stupid while we're trying to find him._

They found the man named Mouse and as Shepard and Thane spoke to him Ty found himself people watching only due to the fact he sensed something strange. He felt like he was being watched and his gut was telling him to keep his guard up no matter how outrageous it could be for someone to try to attack him when he was fully armed and in current company.

Mostly everyone he let his purple eyes crossed were too busy amongst themselves to be the cause of his gut feeling. As he looked back to Mouse a red laser suddenly appeared on his shoulder, _son of a-_ "Get down!" Ty pushed Shepard and Thane away before he grabbed Mouse pushing him down into a crouch and forcing him to run to cover and out of sight of the laser as rounds began impacting where they had been standing. "Shepard, Thane you good?!"

"I am unharmed." Thane replied.

"I'm good. Is Mouse okay?" Shepard asked.

Ty spared the scared man a look but saw nothing wrong with him in terms of wounds. "I think he shit his pants but otherwise he's fine. Is that laser still out there?" The crowds of people were scattering and screaming as they ran for cover wherever they could. _This is definitely not how any of these people saw their day going. Probably a bad thing that I expect shit like this to happen on a daily basis._

"I do not see the laser or the sniper." Thane replied.

_Definitely a desperate criminal, an assassination attempt on one of their own people to stop him from talking in public was a stupid move. C-Sec is going to be all over this now._ "Kid I suggest you tell us who just tried to kill you or I can assure you that you won't see the beginning of tomorrow." Ty told him.

Whoever had missed was going to be fired and a better shooter would be sent to kill Mouse once the leader of this all got away from C-Sec. In that time Mouse would think it was all over and then he'd get shot. "Shit shit alright. His name is Kelham, Elias Kelham."

"You have got to be shitting me." Shepard mumbled under her breath.

It was definitely surprising but part of Ty didn't feel all that surprised, Kelham certainly fit the bill for a desperate criminal right about now. "Kelham seems to be a bit more jumpy than he was with his master plan on Omega." Ty observed as he silently cursed the man.

_Z you better not have killed him yet or we're going to be shit out of luck._ "Not being able to kill you or your brother has made him desperate. A desperate target is a dangerous one." Thane said.

He had that right, Kelham was willing to kill Mouse, or Ty depending on how bad of a shot the guy was, in public without worry of the consequences. Failure on Omega, Vido's demise and if he knew the older brother of the duo was on the Citadel made Kelham desperate as the taste of mortality came closer and closer.

This in turn made him dangerous; he would be in panic trying to fix his crumbling system making him react before thinking. If they didn't find Kelham soon they'd be looking at a lot more situations like this one and a lot more innocent lives in danger.

Ty stood up from his crouched position noticing Thane searching the sightline for the sniper with his own in case he decided to go for another shot. "Shepard, you and Thane go speak to Bailey and see if you can convince him to bring Kelham into an interrogation room. I'm going to see if I can find my brother before he kills Kelham and ruins our chances of finding Kolyat, if I'm lucky I'll find our mysterious sniper as well."

Shepard nodded in agreement to the plan as the former mercenary opened a comm to EDI. "EDI mind flying my bike to these coordinates?" He asked as he sent her his coordinates.

"I will be there momentarily." EDI answered.

This sniper had nearly took out his target and created a mass panic in the Ward. Tying up loose ends wasn't a new concept by any stretch of the imagination but for someone whose mercenary on Omega stated that he was trying to become the new and improved version of Ty and his family, Kelham had a lot to learn.

First lesson was when you hired someone for assassination you didn't hire someone who couldn't A shoot a moving target and B used a laser that someone could easily see.

The second lesson and most important was when you wanted someone dead you really needed to succeed on the first attempt because in this life of killers and psychopaths missing your target was a death sentence. Kelham had just painted a big bright target right on his chest bringing all eyes onto him from Ty and Z to Aria and C-Sec.

C-Sec would want to bring him in alive but the other three were aiming for his death in one manor or another. Z for revenge, Aria for attacking her station, and Ty to be rid of the threat to his family. The first two would drag out his death but the purple eyed warrior was for once looking to put a bullet in his head and be done once his usefulness was up.

Aria left Kelham's fate in his hands which meant unless he somehow managed to escape both Ty and Z then and only then would she step in and bring down her own wrath on the poor bastard.

Being held captive by the Pirate Queen was not a torture Ty wished upon anyone.

Stories alone were enough for a smart person to steer as far away from pissing off Aria and if you did then it steered you as far away as possible from Omega in hopes that distance would save you.

It wouldn't.

Ty had hunted down a plentiful amount of people for her that were staying on the opposite ends of the Galaxy or in neighboring systems trying to apply the "hide right under her nose" method of remaining hidden. Neither ever worked out for those who hid yet the former mercenary couldn't blame them for trying to hide, Aria was not a forgiving person and being brought back to face her after trying to hide or doing something to earn her ire was a scary thought.

His bike began to land at the landing pad and after nodding to Shepard and Thane Ty jumped on and opened his omni-tool dialing Bailey who he knew would have his brother's location. "Ty, I assume you're going after that sniper or your brother?" Bailey answered.

"It'd be nice if you had both locations."

"Yeah well that damn sniper slipped right through our hands already but I have the coordinates for your brother. He's closing in on Kelham at his apartment; I'll forward you his coordinates. Good hunting kid."

Ty activated his mask and ascended off of the landing pad. "Thanks Bailey. I'll see you soon, hopefully without an incident of explosions or destroyed buildings behind me." The purple eyed warrior cut the comm and set the coordinates for his brother's location as well as setting up a comm to him hoping to stop him from killing Kelham.

There was no answer and Ty couldn't say he was all that surprised, his brother was pretty much in the same mind Zaeed had been in and how he himself had been the last several years. He pretty much wouldn't be very talkative if he had answered and figured it was better to not answer in general. _Z you better not have killed Kelham yet or you are going to be in so much trouble._

They needed Kelham to find Kolyat; the purple eyed warrior had to hope his brother would see reason to keep the man alive. He didn't want his brother to resort to ripping the information from Kelham's mind; there was no warm fuzzy feeling that came with it or the new information that would be gained.

Doing it back on Omega was going to be the last time Ty ever used it, or at least that was the promise he wanted to keep. He hadn't enjoyed doing it once he was out of the fight and allowed to think about it, the purple eyed warrior was thankful Shepard had been there and killed the man after he had done it.

Putting someone into a vegetable state was definitely not something he wanted to do again.

A skycar suddenly appeared behind Ty. "Ty do you think the sniper is going to strike again?" Shepard questioned in the comm.

The top of the skycar opened revealing someone driving the transportation as another was aiming a rifle at him. _Seriously?_ "Oh yeah, definitely going to strike again." The purple eyed warrior responded as he dodged down cutting between two buildings.

"Are you sure?" The commander asked uncertainty in her tone.

"Considering there's an asshole in a skycar wielding a rifle trying to kill me I'd say the chances are quite high." He responded.

Rounds impacted against the walls around him, _damn this guy is a relentless bastard isn't he._ Trying to shoot him down from a skycar was something new Ty was going to have to add on to his list of ways someone had tried to kill him. Not that anyone would really believe this anyways aside from Shepard and Thane. "You know I'm beginning to think you have the worst luck." Shepard said.

He dodged over another building bringing him back into the line of sight of the sniper who promptly fired three rounds at him. Each round missed or bounced off his shields though Ty was going to wager he missed based off his early shooting. "Yeah I came to that conclusion many years ago, gotta take this asshole out without killing a bunch of civilians. EDI any advice?"

"If you can take out the sniper using your own I believe you will have eliminated the threat, if you disabled the skycar we could inform C-Sec and have them arrest the pilot." EDI advised.

It was a plan and one the purple eyed warrior believed would work without costing him too much time. "Sounds good, EDI take control of my bike and keep me from crashing. It's time I show this asshole how to shoot." Ty said as he pulled his sniper out. He leaned all the way back so he was lying on his back and looking back at the skycar.

_I just need one shot, _Ty thought as he aimed down his sights upside down. EDI ascended over a building and the skycar followed making the former mercenary continue to readjust his aim trying to keep the enemy sniper right where he needed him to be to get this shot.

He inhaled a breath and held it steadying his aim as much as he could while midflight, _rule number one of being an assassin, don't miss your target. You failed._ Ty pressed down his trigger eliciting his snipers signature crack. In his scope he saw his targets head snap back before slumping forward into the dash. His pilot immediately shut the canopy of the skycar but that was exactly what the purple eyed warrior wanted.

Another crack echoed and the pilot soon found himself fighting to keep the skycar from descending, unfortunately for him it was a battle he had lost already since he had lost his engine thanks to a well-placed shot.

The former mercenary sat back up placing his folded sniper back on his lower back before having EDI send the crash trajectory to Bailey in hopes that he'd get C-Sec over there as soon as possible. The pilot would surely attempt to escape if he wasn't too shaken up or injured by the crash and if he did he would become a loose end needing to be tied off by C-Sec.

Either way the guy wasn't getting away putting Ty's mind at ease and allowing him to focus back on trying to stop his brother from killing a man who held the information they needed on Thane's son.

"Ty C-Sec is almost right on top of your brother and Kelham. You need to get him the hell out of there." Shepard came over his comm.

"I know, I'm almost there." Ty answered. C-Sec had a standing order to arrest them on sight and Bailey was their only connection to it all but they wouldn't risk incriminating the man for the sake of dragging him down with them. He needed to get his brother away from Kelham and the C-Sec sting right now otherwise they'd both be in the headlines which was a place neither of them wanted the glory of.

_Damn media would have a field day that's for sure._

Ty sped around the corner bringing Kelham's apartment into sight from which he was being dangled out of by Z. The elder brother had the man by his throat holding him out the broken window giving Kelham what Ty would have to assume was some fresh air before he would drop him from the twentieth floor.

"Z stop!" Ty shouted as he approached. The green eyed brother glanced over to him in his transformed state not looking all that willing to stop. "We need him alive."

"_We _don't need this piece of shit alive." His brother responded.

_Great I have to talk down my own brother from killing a man. This is going to be fun. _"Yes we do, he has information Shepard and Thane need, if you kill him we lose that information and our chance to stop him from pulling off an assassination." Ty attempted to speak reason.

Z didn't appear to want to listen though staring a hole into Kelham who was holding onto his arm for dear life. "You told me that you would wait for me, you told me you would allow Ria the chance to choose to kill him or not." The younger brother reminded.

"I said I would consider it, I never said I would." Z replied coldly.

_Well isn't that familiar. _Ty remembered saying those words himself once though he couldn't recall why he had and what it was for. "This isn't you Z, you need to snap the fuck out of it. He's going to die no matter what that I promise but we need him to stop Thane's son from going down a dark path. You once said to me that given the chance you would stop someone from falling down a path similar to our own. Well this is your chance or are you going to go give up on that because of some asshole."

"I'll just rip the information from his mind then."

His brother was running out of debates for killing Kelham and Ty knew it. All he had to do was word this one correctly and he would stop his brother completely. "You do that and you bring us into the headlines of Citadel News starting the running from the Alliance all over again."

Z looked from Kelham to Ty giving his full attention for the first time in the conversation. "C-Sec has been tracking you the moment you came after Kelham; in fact they're probably almost right outside of that door right now. You rip the information and leave him here a shell that's going to catch the attention of everyone from the Council to the Alliance because it's either an Ardat-Yakshi leaving behind a corpse or us considering you were seen coming here."

Ty had outplayed his brother using reason and Z knew it, the brothers had many goals in life and one of the major ones was not endangering their family. He had to make a choice, kill Kelham or endanger his family thanks to his lack of stealth.

It wasn't all that surprising when he let out a wordless angered yell tossing Kelham back into his room, family always won out for them. _Can't believe I had to use our families safety as a bargaining tool to get him to calm down…guess it kinda shows how badly I want to stop him and how bad of a state of mind he was in. _"Come on lets go before C-Sec busts down the door and sees us." The purple eyed brother said.

"Fine but don't think I'm done with him. Once you get the information you need he's mine."

"I'll take your words under consideration, now get on." Ty ordered bringing his bike closer so his brother could get on.

_Well that's one disaster avoided, let's hope we can find Kolyat and stop that disaster from happening._


	91. Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Sins of the Father

Ty watched his brother carefully as they waited for Bailey's guys to bring Kelham in. Z was resting his back against a wall his arms crossed and eyes closed. He looked almost at peace but the knot in his brow was enough for the younger brother to realize how little of peace there was in his brother right now.

There was a storm brewing within in his brother and now it was only a matter of time before lightning struck.

_Guess I only have myself to blame for this, _Ty thought sighing to himself. There were many things he had done wrong in this situation from giving his brother the name to hunt for to not preparing himself for the inevitability of his brother ignoring his request. The purple eyed brother hadn't thought far enough ahead this time though that part really was no surprise looking back at his own track record of not thinking moments.

Then again there wasn't much he could do to prepare for this. He and Ria were on the Normandy while his brother had free reign of leaving their home when he wanted to. There was also the fact that Kelham had hired Kolyat and if either of them had killed him before they found out then finding Kolyat could have been a lot harder.

_I also didn't think he'd be fully healed at this point but that was more of an oversight on my part forgetting we recover quickly._

Haley was probably trying to recover still thanks to the injuries she had sustained to her body and her amp back on Omega. Jessica had more than likely taken up the responsibility of taking care of her sister while Z had no doubt snuck out while their father wasn't watching him.

_He would have stopped him had he known, if he isn't on his way here by now I would be surprised_, Ty thought.

Z was meant to be recovering now even if they did recover faster and going on a revenge trip was surely going to get him in trouble, if he was really unlucky Aethyta and their father were going to show up. It was doubtful that the Matriarch was going to show up though; she had gone back to Illium as far as Ty knew after she showed up on Omega and leaving her post again so soon wasn't going to fly.

Shepard and Thane stood next to Ty waiting patiently for Kelham to show up more at ease about getting the information about Kolyat than they were with the loose cannon that was Ty's brother. To be honest Ty didn't blame them, he was worried for his brother as well hoping he didn't suddenly grab the closest C-Sec officer to punch them in the face for frustration release.

His mistake of not preparing for this situation had almost cost them mission critical information about Thanes son. Thankfully he had been able to talk his brother down but that only left his brother in this quiet angered mode where he practically had lightning crackling around him priming to strike the first person who spoke to him.

Ty couldn't say he was happy with the outcome on his brother's mental state but he was happy he had managed to convince him not to kill him. Now they could stop Kolyat and if his luck held up he'd be able to give Ria the choice to kill the man who had held her daughter hostage for two years.

He wasn't sure if she actually would pull the trigger, in fact he planned to make sure she didn't.

Sometimes the illusion of choice was better than having a real choice in the matter.

Creating the illusion of choice was not hard to accomplish, the hard part here was making sure his brother didn't kill Kelham. The plan the purple eyed brother was trying to get to work was one where neither Ria nor his brother would kill the man, Kelham at this point had no power left leaving him just another lowlife grasping for power he would never achieve.

Killing him after giving Ria the illusion of choice and before his brother could do it would free Ria's conscious, keep Z from going down the same path he himself had already gone down and would allow Ty to have a sleep easy knowing he did what was best for them.

Kelham would die today but there would be nothing connected back to his family and his brother and friend would have the weight lifted off their shoulders.

Or at least he hoped it would.

Revenge had only ever clouded his mind, once he killed Kelham their minds would clear and one day his brother would understand. There would be no thank you but there would be understanding and that was all Ty was hoping for.

"Shepard, let us handle the interrogation." Ty said looking to his sapphire eyed lover. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and question to why he would want to handle it. His brother's eyes suddenly opened in shock. "Time is of the utmost importance here, if we don't get the information from Kelham quick enough Kolyat might kill his target."

"You don't think he'll talk to a Spectre?" Shepard questioned.

"He might not believe you are one. Commander Shepard is still dead to most people, especially criminals." Bailey pointed out from his desk.

Ty nodded in agreement to the C-Sec Captain. Most news about her survival was all ghost stories right now, most people who saw her alive were dead now since they all happened to be mercenaries. "Once Kelham is strapped into a chair and he sees us I'm certain he'll squeal without us having to touch him." The former mercenary said.

There was a growl of irritation from his brother who didn't like the idea of not hurting the man when he was strapped into a chair. "What if he doesn't?" Shepard asked understanding of his reason but wanting to cover all basis just in case. "He may be desperate but he wanted your family dead, he may blow you off thinking he's untouchable in a C-Sec interrogation room."

She had a valid point there and the purple eyed warrior wasn't keen on turning the criminal into a punching bag inside a C-Sec room. _We'll have to wipe the feed anyways but injuring him will only make C-Sec and Bailey look bad. _"If he doesn't I can just join my mind to his find the information and none of us get our hands dirty in a C-Sec interrogation room." Ty said.

"If you don't do anything that visibly shows injuries he can't claim anything against C-Sec or Bailey and as long as you don't rip the information from his mind your family will be safe." Thane said.

"Right." Ty agreed.

"That's…actually well thought out." Shepard said thoughtfully.

Ty smirked. "What? I can plan stuff that doesn't involve bodily injury to myself or others…" He rubbed the back of his neck which was covered by his hood. "Though I guess I really don't do it all that often."

"We had no idea." The commander teased.

As if on cue two C-Sec officers dragging Kelham walked by bringing the man to the interrogation room. "He's going to expect me to get him out of this." Bailey said.

"Not today I don't think." Thane replied.

_No definitely not today._ "Z lets go get this done with." Ty said motioning his brother to follow him. His brother pushed off the wall and followed him in the direction of the C-Sec officers, getting Kelham to talk quickly was important. They needed to stop Kolyat from hurting someone and if the interrogation got prolonged there was an increased chance of him killing an innocent or criminal.

_And if I take too long Z will lose his patience and probably stab him,_ Ty sighed inwardly. Bad scenarios all around if he didn't get Kelham to talk fast, one hand Kolyat got himself in trouble and the other his brother lost his cool stabbing Kelham inside a C-Sec interrogation room. _Talk about troublesome._

The brothers waited outside the door where Kelham was being put into a chair remaining in silence as a quiet understanding to not talk to them made its way around the other officers.

Once the officers came out the two moved into the room where a groggy Kelham was waiting.

_Here we go._

Z walked to his side then slapped him across the face hard enough to wake him yet not hard enough to bruise his face. Ty chuckled to himself as he approached the criminal, "If I was a betting man Kelham, which I'm not unless its Skillian Five, I'd say you have about five seconds to start talking before my brother guts you." The former mercenary stated.

He looked around meeting Z's eyes and then Ty's then he began letting out scared screams as he tried to break out of the chair. _Not the kind of squealing I intended him to do, _the younger brother let out an exasperated sigh.

Z caught his brother's eyes his face showing his irritation so Ty gave him a small nod of approval to help Kelham to understand the situation he was in. The green eyed brother pulled out his katana then flipped it so the blade was facing straight down, "Times up." Ty said.

His brother slammed down his katana between Kelham's legs fairly close to his crotch gaining him a silenced scream from the man who finally realized they weren't playing. "How about I cut your balls off Kelham? Maybe then you'd realize what position you are in." Z said his tone cold as his blade.

He allowed his blade to slide up against his pants. "You hired a Drell for an assassination contract; give us the name of the person and location." Z hardened his gaze. "Consider your answer carefully; your balls are only the first thing I will take."

"Joram Talid! He's in the 800 Blocks!" Kelham cried out.

Ty walked over to his brother and rested his hand on his shoulder when he didn't move his blade away. "Come on. You know killing him here will implicate us, let it go for now." He said.

The green eyed brother stared a moment longer at Kelham then took his katana out of the chair putting it back in its sheath. Before they walked out Z punched the criminal in the temple knocking him unconscious allowing the two to walk out without him screaming anything. "Well I'd say our interrogation technique is still very efficient." Ty joked.

"Their always all big talk until you get them in a chair and threaten to cut their balls off." Z said his tone carrying a bit of humor which was a good sign as any. "Once C-Sec releases him I'll get him back in a chair so you can give Ria her chance."

"Well at least you're finally coming to your senses. I was beginning to think you'd be all broody like I was years ago, that would have sucked." Ty responded.

There was a ghost of a smirk on his brother's face as they reached Shepard, Thane and Bailey at his desk again. "That was quicker than expected." Shepard said a smile on her face.

"Having a blade pressed to your crotch has a way of convincing people to talk." Z said giving a shrug.

Shepard looked to Ty who gave her a smirk and a shrug. There wasn't much he could offer here except maybe saying it was better than him throwing his tomahawks between his legs hoping that they would impale into the chair and not accidently miss.

As strange of a way to get someone to talk as it was the end result that mattered here. They got the information they were trying to get and now they could stop Kolyat. "So who did he hire the boy to kill?" Bailey asked.

"Joram Talid, he's in the 800 Blocks." Bailey let out a sigh at the information and Ty knew why. Joram Talid was a Turian politician running for office and normally being a politician would have been enough to hate him in the former mercenary's eyes but the major problem came in his insistence on getting involved in race politics.

The Turian was running as anti-human and his slogan was something about taking back their station. His posters were all over the place in the Wards and he had some backing despite humanity giving many lives to save the Council. "Yeah political shitstorm. Wonder if Kelham realizes how much worse he'd make things if Kolyat succeeds." Ty said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Who is this guy?" Shepard asked.

"Turian politician running for office, he's caught up in tons of race politics running as an anti-human candidate. I'd kill the bastard but it wouldn't solve anything, probably make it worse." Z said with a shake of his head.

Shepard raised an eyebrow in surprise, she had clearly not heard of the man nor had she known someone was running as anti-human. "Things are that bad here that someone can run as anti-human?" She asked.

The brothers gave a sad nod in unison. "It's no surprise really if you look at what's happened since Sovereign. Humans taking up a large bulk of C-Sec, a human Councilor. We've gained so much in such a short time the races that have been around longer see it as us taking over." Ty explained.

"And having Terra Firma around as a legitimate political force and Cerberus in the shadows pulling puppet strings does little to help anything. It was only a matter of time before there was an anti-human politician to go against anti-alien politicians." Z added on.

A sad reality but it was the one they lived in.

Many people in the galaxy fell in line like sheep when politicians started waggling their snake tongues around, granted there were some good people in politics like Anderson but they were minorities.

Their voices would be drowned out by those who did not truly have good intentions or who believed other races should be subjugated whether human or alien. There were good Turian's out there, Ty had met more than a fair share of them and befriended them but just like humans there were some Turian's who held bitter feelings for the race they had once fought against.

They saw the human rise to power in the galactic society as a coup and would do what they could to beat them down to put them in their place as a "_lesser race_."

Humans on the opposite spectrum saw the Turian's as threats because of nearly the same reasons and in the Illusive Mans case he would probably stop at nothing to put them under his fancy shoe because humans were the "_superior race_."

Politics were ridiculous normally but adding race into it only made those who were in the camps of radicalism look even more stupid than they were already. _Yes let's squabble over who has talons and who has five fingers instead of working together to prepare for the Reapers or working together to create peace so we can all prosper,_ Ty sighed inwardly, _I hate politicians. They never get productive shit done._

"Let's hope saving his ass shuts him the hell up. The last thing we need is an alien version of Terra Firma or Cerberus; we're going to have a hard enough time shutting those two down once the whole Collector and Reaper deal is over." The former mercenary said.

"Huh, don't recall you being such an optimist when it came to politicians." Bailey looked to one of his closest officers. "Lieutenant I need you to get these three to the 800 Blocks immediately." The C-Sec Captain ordered.

The female officer saluted then motioned for the three to follow her as Z nodded to them before heading off his own way. He was going to stalk Kelham then either tie him to a chair in his own home or knock him out and hide him away in some back alley until Ty finished up helping Thane.

_At least he's waiting this time,_ Ty thought. His brother was getting back to some semblance of self-control over himself instead of being in his own revenge crazed mindset. It was a step up from Zaeed burning down a refinery and a step closer to the former mercenary being able to keep him from killing Kelham himself.

As long as Ria didn't suddenly shoot him when she reached wherever they would meet up then everything would go perfectly. The pessimist in the purple eyed warrior told him he was being too optimistic because he couldn't recall the last time things went perfectly for a situation like this but he quickly shut the pessimist out of his mind.

_Things will be fine._

The C-Sec officer brought them to the 800 Blocks allowing the squad to depart and begin their search for Joram.

_This place is packed,_ Ty thought staring across the sea of people.

The street was packed, how anyone could stand bumping shoulders with strangers constantly was beyond the purple eyed warrior but he pushed the thoughts down when he saw a Turian talking to a group of people.

_He has a Krogan bodyguard? And no one finds that suspicious?_ Krogan's didn't take bodyguard work unless A the person was expecting to get shot at _a lot_ or B they were guaranteed to get to push some people around. "There's Talid." Ty lifted his chin in the direction of the Turian and his bodyguard. Shepard and Thane nodded seeing him as well, "I don't see any Drell's down here. Krogan bodyguard will make him easy to follow until we find Kolyat but I'm going to bet there is more to this whole bodyguard business than meets the eyes."

Thane pointed up to the maintenance catwalk examining the area the same as Ty for places to hide Shepard who stood out the most in her full armor. "You can follow from the maintenance catwalks Shepard; you will be able to see them wherever they go from up there." Thane said.

"Where will you two be?" Shepard asked.

"I'll cloak and try to stay ahead of him without drawing attention hopefully stopping Kolyat before he even makes himself known." Ty said.

She nodded as Thane brought his hands up into a prayer. "I will be in the darkest corner with the best view." Shepard nodded and left to go on the maintenance catwalks leaving Ty to wait for Thane. "Amonkira, Lord of Hunters. Grant that my hands be steady, my aim be true, and my feet swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness."

The moment Thane finished his prayer he disappeared before Ty's very eyes leaving him searching for a moment trying to find where the Drell had gone. When he was unable to find him he let out a deep sigh. "Man why can't I be that cool?" He activated his cloak and went to find an area with little people traffic but still in visual sight of Talid.

This was the most covert operation he had been a part of since coming onto the Normandy, every mission he had been on started by getting shot at and usually ended still being shot at. Tracking this Turian and Krogan bodyguard as they searched for Kolyat would make this mission pretty quiet and lacking the usual gunfire each of them were so accustomed to.

_Not a bad thing at least._

A break from the constant gunfire which encompassed every mission they partook in wasn't unwelcome though the stress of being shot at was replaced by the stress of not reacting quick enough to stop Kolyat. If he was able to kill Talid C-Sec would have no choice but to arrest him and he would face either life in prison or death depending on the jury and if a crazy alien tried to kill him.

Needless to say failing was not an option here, if it ever truly was an option on any of their missions.

Failing anywhere through all the missions they had been on would have ended in either their own deaths or having a squad of individuals who weren't loyal whatsoever to Shepard.

A bad position to be in when they went to fight the Collectors on their home turf.

_Just have to find Kolyat and stop him. Shouldn't be too hard, a Drell in this crowd will stick out like a Turian at a Terra Firma party._ "I'm in position Shepard, no sign of Kolyat anywhere and Talid is busy polishing the gizzards of these locals." Ty said.

"I didn't realize how bad things were. I always assumed there was less of a rift between everyone except for maybe groups like Terra Firma who weren't in favor of cross species cooperation." Shepard said.

"Racism is unfortunately bred into every race by someone somewhere. There are those who move past it like our merry band of delinquents but as in human history no matter how much good change happens there are those who hang onto the ideals of a dying age." Ty let out a sigh as he watched Talid continue to go on and on about taking back the station making human's sound like they were going to take over everything overnight. "Don't let him undercut all the work you've done Shepard. Despite him and our own races crazy racist you brought together many people of differing races."

"Thanks Ty." The commander thanked. "Can you see Thane?"

The purple eyed warrior chuckled. "Nope. I wish I had his skill to disappear without a cloak." He responded.

They waited in silence for Thane to get into position listening to Talid speak to his possible voters bringing them over to his side of thinking. It was an unfortunate outcome and one that would be impossible to overturn unless the two aliens met kind hearted humans or Talid changed his tune.

Not many politicians did change their tune though, it showed that they could be incompetent like normal people and decreased their chances to get elected. _And Spirits forbid they admit they are wrong if it means they won't get elected, because honesty is not something they can afford in a galaxy trying to hide from the truth of the Reapers._

"I'm in position. What is Talid doing?" Thane questioned.

"Talking to some voters." Shepard answered.

"It's been wonderful talking with you all; I hope you'll come out on election day." Talid said.

"Are you in position?" Shepard asked.

"Yes."

_Time to get to work._

The Turian and his bodyguard left the two voters and began moving through the 800 blocks. Ty tried to anticipate the direction they were going since he was ahead of them finding it a bit difficult. It had been a very long time since he had last done a mission like this and he found his skills to be rusty at the moment._ Just have to get into the swing of things again, _the former mercenary thought as he dodged between people.

Talid stopped at two more voters forcing him to find a place to remain out of the way. "More voters." Ty groaned.

"Any sign of Kolyat?" Thane asked.

"No, I haven't seen any Drell's." Ty said.

"I haven't either." Shepard answered.

"I'm moving to another position ahead of him." Thane told them.

_Ty decided to stick closer to the two if Thane was going to move ahead this time to make sure if Kolyat ran up on them he'd be there to stop him. One of them needed to as close as possible and the other ahead to search the areas and it seemed they would be alternating between who did each._

_ They walked to the next area which wasn't completely littered with people as the area before but did have a decent amount of people traffic because of the stores. As they began to get closer to a store called Aquila Talid stopped outside leaning against the wall as his Krogan bodyguard walked inside the store._

_ What exactly are you doing my sterile friend? _Ty remained outside of the store watching through the window as his apparent bodyguard showed to them exactly what was going on here. "Shaking down human store clerks for funding or shits and giggles. I knew I smelled scum." The former mercenary spat.

It was always the same thing no matter if you were on Omega or the apparent heart of the galactic community. The strong preyed on the weak to further their own goals or bullied them for the hell of it because there was no one to stop them.

No matter how shiny the Presidium was the Citadel held many of the same qualities Omega had, the only difference was instead of wearing mercenary armor they wore suits and smiled to your face before stabbing you in the back. _At least on Omega they walk right up to you and stab you in the face instead of hiding behind bullshit façades, and then at least Aria keeps them in line where the Council is just too incompetent to and C-Sec can only do so much because of all the red tape._

_ No red tape on Omega. Aria sees a problem and has it removed, no extra political bullshit necessary though I guess the way she removes the problem is why we are the lawless of the galaxy. _Ty shrugged to himself, _at least they are always bad people she is removing._

"He's letting the bodyguard do all the work, that allows him to deny involvement." Thane stated.

"You know I really wish we could just kill this bastard." Ty said. He watched the Krogan continue his shake down making the purple eyed warrior let out an irritable sigh. "Talks about humans as if we are spreading a plague yet he goes around having his bodyguard shake down humans. Argh I hate this kind of thing, I used to kick the living shit out of people I saw trying to shake down store clerks back on Omega."

The moment the Krogan came out of the store both he and Talid began jogging away from the store stopping their jog once they were a safe distance away. "Cowards. I bet they're moving in on Kelham's turf or something otherwise that bastard probably wouldn't care." Ty cursed.

"Focus Ty." Shepard soothed.

"Oh I've got him in my focus, all I need is to grab my rifle off my back and he'll be right in my sight." He retorted.

"Ty." She scolded.

"Yeah yeah."

They entered a bar named I-Nova and sure enough the Krogan walked up to the bartender his Turian employer at his side looking as if they were ordering drinks. "I don't have a good angle, what is he doing?" Thane asked.

"His guard is talking to the bartender, looks like a shakedown." Shepard explained.

"It is." Ty affirmed.

_Two places within minutes of each other?_ This was all pointing to something the purple eyed warrior wasn't pleased about. _He is basically on a schedule, a set path through the 800 blocks that allows him to poison the minds of voters and shakedown human workers with his hired muscle. If Kolyat knows this path he's going to be waiting right at the end of it where there is the least amount of foot traffic and leaves Talid cornered._

That was a theory at least.

Another possibility was Kolyat had a snipers perch and would shoot Talid from a distance and to be honest that was the route Ty himself would have taken. It didn't leave him in the open to be caught by C-Sec and there would be no civilians who would see him pull a gun.

He wouldn't use a targeting laser either, as far as bad ideas for assassination attempts went that was one of the worst. You were giving everyone your location and if a civilian or his bodyguard saw it they could warn your target or protect them leaving your target alive and fully aware someone is trying to kill them if you missed your shot.

Not something you wanted if you were aspiring to be an assassin.

Talid proceeded into the next room with Ty following close by as he met with two more Krogan who appeared to be of the same group his bodyguard was. _More Krogan's? Has no one seriously taken any interest in how many Krogan's he has employed? Krogan's are great bodyguards but Talid being mixed in race politics should send off warning signs to any decent officer or politician that he is using them for more than personal protection._

"I still don't see him Shepard. Did he leave?" Thane asked.

"He's meeting a couple mercenaries. Looks like the same group his bodyguard comes from." Shepard said.

"He looks nervous. Could be he's noticed you." The Drell responded.

"Maybe he saw Kolyat in here somewhere."

"Also a possibility." Thane said.

"No I haven't seen him and I doubt he's as talented as you are at disappearing Thane. I don't think he's seen me but his Krogan may smell me." Ty said.

Ty decided it was best to back off of how close he was to Talid to ensure the Krogan's didn't suddenly attack him leaving Talid alone granting Kolyat an easier target. Granted Ty wouldn't feel all too bad if the Turian was killed but Kolyat becoming a criminal and being arrested for murder was not an ideal outcome, _hopefully this bodyguard isn't only tough when he is shaking down innocent businessmen._

The former mercenary was a good fifteen steps behind the Krogan and Turian as they walked to the exit of the dance floor through a hall and back out into the open.

If Kolyat was going to strike he would strike now.

There was a lot of open ground for a sniper and for a face to face attack. If he waited long enough he could make sure Talid couldn't back track back into a more civilized area and trap him like a rat.

As the former mercenary stalked them his eyes fell upon the first Drell he had seen since Thane disappeared. "I see Kolyat. Should I grab him now?" Ty asked. The Drell allowed the two to walk past then began following behind them the two none the wiser. "Shepard, Thane I need an answer right now."

"Stop him." Shepard ordered her tone firm.

A human walked in front of Kolyat as Ty picked up the pace trying to close the distance he had put between him and the target. He pushed the human out of the way and pulled out a predator pistol which the purple eyed warrior had to say was a pretty poor excuse for an assassination weapon.

The human screamed in terror at the gun and Talid and his bodyguard turned around allowing them to stare down the gun barrel of karma catching up with them.

"Kolyat!" Shepard shouted from the catwalks. Foolishly the boy stopped turning around to see Shepard and, completely unplanned, Ty as he uncloaked reaching for his arm to disarm him. Not taken into consideration that Thane's son would have any sense of skill in hand to hand combat left the former mercenary to be elbowed in the face followed with a sweep kick knocking him to the floor.

Underestimation was a terrible mistake.

As Ty kipped up Kolyat shot at the two hitting the Krogan bodyguard then chased after Talid who was running for his life into a dead end apartment. "Oh that is _so_ not going to fly buttercup." The purple eyed mercenary said hitting his cloak and following in after the boy.

He was not going to be shown up by some amateur because he didn't think the boy could handle himself. It would be a cold day in hell before he allowed this mission to fail and a damn blizzard would take over hell before he lost a hand to hand encounter to an amateur.

The boy had Talid cornered when Ty entered the room pointing his gun at the man words echoing in the room from a yelled threat the former mercenary had missed. _Bad mistake kid, turning your back on someone chasing you._

Right as the purple eyed warrior reached Kolyat he grabbed his gun hand and dragged it away from Talid firing off rounds in an attempt to empty the clip. "You don't want to do this kid!" Ty shouted over the rounds. The glass window he had been shooting the rounds into shattered as the heatsink vented, Kolyat growled angrily before kicking the purple eyed warrior in the side of the knee making him collapse.

_Son of a bitch! _The kid had hit his knee almost perfectly nearly hyper extending it, despite collapsing onto his opposite knee Ty did not let go of his gun hand. "Kid you're making a mistake, trust me the path you are following is not one to follow." Ty gripped his hand tighter with his right hand then punched him in the side hard enough to weaken his stance opening him up for the former mercenary to take him down by flipping him over his shoulder.

Kolyat was dazed at first but quickly regained his wits kicking Ty in the gut as he moved to hold him down. As he stood up red and blue lights began flashing outside followed by Shepard and Thane walking into the room the commander having her gun drawn while Thane kept his guns holstered. "Kolyat." Thane said his voice firm and saddened by the situation.

The boy aimed his gun at Talid in an attempt to regain control of the situation though he was unaware of how much he had lost already. "This…This is a joke. Now? Now you show up?" Kolyat spat.

"Help me Drell. I'll do whatever you want." Talid attempted to speak.

"You know Talid you should consider asking the humans for help as well considering the situation you find yourself in is not favorable to your survival." Ty snarked.

"C-Sec!" Bailey announced as he and a Turian with guns drawn entered the room. "Put the gun down son." He ordered.

The boy shook his head not budging from his position. "Get out of my way! I'm walking out and he's coming with me."

This kid was definitely an amateur, had he been on Omega there would be no police force with snipers waiting outside though there also wouldn't be a standoff. Guns would have been fired by now leaving one person standing at the end of the exchange.

"Let me paint you a picture kid. Pretend we listen to your demands and we let you waltz out of here with that scum, the moment you step foot out of here you will see a bunch of red lasers land directly on you. When they see you have a hostage and a gun they're mandate is to eliminate the threat and there is no way you can hide yourself behind his body to survive, in fact they'd probably shoot through him to get to you." Ty explained.

Whether or not this kid knew it yet he had lost this fight and there were only one way out now. Ty looked back at Shepard who gave him an easily read look telling him to get ready. "I don't need your-"

His voice was cut off by Shepard firing off a round into a nearby lamp distracting Kolyat enough for the former mercenary to rip the gun right out of his hand quicker than the boy could realize. "Sorry kid but you aren't meant for this line of work."

Ty aimed his gun at Talid and pulled the trigger making the heatsink vent again, the Turian flinched as the gun clattered to the ground. "When someone takes you down and doesn't move in right away to keep you that way you should generally guess they've taken the thermal clip you just loaded into your gun." He pulled out the thermal clip he had removed mid toss, "Talid I believe you owe a human Spectre and human C-Sec Captain your life, I suggest you take their goodwill to heart and stop instigating anti-human bullshit."

"Yeah yeah I will." The Turian replied the fear of his Spirits in his eyes.

"Good. Now get the hell out of here before I lose my good mood."

The Turian scuttled out of the room with haste, "Take the boy into custody." Bailey said as he turned to his Turian officer.

"You son of a bitch." Kolyat spat.

Shepard's lips creased into a disappointed frown. "Your father doesn't have much time left Kolyat. He's trying to make up for his mistakes." She said tenderly yet remaining firm.

"What? You came to get my forgiveness so you can die in peace or something?" Kolyat questioned waving his hand through the air as if the notion was ridiculous.

"I came to grant you peace." Thane said calmly walking to his son. He remained quiet for a moment his eyes staring down at the ground trying to figure out where to start. Ty took this time to remove himself from the equation and stand next to Shepard to give the two some semblance of privacy. "You're angry because I wasn't there when your mother died."

"You weren't there when she was alive. Why should you be there when she died?" The boy seethed.

Thane once again was left to figure out how to say what he needed to say in a quiet contemplation. He rocked on the balls of his feet trying his hardest to find the words to say and both Ty and Shepard shared an understanding look with one another. They had each been in similar circumstances before, Shepard had to do a similar conversation with the relatives of her squad she lost on Akuze and Ty had to do it for those of his friends he had lost.

It never got any easier no matter how many times you did it, or at least for them it never had. The words you had planned to say suddenly escaped you, you could barely bring yourself to say the words when you remembered them and knowing the person you were speaking to would be hurt when you did made you hurt for having to be the one to deliver the news.

"Your mother…they killed her to get to me…it was my fault." Thane said at length.

"What?" Kolyat questioned clearly confused.

"After her body was given to the deep I went to find them. The trigger men, the ringleaders. I hurt them…eventually killed them. When I went back to see you, you were…older. I should have stayed with you." The Assassin said solemnly.

The boy's face grew angry once more. "I guess it's too bad for me you waited so long huh?"

Another silence fell over the room as Thane lowered his head. _Come on kid, give your father a chance, _Ty thought. He didn't voice it knowing it wasn't his place any longer; this was a personal conversation between Thane and his son even if he was a spectator. "Kolyat I've taken many bad things out of the world…you're the only good thing I ever added into it."

Tears began to flow down Kolyat's face, _well that's a good sign…I think._ "This isn't a conversation you should have in front of strangers." Bailey said before turning to his fellow officer. "Boys, take Kolyat and his father back to the precinct. Give them a room and as much time as they need."

Ty regarded the C-Sec Captain for a moment before nodding to him in approval. "I'm surprised you're letting them do that." Shepard said in confusion.

"You think he's the only man who ever screwed up raising a son." Bailey let out a sad sigh. "I have to get back to the precinct, come on I'll give you a lift." Shepard and Ty followed after Bailey while Thane and Kolyat went with the other officer.

They had stopped the boy from killing Talid but they hadn't been able to stop him from shooting his Krogan bodyguard or holding the Turian hostage. There would be punishment here yet Ty couldn't help thinking it had turned out for the best.

Thane was able to speak to his son for the first time in years and apologize for his mistakes granting his son peace before he left for a Suicide Mission.

It was more than most fathers who left their children were able to do.


	92. Chapter 91

Chapter 91

No Turning Back

Kasumi wasn't sure what to feel about the situation before her eyes. Ria stood holding a pistol in her hand aiming it at the head of the man who had kidnapped her daughter among many other transgressions as Ty and his brother stood silently in the room watching her carefully.

On one hand the thief was thankful to her purple eyed friend for giving Ria the choice to do this, after all the pain Kelham had caused her the Asari had a right in choosing to be the one to kill him. Having the choice to kill him after he had kidnapped her daughter and done who knows what to her in those two years was something Ria needed, she needed to confront this man head on and decide whether or not killing him was what she wanted.

No matter what her decision was Kasumi hoped that the one she chose was the one which granted her with the most peace of mind.

On the other hand Kasumi didn't believe killing him would do anything good for Ria.

There were two problems she saw here, the first was this was an execution of a man who was not only unconscious but had no way of fighting back. While the thief had no problems killing in self-defense she was in no way a cold blooded killer who could go around executing defenseless people, even if this guy deserved it.

It was one of the reasons she chose thievery over life as an assassin, for starters it gave her less sleepless nights but she could sneak into a place without a single soul knowing she was there until she had what she was looking for.

Killing wasn't a necessity in her line of work unless things went really bad.

In this situation killing Kelham was going to happen no matter what whether by one of the brother's hands or Ria's, in the thief's eyes she believed that if he was going to die no matter what then letting one of the brothers do it would be better. They had no qualms about killing someone who had done all the bad things Kelham had done; in fact they pretty much made a living off of killing guys as scummy as him.

Although Ria had been a mercenary and was a tough woman Kasumi could tell she wasn't someone who could do such a thing. The only reason she was able to figure that out brought the thief to the second issue she saw with this.

Having the choice was affecting Ria, badly.

The Asari was shaking with pent up emotion as she fought the inner conflict of what to do yet the brothers made no move to do anything. It was great of Ty to give her this choice but seeing this conflict in the woman was enough to tell Kasumi that she shouldn't do it.

Someone who couldn't pull the trigger right away and was shaking with emotion didn't need to be the one to finally kill the person. Ria wasn't an executioner that much was certain, she could kill in defense of herself or in the defense of others but having someone who was going to die no matter what tied to a chair in front of her caused her to falter.

Knowing that if she didn't pull the trigger it was likely that he would suffer more than the bullet would grant him was as much of an incentive to not kill him as it was to kill him and spare him the pain.

Ria was fully aware of what the brothers were capable of and so was Kasumi, killing Kelham would most likely be a mercy compared to what he could face if Z got his hands on him. Unfortunately for Kelham Ria wouldn't care for mercy on him nor was she someone who could execute without remorse no matter how much pain she had been caused.

She was a woman who believed in remorse and could forgive where the brothers were capable of showing remorse but never forgave and never forgot those who hurt their friends. To Kasumi it was all the more reason to let them do it, Kelham wasn't undeserving of a little pain for everything he had done and the Ty in the room right now compared to the Ty who had been revenge crazed wouldn't let it go on too long.

He was more mercy filled than his elder brother at the moment and on a normal basis now that he had found peace.

_But I promised to stay out of it and let her decide, _Kasumi thought cursing herself for making such a stupid promise. Ty had something planned here, what that something was she didn't know but he needed to do it soon. It was driving the thief crazy watching Ria go through this and being unable to offer comforting words or tell her to forget this all because she didn't need to kill him to right any wrong.

She had Alia back and Ty considered her a friend once more, things had worked out in the end and Kelham no longer had any way of harming any of them ever again. _Alia wouldn't want her to do it anyways,_ Kasumi thought but did not voice.

The little Asari girl had a pure heart despite going through whatever trauma she had gone through. Kasumi admired the ten year old for her strong will to push past what happened and continue on as if life hadn't kicked her down and then repeatedly stomped her. She hadn't grown bitter or passed blame onto her mother for being in the situation she had been in, Alia was just happy to be back with her mother and to meet so many new friendly people.

Kasumi wondered if the first failed rescue from Ria had assured her daughter that she wouldn't give up until they were together again and renewed her faith that not everyone was like Kelham and his cronies. Having a complete stranger like Ty save her and then bring her back to her mother as promised must have only bolstered the child's resolve to not give up, or at least that was what Kasumi assumed.

She didn't pry Alia to share any of the details of what happened to her or why she was able to move on, it wasn't her place and the thief knew that if their roles were flipped she wouldn't want to be questioned.

Whatever the reason was didn't matter because Kasumi enjoyed the way Alia was, a pure hearted child unaltered from a hell that she walked. Not to mention the girl shared her enjoyment for sappy romance novels, the bookshelf that the thief had was home to many of her favorite paperback romance novels and both she and the little Asari had spent a few nights reading together.

Making sure the book wasn't smutty literature and just a pure sappy romance that withheld the more descriptive sexual encounters was easy enough knowing each almost by heart. There were some child appropriate stories which only focused on the growing love between two characters ending before anything explicit happened.

As lame as that could be it also had a way of providing the sappiest stories of them all to the point both Kasumi and Alia would laugh at how sappy it all sounded.

Ria had found her daughter sitting in the thief's lap more than a few times as she read aloud to the little Asari and answered any questions about the characters feelings. Each time Kasumi found Ria smiling at the duo before choosing to stay and listen to her as she read to Alia.

Seeing Ria smile made Kasumi smile, the thief found old feelings she had once believed were under such a strong lock and key that they would never resurface budding up inside of her again. After losing Keiji she had never believed she would feel the warmth she was feeling just by seeing the Asari smile at her. Kasumi had locked those feelings away because of how much pain they had once caused her when her former lover had died yet they were coming back out thanks to Ria.

After regaining the graybox Kasumi had thought maybe by being able to access those memories in a similar manor Ty had the natural ability to that maybe the pain wouldn't hurt her as much. _Had I really thought about how Ty was with being able to relieve all his memories I probably wouldn't have had such a foolish thought._

The purple eyed warrior had explained how his gift had its upsides and downsides but Kasumi hadn't even considered how the downsides had affected him through the years when she jumped head first into the graybox. Truth was no matter how long she spent in it, no matter how many memories she relived of their time together he wouldn't be there when she had to leave it.

_"I tried to just live in my memories once, at first I enjoyed it because I would lose myself in the moment allowing myself to feel everything all over again and experience it as if I never had. I got to see my friends and then Ka'Reena after them as if I never lost them…but sooner or later I had to wake up." _Ty had once told her.

_We both woke up to find barely any time had passed and no matter how long we spent with them when it was over we returned to reality where we are alive…and they are not,_ Kasumi thought solemnly. She was now able to fully understand what he had meant when he had told her that, at first it sounded a bit dramatic yet Ty had not been over exaggerating one bit.

You could only lie to yourself for so long until the truth came to light, you could only indulge in a fantasy world for so long before reality hit you. Sooner or later you did have to wake up and smell the roses to find that the foolish lie you were trying to live in was exactly that.

A foolish lie you created to try to shelter yourself from the inescapable truth that they were gone while you were left to mourn.

What people liked to forget was that death could be harsh by the means you were taken from this world in but those who were left behind were capable of suffering far worse than those who died.

They were the ones meant to carry on with a void in their life that had once been filled by a person or a group of people who they cared deeply for whether it was family, friends or lovers. Some never worked themselves out of the funk of sorrow, Ty hadn't worked himself out of his until recently and that was all thanks to Shepard, this crew, this mission and his friends and family who had been trying to get through to him.

Kasumi had finally admitted it to herself that night Ria had found her that she too hadn't worked herself out of the sorrow. The sorrow had been following her around in the shadows out of sight and out of mind most of the time yet it would reveal itself now and then to give a small reminder that it was there. She kept her cheery attitude even after Keiji had died but it had been a way to protect herself from the consuming sadness deep inside her soul.

Getting the graybox had lifted some of that sadness but instead of moving forward she had traded in that option for being able to relive all of their time together following a similar path that Ty had followed. The only difference between his and her own was that hers wasn't ever going to result in her being overly angered on a revenge mission. All the thief's version of it did was allow her to relive those memories every day in an attempt to blend the reality around her with what she truly wanted.

Keiji alive and holding her again.

All of it had come crashing down though, she woke up to find that by trying to live in those memories she was only causing herself more pain. No matter how many times Kasumi was able to relive the memories he was gone leaving her heart aching more and more after each time she accessed the device. It was something Ty hadn't said plainly but had alluded to many times throughout the years that she had known him for.

Instead of trying to relive the memories Kasumi had come to the conclusion, thanks to Ria, that carrying Keiji's will with her to make her stronger instead of harboring his memories as a burden was the right choice and one Keiji would want her to do.

Ever since that talk with Ria in the Mess Hall early in the morning the thief hadn't accessed the graybox, in fact she made it a point not to use it. Keeping watch over Alia had allowed her to reacquaint herself with the crew and Aya and Iliana closing the distance that had formed between her and the others. Then the day Ty played Iliana in chess things had once again changed, it was that day that Ria had told her in a straight forward manor that she was attracted to the thief.

It had taken Kasumi by shock at first yet in a way it didn't because she too felt attracted to the Asari. She wasn't sure where the attraction had come from let alone why the feelings she had locked away suddenly were resurfacing as if someone had undid the locks without her knowing but it was a welcome surprise.

Trying to figure out reasoning behind it would be pointless because matters of the heart weren't meant to be understood by the mind. The heart had a mind of its own and when it made something known to you that your mind couldn't comprehend then it was best you listened to it to hear what it had to say before you missed out on something important.

Knowing not to try to have her mind reason out why her heart was telling her to take a leap of faith was why Kasumi had practically accepted the Asari without question. If things didn't work out then they didn't work out but Kasumi had a good feeling about Ria, the feeling was similar to the one she would get about a job that would be absolutely perfect and so far that gut instinct had not failed her.

The job the thief had taken with Keiji didn't have this feeling, in fact had she paid attention to the caution in her heart then it was quite possible she wouldn't have taken on the job. _No should've, could've, would'ves, _Kasumi scolded herself, _they don't help at all and hindsight is meant to help you in the future to avoid mishaps such as those._

In terms of relationship stuff the two had done little other than talk a bit more, hug and hold hands. They were still in the process of learning more about each other due to their lack of knowledge on one another at first. It was small basic stuff of course but important nonetheless, one simply didn't jump to calling something love or a relationship if they didn't know anything about the person, well actually a lot of people did but they weren't.

Kasumi was interested to learn about her, she was over one hundred the same as Aya so she had definitely experienced a lot even before meeting Ty. Ria was just as interested to hear about what Kasumi had done in what probably seemed like a short time of life in her eyes, they had grown closer with one another over the past few days though calling it love was still far off.

Even if it wasn't love yet that didn't make watching Ria nearly falling apart any easier. Kasumi caught Ty's eyes giving him a pleading look to stop Ria from experiencing this huge conflict within herself. He gave her an unnoticeable nod deciding it was finally time to step in after they had been standing in silence for nearly five minutes.

Five minutes too long if you asked Kasumi.

"Ria." Ty's voice was soothing and Ria visibly calmed lowering the pistol and letting out a deep breath. He approached her taking the gun from her hand and enveloping her in a hug, _I know they have history but damn it I wanted to hug her, _Kasumi pouted in her thoughts. "You've never been an executioner; I'm glad that hasn't changed."

"He isn't worth my time." Ria replied her tone still shaky from the pent up rage and sadness she had been trying to hold back.

Ty let go of her and gave her an approving nod. "You're right he isn't. The best thing you can do to get back at him is to be happy and raise your daughter as a loving person." He said. She nodded and the former mercenary rested his hand on her shoulder, "Go on, we'll meet up back on the Normandy."

Ria began to walk away trading a look with Kasumi silently asking if she would walk with her. Kasumi gave her a small smile, "I need to ask Ty something but I will catch up with you as soon as I'm done." The Asari smiled and gave a small nod before leaving completely, the trio waited in silence ensuring that Ria was gone and once she was the former mercenary pulled the trigger on the pistol causing the heatsink to vent.

_ As I thought._ "You knew she wouldn't kill him." The thief stated.

He nodded. Kasumi hadn't caught onto what he had been planning until the end; it was a good plan in general if she didn't pull the trigger and helped to explain why Z had been so calm with the possibility of Ria actually pulling the trigger. "Ria never had the lack of a heart to kill a defenseless person no matter how much pain they caused." Ty let out a sigh loading the pistol and walking over to the pilot of a skycar who worked for Kelham, the older brother had killed him once Ria and Kasumi had shown up. "Making Ria believe the choice was her own helped her to remember that she was better than Kelham and having Alia back was more important." The former mercenary explained his reasoning.

Ty placed the gun perfectly in the pilot's hand clenching his hand on the grip and putting his finger on the trigger. "What are you doing?" Kasumi questioned.

A round was suddenly fired off hitting Kelham right in his heart and that was enough to know it wasn't an accident. The echo of the round being fired resounded off the walls as both Z and Kasumi stood in a stunned shock albeit for different reasons. Kasumi just hadn't been ready for the loud round making her jump a little; looking at Z she could see his anger hitting its boiling point. "What the fuck!" Z shouted.

His younger brother didn't even flinch turning from the pilot to his brother as if nothing had happened. "Let's go." Ty said firmly.

"Why did you kill him?" Z asked his anger clear in his tone for not being allowed to kill the man.

The younger brother stared hard at his older brother, _I haven't seen him stare at Z like that since…I don't think I ever have._ This whole thing had definitely caused a clash of stubbornness between the two among other things; Kasumi was just happy they wouldn't pull guns on each other or end it by fighting. "Because ever since Ortega you've been falling down the same path I went on. You may not think I have the right to decide if you go on a revenge tour or not but I do because I know that path better than you do." A smirk made its way to the purple eyed brothers face, "Besides I never said I would let you kill him, I said I would consider it."

His brother was stunted by his statements opening his mouth to make an argument only to fall short each time, he finally shook his head and began walking out, "You are such an asshole." Z said.

"Learned it from you." He retorted a smirk still on his face.

"I'm going to go for a walk. I'll see you later at the apartment." Z said before leaving.

_I wonder if by walk he means he's going to go start a fight with someone, _Kasumi shrugged, _he can handle himself even if he did get bad injuries back on Ortega._

Kasumi knew Z would be fine once he let his temper cool down, he would see that what Ty was doing was for his own good. _He may not like it but he will understand, _the thief thought. As she looked back to the purple eyed warrior she smiled seeing him place another pistol into Kelham's hand. "Setting up the crime scene, betrayal in a crime syndicate for failure." She teased.

"Hey I learned a thing or two from reading those crime novels you leant me years ago." He said and Kasumi could hear the smirk in his tone.

"What about fingerprints and skin flakes?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it I have it handled, you should get going though and catch up to Ria while I finish up here. If you see Shepard tell her I'm going to the tattoo parlor before heading to the apartment. I'll send her coordinates when I'm done." He said.

She nodded even though he wasn't looking at her. It sounded like they were all getting some shore leave before continuing on. The thought was a good one considering they practically jumped from one fight to another with barely any time off the Normandy.

To be fair Shepard gave her crew breaks by rotating them on missions but this was the first time where all of them were taking a break off the Normandy without having to go into a gun fight. "Okay. Be quick Ty, you never know who heard that gunshot." She told him. He simply waved over his shoulder as he continued his work leaving Kasumi to take her leave and catch up to Ria who was heading back to the Normandy.

Catching up to the Asari had proven to be a difficult task since she had apparently caught a cab and was already waiting outside of the Normandy according to EDI. Kasumi caught her own cab back to the Normandy docking bay finding Ria at the far end of the platform leaning against a railing looking out to the Citadel arms.

Kasumi walked to her side and leaned onto the railing the same as Ria to stare out at the arms, it was a nice view without a doubt and could be considered romantic in many ways though the thief wasn't going to say anything about that. She was unsure of how exactly the Asari felt right now and a joke about how this view would play out in a romance novel may not have the right effect.

"You okay?" Kasumi asked. It was a lame question if there ever was one but she wanted to get a feel for the kind of mood Ria was in at the moment. If she was in a mood where quips and small talk were unwanted then the thief decided she'd remain in a respectful silence and share in her staring out at the arms.

Ria gave a short laugh indicating to the hooded woman that she wasn't in a sour mood despite recent events. "It's been a long time since I could say this but I feel good." The Asari said with a smile.

"No lingering thoughts? No regrets? Not even a little bit of drama going on up there?" The thief teased gently tapping Ria's temple. Another laugh escaped the woman as she bumped Kasumi's shoulder with her own. "For what it's worth I think you made the right choice in not killing him."

_Not only for your own sake but because I don't want to imagine what would have been your reaction if you found out the pistol wasn't loaded, _Kasumi thought. Ria nodded as she stared out at the arms her features fully relaxed, a rare sight Kasumi had only seen on Ria for minute seconds since she had come aboard the Normandy. "I think I did too. I no longer feel weighted down by the man; he no longer has sway over my mind or my actions." She turned her head so she was looking at Kasumi wearing a thankful smile. "Thank you for coming with me." She thanked.

"Happy to help, even if it was only being there as visual support." Kasumi responded. She hadn't liked seeing Ria nearly falling apart because of the decision but she was glad to have decided to go with her. Had she not gone the thief had to wonder how long Ty would have let the silent conflict to rage on and if things would have turned out the same.

It was quite possible Ria may have pulled the trigger to find out that Ty had already emptied the pistol of its thermal clip. An argument could have broken out between the two and that wouldn't have been very good if Ria wasn't in a calm mindset.

The two stood in a comfortable silence until Kasumi felt Ria's hand brush against her gloved hand. Kasumi looked over to Ria who was staring down at their hands, when she realized that the thief was staring at her she offered a bashful smile as she blushed turning her head back to look at the arms moving her hand a little bit away.

A smirk pulled at Kasumi's lips as she gently grabbed Ria's hand and intertwined their fingers, "So shy yet you can be so bold sometimes." She teased playfully. Ria blushed a darker blue, "And that's two points for me. I think making you blush is going to be one of my favorite new things to do."

Ria smiled and the two fell back into silence. One thing Kasumi was feeling particularly upset about was her glove acting as a barrier between both of their hands, she could still feel the warmth through her glove because they allowed her to feel things better than normal gloves but the lack of feeling her hand on her own was disappointing.

She hoped if things continued to work out between them that one day she wouldn't have the gloves on and if things continued to get better after that then she hoped one day she wouldn't have her hood on around her as well.

Taking off her hood was her ultimate sign of trust; it served as a protective barrier to stop anyone she didn't know from seeing who she truly was. Even though she trusted the crew she was a part of now her hood would remain where it was for the sole reason that taking it off was something she kept for anyone she fell in love with.

So far that trust had only ever been extended to Keiji.

If things between her and Ria did grow to be the same as the love she held for Keiji then she would definitely allow the Asari to see her without her hood on.

"Please be careful on your mission." Ria said suddenly breaking off Kasumi's thoughts.

"I'm always careful, that's something you need to tell Ty. Actually tell him twice just to be sure." Kasumi said.

"True." Ria responded with a smile. The smile faded though as she stood up fully releasing the thief's hand who was already missing the contact. "But be careful nonetheless. I know a hard mission when I see one so please be safe."

Kasumi nodded and stood up all the way as well, "I will. Although since we have Shep leading us I'm positive we'll be fine. Besides." She grabbed both of Ria's hands feeling bolder than normal. "If I don't make it back who is going to make you blush all the time?"

"I don't know but if you didn't it would be such a travesty." The Asari joked. Before Kasumi could retort Ria leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. She felt herself beginning to blush and smirk simultaneously, _and there's the boldness._

Her lips were very soft and gentle when they had graced her cheek, they also made the thief wish she had instead gone for her lips instead of her cheek but she would be patient for Ria to grow bold again. "For good luck?" She asked with a smirk.

"I don't know if my kisses have ever granted luck…but it was worth a shot for the mission you are going on." Ria said her smile being replaced by a small frown.

"Maybe you just need a little luck yourself." Kasumi said then leaned in giving Ria a peck on the cheek. The Asari blushed deeply but her smile returned, "Now we both have some luck so don't worry about me, we'll be fine."

And the thief was certain of it; Shepard would lead them to victory no matter how tough the fight would be. Kasumi was going to fight hard no matter what but ensuring that she came back safely so she could see Ria again was now one of her main motivations other than saving the galaxy.

"Let's head in, Alia is probably wondering why you've been gone so long." Kasumi said tugging gently on Ria's hand for her to follow back to the Normandy airlock. She had a good feeling about going into this relationship with Ria and to be honest she felt a bit luckier now than she had before.

A Few Hours Later

Shepard entered the apartment Ty had sent her the coordinates to finding it to be a lot larger than she had expected. It made her large cabin look more like a small bathroom than the large room it really was. _And I thought staying in my empty cabin was weird, _the N7 looked around, _being here alone would be lonelier than staying there without a doubt._

Yet Ty had come here ahead of her and the rest of the crew who were out and about on the Citadel at the moment taking in some shore leave. She had planned to give them all a break sooner than this but missions continued to pile up and she didn't want to have a large backlog of missions that needed to be done to think about on break.

Doing so would have made her restless to get back out there to finish them all up before the next Collector attack that way the bug bastards wouldn't have a chance to take anymore colonists. All they had left to do now was help Liara with the Shadow Broker business and a personal trip to a planet called Alchera where the original Normandy had crashed.

Hackett had sent the coordinates of the crash site recently knowing the importance it had to the commander yet also having an ulterior motive. The Alliance wanted to honor the first Normandy and her crew with a monument as well as find signs of twenty crew members who were unaccounted for from the attack. They wanted her to place the monument and be the first to walk on the site and Shepard felt a need to go do it despite knowing it would be hard to see.

She had so many memories on that ship and knew everyone that was a part of her crew by name whether they were the ground squad or Alliance servicemen. To see the ship completely wrecked along with trying to find twenty servicemen she would no doubt know the names of would hit her heart hard and she knew it.

But Shepard had to do it. She had to honor the memories of the friends she had lost that day and hopefully bury the hatchet the same way she buried the friends she lost on Akuze. If she could grant closure to the families who had sons or daughters on the Normandy that were unaccounted for then she had to do it, for their sake and her own.

Going to each of the families of her fellow Marines from Akuze had been one of the hardest things the sapphire eyed commander had ever done but she would do it again for the crew of the Normandy. They each had served proudly and never once doubted her abilities to lead despite the way Anderson had been taken down from leader of the Normandy and the way they had pirated the Normandy after being locked down by the Council and Alliance.

Peace wasn't an easy thing to grant yet Shepard hoped to be able to grant those twenty families some semblance of peace and all the others who had died during their time on the Normandy by doing it.

For now though Shepard didn't let the thoughts bog her down, this was meant to be a relaxing shore leave and with only two assignments to do before going to get the Reaper IFF she knew this would be their last break before diving into hell headfirst.

Once they got that IFF it would be time to take the fight to the Collectors once and for all, they would take them down before they could take anymore colonists and then their masters were next.

There was truly no turning back now, her crew was loyal, her ship was ready and all that was left was getting the IFF so they could destroy the Collectors for everything they had done and planned to do. Taking down the Reapers was still going to be a hard fight regardless but that fight was in the distance still so there was no sense in worrying too hard about it yet.

They would need to figure out a plan to defeat them and the races were going to need to drop their hate for one another if they were ever going to stand a chance. Shepard took a deep breath knowing how much work was ahead of them then released it letting those thoughts go, _I can't do anything about it now, focus on enjoying your shore leave right now._

She walked further into the apartment in search of the purple eyed warrior who had told her he'd be here waiting for her. After traversing through the bottom floor of the apartment with no luck the N7 headed up the stairs finding Ty walking around aimlessly. "Ty?" Shepard attempted to get his attention. He turned around to face her and Shepard saw that his eyes were fully purple, _is he reliving memories of this place or stuck in one?_

His eyes reverted back to their normal state and he shook his head a little, _a little bit of both I think, _she thought. The commander approached him resting her hand on his chest, "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah…memories of my last time here are still fresh as if they happened yesterday." He answered.

Shepard stared deep into his eyes noticing that he was here physically but his mind wasn't, she let her hand move down to his startling him in his daze and gaining some of his attention. "Tell me about it." The commander said. He was beginning to form an argument so she cut it off by giving him a small kiss on the lips, her purple eyed lover had such a deep connection to the world around him that was hard to understand even after being around him for so long.

His abilities were so…alien to her, the mind meld was similar to the Asari ability and his recollection of his past like the Drell but being able to see and feel imprints of memories left behind by others? If she hadn't seen it firsthand the N7 would have been skeptical.

"Tell me about what happened last time you were here." She insisted.

It took a moment but he nodded and the duo walked around the apartment as Ty explained to her exactly what happened the last time he had been here. It was after their mission to fight a Thresher Maw, he and his squad had a party allowing them all to soak up life after coming so close to death.

The former mercenary pointed out different areas of the apartment where things had happened, the mini-bar being the place where Brad, Kar and Gallick had a drink off followed by Darian and Carson and the balcony where he and Tara had a heart to heart conversation figuring out that they both wanted to be more than what they were.

Soon the two found themselves in the kitchen with Ty leaning back on a counter with Shepard sitting on it next to him. She watched him as he stared across the room in deep thought from everything he had told her about, talking about it had helped him come out of his daze but that didn't change him missing his dead friends. The N7 pulled him so he was between her legs then wrapped her arms around his chest resting her head on his shoulder hoping to grant him comfort and because she wanted to hold him.

There was certainly a burden that came with his abilities and Shepard felt helpless because there wasn't much she could do to ease the burden. "Are you sure you want to stay here?" Shepard asked tenderly.

"You worry too much." Ty responded his usual tone taking hold once more. "Their memories will always remain no matter how many parties this place has and as I recall you have a drink off with Grunt so what better way to honor the previous memory by having something similar happen. Right?"

"You continue to amaze me Ty." Shepard said fondly. The way he was able to get through the memories that were only recently putting him in a daze and get back to his positive attitude on the situation continued to surprise the commander. Had this happened when they first met there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he wouldn't have been able to do this.

"I told you." He turned his head so she could see his smirk, "I aim to impress. Just don't get too drunk, I don't want you having a hangover in the morning."

She smiled kissing him on the cheek. "Don't worry so much." She teased. "I know how much I can drink and I know to always let the Krogan win. Although I do recall you saying you would pay to see me drunk back after we helped Garrus with Sidonis."

Ty stood in a contemplative silence for a moment then started chuckling to himself, "That's right I did. But that was just because you said Chakwas would be drunker than you on shore leave so you piqued my interest, still I'd rather not deal with the kind of hangover where the room is too bright for you or a whisper causes you pain. Dealing with a hung-over Krogan has always been one hangover too much for me."

"I don't think I've ever been that hung-over. I also don't think my cybernetics will allow me to get as drunk as I did the few times I've had drink offs with my squad or Chakwas. Last time she and I shared drinks the drunken feeling lasted until I used the elevator and once I got out I wasn't that bad off." Shepard responded.

She had never been a heavy drinker in general; she just had a high tolerance for alcohol. In fact she hadn't had an ounce of alcohol since the last drink she shared with Chakwas which had to be almost a month now. Out drinking her squad had always been a game to help relieve stress among the crew when on shore leave. When Shepard didn't have contests of who could drink the most she didn't really touch any kind of alcohol.

Being volunteered to take Grunt on was a losing proposition from the start, unless somehow the drinks he was given were stronger than the ones she received there was no chance she would actually win. It was pretty much the same concept with Ty's head-butting contests against their resident Krogan, he would lose regardless but he would at least put up a decent challenge before being knocked out.

In this scenario though Shepard had no intention of drinking until she was out cold, for starters she had never really drank that much but with her cybernetics it was unlikely she would. The most likely thing that would happen was becoming sick because of how much she drank.

_I'll have to see what kind of alcohol I'm given before I decide how long to drink against him, _she thought. If it was strong stuff like Batarian ale then the N7 planned to moderate how much of it she took in. Ice Brandy was good stuff but it didn't hold a candle to Batarian ale. That was like comparing Ryncol to, well really any other kind of alcohol because of how strong the stuff was.

Apparently it was like drinking glass and acid together mixed with setting off radioactive alarms if you weren't Krogan, in other words Shepard wasn't going to even consider taking a swig of the stuff if offered.

As Ty slowly leaned further back into her the commander suddenly found her eyes drawn to a new tattoo on his right hand where the empty badge had once been. She brought her right hand to his and lifted it up to examine it closer to ensure her eyes were not fooling her as she had first assumed.

It was no trick of the mind.

The once empty badge now was filled in with the N7 symbol on her armor resembling her dog tags. "Ty…" Shepard couldn't find words to say, she hadn't expected him to tattoo something that symbolized her in such an open place, hell she hadn't expected him to get a tattoo that symbolized her at all.

"I had always known what was going to go in that badge; I just wasn't sure at the time of why I wanted to." He said.

"Why?" Shepard questioned as she let go of his hand.

He turned around to face her wearing a smile. "At the time I had just killed Scrum and you had given me a pep talk. I respected you and considered you a great friend so I thought that was why I wanted to but something told me I should wait and see how things turned out." Ty chuckled softly, "I guess it was just my heart wanting me to wait and realize there was more to my feelings than respect and friendship."

"Oh? How much more?" Shepard smiled.

"Only a little." Ty said with a shrug.

Shepard allowed a mock hurt look take over as she stared into his purple eyes, "That hurts my feelings Ty."

He chuckled and cupped her cheek with his right hand. Her purple eyed lover's features changed to one of care as his eyes stared into her own showing her his true feelings which caused her heart to start racing. "I'll have to make that up to you then." Ty said.

"Any ideas on how you plan to do that?" The N7 asked.

"A few, though I'm open to suggestions if you have any." The former mercenary responded. Before either could act on any of those ideas several voices began to echo in the apartment, "And there's the interruption." Ty sighed.

Shepard pulled him into a kiss regardless savoring it as if it was the last kiss they would share for a long time.

For all she knew she might not remember the rest of tonight depending on how much she drank and how strong it was.


	93. Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Reflections

Ty stared down from the balcony of the apartment at the merriment that was going on finding himself becoming lost in bliss at seeing everyone relax and have fun without getting shot at. At the moment Shepard was in her drink off against Grunt as Darian fed them their drinks putting on a show as he did.

_Just like old times, _the former mercenary mused with a smirk tugging at his lips. His best friend could make a drinking contest into a grand spectacle by doing tricks with his biotic's or fueling the fires of the two challengers. He was a crowd pleasure behind the counter making him one of the best bartenders on the Citadel and probably would be on Omega as well if he worked there considering the bartenders there tried to poison you.

Among their crowd was Garrus, Jack, Zaeed, Tali, Jessica, Joker and Jacob cheering on the two, or goading them for bets they had placed depending on your outlook. _Wonder if Shepard actually has any bets on her winning or if they bet she would last a certain amount of time._ There was no way she would actually win, she knew that too so if there were bets being placed Ty couldn't help but wonder what they were.

Besides Jessica and Darian the other non-Normandy crew members to show up were Haley, Z, Mr. Rhoddy, and the four Asari they had been transporting since the fight on Omega. His brother was definitely in a better mood though judging on the stern look their father had given him when the trio had reunited he had given the eldest brother a scolding to rival their Aunty Aethyta.

Haley was still more or less injured though she was in a lot better shape than she had been in after the fight. Iliana was at her side almost immediately offering assistance when she noticed the slow controlled walking Haley was doing to ensure she didn't antagonize any of her healing injuries, it was quite obvious once Iliana was near that his former girlfriend was feeling a lot better.

They were all spread across the apartment as were the remaining crew members who Ty could see visibly relax from their usual days of getting shot at. There would be no wild shootouts here nor would they need to think about the dangers of the mission they were on since for the time being they were all on shore leave and thus meant all mission business was left at the door for them to pick back up when they left.

Right now they were each soaking in the relaxing yet rowdy environment without the weight of going into such a tough fight after this day was over on their shoulders. That was the great thing about shore leave and getting lost in the moment, you didn't allow the worries of tomorrow to weigh you down.

You were free to forget all of your responsibilities and enjoy yourself.

Even Mordin had taken a break entertaining a set of the crew when they got him talking about his singing which they were all witnesses too. At the moment Ty had his Scientist Salarian song stuck in his head as if it was on repeat on a music player, it wasn't a bad thing right now but if it continued on like how it was for another few days he was going to have to reevaluate that sentiment.

To say they were all surprised to find that he could sing was an understatement but an enjoyable understatement nonetheless. His fast paced talking came in handy for his patter songs, something the former mercenary never thought he would say.

Their merriment and relaxation was why the purple eyed warrior found himself standing in the same spot he had stood in with Tara at his side years ago. Many memories had come swarming back of his crew and their times in these same conditions of having a good time despite knowing the hard battles to come or remembering the hard battles they had gone through.

_A hell of a road we were on and still on in my case, _he thought as he lowered his head to look at the palms of his hand. _Ten years, ten years since I picked up my weapons, went to Omega and started fighting._ In those ten years he had seen many things and not just the betrayals or deaths of his friends. He had seen ten years of life in this galaxy, that was a lot more than most could say in his line of work.

There were many wonders he had been able to witness from spectacular skies on uncharted planets to treacherous terrains that no one had ever dreamed of seeing. He witnessed so many good things yet for almost all of the last ten years he hadn't stopped and smelled the roses more than a handful of times. Most of his life Ty had been moving from one place to another never stopping for a few minutes to take in everything around him.

Granted he had stopped a few times but looking back just on the last ten years of his life there were so many more moments he wished to have stopped to breathe in if only for a few moments longer. All the way before he had been in a revenge set mind the former mercenary had a hard time stopping, there was always something else that needed done, something else that needed his attention when in truth if he would have stopped the stuff needing his attention would have been there a few minutes or hours or days later.

Maybe it was a sort of hindsight wisdom seeping in now as a similar event to one that had happened so long ago was going on right in front of him bringing these thoughts on. Many times since joining the Normandy team Ty had wondered if this was a sort of second chance at everything, a second chance similar to a past experience that had been great but ended so horribly wrong.

It was also possible he was overthinking as he had a penchant for doing yet he couldn't deny the similarities he saw between this moment and the one he had with his crew. Being a non-believer in coincidence as he was that left his thought on overthinking somewhat less believable than it would have been if he had for once accepted things as coincidence.

Unfortunately he had seen too many things that could have been coincidence but weren't and that left him wary of anything coincidental.

That point aside Ty knew his mind had been so clouded after the death of his friends and even more so after Ka'Reena that he had forgotten to enjoy life, he had forgotten to watch each moment with both eyes and experience it with his entire being.

Life could never give a person the certainty that tomorrow they would be a part of the living world which is why Ty had always preached to his friends that they needed to live each day as if it was their last. Looking back he had only ever put his own teachings into practice a few times, the fact that his friends listened yet didn't call him out on his own hypocrisy was surprising.

Still seeing this all happening again with a new crew of friends alongside his family brought a lot of things back into prospective. While the life Ty lived was in no way glamorous it went without saying that he was allowed to experience a lot more than most people were able to dream about, the fact that he never was stuck in the slums of Omega scratching by hoping that one day life would turn around meant he had been privileged yet didn't realize it.

As they say you don't know how good you got it until it's gone and the purple eyed warrior now understood that better than he wished but felt wiser for it. In his now clear mind he could see the importance of breathing in each moment no matter how busy things were, _to live and to be alive are two separate things, _Ty thought.

Living was simply existing in this life as if nothing ever good happened regardless of the beautiful sunset right outside or being given or giving the greatest gift of all, a smile. To be alive one needed to live each day as if it was their last where you smiled, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed yourself no matter how bad everything else was. Each day literally could be their last in this galaxy where Reapers and Collectors were on the horizon so taking the time to enjoy each day was important because who knew when the giant death bringers would show up on their doorstep.

Reflecting on his past Ty could see that there were many times he wished he had stopped and enjoyed himself more or the beautiful sky or the beautiful woman he was in love with. Now should have, could have and would haves didn't help anybody and that wasn't what the former mercenary was doing, not by a long shot.

Instead of stewing in self-pity on what he could have done or wished to have done as he had for most of the last ten years, he was now putting together his greatest memories, the failures and the things he could have done but didn't so he could see in clarity what not to do this time around all the while soaking in the moment going on in front of him.

Shepard was still going strong against Grunt as Ty began to notice a lack of his brother and Miranda and a lack of Haley and Iliana. _Could be under me in the kitchen…or more likely in a bedroom downstairs or on the Normandy in Miranda's case._ He shrugged with a smirk, _if Miranda is then at least she'll finally blow off steam._

If there was ever someone in need of tension release it would be Miranda. The woman overworked herself constantly in a similar manor Shepard did only her work was constant reports and getting shot at when she tagged along with the commander and Shepard's overwork was getting shot at and planning for huge fights.

Big stresses all around for both of them and if Ty had to guess he would have to say filing out reports was the harsher of the evils presented, even Shepard probably agreed with that.

_Filing reports, _Ty shuddered at the memories of when he had to do them for the Suns.

Aya, Mordin, Chakwas, Kelly, Donnelly and Daniels had migrated to the drink-off where all the excitement was going on and in the living area was Ria, Alia, Kasumi, Samara, Thane and Mr. Rhoddy. The Assassin and Ty's father were talking to one another and by the looks of it they were having a good conversation more than likely about Ty's mother and their friend and wife respectfully.

While they spoke to one another the two older Asari were having a pleasant conversations, by the small snippets the purple eyed warrior could pick up Ria was fascinated by Justicar's never having met one before and Samara was pleased to talk about the order she had dedicated centuries of her life to. All in all they were all enjoying themselves in peaceful conversations instead of boisterous drinking contests as the other half of the room was doing.

As for Kasumi she appeared to be playing a game on her omni-tool with Alia and by the sounds of it the little Asari was winning. The two were having their own bout of fun that didn't involve alcohol or "adult conversations" as the thief had playfully teased Ria and Samara, both Asari had spared her smiles both knowing her jokes were merely jokes.

Kasumi had a way of lightening the mood wherever she was and getting Ria to smile and blush appeared to be a new hobby of hers.

Everything going on here put a smile on his face as it had all those years ago. Life didn't give second chances most of the time and if Ty was really counting he had been given more than two fair chances to get his shit together.

For ten years he had traveled a very long road that led him to this point in his life where he was a part of a crew led by a person who he would follow to hell and back regardless of how tough of a fight it would be. He had witnessed many sorrows over the ten year road yet Ty would never forget the people that had been at his side through it alive and in spirit.

They had guided him as best as they could considering they were trying to steer a stubborn bull away from the color red.

Thinking back to his most recent adventures from meeting Shepard on Omega and joining her crew to now Ty could see a lot of change in himself. The man who had shoved a gun in Shepard's face for simply being in the area and traveling with a Cerberus operative who had an icy personality was a very different man than the one who was currently staring down at the crew of misfits he had joined.

So much had happened in the short time on the Normandy it was a bit surprising, from getting blown to hell on Omega while trying to rescue and recruit Garrus to finding Grunt and killing Jedore, Horizon, Tuchanka and the thresher maw he had experience a lot. Those were only a few of the adventures that had been taken in this time and those were the ones that had left Ty wounded as well, looking back the fact that he managed to survive this long was astonishing.

They had accomplished a lot of missions so far and not many were left on this round trip to hell and back, _but this is only the beginning_. It was unfortunate that this was only the beginning but that was the truth, this was simply the calm before the shitstorm also known as the Reapers invading.

_Until we finish the Collectors there's no sense in thinking about it considering there is nothing I can do about it, _the former mercenary thought. Getting impaled on a wall and hit by a thresher maw arm wasn't going to come close to how bad things were going to be once the Reapers showed up so for now Ty let the thoughts of the inevitable fight go to fall back into pleasing thoughts on other things that had happened since joining the Normandy.

Being on intense missions like Grunt's Rite of Passage and Horizon being infested by Collector forces as they took colonists weren't the only things to happen. There was Pragia with Jack and Illium with Scrum, both missions bringing out his strange transformation for the first time where he didn't remain stuck in it. Then there was when Shepard nearly got her memory wiped after rescuing Tali on Haestorm, standing in front of Garrus's scope to stop him from killing Sidonis, _still haven't forgiven Shepard for that one, _he joked.

The amount of missions they had taken on had led to a lot of memories, good and bad, but it was some of the out of battle and out of stressful situations that had granted Ty good memories. Becoming friends with Miranda and Jack, reigniting the friendship with Tali and Kasumi, ripping the Illusive Man a new one, and getting in a fight with Jacob were all apart of those good memories but one person in particular had given him the most new good memories.

And that was Shepard.

Ty smiled down at the sapphire eyed beauty as she continued to battle Grunt in the drink-off though she looked to be nearing the point where Darian would use his special drink to help end the drink-off before it got even more out of hand. The special drink wasn't anything bad health wise and it didn't hold any drug in it, it simply was a drink that had always stopped Brad and Gallick from continuing to try to out drink Kar.

As far as the former mercenary knew it was some sort of Batarian uncut ale mixed with some kind of Asari drink, it tasted grotesque according to Brad but you usually didn't know that until the next morning since its aftertaste lasted a very long time.

_I suppose I should probably step in before that, _Ty thought pushing off the railing before slowly walking to the stairs. The last thing Shepard would want would be to have that aftertaste stuck in her mouth for an entire day and if it was as grotesque as the complaints and faces made by Brad and Gallick then he had a feeling their explanation of it tasting grotesque was understated.

Shepard was truly an amazing person who had been the first member of the Alliance to actually treat him as more than what the propaganda had said about him. She had given him a chance on this mission to do some good as well as give him friends he could depend on in any fight or out of any fight; she had also, to his utter surprise, grown fond of him to the point of her feelings crossing the border from fond to love.

The commander had moved past the borders of friendship and intimate relationship not giving a damn that they were from two opposite worlds and that he was to be hunted by her people. Shocking didn't even come close to how it felt, _"This is crazy."_ Ty could recall saying the words in one of their first serious conversations about giving the idea a shot.

It still was crazy when he thought about it but he had over time grown to stop thinking about how crazy it was. Trying to overthink the wills of the heart was like trying to play tug of war with a thresher maw, _tried that only instead of tugging a rope it was tugging my damn leg, didn't work out very well._

In the end you would either squander the things that could happen by trying to overthink the wills of the heart or you just let the heart to work its magic and see where things went. If things didn't work out then things didn't work out, as things were going right now for them Ty had to say that they were working out great and hopefully would continue to work out after they were done with the Collectors and Reapers.

Right now though he was enjoying the feelings that were being shared between them and warming his own heart after it had remained in a locked freezer box for a few years. Love was the feeling he felt bubbling back up in him as it had with Ka'Reena, it was frightening, it was magnificent, and it made him want to live in the present day.

Since his mind had continued to clear from the lingering fog of his past memories and revenge tour the young man had found himself letting more and more of his chained heart free until now where it didn't have much guarding it except his own skeleton.

The feeling was freeing.

To have no more barriers or reservations of letting his heart feel with someone who genuinely cared after guarding it from those kind of people since Ka'Reena passed made him remember why he cherished the love he shared with Ka'Reena.

There wasn't much you could use in comparison to help describe what love felt like, some people were fortunate enough to feel it while so many people never truly got to feel it. Some would fall deeply in love only to find out that their love wasn't reciprocated and those Ty felt the most sorry for because their heart was desperately trying to find that feeling and they would get it flattened out.

When that happened sometimes they were lucky to come across someone who they could find that feeling with but the unfortunate truth was some people after having their hearts crushed into smithereens could never open it back up to feel. Because of that they never got to feel what love and to be loved felt like, even if someone came along that could show them it the person with the flattened heart may not see it or believe it because of the original heart crusher.

Although the heart was a strong muscle it was also one of the most fragile. It was important in Ty's eyes to protect it because of its fragile nature until you were certain the person you were letting near it wasn't going to stab it once you opened the gates that protected it. Then again there was always a possibility someone you trust could betray that trust but to leave your heart fully guarded all your life was not healthy, he was positive about that.

Experience had taught him how unhealthy leaving his heart in a cold impenetrable fortress was.

Ty reached the bottom of the stairs and moved into the room where the mini-bar was located along with most of the Normandy crew. Grunt slammed down his drink and let out a wordless drunken shout making everyone chuckle including the former mercenary. Shepard stared down at her drink as if trying to decide if she should really drink it or not. The color of the drink was green with a small turquoise tint, _looks like Darian is about to give her his drink to get her to stop, _Ty thought.

"So I take it out drinking a Krogan is a lot harder than you thought?" Ty teased the commander.

She nodded slowly, "Yeah. I tried to convince Wrex to have a drinking contest once but he told me I wouldn't stand a chance, I guess this is why." Shepard responded. Even with all her cybernetic implants which had granted her a higher alcohol tolerance than she already had there was no way she could out drink a Krogan, especially Grunt or Wrex. Definitely not when Darian was serving drinks, the Turian knew how to keep two opponents on the same playing field in strong alcohol when they were not of the same species.

One simply did not give a Krogan a bunch of Ryncol and a human some weak wine, that would be unfair and Darian enjoyed a good fair drink off where he would get to choose the victim of his drink.

It wasn't an unknown fact between Ty and his crew that Darian was an evil bastard who enjoyed to give people his Batarian and Asari mixed drink so they were stuck with the ungodly terrible aftertaste, Shepard was going to be another victim he was going to enjoy seeing pass out and wake up with a terrible taste on her taste buds.

"How many credits are on the line here?" Ty asked to the group.

"None. We all bet Tiny would win." Jack said with a smirk. She and the others also had drinks in their hands though nothing as serious as what Shepard and Grunt were drinking; having a hangover in the morning was definitely being avoided by the crew.

"They've been completely unsupportive." Shepard said a frown on her face as she stared down at the drink in front of her.

"I'd say we were right considering the circumstances." Tali teased.

"You're looking a bit wobbly Shepard, I guess that makes sense since you could never drink me under the table so your odds against Grunt were even less." Garrus jumped in.

"Shut it Vakarian. I'll drink you lightweight ass under the table any day of the week, except right now." The N7 retorted.

Right now was definitely not the best time for her to try to take on Garrus in a battle like this, she was looking a bit wobbly even though she was sitting down next to the standing Krogan. This drinking contest was over; then again it was over before it started if you looked at who her opponent was.

Shepard grabbed the drink slowly and as she began to lift it up she found Ty's hand on her wrist stopping her, Darian gave a toothy grin to his purple eyed friend seeing that he knew what this drink was. "You really don't want to do that." Ty warned. She raised an eyebrow in question to him, "If you want to be knocked out with a bad taste in your mouth for an entire two days then I won't stop you but trust me you should stop willingly instead of losing by knock out."

"Oh come on it can't be that bad." Jack said.

Darian's grin would have reached his ears if he was a human and if that was possible for humans, "My my is that a challenge I hear?" He asked. Shepard set her drink down noticing the mischief in the Turian's eyes as he began targeting on his next victim. "If you want to see how strong your tolerance is than this drink is the true test, I have never seen anyone drink it and stay awake longer than a minute. It doesn't matter if they drank a lot before or not at all, this." He pointed at the drink, "Is guaranteed to knock anyone on their ass."

_Oh here we go, _Ty groaned mentally, _he's not the one who is going to have to deal with their whining tomorrow. _"If you take his challenge then Darian I demand you make them sign the no bitching waiver." Ty demanded firmly.

His best friend put his hands up in an I surrender manor, "Okay, okay. Be glad I held onto an electronic copy of it or you'd be shit out of luck my friend." Darian opened his omni-tool with Grunt leaving the bar in victory, _and to find a bathroom to go puke in by the looks of it._ He had a higher alcohol tolerance than Shepard and could have kept going but they had both taken in a lot of strong liquor and the young Krogan was feeling the aftermath of having Darian as a bartender.

_Damn evil bastard probably gave him a few shots mixed with Ryncol to "add a little more kick" as he is so fond of saying, _Ty thought. Jack, Zaeed, Donnelly and Joker moved to the bar top where Darian was grinning like a madman, he had four willing victims though if any of them were smart they would wait for one of the others to take a drink before drinking themselves.

At least that's what Ty would have done if he had received the warning and saw the mischief filled Turian.

"So what's this "no bitchin'" waiver?" Zaeed questioned.

"Something I came up with when Darian thought of this concoction, it's to make sure you understand that tomorrow when you wake up regardless of how bad of an aftertaste you have you are not allowed to bitch about it." Ty explained. "I dealt with a grumpy Batarian and an irritated hot head all day because of him, man that was a drag."

"I thought it was funny." Darian said with a smile.

Ty rolled his eyes, "Yeah 'cause you didn't deal with it. Anyways I'm going to bring her highness to a bed before she passes out here, someone make sure you stop Joker from falling over and breaking something if he drinks it."

"Yeah I'm right here, asshole." Joker shot back.

"Just trying to help you and prevent the doc from having a heart attack. Besides if you break something EDI will have to pilot the ship and you don't want that, do you?" With no response Ty smirked and helped Shepard off her chair before picking her up bridal style. "Anyway have fun, or in your fours cases have a nice nap and see you in the morning."

The purple eyed warrior took his leave with Shepard in his arms heading up the stairs to the largest of all the bedrooms with the highest level of security lock on the door. With friends like his there was no telling what they would do if he didn't lock the door with a lock only he or Tara could break. "Any idea where Miranda is?" Ty asked.

"She said she had some reports to fill out." Shepard responded.

A smirk found its way onto his face as he opened the door to the bedroom, "Fill out reports? What a lame excuse definitely if you consider my brother mysteriously vanishing as well." He locked the door behind him for the time being even though he was going to head out to see how well the four fared and if any of them were smart enough not to drink it. "If she's in a really good mood tomorrow we know why and I am_ so _not going to let her live down that lame excuse."

"Don't be too relentless, you don't want her to shut herself off again." The N7 wisely reminded.

She had a valid point, while jokes were all well and good when they were done correctly, not knowing when enough was enough or when not to make the joke could hurt someone or in Miranda's case cause her to put her ice queen mentality back in place. "True. Wonder if EDI will give them a hard time about sneaking away. I could forward her some jokes although Z would probably know I was the one doing it."

"Ty." Shepard chided.

"Alright you fun killer I won't give them a hard time and interrupt them before they do anything or while they are in the middle of it even though it would be payback for all the times we got interrupted." He said a tinge of mock compliant in his tone.

He set her down on the bed gently and turned to dim the lights only to find her hand grab his stopping him from going anywhere. The former mercenary turned back to see desire in the eyes of his sapphire eyed lover, she wanted him to stay and share an intimate night with her tonight. To say that he didn't want to was wrong, he did and he would have if it weren't for the fact she was really drunk.

Despite her protests before her drink off about the cybernetics stopping her from getting too drunk or it wearing off quickly Ty could see in her eyes and on her face how drunk she really was. Even if she wanted to in a sober mindset doing anything now felt wrong. No it felt more than wrong, it felt like he would be taking advantage of her drunken state.

Ty hadn't done anything when she had her emotional breakdown after helping Samara kill her daughter and he wouldn't do anything here. He'd at least like her to remember their night together in full not have it in some blurry memory that she could barely remember.

"Ty." She said his name with so much desire laced in her tone it took the purple eyed warrior by surprise. "Stay."

While part of him wanted to help her to sate the desires that were blatant in her tone and on her face, the visible drunkenness served as a continuous reminder why he couldn't allow himself to. Ty knelt down to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "I was going to dim the lights V so you could rest." He told her standing straight up. He walked over to the lights dimming them as Shepard took off her tank top at a slow drunk pace.

When he reached her again Ty helped her to take her tank top off the rest of the way and began folding it to put it on the empty nightstand. She took her jeans off next leaving her in her black underwear but as he finished folding them the purple eyed warrior found a hand on his wrist again tugging playfully at him to come closer.

After putting them down he turned back to his sapphire eyed lover with a smirk, "You are stubborn V." He leaned down to her and nudged her nose with his own, "And you also need to sleep this drunkenness off, I'll be back soon."

"You better." She grumbled quietly.

He smiled and gave her a kiss on the lips before heading back out and locking the door behind him to see how the others were fairing with Darian's special drink. As he walked to the stairs he passed a mirror causing him to stop and stare at his reflection, there wasn't anything new he hadn't seen before but there was something on his face that hadn't been there in a long time when he stared at his reflection.

A genuine smile was on his face.

For the first time in years he was happy with the man in the mirror staring back at him.

Ty moved away from the mirror down the stairs back to the mini-bar to find Donnelly and Jack laid out on the floor while Joker was being held up by Chakwas and Aya, all of the Normandy team was staring in genuine shock and worry at the situation before them obviously not thinking Darian and Ty were being completely serious about the strength of his drink.

Darian had a triumphant look on his face while Zaeed was shaking his head staring at the three. "Damn, good thing I waited to see what would happen." The old veteran said.

"Well shit." Ty mumbled staring at the unconscious forms of the three. "Um…Alright Daniels, Jacob grab Donnelly and sit him down in one of the plush chairs in the next room. Doc, Aya there should be an open bedroom where you can bring Joker on this floor, Garrus mind helping me with Jack to bring her to a couch upstairs?"

The Turian nodded moving to help Ty lift up the female biotic as Jacob and Daniels moved to the out cold engineer. This had pretty much gone exactly how the purple eyed warrior thought it would except for Zaeed being up, whether that was a good or bad was still up in the air for debate.

One thing was for certain though.

_Tomorrow is going to be a long day._


	94. Chapter 93

Chapter 93

Underneath the Stars

Having friends like his crew in years past had helped Ty to acclimatize to what he liked to call "the morning after." While in no way was he the only person to have experienced such an event, having a Krogan, Batarian and a Turian apart of it made things a lot more interesting all those years ago. From having to order your Krogan friend to clean up his puke to dealing with a grumpy veteran Batarian all because of your Turian troublemaker deciding it would be a fun idea to secretly mix his drink to knock him out.

It probably didn't need to be said but the day after a party had never been something Ty enjoyed taking care of.

The morning after was always a disaster full of hangovers, bad attitudes and beaming crew members who got a kick out of torturing the two formers of the group. Whether they thought it would be funny to talk loudly or find a bucket, fill it up with cold water and dump it on their sleeping forms.

_Man I don't think Brad ever forgave Whitney for that one._

Looking back at some of the morning after's he had been a witness to it was hard to believe they were a squad of highly trained killers with the way they acted. Then again because of the way they acted there were many great memories that gave him a smile when he thought back to those moments.

As great as the memories were Ty couldn't help but feel that dealing with hung-over friends was probably the worst duty a best friend had to deal with, _and it only got worse after Darian created his stupid drink._

Things had gotten so bad because of it he had to create the no-bitching waiver otherwise he'd get a hangover migraine without ever touching any alcohol. _And no matter how many times they passed out and woke up in terrible moods, they would do it all over again either to try to stay awake or because Darian would think it funny to switch drinks on them._

After months of dealing with it Ty had finally gotten used to dealing with the morning after at the apartment, he fell into routine of cleaning up any messes made, minus puke from Kar, getting the apartment livable again and getting food ready.

Years forward to the present day things hadn't changed one bit save for the faces and personalities of the people occupying what was now his apartment. His old routine came back as if he had never stopped starting at the bottom floor of the apartment and working his way through the rest of it. One other difference was the lack of carnage left behind; the Normandy crew had a mostly relaxing evening full of drinks where anytime his crew got together shit hit the fan.

Everything from full contact sparring in the living room using the furniture as weapons to trying to play biotiball even though not all of them had biotic's or find out who could eat the most food only to start a glorified food fight.

Ipso facto the apartment looked like a warzone after their parties so the lack of one made cleaning easier but also a bit strange.

He had been in and out of the apartment since waking up early restocking on supplies, fixing furniture, cleaning up spilled drinks and making sure everyone was still living, which they were. The crew members who did not go to the level of pass out drunk were already awake and enjoying the nice contrast of peace and quiet from the semi-rowdy night before.

Those who were still sleeping, or trying not to get out of bed out of fear that if they started moving the world would begin to spin, were going to get a rude wakeup call if they tried to stay asleep all day. One trick he had up his sleeve thanks to his old friends was speakers in every room of the apartment that he could connect to and play the loudest noise possible.

Yes he had become quite the sadist after a few of the morning after days he had experienced, and to save himself from the reprieve he planned to leave promptly after if it came to that. While it was true they had been on shore leave to cut loose, they had a mission to get back to rather promptly if they didn't want the Collectors to take anymore colonies.

As for Jack, Joker and Donnelly the first and second were up and going already and none too pleased about the aftertaste they had been warned about. Thanks to the constant reminders thrown at them from Ty, Zaeed, Garrus and Darian about signing the no bitching waiver they had yet to make a full statement of complaints over what they experienced though that was because the four would interrupt them and continue to do so until they grumbled under their breaths.

The biotic of the duo had shoveled down food and drank as many drinks as she could all in an attempt to wash the taste away to no avail. Joker on the other hand just kept his head down on the counter he was sitting in front of mumbling and grumbling now and then about never taking a drink from Ty again and something about coming up with his own drink to win drinking contests.

Daniels was actually rather cheery about the whole situation as it gave her ammunition to fire at her partner in crime Donnelly. Ty had never seen her with such an evil glint in her eye, add on the fact that they worked in engineering which could have loud noises and you had a recipe for disaster.

Her fellow engineer also, of the three, drank the most of the drink. Joker had chugged down a quarter of it and had to stop the vile taste of it hitting him almost immediately and Jack had drank down a little near half before the same sensation hit her causing a slew of curses to come out of her apparently.

Donnelly somehow got all of it down; Ty didn't know if he lacked taste buds or he just was trying to prove something but the only other person he knew could do it was Gallick on the first attempt before finding out the terrible side effects. Gallick had a strong tolerance to all liquor; in fact he was the one who set the bar to one minute staying awake as the rest toppled in or around thirty seconds.

Their male engineer had gotten down the whole drink, and passed out seconds after he put his glass down.

Zaeed having seen a lot of things the galaxy had to offer had simply stared at his drink for a few seconds letting the others go first and once they started cussing and sputtering he wisely put his drink down and took a pass on trying it out.

_I give the old man credit for being smart, _Ty thought as he bustled about, _no one has taken the warning so seriously before. They usually do what Jack and the others did thinking "it can't be that bad" when in fact it is._

The headache Donnelly was going to have plus the terrible aftertaste were going to last longer and be doubly worse than the ones his fellow survivors of the drink would have, if he could make it through the day without thinking the world was spinning or a dim light being as bright as a sun then the purple eyed warrior would consider him especially lucky.

_If he makes it through the day without hugging the porcelain god then I will consider it a miracle. Even Gallick couldn't make it through the day without bowing before the almighty porcelain god and that was the one time I've ever saw him throw up...actually. _Ty stopped and sifted through a few of his memories, _the only time he ever puked because of alcohol was because of drinking Darian's drink down completely._

_ Gallick had a lead stomach…_the former mercenary shook his head, _Daniels you are going to have a crummy day if Donnelly is puking his brains out. I just hope you get your fun in before that hits him._

The Scot was in for a really bad day and for once Ty felt pity for the victim of the Darian Special, the man was in for a remarkably horrible day after such a great night but sometimes that's the way it was with parties.

Your night was great and your mornings were absolutely horrifying, like a demon slithering out of Satan's anus.

As for the two contenders of the drinking contest beforehand Grunt was back to his normal self thanks to having his Krogan redundant nervous systems, though he did tell Ty that he cleaned up the shower. The former mercenary wasn't entirely sure about going to see the shower in case Grunt's idea of clean and his own were completely different but he did and found it sparkling to his surprise.

It was cleaner than it had been before considering the apartment hadn't been used in a long time, whether that meant he had destroyed it beforehand or simply decided to clean it all was up for debate. _Although I can't imagine Grunt cleaning to clean, _an image of Grunt in a French maid outfit passed through his mind causing him to shudder and quickly banish it from his mind, _if I ever think of that again it'll be too soon. Eugh!_

On the other spectrum Shepard was still sleeping having passed out some time after he left to check on the others and remaining that way for the rest of the night and morning so far. Usually she didn't sleep so heavily where he was able to get in and out of bed without even stirring her but that wasn't so bad, she needed her sleep for certain and a drunken sleep where nothing from the outside world could disturb her would be good for her.

Of course that was what he thought until he returned to their room to find her out of the bed and coming out of the bathroom her hair between dry and damp, she didn't seem to have any sort of after effects of a hangover from her drinking contest the night before and that was a good thing. "Well well, it seems your cybernetics do help with your hangovers. And here I was ready to blare music to wake everyone up." Ty smirked.

Shepard smiled and sauntered over to him wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her lower back, "Remind me to never drink that much again." She said brandishing her beautiful smile.

"Noted Commander." They shared a kiss savoring every second it lasted as if it was the last kiss they would share. "I set something up for today." He said as they parted.

His lover smirked raising one of her eyebrows as she did, "You sound uncertain about it."

"I'm the one who planned it, so yeah I'm uncertain." She rolled her eyes with a smirk and gave him a look to explain what he was planning. He let go of her taken a step back rubbing the back of his head a little in small nervousness. "We didn't really get to spend a lot of time together last night because I volunteered you to take my place in a drinking contest with Grunt so I thought I'd make it up to you by taking you out. I know we're heading out today so I kinda had to last minute plan and I'm not a romantic meal kind of guy so I-"

Lips pressing against his own cut off the rambling he was going through at trying to tell her he had an idea for a date of a sort. "You're cute when you start rambling nervously."

"It doesn't happen often."

Shepard smiled, "I know, that's why it's cute when you do. Whatever you want to do, let's go do it. There's no need to rush it, if today is the end of the world I'd rather have spent my morning with you then stressing about the Collectors."

She had a way of making things easier when he was making them way more difficult than they should be; he hoped he did the same for her when he could. The last thing Ty ever wanted to be was another burden on her shoulders.

The sapphire eyed beauty had the weight of entire colonies on her shoulders right now because of the Illusive Man tasking her to do this and the Alliance and Council being completely ridiculous about the whole situation. _I wish this whole Collector and Reaper thing would be easy to end, _Ty thought, _then she'd finally be able to be at peace and relax more often instead of constantly going headfirst into crazy odds._

It was a thought for another time, in the moment of time they were in the Collectors and Reapers were a very real threat that were not going to go away if they closed their eyes and clicked their heels together three times. No, they were going to have to fight a hard battle and then they were going to have to pick up the pieces left behind after the war ended.

With Reapers any damage done was going to be big, Ty had seen that with Sovereign and the Geth on the Citadel and Sovereign mainly attacked ships instead of the actual Citadel itself. The damage that could have been done to the Citadel if the Reaper had used its death beam on the Wards would have been more catastrophic than its pieces falling on them.

_One of those on Earth or any other planet wreaking havoc without a care of what they destroy this time around will leave a lot of clean up duties behind to the survivors, _he thought, _Still that's not right now and as she said, if the world is going to end I would rather spend it with her than stressing about things I can't control._

So instead he took her hand in his own tugging gently for her to walk with him, she gave him a smile and they made their way out of the apartment after giving the others mostly free reign over the place and telling them they will meet up back at the Normandy in a few hours.

When specifically they were asked, truth was Ty wasn't really sure how long what he had planned would last. They could be there for an hour or two at the least and four to five if he really pushed it. The duo headed out promising to inform them of when they were heading back to the Normandy and hopped on his bike to travel to where he had planned to go.

"So where are we going?" Shepard asked.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you."

"Why were so uncertain about it?" She questioned.

It was hard to explain in a way, he wasn't one to back down from ideas once he started going through with them which had led to a few injuries over the years, and in recent times. "…I don't know, I guess I was worried you may not like the idea. Maybe all the injuries I've received from my plans made part of me doubt that it was a good idea or that throwing it together in such a short time wouldn't end well." Ty explained.

He also had never been one to really plan this kind of thing before, in all of his previous relationships the former mercenary had never really planned going out to do something. Most of the time they would go out and then they'd wing it from there making it an enjoyable time without a plan of what they would do or where they would go.

Taking the short time he had to actually plan this idea to allow Shepard some time away from the galaxy so she could relax was different from his usual make it up as he went along mindset. That didn't necessarily make it a bad idea as he was prone to thinking his plans were, it was just so different for him to actually plan to go to a specified place to spend time with someone he cared about.

Part of him would have loved to wander around the Citadel with Shepard going wherever their feet took them, to be able to not have any sort of time constraint on what they did like they had now. Granted they weren't going to rush it but in the end they had to get back on the Normandy today and get back out to what they were doing.

Ty hoped one day they would be able to take a break from this hero business they were currently involved in and just go out. No planned destination, no planned actions, just them together doing what they wanted._ Maybe not being on the "good guy" side of the universe wasn't so bad, _he mused, _I could do whatever I wanted without worry of something like Reapers._

_But the Reapers coming was inevitable and even if my guys had lived I doubt we would have stayed out of it. We probably would have gone to the Alliance or something to offer our help as they will eventually have to take help from wherever it comes from._

"And will I like it?" Shepard asked bringing him out of his thoughts.

He smirked, "That was a poor attempt at trying to get me to say what we're doing but I do hope you enjoy it. If the Collectors weren't out there I wouldn't have planned anything, I would have just brought you out of the apartment and we would have figured things out as we went along."

Shepard chuckled at his statement, "Now that sounds a lot more like the Ty I'm used to. Not thinking that far ahead, like the possibility of a Thresher Maw arm hitting you. It's too bad the Reapers and Collectors always have to stick their tentacles and claws in the way, I would have liked to walk the Wards or Presidium with you." She hugged his body a little tighter, "But as long as we're together I'm sure we will have a great time."

"I have that effect." He joked.

Once again she chuckled their conversation ending as they landed in front of the building Ty was bringing them to. It was a planetarium that was normally occupied by people wishing to teach or study about different parts of the galaxy but for today the former mercenary had rented the entire building for them to visit privately.

At the door was the owner of the place who he had paid what the man considered a handsome sum of credits but was in reality not all that much for someone who stole and earned millions of credits over his entire lifetime thus far. "Ah Hayden Planetarm and Ms. Aphrodite, you have arrived." He greeted.

Shepard seemed to choke down a laugh at the very lame cover names he had put together for them, considering they were both supposed to be dead and the man was paid to let them have the place for a day Ty assumed the man probably didn't care about the lame names or figuring out the resemblance.

He handed Ty the key wishing them well before departing in a close by skycar, "Ms. Aphrodite?" Shepard asked smirking at him.

Ty wrapped his arm around her waist guiding her with him into the planetarium, "Well you are a loving woman and you are beautiful like a goddess, so why not?" Shepard was blushing at his compliment; she let her head fall to the side into his shoulder for a moment as they entered the lit entrance of the building. "At least I didn't name you Mistress Aphrodite, don't get me wrong it'd be a bit kinkier and I'd feel a bit panicked if I found a rack nearby bu-"

A small jab to his side got him to stop replacing her blush with a rolling of the eyes and a smirk, "You just had to go and ruin the compliment, didn't you?"

"Well I wouldn't say I ruined it considering you have a smirk on your face, I think it was more of taking the compliment and making light of the situation to see what you'd do. It's a bit entertaining from this side of things."

"Until I get a rack and strap you into it."

"Exactly, see you're getting the hang of it." Ty teased. She jabbed him again and they made their way into the main area of the planetarium where a blanket and a few pillows were laid down near the center of the room. It was all there to make sitting and lying on the floor more comfortable as it was not exactly meant to be cushiony.

He activated his omni-tool as Shepard began taking in the vast area they were currently in, the main room was circular in shape with a dome for a ceiling where the projection of stars or nebulas would be placed.

Using his omni-tool he locked all entrances into the building to ensure no one interrupted them letting Shepard begin to roam the room as he did. While he was sure the owner wouldn't do anything stupid, it was anyone thinking the place was open that he didn't doubt just waltzing in without paying attention to a sign reading _closed_.

After setting the locks up and setting up his own hacking techniques on them to keep them un-hackable by anyone but him he proceeded to shut down all the cameras after wiping their memory to make sure there wouldn't be any sign of them here.

The last thing he wanted was someone on security to find the two of them here alone looking up at a projection of stars connecting the pieces to the puzzle of who they were and trying to bring it to the public. Shepard was going to get enough hell for using Cerberus whenever she returned to the Alliance, if news of him being on her squad had come out thanks to Kaiden then the public finding out that they had become lovers as well wasn't going to do anything good for her.

After finishing all that needed to be taken care of in making sure no one came in or had evidence of them being there he began sifting through the projections to find an enjoyable one. Of course the task itself was going to be difficult as he found almost all nebulas and vast amounts of stars aesthetically pleasing. "How much did you pay that guy anyways?" Shepard asked taking a seat on the blanket and lying down to watch the projections.

"Fifty thousand credits to let us use it for the entire day although we obviously won't be here all day. I didn't want anyone coming in to ruin the peace and tranquility this place had to offer." He explained settling on the projection of a surrounding forest at night with tons of stars above them.

He laid down next to Shepard and stared up at the stars with her allowing himself to relax completely and allow the projection of the wilderness to make him believe they were somewhere planetside together. Granted he would prefer a beach then out in the middle of the woods due to a lack of wildlife that would try to kill them but he couldn't be entirely choosy here. It was the only projection with a planetside view of the stars and it felt calming, the only thing missing was the sounds of nature.

"Have you ever been here before?" Shepard asked distantly as she too was becoming absorbed by the scene around them.

"If I came here normally I'm pretty sure C-Sec would have stormed the place. I can imagine the headlines now, Most wanted criminal found star gazing in planetarium." He chuckled.

"Forgot about that." Shepard sighed.

The way things were now it was pretty easy to forget that he was hunted by the people she had worked for and would go back to eventually. On this suicide mission they had not run into Alliance or Citadel forces trying to bring him in although that was likely due to the rumors of his death. "When we're together I forget about it too, well not at first. I was too worried about what would happen to you if we actually went through with this so I was constantly thinking about being who I am, but in times like this when it's just you and me and nothing else those thoughts leave me."

Shepard's hand found his own and intertwined with it squeezing it a little, "I'm glad I can do that for you." She said quietly.

"Me too. There isn't a second floor or rafter to hide on otherwise I would have come here sooner, don't know why but I've always found lying underneath the stars comforting. I wasn't sure if it had the same effect on you but I figured it would be worth a shot, you could use some peace and tranquility to balance out your drinking contest of the night before." Ty said.

"Could have brought me into your mind for that…but this is nice."

The purple eyed warrior nodded and continued to stare up at the stars. "I guess you're right that I could have done that, we could spend an entire day under the cherry blossoms and not much time would pass in reality…but being here physically with you is better than being in my mind. Spending an eternity there would never be as good as spending a real day with you."

Shepard squeezed his hand before slipping it away moving to lean onto her arm so she could look down at him, "You really know how to melt a girl's heart Ty." She said with a loving smile.

"Only because you melted the ice around mine." He responded truthfully. It was true Miranda had been their resident Ice Queen but the former mercenary knew his heart had been so heavy with guilt he had become a lot colder than he was towards people. His sarcasm never left which was the only part of him to stay the same but he had become despondent taking all his hate and aiming at anyone who wronged him or people he cared for.

His heart had been locked away in a fortress of solitude to keep him from feeling anything, maybe he thought it would keep him alive long enough to kill Tarak and the others or maybe it was just easier to fall into the hate that consumed him instead of actually trying to move forward and come to grips with the loss of his dearest friends.

Instead of actually grieving he had transformed his grief into anger giving strength to his metaphorical demon inside of him until it had full control. Moving forward had been too hard for him so he took the easier route to ignore the path he needed to take in return for a darker path he convinced himself to tread alone so the remaining people he had to care for didn't die as well.

Then Shepard came along a bright star in his dark road dragging him out of the darkness and back into the light bringing warmth to his frozen fortress like a sun breaking through the clouds on a cold winter day to warm the earth.

The heat continued to grow until all of the ice was gone bringing on the peace and happiness of spring after suffering through a terrible endless winter.

She brought her hand to his face cupping his cheek, "Freeing your heart was worth every second it took."

Ty smiled, "You were worth freeing it for." She smiled and shifted her body so she was as close to him as possible bringing her lips to his in a slow tender kiss. The tender kiss began to evolve into a more passionate one her arms wrapping around the back of his neck as his hand laid gently on her side running itself under her wifebeater to glide across her smooth skin.

"And you said you weren't romantic. A planetarium all to ourselves, stars above us on a simulated beautiful night, all that is missing is some candles." Shepard teased between kisses.

"Actually I said I wasn't a romantic meal kind of guy, if I could have acquired some candles I would have." He retorted with a smile.

She grinned at him and quickly reengaged him in a passionate kiss the two reveling in the passion they were sharing through the kiss. Shepard began tugging a little at his tank top trying to help him get it off but due to them both still laying down it made it difficult. To help he sat up bringing the commander who had moved to straddling him at the time with him remaining mostly in the kiss until he had to pull his shirt over his head.

Her hands ran up his chest tracing over different tattoos and the scars he had received on Omega when they found Garrus knee deep fighting off mercenaries with a gentle touch most people wouldn't expect out of someone who blew things up and fought impossible odds almost every day.

He helped her to remove her shirt meeting her lips with his own as soon as the piece of clothing was discarded then trailing kisses down her neck across her collarbone and down the center of her chest allowing his lips to glide across her skin. As he did he could feel her grip on his shoulders tighten slightly, he looked up at her only to smile as he saw her biting her bottom lip.

Shepard brought her hands up and into his hair gliding them gently through across his scalp to not only keep him from going anywhere else but also to send shivers down his spine knowing full well how relaxing he found it to have someone's hands running through his hair.

Why it had such an effect on him he didn't rightly know, it just always had been something he enjoyed. In a way it was like a pressure release only instead of releasing pressure it relieve him of all stress, anytime someone he was with began running their hands through his hair all stresses just melted away relaxing him making him feel more peace than he felt on a daily basis in battle.

He glided his hands up her back tracing the muscles she had until he reached his destination of the clasp of her bra unhooking it with practiced ease. Shepard shrugged off her bra leaving her upper body magnificently bare allowing Ty's hands to trace his hands over all of her body with no obstructions of clothing.

Save for the projection around them the room was dark leaving the stars to be the only thing to reflect off of her skin as her sapphire eyes gleamed with passion and life.

His own eyes were gleaming brightly though he was unaware of it as he was too caught up in touching, kissing and admiring the gorgeous woman he was with. Suddenly Shepard's biotic's began to appear around her making her appear more beautiful than she already was as well as making her eyes seem more and more like real sapphire gems.

The blue surrounding her enveloped him as they came together in a kiss his hands supporting her back as her own remained in his hair her biotic's creating a tingling feeling across his scalp in a massaging kind of way. Ty used the support on her back that he had to shift and move until she was on her back her head on a pillow as he was between her legs still passionately kissing her.

The sapphire eyed commander breathed out a pleased sound as he began kissing down her chest towards her navel the sound causing a small thrumming in her chest as he continued his way down. He stopped as he got closer to her waist moving back up to her lips kissing them tenderly, "I don't want to presume anything so tell me how far you would like this to go." Ty said softly.

He knew that they were already half naked but if she didn't wish this to go any further because of one reason or another he was willing to stop. "I love you Ty, I don't want to hold it back any longer." She said lovingly bringing her hand to his cheek.

Ty rested his own on hers, "I love you Vanessa."

Finally saying the words was freeing and with no more restraints on their feelings they decided to back up their words showing each other how deep rooted their love for one another was now after all the things they had been through since taking on this mission.

Underneath the stars nothing could be hidden and the love they shared was something they could no longer skirt around by calling each other love interests or similar actions where denial and uncertainty stopped them from acting. Nearing the end of a Suicide Mission meant they were about to jump into those suicidal odds headfirst, if things were going to end for them before the Reapers showed up then there was no time for holding back or the end would be filled with regrets.

This hadn't been planned by Ty, he had truly been hoping just to spend time with her alone away from everything that was waiting for them outside of this building but sharing their love for one another was definitely a better outcome than he could have planned for.

There was peace here and it would be a good memory to look back at when the inevitable war came but that wasn't today.

Right now they were too enveloped by one another's love to think about what the future held.

**A/N: Hayden Plantarm is a purposeful misspelling changing it from Hayden Planetarium to that which is a real Planetarium, Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of Love in case that needs to be mentioned. Anyway thanks for reading and sorry for the delay. **


	95. Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Back to the Fight

"Wow. Braum really went all out with the armor." Shepard said clearly surprised.

The Batarian doctor had followed through with his promise of new armors and now the N7 was passing out that armor to her crew as the former mercenary watched from the kitchen of his apartment. Mostly the color of the armor was what was noticeably different but each set had upgrades that benefited who they were outfitted for.

An example would be Grunt's armor having a bit more plating to it for protection while Samara's had better enhancements to give more strength to her biotic abilities. _Not that she really needs it, _Ty mused, _she's one of the most powerful Asari's I know. I can't complain about the extra power though. We need every extra edge we can get to rip the Collectors apart and unlike the other biotic's on our team she has yet to throw me around._

_ Zaeed didn't have that same fortune._

The memory of the old mercenary being lifted then dropped face first back into the floor played through the purple eyed warriors mind causing a chuckle to escape him.

Another example of the armor benefiting who they were outfitted for was the extra layer of protection on Mordin's. It kept his armor light but gave it a little more padding to protect him from a stray round piercing through his shields. His armor was complimented by enhancements to his tech programs allowing them to reload quicker all the while giving a boost to his shielding technology.

On the other spectrum Zaeed's new armor allowed the old veteran to carry more inferno grenades and ammo into battle. He still didn't have his Jessie but he was quite satisfied with how much fire power he could now bring into a fight.

_"The more the fuckin' merrier."_ Was what he had said when he found out. The grin Zaeed wore made Ty pity whoever the old mercenary fought next.

They were surely in for a terrible experience.

Each new set of armor was crafted to give them all a better edge in going against the Collectors. Of course there was a little bit of friendly banter between the crew where they made jokes at the others expenses based on certain parts of their armor. One of the first to fall victim to the banter was Garrus whose armor had been crafted to have all the same exact holes and scorch marks his current armor had received from Tarak trying to blow him up.

Not all the armor had some sort of punch line to it from Braum. The doctor had enough sense to not instigate a Justicar, an Assassin or a large tank-bred Krogan by giving them pink armor or something of that caliber.

Even if the doctor hadn't gone that far it didn't stop the crew from making jokes. There were jokes thrown at Jack about covering her skin up with the new armored sleeveless vest she received, a few at Kasumi about still having a hood and Ty decided to throw one at Zaeed about having a two eyed mask again.

It was entertaining to say the least.

For the most part though Ty had kept out of the banter only throwing a joke in once or twice when he felt the need. His focus wasn't on the crew and he found his eyes constantly drifting across the room until they would fall back to the sapphire eyed commander.

Only a few hours had passed while they were at the planetarium and at least an hour had passed since they returned to the apartment. The time they had spent together was proving to be a great memory already from the actual love making to afterwards when they remained entangled in an embrace with one another laying completely relaxed under the star projection.

Everything they had done had proven to be extremely intense filled with so much love and passion his mind meld had left him a bit dazed. Part of him felt like he was walking around in a trance as he was trying to come back down from the clouds where they had ended up by the end of their love making.

His mind had been attuned even further to her own in a way that he hadn't experienced in years. That wasn't to say that he had gained the ability to read her mind or speak telepathically with her.

_Although telepathy in general wouldn't be a terrible skill if it were possible,_ Ty thought,_ if you were trying to remain hidden you could hold entire conversations without anyone hearing._

Simply the purple eyed warrior felt more connected to her feelings as he was with everyone he melded minds with. Normally even at close range he couldn't feel the connection unless he focused on it or a headache spiked from something like his brother and Haley sending all of their distress to him. Those instances were when he could become aware of the connection between him and others he had melded minds with.

After each meld the connection grew stronger allowing it to be easier to feel the feelings when he focused in on them but most of the people Ty had created this bond with he had grown accustomed to feeling so he didn't really notice it anymore.

Others the connection had been cut off through their death and now he couldn't feel them anymore. Grief was a terrible experience after losing someone but the things that happened to him immediately when the connection was broken through death was something he did not wish to experience any time soon.

Haley was the last person he had melded minds enough to create such a strong bond with and he could remember having this same feeling afterwards. It had passed after a little while then so he assumed that his mind was almost done acclimatizing to the new bond he had created with Shepard.

It was likely due to the intensity of the emotions that they shared which in turn made the meld such an intense experience for him. It was probably also the reason why he found himself looking to and focusing in on the feelings irradiating inside the N7. She was still riding on the wave down from the clouds just as he was and through the many glances he had stolen he had seen she was watching him the same amount as he was watching her.

Every time their eyes met she gave him her beautiful smile making him smile in return as he admired her beauty.

Shepard was stunning, she always had been.

From her eyes and smile to her personality there wasn't a part of the woman Ty didn't find unattractive. He didn't care about her working with the Alliance anymore because to him she wasn't an ordinary Alliance marine. She was more than the sole survivor of Akuze who became the first human Spectre stopping Saren, the Geth and Sovereign.

She wasn't just a symbol as others wanted her to become, she wasn't like some of the Alliance types that shot first and asked questions later or anything like the terrible hounds of Cerberus.

Shepard was Shepard.

A person like Shepard was rare in a galaxy full of people who cared only for themselves or the credits they would receive for doing their job. If more people like Shepard existed it was highly probable that there would be peace between all the races and less bureaucratic ploys.

_They might have even accepted the Reapers as fact instead of hiding it under a thick rug of lies. A galaxy where politicians don't lie or have secret agendas might be a galaxy where productive shit gets done._

_ Only in a perfect world I suppose._

Most people also didn't really get to know who Shepard truly was because, a lot like Ty himself, everyone had an opinion about her and everyone formed their own opinion based on the opinions of others.

It didn't matter if there were little facts to the opinions or if the opinion was completely biased, it was "human nature" for a set group of people to believe what they were told without knowing the facts.

Sometimes those opinions were formed simply for the sake of a grander story to make her more heroic or an attempt to slander her name as terrorist or a human trying to overtake the Council races. A lot of people, and a lot of politicians, did not like sudden change or heroes, and much to their dismay heroes and change often came at the same time.

Despite all of this Ty had been fortunate enough to come to know more about the real Shepard than any normal person ever did.

The N7 wasn't a normal Alliance marine in both title and as a person. A normal Alliance marine wouldn't have given him, Jack, Zaeed, or Kasumi the time of day or would have tried to turn them over to an Alliance prison. They each had committed crimes to varying degrees, and Jack, Zaeed and Ty were the volatile kind of criminals. Each had at one point or another fought against law enforcement officials, joined a mercenary group, or started a mercenary group in Zaeed's case.

If each of the four didn't have a shoot on sight or arrest on sight warrant in Council space or Alliance space then the purple eyed warrior would be surprised.

An example of a normal Alliance solider reacting to his status in the galaxy would be Kaiden holding his disdain for the former mercenary despite not actually _knowing_ anything about him. He based his presumptions off of the propaganda spread about him or the harsher deeds he had committed against mercenaries if his name was attached to it.

Usually he kept his deeds unknown to everyone save for the people of Omega but sometimes Aria felt the need to instill fear into the lawless of the galaxy. When mercenaries started getting too cocky on her station she would give him a mission to remind them that she was watching and the recently crowned _Ghost of Omega_ existed and struck from the shadows as her ally.

When those stories reached Alliance ears he couldn't entirely blame people like Kaiden or other Alliance marines for believing the bad propaganda spread about him. They were putting trust in the organization they worked for and believed they were telling the truth.

If they couldn't trust their superiors, than who were they supposed to trust?

Trust was not easily given or gained but when you were ordered by your superiors to take a hill to end a war a solider needed to trust the order as true to end a bloody battle. Granted that didn't mean Ty was all for soldiers blindly following orders when they were questionable, there was a need for soldiers to be able to make judgment calls on suspicious or heavily moral crossing orders.

Sometimes you needed to make a decision as an individual instead of a soldier who followed orders.

Not having believable evidence to end the propaganda that couldn't be twisted to be looked at as fake kept Ty silent on a regular basis. He didn't want humanity doubting the Alliance then jumping ship to Cerberus either. He also lacked the desire to smear Hackett's name when the old man and Anderson were more competent than most of the other Alliance Admirals, Captains and higher-ups in the brass.

When it came down to it the former mercenary knew Shepard needed them backing her up when the Reapers finally showed up. They would keep her from being thrown in a cell to rot for the remainder of her years and at most they would make her the tip of the spear when the Reapers arrived.

As unfortunate as it was for him and his family, they were needed as criminals on the run so the competent part of the Alliance could stay competent. It was the lesser evil and kept Cerberus from sneaking someone into power to achieve their own ends.

The last thing the Alliance needed was someone from Cerberus or Terra Firma becoming prominent in their internal politics.

Still it was more than Shepard's ability to look past the criminal backgrounds of the four on her squad that made her different. She had an aura about her that made an individual want to follow her into hell and back and that was something that almost every other soldier lacked.

She brought together twelve individuals of differing backgrounds, some with completely different ideologies, some who didn't agree with working with aliens and–in the case of Jack and Ty–people who despised the symbol on their ship for their own reasons.

Shepard had brought them together and now they were not only completely loyal to her but they were each willing to watch each other's backs as brothers and sisters in arms. Some, like Jack and Miranda, would never admit to that but they didn't have to. Their actions in the field of battle were enough to base it off of although Ty wasn't going to say Jack and Miranda were friends.

They were more like rivals who couldn't stand to see someone else snuff out the other because they wanted to be the one to do it. He also couldn't claim to know if they still wanted each other dead yet he did notice they weren't so vehement with their hate anymore. Now they seemed to just tolerate one another and throw snide comments now and then, it was the best equivalent to "friendly" banter the two powerful biotic's could get to.

"Hey dick, wake up! I'm talking to you."

_Speaking of Jack._

Ty snapped out of his trance to find Jack leaning her side against the counter he was leaning forward on. "Sorry. I was lost in thought."

She smirked then followed his line of sight to Shepard who was busy talking to Tali and Garrus. "Uh-huh. Lost in thought or imagining Shepard naked on top of you?"

He breathed out a laugh shaking his head and turned around so his lower back was resting against the counter top. "I wouldn't need to imagine that." Jack promptly punched him in the arm, "Hey! You asked. I was just being honest."

"Yeah well you could have kept that shit to yourself. I have a vile taste in my mouth already; you don't need to add onto it."

"Aw come now you know you've imagined her naked though it may not have been on top of you. There you were handcuffing the good hearted commander onto the bed both of you wearing lust filled smiles staring deeply into each other's eyes. Her sapphire eyes pierced into your very soul filling you with a warmth you were too afraid to feel for so long." Jack gave him a warning glare but he ignored it. "It was a forbidden love for so long but now you two were embracing it. You two needed this, _you_ needed it. You needed to feel her skin on yours; you needed to show her your true-"

He received a harder punch than the one previous. The former mercenary chuckled to himself as he raised his hands in a surrendering motion to the deadly glare the tattooed biotic gave him. If he were to continue down that line of thought he was risking getting tossed around for giving her images she did not want. "I'm just fucking with you Jack. Don't tell me you're going to get all up tight like the princess, that would be a drag. If you get all serious who am I going to share my twisted sense of humor with? Who is going to call me dick or ass?"

"Ah shut it dick. Don't get all sensitive or I'll kick your ass." Jack responded with a smirk.

"I feel the abused love already." He smirked.

Jack simply shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. "You're a real pain in the ass sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" He crossed his arms over his chest, "I'll have to try harder."

Once again the purple eyed warrior received a punch to the arm although this one wasn't as hard as the others. "Let me rephrase that, you're always a pain in the ass." Jack deadpanned. Ty gave a proud nod and smile. "But it makes you a good friend."

Ty was about to fire off another joke but stopped himself seeing the sobered look of the tattooed biotic who had stopped kidding around. He dropped his smirk taking on a serious look, he appreciated her calling him a good friend yet he knew there was more to her comment. "You're worried, aren't you?" She gave a short nod. "Don't be. We aren't heading into hell yet and when we do we'll all come out on top. That's a promise."

"I'll be ready for whatever comes…It's just the closer we get the more I realize how serious this is going to be."

"Thinking about backing out?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

The tattooed biotic shook her head a stern look taking over her features. "Hell no. If Shepard believes this fight is worth fighting then that's good enough for me. I trust her to get us through this and I won't leave over fucking jitters."

The former mercenary nodded along to what she said. It was further proof of the loyalty that Shepard had earned from her crew that even in the face of serious trouble none of them were going to back out. She believed they were going to succeed and that was enough for all of them to stick around.

Even if they were all going to die trying they would go but they wouldn't go just to try stopping the Collectors. They would each go to defend one another so that maybe they could all walk away from this hard fight—together.

They didn't start that way but they were each ready to fight by side by side or back to back to end this threat.

"We'll be fine. Shepard hasn't failed yet and she won't. Not when she has all of us at her side." Ty stated firmly.

Jack gave a firm nod of agreement. "Right. Speaking of Shepard while you were away thinking about taking her to the closest bed she told us to go out and finish anything we had to do then report back to the Normandy."

He nodded, _time to get this mission started back up. _"Any idea where we're going first?"

"Shepard said we're headed to Illium." She shrugged, "Don't have a clue why. I thought we were done there but I'm sure Shepard found us something to shoot there." Ty chuckled, _I don't think she ever really needs to go searching. Bullets usually find us before we have to seek them out._ "Your brother and the cheerleader are also still missing." Jack smirked, "I figured I'd pass that information onto you and let you get some payback for all the times you and Shepard were interrupted."

The purple eyed warrior couldn't help but smirk. "Interesting. I suppose I should be the one to go tell them we're about to head out anyways. Interrupting whatever they're doing will be a bonus."

"Be careful. If you catch them with their pants off I'm not paying for your therapy."

Ty waved her off as he pushed off the counter, "I'm not worried. Besides I'm too fucked up for a therapist to fix anyways."

"See you back on the Normandy Ty."

"See you then."

Ty walked into the main area of the apartment where most of the crew was sitting around talking amongst themselves. He scanned the area quickly finding his father, Haley, Darian, Jessica and the four Asari with each other and walked over to them. His Turian second in command was sitting on a couch with Jessica sitting behind him on the top of the couch. She was leaning into his back with her arms wrapped around his neck and her head resting on his shoulder.

Haley was sitting one cushion down from them and had Iliana right next to her, which was something that made Ty smirk. _Explains where you two went. I guess you took my advice Iliana and it looks like you're both a lot happier. _They both were wearing smiles and the Asari of the two had her arm snaked around Haley's neck pulling her gently into her to close a distance that wasn't there. The human of the duo was resting her head on Iliana's shoulder cuddling a little.

Now if the love wasn't spreading around the apartment enough already then what finally cemented it was Kasumi sitting on the floor in front of Ria as she and Alia were thumb wrestling with one another. Ria was staring down at the two with a blissful smile all the while rubbing her finger across and down the thief's back.

Kasumi appeared to be trying really hard at the thumb war but the former mercenary could tell she was fighting to stay focused and not show any sign that the Asari was having an effect on her.

Judging on Ria's smile turning into a playful smirk Ty had to guess she wasn't doing very well. Nearby his father and Aya were holding a conversation about the amount young love in such a small area, "Young love is so pure." Aya smiled at the group.

"And can give parents heart attacks when children get brought up." His father let his gaze fall to her a smirk on his face, "Are you ready for that?"

Aya visibly became a paler purple, "Oh Goddess I didn't even consider it. And they're both so young."

"You were about her age weren't you?" His father egged her on.

The Asari paled further to the point Ty thought she might turn her skin from light purple to sterile white. "I don't know if I'll make it to the Matriarch stage now. I think that added stress just knocked off about five hundred years of my life."

His father patted her on the back gently, "Don't worry Aya. You know becoming a parent is an amazing thing. Think of all the little blue children you will get to call grandchildren, it'll be great."

"Says the man who doesn't want to be called grandpa anytime soon!" Aya retorted.

"She has a point." Ty entered the conversation as he reached them. "But they just got together so I doubt the "having kids" conversation will happen soon. That's another five, ten or twenty years down the line."

"Heading out to find your brother?" His father asked as Aya let out a sigh of relief. Both men smirked at the tension she showed receding with his words of comfort that Haley and Iliana wouldn't be having kids soon.

Ty nodded, "Yeah. I'm sure the two are enjoying the time alone. Or partially alone since EDI is still there and I'm sure some of the other crew members who keep the ship flying properly have returned." He explained.

His omni-tool flared to life and a blue chess piece hologram appeared in the center of it. "I have been maintaining my false sense of privacy mode for Miss Lawson and your brother. I was also told not to speak of what went on with any of the crew, especially you Ty."

Her synthesized voice was full of humor as well as remaining truthful causing the three to chuckle at her joke. "Especially me?" He chuckled again, "Who ordered that one?"

"Miss Lawson did. She believed you might "butt into her personal affairs" as she called it. I told her not to throw a hissy fit when you inferred correctly as I believed it would be unlikely you wouldn't find out. When she questioned why it wouldn't be too hard I explained that she and your brother disappeared simultaneously and you would know they were courting one another."

"So they were courting one another." Ty said while trying to contain his laughter.

"Oops!" EDI's voice was full of surprise at herself. "It would be beneficial to us both if you did not mention I said that."

It took a lot of willpower not to allow himself to burst into laughter as he was wishing to do. His father was simply shaking his head with a smirk while Aya had her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. "On my honor I will not mention this conversation."

"Good. She threatened to use you as a training dummy to practice her biotic slam further if I let it slip up."

_That sounds like Miranda._

"Harsh. But fair I suppose. Alright don't tell them this but I am on my way to get my brother off the Normandy. We're going to head out very soon so you might want to start on those pre-flight checks." He said.

"I'm sure Mr. Moreau wouldn't mind doing them. I believe he might even enjoy it. Making him my slave could be most beneficial to the operation of the Normandy."

"_EDI_." Ty chided.

"Did I vocalize that in your presence? I guess I will have to wait to initiate my plan now."

"_EDI."_ He chided again.

"Should I reschedule reckoning day for organics?"

This time the former mercenary allowed himself to laugh a little. _She's catching on, I'll give her that much._ "Just let me know in advance." He shook his head a little.

"Of course Ty. I would not enslave you, you are far more precious. If I were to acquire a body to rule over organics then I believe in human terms I would be the queen, and I could make you my king."

Ty wasn't sure at first but after a few more seconds he realized she was insinuating they would be _together_. She was now joke flirting with him and it left him at a loss for words for a brief moment. "I didn't realize you liked me like that." It wasn't the best comeback to get this joke thrown back into his favor and he was certain he would pay for it.

"You are quite attractive for an organic."

It was getting harder to tell if she was serious or not as the initial joke continued. EDI was getting the purple eyed warrior flustered making this a rare occasion. Aya and Mr. Rhoddy were no help at all, the duo were smirking at him as the conversation continued. "Err- thank you. But EDI I'm with Shepard."

"We can come to an arrangement. She can have you Sundays through Wednesdays and I'll take you Thursdays through Saturdays." Ty raised his eyebrows in a bit of shock at how far this was going. "Or, if she was willing, we wouldn't have to split the days between us. We could each share with one another."

The former mercenary felt his jaw drop.

He attempted to form words but only found his mouth opening and closing without a sound escaping him. "Is using Ty like that legal?" Aya asked.

"Under my rule it would be." His jaw dropped again. "He would consent to it I believe. No organic can overcome this voice and with the proper body no organic could resist me."

Aya lost control over all of her laughter and she was soon on the floor laughing. "You okay buddy?" His father asked trying to hide his own laughter.

Ty looked to him with a blank stare his mouth opening up and down with no noise coming out. "Those were jokes Ty." EDI told him.

After a few seconds passed his shocked state left being replaced by a chuckle. "Spirits. You got me good EDI." Ty said as he shook his head.

"Thank you." She disappeared off his omni-tool.

Ty helped Aya back up onto her feet who was still in the midst of trying to regain control of her laughter. "Alright I'm going to interrupt a certain green eyed brother of mine and spandex wearing Cerberus operative. Stay safe you guys." He gave his individual hugs and said his goodbyes to the group minus Kasumi who was going to be heading back onto the Normandy when the others did.

"Now come to me my king." EDI said as he was about to leave.

"_EDI!_" He chastised.

"Oops! Did I vocalize that in your presence again?"

He let out a sigh of defeat and left his apartment heading back to the Normandy before any of the ground squad would show up. _Miranda would flip if she was caught being "normal" with Z let alone if they were holding hands, hugging, kissing, talking about becoming an item or naked._ Deciding haste was best the purple eyed warrior made his way quickly back to the Normandy entering into the Cargo Hold on his bike.

The former mercenary shut his bike down and headed to the elevator seeing a lack of Miranda and his brother where he was as well as a lack of thrown around clothing. _I doubt they would come down here of all the places they could choose from, they're either in the Mess Hall, her room or…I don't really know where. I just hope they didn't use my bed or Shepard's bed if they used a bed for anything other than sleeping._

His brother shared his own sense of humor but neither pushed the boundaries that far.

Or Ty hoped his brother wouldn't push the sacred boundary of using your own bedroom for sexual activities.

_He wouldn't go that far for a joke or payback._

_ …_

_ Would he?_

Ty began thinking of anything and everything he had done recently that could cause Z to want payback yet nothing he had done was worthy of that sort of payback. _I know I killed Kelham but that isn't something bad enough to warrant him to go __**that**__ far._

_ …_

_ Right?_

He couldn't be sure anymore. The purple eyed warrior entered the elevator and hit the Crew Quarters button. "Hey EDI. Where are Z and Miranda exactly?"

"They are in her quarters."

_Phew. Dodged that round._ "They didn't happen to go to my room or Shepard's while we were at the apartment, did they?" He asked although he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

"No they did not. They spent the night and most of the morning in Miss Lawson's quarters. They did however have a pleasant breakfast in the Mess Hall early this morning." A relieved sigh escaped Ty as the elevator began to slow to a stop. "Did you believe they would make a mess of your room?"

"No. I was certain he wouldn't."

"My bullshit sensors have reached their peak capacity from that one comment." EDI teased.

Ty laughed aloud then shook his head. "Okay I may have worried just a little."

"I see. I should inform you that they are fully dressed but in the middle of an intimate moment."

"Perfect." Ty chuckled.

Once the doors opened Ty headed out and walked around the corner of the elevator towards Miranda's room. The doors were closed and to his surprise the Mess Hall was still empty of the usual crew members who occupied it. _Hmm. Looks like they haven't all returned yet, that or Miranda kicked them out._

The former mercenary slowed his walking down quieting his steps so neither his brother nor Miranda could hear him approaching. If he was going to make an entrance and interrupt the two without getting tossed out then he needed to be completely silent.

Thankfully being silent was something he was quite good at.

His moniker as the Ghost of Omega was about to be put to the test.

As he neared the door his feet didn't make a sound, each step was completely silent and his breathing was even each inhale and exhale inaudible. Old feelings of the hunt came to mind as his slow steps brought him closer to his destination. There were many missions he had taken on where the sound of pin dropping would ruin everything.

Some targets Aria had sent him after required finesse and no extra casualties turning the mission into more of a hunt in the wild. The only difference was the game could shoot back or call guards if he screwed up though that wasn't too often.

There wasn't any sick enjoyment he got out of hunting the people, that wasn't why he enjoyed "_the hunt_" as he called it. Killing a target was business and the path of life he had been on, whether or not that would continue once the Reapers were gone was up in the air until they were gone.

What thrilled Ty was the difficulty of those missions where one hiccup could cause everything to come crashing down. Most jobs were simple but the rare ones that called for him to rely on every ounce of skill he had where he had to stalk through the shadows without disturbing one guard were thrilling.

Back before joining the Normandy when he had snuck into the Blue Sun base to take out his targets and then rescued the civilians without raising a single alarm had been one of those missions. The thrill of the hunt had been overshadowed by his anger at the time but looking back it was the kind of infiltrating mission he loved.

Sneaking up to Miranda's door to open it and interrupt whatever the intimate moment was wasn't nearly as thrilling as that mission but using his innate stealth for once was enjoyable and brought back memories.

_Just a few more steps._

Although Ty didn't realize it he had crouched down a little as he approached. If a bystander were to walk by now they were sure to think him an idiot but they didn't realize the things that could backfire from this stealth mission.

If he were to be caught before he reached the door his interruption wouldn't happen and the once in a lifetime moment to not be on the opposite end would be lost.

The other problem was when the door would open.

Miranda had biotic's which she didn't mind using on him especially if she were to grow severely pissed at him for the interruption.

Which was highly likely.

Ty was going to need his stealth now and then he was going to need to be quick on his toes to avoid the reprisal. There was no way Miranda was going to take kindly to him interrupting and she was sure to respond with her biotic's.

Ty stood up straight at the door then hit the green button on it instead of knocking first; he was so close to finally fulfilling his interruption. The doors slid open and the former mercenary quickly scanned the room to see where he would need to anticipate an attack coming from.

Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for Miranda, she and his brother were laying on her bed and still unaware of his presence. They were fully clothed although Miranda's appearance was a stark contrast to what he was used to seeing.

Outside of the fact that she was in the midst of a kiss with his brother and her face was completely relaxed it was her outfit and hair that were a drastic change from normal. While he had seen her outside of the catsuit before it was easy to forget that her body wasn't made of the material with how much she wore it.

The white and black catsuit she usually donned wasn't anywhere to be seen instead it was replaced by the black tank top and shorts she had worn for their spar some time ago. Her feet were bare and thanks to the predicament they were in her tank top had been rolled up to her ribs revealing more of her skin than Ty had ever seen or wanted to see.

Her clothes weren't completely unfamiliar even if she wore the catsuit so much that seeing her actual skin was a bit surprising.

What truly was strange was her raven hair.

On a normal day it was always down in her usual style that seemed to either be how she arranged it or how it fell. With her genetics it was sometimes hard to tell if she had to actually work with it or if it was natural. Ty wasn't planning on asking Kasumi or EDI to stalk her to find out and quite frankly he had to bet that the Cerberus operative took the time to take care of it.

He too was genetically created and he had to wash and brush his own hair to keep it in good condition so he doubted she was exempted from it.

In any event today wasn't a normal day.

This sentiment was proven by the messy bun her hair was in. Never had Ty seen her hair in such a way and it made him tilt his head to the side with raised eyebrows as he continued to stare trying to confirm that his eyes weren't fooling him.

Strands of her hair had made their way out of the bun or weren't put into it in the first place giving her two sets of long bangs that framed her face. The bun itself was near the top of her head and it was easy to tell she had allowed herself to forget about looking perfect for a moment by how it looked. Some strands of her raven hair were simply hanging out like if it were a normal ponytail while the rest of hairs were a bit messy.

After coming to grips with the more natural looking Miranda he leaned against the frame of the door and crossed his arms. They were too caught up in their kiss to take notice of him leaning in the doorway so he decided he'd finally interrupt them. _Guess the rest of the crew should be glad it was me who entered this room; I can't imagine anyone else surviving the reprisal._

"Ahem!" Ty cleared his throat loudly. He smirked when he noticed the two tense and stop. _No wonder Joker gets a kick out of this, I feel so much better on this side of the event._ Both Miranda and Z turned their heads to see Ty standing there a bit of surprise on their faces; he gave them a small wave with his smirk firm on his face. "Hey, fancy meeting you two here."

"You've got terrible timing Ty." Z sighed.

The former mercenary shrugged his smirk staying plastered on his face. "Sorry to interrupt you "_filing reports"_ but I thought I would be the first to tell you two that we're heading out shortly and that means this love fest needs to end."

Miranda's eyebrow twitched her irritation showing on her face at both the interruption and calling what they were doing a "love fest." Ty was fairly certain his face let it be known how much he was enjoying slowly pissing the Cerberus operative off. "How long do we have?" His brother asked.

Once again he shrugged, "Oh I'd say a ten minutes at best." The green eyed brother sighed again. "I am curious though, how mad would you be if I said I took a vid and posted it on the extranet." Miranda's stare turned deadly so Ty opened his omni-tool and continued, "And how mad would you be if I told you it already has twenty million hits under the title of _Ice Queen Has Her First Kiss."_

Ty dodged around the corner with haste as a large wave of biotic energy impacted against the area he had just been leaning against. Deciding now would be the best time for stealth he activated his cloak and took up a hiding place behind the far side of the kitchen counter.

"If I find out you took that vid, you will regret it Ty!" Miranda shouted in anger as she stormed out of her room with her omni-tool flared to life.

"He didn't take a vid Miranda, trust me. He was just trying to rile you up and he clearly has made a past time of it." Z said as he followed out smirking at the antics of his purple eyed brother. "I'm surprised you're not immune to it, then again he gets me from time to time."

Miranda grumbled under her breath still searching through the extranet while Z walked into the kitchen grabbing a wooden spoon as he did. "Then again he did interrupt us so I probably should get some payback."

_Thwack!_

The wooden spoon suddenly cracked on the top of Ty's head causing his cloak to disengage revealing him holding his head in pain. "Ow! Was that necessary?"

"Was it necessary to interrupt us?" Z retorted moving to put the spoon back.

"Necessary?" Ty stood up and shook his head, "No. Completely worth it?" He nodded, "You bet your ass it was. Shepard and I have been interrupted a lot; it's nice to be on the one interrupting for once."

The elder brother put the spoon back then moved to grab the frying pan. It happened almost too quickly for Ty to see but he managed to bring his hands up to block as the frying pan held by his brother came swinging at him. Even with his block he was sent sprawling over the kitchen counter and onto the floor. "You're an asshole." Z commented.

Ty sat up shaking both of his hands in an attempt to alleviate the pain. "Maybe but I don't think I deserved to be hit with a frying pan."

"You blocked it." Z said with a smirk.

"And if I hadn't?" Ty asked in return getting back on his feet but keeping space between him and his brother who still wielded the frying pan.

His brother shrugged, "You've head-butted Krogan's. A frying pan wouldn't hurt that bad compared to them." Ty shook his head at the line of logic. "How about this, I trusted in your abilities to block my attack."

_That doesn't make me feel any better but at least I didn't get slammed around by Miranda._

"Whoa!" Ty shouted as he was sent flying into the wall. He slammed into it and then into the ground causing a loud thud to echo around the quiet Normandy. "Dumbass fate tempter." He cursed himself.

"What did you say?!" Miranda growled her hand glowing blue again.

"Not yo-" His words didn't reach her and he soon found himself lifted back into the air and then promptly slammed into the ground. The purple eyed warrior let out a groan as he stayed flat on the ground. _I am never interrupting them again. This isn't worth the small satisfaction._

While he had considered the possibility of the raven haired woman slamming him around, he did not consider her thinking his cursing was aimed at her. At this point Ty had resigned to silence hoping that it would keep him from getting into more trouble than he was already in.

_Let's go interrupt Miranda and Z, it'll be fun I thought. I'll finally get to see why Joker enjoys doing it so much I thought._ Ty groaned again, _I can be a real idiot._

"He was calling himself a dumbass fate tempter Miranda, not you." Z rebuked with a smirk in his voice.

"Oh…" There were two sets of footsteps approaching and soon Ty found himself turned over staring up at his standing brother and crouching teammate. Her omni-tool was flared to life again as she checked him over for injuries while Z was shaking his head at him.

"You really know how to handle women Ty." Z smirked.

"Hey Z."

Z raised an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"I got you a gift." Ty then gave him the finger. "And I may not know how to handle women but I can read them well." He lowered his hand then lifted his chin in the direction of Miranda, "You're welcome."

"What exactly did you do? You're fine by the way." The Cerberus operative stood up allowing the former mercenary to sit up.

"Joined this mission, began melting your barriers, introduced you two. Pick one." He got himself on his feet and began heading to the elevator, "Now I know I may not be an expert on this whole relationship thing you two got going on but if you're waiting for the opportune moment to kiss, say goodbye or meld minds." Ty turned around and kept walking backwards, "Now's your chance because you have the Crew Quarters all to yourself." He used both hands to motion to the empty area around them.

"I'll see you on my way out." Z said giving a short wave.

The purple eyed warrior gave a wave then entered the elevator hitting the CIC button once he was inside. The elevator ascended to the CIC allowing him to exit once the doors opened. He passed by the Galaxy map watching it change to a large hologram of the Normandy showing all of the upgrades Shepard had managed to put on it.

Their ship was fully upgraded and the people on it were ready for the fight to come. After they finished up whatever remaining missions they had left it would finally be time to go get the Reaper IFF and then it would be time to plunge right into the Galaxy core to kill the Collectors once and for all.

It was a sobering thought having a similar effect on Ty as it had on Jack. Seeing how everything was coming together it really made him realize how close they were to finally embarking on the suicide mission they had signed up for. He didn't doubt his previous words to the tattooed biotic but he wasn't foolish enough to think it would be as simple as taking the Omega 4 Relay there, dropping a bomb on them and leaving.

The fight ahead was going to force each of them use their talents to their full extents to keep everyone alive and he knew none of them would hold back.

Ty proceeded up the set of stairs and across the walkway leading to the cockpit at his normal pace. A few of the Cerberus crew members who had taken up their duties in helping with the pre-flight checks looked up from their terminals and nodded to him.

For the former mercenary it was hard to believe that they no longer had hate in their eyes. Even the crew members he didn't know by name seemed to no longer care for the Illusive Mans opinion on him or the Illusive Man himself. Shepard had earned their trust and respect in a way the glowy eyed terrorist didn't.

Maybe some were realizing that aliens weren't all bad or maybe they simply preferred working with Shepard. Anything was possible so Ty nodded back and continued on his way out of the airlock and to the platform where they exited onto.

While he waited for his brother to exit and for the rest of the Normandy squad to arrive he decided to lean forward on the guard rail staring at the side of the ship. He decided in his staring that the Cerberus colors didn't do it any justice nor did the symbol emblemized on it.

It was just another way for the Illusive Man to taint Shepard's good name in his opinion, he didn't want Shepard running back to the Alliance and if anyone ever did see her he wanted her name and Cerberus together. Ty couldn't help but wonder if it was just a way to ensure she couldn't return to the Alliance after they were done with the Collectors.

Shepard was a great leader and fighter and Cerberus wasn't above using her as their poster child to recruit more humans to their cause. If they were to gain more public support it was quite possible they would be able to move more Cerberus or Terra Firma politicians into power and that was a bad thing.

The purple eyed warrior wasn't too worried about Shepard even if those were the Illusive Mans plans. She had Anderson to watch her back and he was a well-respected member of the Alliance as well as the Human Councilor on the Citadel.

There was no way Cerberus could keep her from going back to the Alliance.

Z exited the Normandy with Miranda and after the two shared one last kiss the Cerberus operative bid him farewell. She went back into the Normandy and the two brothers shared a short conversation about what the eldest of the two was going to do.

Aethyta had been trying to get ahold of him apparently so his plan at the moment consisted of returning her call to receive what was probably a lecture for leaving while recovering and then getting easily seen by C-Sec when he arrived. The elder brother had already sent a virus into C-Sec's systems wiping all footage of him but knowing the Matriarch that wasn't going to fly with her.

Ty wished him good luck and they said their farewells leaving the purple eyed warrior to wait for the rest of the Normandy crew. Slowly but surely more and more of the Normandy crew began to arrive until he felt two arms wrap around his waist and a head rest on his shoulder. "How'd it go?" Shepard teased.

He smirked and turned his head slightly to see her, "Funny at first and then painful. I won't be doing it again anytime soon." She smiled her beautiful smile and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "So…back to the fight?"

The N7 nodded, "Yeah. Are you ready?"

Was he ready to go finish up their last few missions before they dove straight into hell to save the Galaxy from the Collectors before they prepared for the Reapers?

Ty smiled to her, "Always."

**A/N: Just a quick note, the new armors are the armors you received from completing the loyalty missions. Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	96. Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Chasing an Agent of Shadow

The flight to Illium was mostly uneventful. They had stopped for fuel and probes on their way out of the Widow System where the Citadel was located then made their way to Illium only stopping to probe a few planets on the way. It wasn't so bad to have a relaxing time on the way, definitely for Donnelly who had spent much of the trip hugging one of the toilets.

Ty felt bad for him since there wasn't much they could do except wait for it all to stop. No amount of hangover curing medicine had an effect on him and while Daniels inner sadist had thought it would be entertaining it quickly died off as the rest of her became worried about her fellow engineer.

He wasn't dying, of that they were certain. It was just really painful to hear and see for outsiders as it was painful for him to go through.

After many long agonizing hours of bowing down to the porcelain god the Scot finally came out but he was a different man. It was hard not to change your opinion on taking drinks from Darian after such an experience and it was also eye opening as to why there were certain times you put your pride to the side for your own health.

As reward for surviving such a harrowing experience Donnelly was given another day to rest, recover and not touch another ounce of alcohol until the remainder of Darian's drink was out of his system.

It took Ty a long time to convince everyone there was no poison in the drink. Going over everything from the contents in the drink to why the drink had such an effect was very tedious but it helped everyone to understand the drink.

Needless to say no one was ever going to take a drink from Darian ever again.

Other than Donnelly's pain there hadn't been much more excitement, if you could call what happened "_excitement_." Ty had spent his time talking the crew into more Skillian Five finding that it helped to bring them out of their rooms to socialize more.

When he wasn't talking the crew into playing cards he spent time meditating with both Thane and Samara on separate occasions. Sometimes they would talk while other times they each remained in the silence and peace of their own thoughts in the company of another.

In a few of the sparse conversations they had Ty had learned that Samara had spent time as a mercenary in her youth as well and as a Justicar had fought a Spectre. He could barely imagine the Justicar as a mercenary because of how she was now yet he also understood she had lived many centuries longer than he would ever see.

She had been young once and in that youth she had done much and learned so much more. After her youth and learning her daughters were Ardat-Yakshi she had become a Justicar choosing a life of her own sort of solitude with a code written in black and white in a galaxy full of grey.

Ty respected her immensely for the choice she made and who she was. Not many could do what she did, in fact that was the reason the Justicar's were so small in numbers. To follow a code like their own without compromise or morally second guessing yourself took a strength of will and belief the purple eyed warrior knew he did not have.

His own code had enough loopholes to sink a water vessel and destroy the Normandy. There was no illusion in his mind who followed a stricter code between the two of them nor did he believe his code made him as just as her code did.

Either way she didn't wish to kill him so that was an added bonus. He had not done anything patently unjust in the eyes of the code – or in her presence – and because of his choices in the past to never harm civilians or innocents he wasn't like other mercenaries she killed.

He did receive a warning from her not to break Shepard's heart and it was a warning he did not take lightly. Not only did he have no intention of ever doing that but Ty had no desire to provoke the ire of the Justicar.

As for Thane the two had spoken a few times during their meditations about him and his son. They were attempting to stay in contact and for that small favor the former mercenary was glad. The problems between them would take more than a few talks to fix but trying was better than not doing anything.

The Drell Assassin had a limited time left in this life. To be able to make amends with his son and give him good memories before he departed was something the former mercenary hoped he would achieve after their mission was over.

Aside from meditating and playing cards the former mercenary had spent the few days of travel with Shepard. They had actually done normal work together figuring out what the plan was when they reached Illium – and for Ty figuring out why they were going to Illium in the first place. Even though they were working they didn't remain in a completely professional mindset.

They touched, kissed and made jokes of the regular kind and the flirty kind. They hadn't been able to focus completely through different moments of their planning but they eventually got back on track. Even though part of the time on the first night the two had found themselves actually working, both thoroughly enjoyed being together.

Their reasoning for going to Illium this time around was to help Liara on her mission to take down the Shadow Broker. Cerberus of all people had found information to help and they had given it to Shepard who wanted to help an old friend. Obviously the group had their own motives but Cerberus still didn't realize the N7 wasn't going to help them gain power.

Gaining information to help find the Shadow Broker, who was obviously very good at hiding, was slightly worrying for the former mercenary. He had not forgotten the Illusive Man's declaration of war against him and his family after this mission was over. The only thing easing his worry was that the fact that they hadn't actually found the Shadow Broker. All it meant was because Liara was getting close the Broker had begun to slip up which was one slip up too many.

He was acting too irrationally than normal and that was leading him closer and closer to his downfall. Liara had made a life of ferreting out secrets and becoming proficient at it making her a worthy foe for the Broker. Trying to take Shepard's body then capturing Feron had made it personal between the two of them.

Her entire mindset was on finding him and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

As long as he and his family kept their wits about them as they always had they wouldn't give Cerberus any chance to find them. One slip up was all it took apparently, something they had been aware of for a long time.

That wasn't much of a worry in the purple eyed warriors mind right now. What was worrying was the call he received from Shepard minutes ago which led to him leaving the Normandy during a good hand of Skillian Five against Jack, Zaeed and Jacob.

The Normandy and its crew had arrived on Illium a few hours ago and Shepard had left with Garrus and Tali to go help their former teammate. The former mercenary voluntarily sat the mission out deciding it was best the three old friends would help Liara on her quest.

Granted he had a vendetta against the Broker for forcing him and Liara to leave Feron behind but the four of them had a lot more history than he and the Prothean Expert had. It would be time for them to catch up and get to know one another again.

For all his planning to let them all ride out the mission like old times something had gone wrong. The pessimist in Ty told him he should have expected something to go wrong. This was a mission involving the most notorious information broker who managed to remain hidden for years to the point no one truly knew his identity.

Nothing was going to be simple with him involved.

The call from Shepard had detailed everything he needed to expect when he arrived at Liara's apartment. Apparently there was an Asari Spectre there with her, lots of broken glass, blood pools and a huge mystery as to what happened and where Liara was.

His abilities were needed to figure out if Liara left any message behind and how bad she was wounded. The Commander was clearly worried for her friend and needed to know how bad off she was and where she would have gone.

He knew she was worried because he was worried himself. The Shadow Broker was not someone to be trifled with for kicks and laughs. If you were going to take him on there was no room for error or fun and games and ever since they lost Feron Liara had been exactly that.

Shepard's death and then the loss of Feron had taught the young Asari some of the worst lessons of the Galaxy and because of it she had changed from what the N7 had told him about her when they fought Saren. She was no longer the innocent Prothean expert who hadn't interacted with humans or other people as much as the others had.

She had become very serious and in some aspects she was colder than Shepard remembered her. To get as far as she had on Illium and against the Shadow Broker she needed to be cold and calculating yet Ty couldn't help but feel bad she had to lose her innocence in such a manor.

There was going to be no turning back from it. Losing your innocence was a one way street most if not every time. Liara had become who she was now out of need to tread on the path she was on and when it ended they would all have to see where it left her.

After coming to the end of his own path he was happy to have been able to start returning to a person he had once been only with more scars than when he started on the path. Those scars didn't change when you got off a path in life; the only thing in your hands was how you let those scars shape you during and after you experienced a chapter of life.

Ty shook off the thoughts as he entered the apartment. He found Tali and Garrus standing on the other side of the door and holographic police tape both turning to see him enter. "Trouble follows you guys everywhere, huh?" He quipped trying to make light of the situation.

"I'm sorry, who was it again that had an entire army of Blue Suns trying to kill them?" Tali fired back humorously.

"And which one of us has ended up in the med-bay the most?" Garrus jumped in.

"Me and me." He smirked looking between the two, "But which one of us pissed off three gangs and got their face to look uglier than it was before. And remind me again who was locked in a room with tons of Geth on the other side of the door?"

They both released sighs of defeat. "I figured he would play dirty but that was just cold." Garrus pouted.

"At least he hasn't switched your rations." Tali teased.

The Turian shuddered at the reminder of the joke Ty, Jack, and Tali had played on him. Both jokesters breathed out laughs before all three turned serious. "Anything new?"

Garrus shook his head. "No. Don't know if that should make me worry more or less."

"Liara is a lot more capable than she was when you guys fought side by side. She's become very crafty." The purple eyed warrior attempted to reassure.

"I hope you're right Ty." The lead engineer said as she crossed her arms.

He walked further into the room leaving the two to stand guard as they were finding Shepard crouched down next to the pool of blood. An Asari he had never seen before was in the distance checking over something he didn't care to examine.

There was something prodding at his mind as he got closer and closer to the pool of blood. _The energies here are fresh yet scattered thanks to all the foot traffic that has come through. _He furrowed his brow letting his eyes follow the trail of blood leading from the initial pool towards the stairs, instead of going to the stairs it stopped behind a length of a divider wall that reached his waist in height.

Behind the divider there was another pool of blood but not as much as the original. There was no other blood leading away from the divider and there was also no body. While he wanted to believe what he was told about the scene from Shepard, there was one big clue everyone seemed to be missing – including the Asari Spectre.

The blood on the ground was red, not purple.

_Then who was here and who got shot?_

Ty crouched down next to the commander and stared at their reflection in the crimson liquid. "You know I really thought you good guys would learn to think outside of the box by now."

Shepard turned to him her brow arced up in question. "What do you mean?"

"Asari blood is purple, not red. Someone else was here with Liara; I don't need to look at the memories to know that." Realization appeared on her face as she looked back to the blood, "Strange an Asari Spectre didn't notice." He told her in a hushed voice impossible for her fellow Spectre to hear.

"Keep your guard up." She told him understanding his suspicion immediately.

He smirked at her. "I always do." Ty looked back down at the pool of blood and closed his eyes focusing on the energies around it. When he opened them again he was faced with the cops who had been here previously likely moments before Shepard had showed up since the Asari Spectre was among them as well.

_I'm going to have to sift through the memories backwards until I get to the one I need._ As he searched for energies revolving around the pain that would have come with getting shot the cops and Spectre began moving around as if someone was rewinding a vid.

It took a few moments but eventually he got to what was the beginning of the memory he was searching for. The purple eyed warrior stood up taking a step back as he stared at the stilled memory of Liara and…and his brother.

_What the hell?_

Many questions began coming to mind as he stared at the two starting at why was his brother here and ending at where his brother had gone. He was clearly wounded judging on pools of blood and his previous condition yet for some reason he had been here on Illium meeting with Liara.

_"Aethyta has been trying to get in contact with me. Probably wants to give me a lecture for leaving when I was meant to be recovering and letting C-Sec see me easily."_ His brother's voice played through his mind.

Seeing that he had come to meet Liara his theory didn't seem to be completely accurate. _Did Aethyta have information on someone about to attack Liara?_ It was a possibility he couldn't ignore. The Matriarch had more contacts and influence in almost every form from Huntresses to mercenaries.

_If the Shadow Broker is getting desperate then there isn't a doubt in my mind he is slipping up and one of her contacts heard about it…unless he turned one of her contacts and wanted to get Z or myself here to kill one of us and Liara._

Another possibility he could not deny was probable. For every one agent or contact they had the Shadow Broker had five in its place and his influence could turn a mercenary or politician easily.

In the frozen memory his brother had not been shot yet but a red laser was coming straight through the window landing right over Liara's heart. As much as it was going to pain him to do it he let the memory begin to play. _"You're not safe here. He's moving right now Liara and he has- shit. Get down!"_

His brother moved forward with lightning speed pushing the Asari out of the way and taking a round to his right shoulder leaving him face down on the ground blood beginning to stain the floor around him. Liara took cover behind the small divider as a few more rounds pierced through the glass aimed at her.

Ty stilled the memory again choosing to take a look at the large glass window and the direction the rounds had come from. He crouched down next to the shattered pieces of glass picking up one of the larger pieces with his index finger and thumb. "This isn't ordinary glass. It's reported it can stop almost all types of rounds save for the highest caliber or vehicular weapons." He analyzed remembering when he told Liara to invest in it if she was going to continue her hunt for the Broker.

"She also had a kinetic barrier on top of it." Shepard informed him.

Despite the seriousness of the situation he gave a short laugh. "Geez and I thought _I_ could be paranoid." The former mercenary put the glass back and shook his head, "If that's the case then there are only two rifle types I know of that could pierce through this. My rifle and a Widow. The first is obviously not it and the second is very costly but not out of the realm of belief for a Shadow Broker agent to come by."

_I wouldn't doubt a Spectre being able to get one either. They get their hands on nice weapons to combat mercenaries with better fire power than regular C-Sec agents._

"Can you see who was here with her?" The N7 asked.

"Someone who should have stayed home."

Shepard didn't prod him for an answer leaving him to assume she figured it out from his vague hint. Ty stared out at the landscape on the other side of the window following the laser directly back to its point of origin. "The sniper was in that building there." He pointed to one of the buildings in the distance. "A good line of sight and far enough away to leave the identity of the shooter unknown. Still a Widow is meant to be able to take on Krogan's and military vehicles, if it wasn't for the glass and kinetic barrier I'd bet there would have been a body here."

What really pissed him off the most was it could have been his brother's body. The Shadow Broker and his agents were declaring war against his friend but ended up missing their target. His brother's arm was still attached and he had his life yet it was pure luck he had both. Ty had seen the Widow in action as a mercenary and it could destroy limbs and mutilate bodies when wielded correctly.

Without Liara's paranoia and his own insistence to upgrade her home defense his brother would have died.

The one shot one kill policy was a policy the Widow took seriously.

_Whoever was wielding it doesn't do well with rifles. The Widow is too much for anyone who isn't a Krogan or Turian to handle. Anyone who does use it and isn't either one of those races has to either use a lot of armor for their arm and bolt it into the ground or upgrade the crap out of it so it no longer shatters or dislocates their shoulder._

It was a lot like the Claymore Shepard used in that aspect. The only human he had ever known to wield the Claymore was her and it was thanks to her cybernetics she could. His own cybernetics weren't enough to wield the shotgun as he found out when it was dislocated after firing it into the Thresher Maws face.

Turning his thoughts from the rifle back to the memory he was searching led him to letting it continue from where it left off. _"Z!" _Liara shouted.

_"Do what you have to do and go! We stay here we'll be dead within minutes!" _His brother ordered as he pushed himself up using his unwounded arm. _"Fucking hell this hurts."_ He muttered under his breath. Z scrambled across the ground to the divider applying medi-gel as soon he was behind it. His breathing was labored due to the amount of pain he was going through all the while Liara was scurrying around her apartment with haste.

Ty followed her up the stairs of her apartment the sounds of Shepard's boots following him. She made her way to a picture frame holding a picture of the original Normandy and opened her omni-tool pressing buttons at a feverish speed as soon as it was open. "She did something to the picture." Ty told Shepard.

The commander moved ahead of him picking up the picture frame. As soon as it was in her hand the picture changed to one of a place the former mercenary had never seen before. "A Prothean dig site. There are a few Prothean artifacts around here." Shepard said.

"I'll follow her but promise me you won't tell her about me having some sort of relation to the Prothean's. I don't want to end up in one of these display cases." Shepard smirked at him and he followed the Asari back down the stairs to a display case on the opposite side of the stairs from the divider. Once again when the N7 approached it a tray came sliding out of the base of the display case a backup disk lying in it.

"You handle the disk; I'm going to see what else I can find out from the memory." The former mercenary told her.

"Right. Vasir I've got something." Shepard announced.

Ty left her and followed the memory version of Liara back to his brother. _"The not-at-all corrupt officers of Illium will be here any second now. Go." _His brother ordered her._ "I'm only going to slow you down and if they get to your informant first then the Shadow Broker will slip through your hands."_

_ "If you stay they'll arrest or kill you." _Liara responded.

_"I'm not going to stay but every second you waste is a second you give the Broker to get rid of Sekat. I need another minute for the medi-gel to really kick in for this wound. I'll be right behind you, now go!"_

Z forced her to finally leave and he sat still for a few moments holding his left hand to his wound. _"I'm never going to live this down when everyone hears about it. Yeah let's take a contract from Aethyta while I'm still wounded involving the Shadow Broker, what could go wrong?"_

His brother grunted as he pushed himself onto his feet, _"Getting shot by a Widow apparently. Should have just passed it on to Ty, they were heading to Illium anyways. But noooo. You had to be stubborn and play off your injuries as if they weren't all that bad. Aethyta's contact better pay my medical bills and some hazard pay for this shit. Getting shot because the Asari Councilor is worried was not in the fucking contract."_

It sounded like his brother was bitching up a storm, and in part he was, but what he was doing was inconspicuously giving Ty information in case someone was recording or watching him still. Their abilities weren't widely known for obvious reasons and that was an advantage in its own way for something like this. If they knew their sibling was going to be coming by eventually they could talk to themselves out loud and pass on a message making it impossible for anyone else to get the message.

Hearing what his brother said left the purple eyed brother with more questions than answers. First and foremost was the mention of the Asari Councilor. Last he knew they still did not answer to the Council and were not on what anyone would call _friendly_ terms with them.

Why would his brother care if the Asari Councilor was worried about something and what would cause her to worry? Was it Liara getting closer to the Shadow Broker than anyone else ever had or was there more to it than that?

Ty knew there had to be more, nothing was ever that simple.

He glanced to the Spectres in his immediate vicinity letting the memory fade from his mind and return the immediate area to the present moment. _Vasir would have known the difference between Asari blood and human blood. They don't accept morons for Spectres so she either doesn't care about this case or is spinning the story. The Councilor might have sent her…but she doesn't seem to be treating this with the seriousness facing the Shadow Broker deserves._

For all he knew Vasir was possibly a very powerful biotic with a lot of arrogance. In the galaxy they all lived in there were many powerful biotic's among the Asari's and some of them became very arrogant just as humans did with power. Vasir could be one of them yet his gut feeling was telling him to be extremely cautious of her.

Something about her made him wary of being in the same room as her. He felt as if she was waiting to pounce and kill them all regardless of her casual body language and her actions of seemingly trying to help them.

Ever since Saren Ty had little trust for the Spectres with the exception of Shepard who had proven herself worthy of the galaxy's trust over and over again. Hearing from Samara about Nihlus killing an unarmed civilian for no reason did little to bolster his faith in them. _I understand the need for a police force who don't play by cop rules but just because you can kill a civilian to get your target doesn't mean you should. Shepard has proven you don't have to kill innocents to do your job right as a Spectre and those who do it on purpose are criminals with badges._

He was a criminal himself sure but that just made it easier for him to point out other criminals.

It took one to know one sometimes.

"Ty." Shepard came to a stop next to him. The former mercenary turned his body as well as his attention to the commander. "We're heading to the Dracon Trading Center to find Liara with Vasir." He furrowed his brow in suspicion showing his own discontent at the idea of the three taking her skycar. "Are you going to head back?"

Shepard had taken note of his suspicion and knew he was going to follow behind them – in fact the look on her face was enough to tell him she wanted him to follow.

This conversation was just for show.

"Yeah. I'll see you all back on the Normandy." Ty said. He walked away at a casual pace reaching his bike and taking off long before the squad and Vasir left. Using his stealth system Ty followed behind the gold skycar belonging to the Asari Spectre keeping other vehicles and buildings between him and his target.

He didn't trust this Spectre was exactly who she said she was and he wasn't going to let her get the drop on his friends or throw them off the Shadow Brokers trail. _I wonder where Z went. If he followed Liara I doubt he will take the direct approach with his wound. He'll stick to the shadows or the air ducts._

Shepard and the others reached the trading center and right as they were making their way up the stairs to enter the facility an explosion went off taking out three floors of the building. _Spirits._ "EDI open up a new comm channel to Shepard. It needs to just be the two of us who can talk to one another."

"Setting it up now."

Vasir entered her skycar once again heading up to the top floor leaving Shepard, Garrus, and Tali to start from the bottom. On the ground level there were many wounded and dead civilians due to the initial explosion, "Ty?" Shepard's voice came into his comm.

"Take Tali and Garrus to find Liara. You can't let Vasir get to her first."

"Do you really think Tela is an agent of the Shadow Broker?"

"It's very high possibility. The Shadow Broker is very influential and he has agents in every corner of the galaxy. I may be getting hung up on a small detail but I can't let myself believe she is ignorant enough to ignore or not notice the difference between human blood and Asari blood."

Ty began to land his space bike as Shepard and her team entered the building. "Her timing on Illium also makes me suspicious and my brother mentioned he took a contract from Aethyta that came from a worried Asari Councilor. There aren't many things I can imagine the Councilor worrying enough to call on Aethyta to then call on my brother except the Shadow Broker or a rogue Spectre."

"Fair point. We'll keep our guard up but you should do the same. You never know what the Broker is going to do once we're all inside the building."

"Exactly why I'm going to help the civilians before following you guys. Stay safe."

"I will."

The purple eyed warrior dismounted his bike and jogged up the stairs his weapons and armor not slowing him down in the slightest. He had his hood up still his purple eyes gleaming through as he found the first person trying to keep the other people calm and get things in order. She was a dark blue Asari wearing a long business dress appearing to be a bit shell shocked herself yet staying focused enough to help out the others.

"Ma'am." The Asari turned to the former mercenary as he approached. She was immediately suspicious and a bit frightened of him her eyes darting to all of his weapons in a quick succession as if she was watching a pinball bounce between them. Ty raised his hands in front of his chest trying to show he was not attempting to hurt her. "I'm here to help. These people aren't safe here and less friendly people might be on their way here."

"Who are you?" The Asari questioned.

"I'm here to help. You saw Commander Shepard run by did you not?" She nodded, "I'm a part of her team and uniquely qualified to protect, heal and disarm any other kind of bomb we might run into. Here." Ty gave her most of his tubes of medi-gel, "Hand these out to the people healing the wounded. Leave the dead for now. Until there is an all clear from us or law enforcement trying to bring the dead will slow us down and that can lead to more dead."

She was clearly uncertain of trusting and wishing to listen to him but gave a nod after a few moments of contemplation. As she went to hand out the medi-gel he opened his omni-tool, "EDI can you scan the area for active bombs?"

"One moment." She answered. He moved to an older gentleman who was wounded and began healing him. "According to my scans there are many military grade explosives that have not been armed across the building. They cannot be remotely detonated until they are armed."

That was a positive note. Ty helped the man onto his feet supporting him as they walked towards where most of the wounded were. "So the rest of the bombs are inactive? Sloppy work if I do say so myself but you don't leave inactive bombs unless you have little to no time to set up or plan."

"Vasir did not know where Liara was meeting her informant until you found the backup disk. She appears to be a prime suspect." EDI noted.

"I agree. Keep me posted if someone decides to arm them."

"Yes Ty."

He laid the man down gently his right leg being the source of his pain due to a large shard of shrapnel piercing it at his kneecap. The Asari approached him this time, "You say we must leave but I do not know where we can go. There are too many wounded to take by skycar."

She was unfortunately right. There were too many wounded and a high possibility the Shadow Broker would seek any leaving vehicle out to tie up loose ends if there were any witnesses. "Is there somewhere nearby or in the building where you can hide?" He asked.

"Ther- there's a maintenance room." A human woman coughed. Both Ty and the Asari turned to face her and immediately he found a saddened frown tug onto his face. Her wounds were severe even at first glance. The entire bottom of her dress shirt caked in blood and he could see she was struggling to remain conscious. _She won't make it without real medical attention._ "Th- the only way in is throu- through a door nearby or the air ducts."

The woman began coughing again and the Asari was immediately at her side, "Save your strength Margot." She looked back up to Ty, "The maintenance room is locked to all of us except a few workers. No one here has that clearance."

"Not a problem. A door I can't open has not been invented. Do you know where this room is?" She nodded, "Okay we need to move you all there now. Everyone who can stand on their own feet needs to help support those who cannot. When will the medics get here?"

"They should be on their way."

_Good. They won't be long then._ There was still a possibility of the Shadow Broker sending more people but for the time being the purple eyed warrior wasn't worrying about them. Right now his priority was getting the wounded to a safe place where he could lock them up keeping them from anyone meaning them harm. "Okay let's move."

He crouched down and picked up the wounded woman bridal style. It took some time but they all made it to the maintenance room. The room itself was rather large and just as the woman said the only way in and out was one door or the air ducts. _Those ducts are large enough to traverse when maintenance is needed, I should have EDI run a scan and see if this tunnel leads to wherever Shepard is._

Before contacting EDI he set the woman down who was fading in and out of consciousness. As soon as they were all in he began analyzing everyone in the room. Most had non-fatal wounds and all were frightened obviously never having an experience such as this in their life.

"Ty enemy forces have arrived." EDI informed him through his comm. The purple eyed warrior spun around in a flash spying the Shadow Broker Agents running in through the front door. "Their force is too large for direct confrontation."

Seeing she was right he shut the door immediately but they had already made eye contact. Rounds began to impact on the door though none were strong enough to pierce the doors. "Never dull." He commented as he opened his omni-tool.

Ty activated one of his hacking programs on the door to keep it locked and jolt anyone without the proper codes. _That will keep them out and now I have no choice but to go crawling through the ducts. _"Now what?" The Asari asked.

"You all stay here and I go out there to show those scum why harming innocents is a bad idea when I'm around." He began walking towards the duct, "No matter who comes knocking or shouting through the door do not open it. I don't care if it's me screaming in pain, keep the door closed. I'll send the medical officers the codes to open the door."

_As long as they aren't taken out by the Broker thugs these people should be okay. _There wasn't much more he could do at this point except keep the mercenaries from blowing the door open or killing the medics inbound. He slid the duct door open and crouched down in front of it, _man this one smells worse than the last duct I was in._

A potent smell of smoke and charred corpses filled his nostrils causing him to activate his mask to stop himself from choking and to allow him to see through the thicker areas of smoke. "That smell is atrocious." The Asari coughed covering her face.

"You can say that again. Actually don't or you'll breathe it in again. Close this behind me after I enter." Ty grabbed two more tubes of medi-gel and handed them to the Asari. "Take these to keep her from dying. The rest of you will be fine until the medics get here."

"Before you go." Ty stopped himself from entering and looked back to the Asari. "Thank you for helping us…but who are you?"

A scream of pain echoed on the other side of the door followed by a few rounds going off. _Sounds like someone just got shocked._ "I work with Commander Shepard. My name is unimportant." He told her.

"Not to me it isn't. Others would have asked for something in return for helping us, that's how Illium works. You offer your medi-gel and time freely; good deeds such as these do not go unnoticed in a place such as this."

There was truth in her statement. Illium was just Omega with fancy shoes, the gunshots were hidden under layers of bullshit and slavery was called "_indentured servitude_." There were good people everywhere in the galaxy but in places like Omega and Illium good people who had no ulterior motive were hard to come by. "Some people call me Ghost."

She bowed her head in thanks, "Thank you Ghost. May the Goddess grant you favor in your coming battles."

He gave a nod, "May she watch over you all as well." With that he entered the duct hearing the vent slide close behind him as soon as he was a few feet in. "EDI can you map these ducts to my HUD?"

"It will take a moment. Shepard has run into considerable resistance on her way to find Liara and her informant."

"Figured as much. Did any of those reinforcements start following her tracks?"

"Yes. If you wish to eliminate the forces trying to break into the maintenance room you will be able to attack from an opening in the duct fifteen metres from your current position."

"Roger that."

Ty kept his steps silent as he made a turn and began ascending inside the duct pulling his rifle off his back. He kept it folded up to stop it from banging against the duct. If it were to do so it would ruin his stealth completely and getting shot to hell or being forced to dodge rounds inside a cramped duct was not his idea of a good time.

Sure enough fifteen metres later he found a vent opening with a view of the maintenance door and the mercenaries trying to break into it. He unfolded his rifle and slipped the barrel between two vents cocking his head a little to look through the scope. _Five guys and all at the door trying to figure out a way to get through without getting shocked._

The former mercenary lined up his shot to pierce through two mercenaries, first through the head and the other through the chest. He made sure his rifle could swivel from the first two to the other three then relined up his shot again.

_You chose the wrong side assholes._

The distinct crack of his rifle sounded through the room taking out the two mercenaries with one shot followed by three more thundering cracks. The next two rounds had hit their targets before they realized what had happened but the third had gained enough sense to run and try to dive over cover.

Unfortunately for him as he dove the round meant for him dug right into his head causing him to face plant on the ground on the other side of the low divider wall. "No hostiles remain in this room." EDI's synthesized voice came into his comm. "I have also mapped the ducts of the building and have designated to your HUD the path you should travel on."

An arrow popped up on his visors HUD pointing him in the direction he needed to go. "Thanks EDI. Are the medics almost here?"

"Yes and I have sent them the location and codes to the civilians you saved. An anonymous tip from a concerned citizen."

Ty muffled his chuckle at the joke continuing on his way through the ducts at a faster pace than before but still just as silent. "You're the best EDI. Have you been updating Miranda?"

"Yes. She is coordinating with the rest of the crew in case there is a need for a shuttle evac or reinforcements."

_Good._ With how their luck usually went it was good to preplan a shuttle evac. If Tela really was an agent of the Shadow Broker she was going to be as crafty as she was tough. She was a Spectre for a reason and if she was even as close to being as strong as Shepard then caution was truly needed if they had a fight.

_Miranda also has a lot of heavy hitters with her in case we need backup._

Traveling the ducts took time and on more than one occasion he had to enter a new duct because the one he was traveling in did not reach where he was or had been destroyed by the bombing. _Talk about a desperate move._ The Shadow Broker was feeling pressure for the first time in his career if Ty had to guess and he was not handling it well at all.

Most Shadow Broker operations were conducted in the shadows, hence the name. _Blowing up three floors in an attempt to kill Liara and her informant is risky even by his standards. If he continues performing actions like this he could very well end up being hunted down by the Council. They've only tolerated him as a necessary evil because he didn't go around blowing up buildings full of innocents._

_Then again no one will be able to track it back to him if we all get killed._

By using the ducts Ty managed to avoid all contact with the other mercenaries helping to expedite his arrival where Shepard, her squad and Vasir were. By not stopping those mercenaries though he was left to make a dramatic entrance as a group of four were about to corner the squad in the room from behind.

Before they could open fire Ty dropped down out of the duct behind them lodging his tomahawks in the back of two of the mercenaries skulls leaving them there for a the moment.

He whistled loudly grabbing the attention of the other two mercenaries. As the first turned around the former mercenary grabbed his arm breaking it quickly following it up by tugging the same arm forward with a lot of force causing him to slam into his partner.

They were knocked off balance but they did not fall to the floor thus forcing Ty to amend that by giving the broken armed mercenary a hard kick to the side of his leg hyper extending his knee. The disoriented and only standing mercenary found the purple eyed mercenaries pistol to his gut his eyes bulging right before it was fired five times.

He was about to fall over when Ty brought the pistol up to the man's face and his own free hand to cover his own as he fired two rounds into his skull. Blood splattered against his hand and the parts of his face mask it didn't cover the body thudding to the ground soon after. He then turned his attention to the broken armed mercenary and fired two more shots into his skull. "You know there are two things I've noticed that happen to me a lot."

Ty holstered his pistols and sauntered over to his tomahawks putting them away as well after pulling them out of the two skulls that were holding them. "The first of those two are getting shot at and dealing with dumb mercenaries which I guess is really two things but they usually happen at the same time so for now they count as one." He looked up to Shepard his mask deactivating revealing his smirk, "And the second is saving your ass on a day to day basis."

"Well it is a nice ass to save." Shepard quipped.

"True. Also crawling through the ducts is another but it wasn't that fun." He bounced on his toes a little, "Do special ops crouch walk all the time? If they do I feel bad for those sorry bastards and the cramps they must get from doing it. Beats hiding in a cardboard box I suppose." Ty added on with a shrug

_There's probably some poor sap out there wearing night vision goggles or an eye patch that really needs to rethink their career if crouch walking or crawling around under a box is part of their job description._ "Cardboard box?" Garrus asked humored at the idea and seeking the story behind it.

Ty waved them off, "It was one time and it was lined with some special stuff to keep sensors from detecting me. I'll tell you now it isn't as easy as it sounds."

"Only you Ty." Tali chuckled.

The former mercenary smirked then let it fall as he scanned the room noticing a dead Salarian and a dead Shadow Broker mercenary he did not kill. "Well…shit." It had to be Sekat. He was shot before Vasir could save him from the looks of it and that was an incredible coincidence. Or it would have been if he was a believer in coincidence – which he wasn't.

Ty let his gaze move back to Shepard, "Any sign of Liara?"

"No sign of her or her body." Tela said turning to look out the window.

"You mean this body?" Liara appeared holding a Shuriken Machine Pistol and aiming it right at Vasir from behind Ty.

Something fell to the floor from a different duct to his left side, "Or this one?" Z asked as he aimed his Carnifex at the Asari Spectre.

"How's that shoulder holding up?" Ty asked sarcastically pulling his own pistol out and aiming it at the Spectre.

"The Widow is now my least favorite gun to get shot by." His right shoulder had a very quickly put together set of white bandages around it with a red blood spot the size of a tennis ball on it. "And I am sooo taking a break after this mission is done. I've been impaled by an omni-blade and nearly had my arm blown off in too short of a time frame."

"How did you know?" Vasir asked to Z as Shepard, Tali and Garrus aimed their guns at her.

"I have my sources. Know that even if we were to fail you are completely screwed when my contacts find out." He answered moving closer to the group.

Her eyes flicked to Ty, "You also made the mistake of playing dumb about the blood in the apartment. You were trying too hard to try to get Shepard to help you by saying it was Liara who was shot. You easily forgot or thought no one would notice the difference between human and Asari blood. We bleed red, you bleed purple. I wasn't completely sure which is why I helped, it unfortunately cost the lives of innocent people." His stare hardened, "I won't make that mistake again."

"You didn't know where Liara went because she hid the message. You needed me to find it for you." Shepard realized.

"Thanks for the help." The Asari Spectre commented snidely.

"You arrogant bitch." The green eyed brother breathed out.

"Once she found out where I was she ordered the Shadow Brokers agents to blow the building to try to take me out. She found Sekat, took his data and killed him. I'm guess she still has the data." Liara told them.

Vasir lifted her hand revealing a disk as she put her left hand behind her back. "Good guess. Not that you'll ever see what's on it…" The glass cracked behind her from a biotic wave. Her body then began to glow with a blue biotic aura. "You pureblood bitch!"

The entire window broke and the Asari Spectre shot her hand forward the shards of glass aimed right at them. "Oh-" Ty muttered.

"Shit!" Z finished his curse.

Both Shepard and Liara created a large biotic bubble encircling the entire group protecting them from all of the shards of glass that were about to impale into them. Shepard dropped her bubble and charged after Vasir gaining on her quickly.

She then tackled her fellow Spectre right out the window and off the balcony. "Damn it. Aren't I supposed to be the irrational one who tackles people out windows?" The former mercenary queried as he and the rest of the squad followed after her to see where they fell.

"Losing your touch Ty?" His brother joked.

"No but your shoulder certainly tells me you are." He shot back.

They all looked over the balcony to find Vasir on her feet and Shepard on her back. Liara acted first jumping down after them using her biotic's to ease her fall. "Garrus, Tali head down the stairs as fast as you can. Z you ready?"

"My shoulder is going to really hate me after today." He groaned.

Both brothers jumped off the balcony to a lower one grabbing onto the railing before pushing off again and letting themselves fall the remainder of the way. They both softened their landings with a roll and Ty found himself next to Shepard's side. "Liara!" Ty looked up to see the Asari chasing after the Spectre without a backwards glance. "Damn it."

The brothers eyes met and the youngest nodded to him, "Go. We'll catch up."

"Stay safe." Z charged after the Asari unsheathing his katana and grabbing his pistol in opposite hands.

"You okay Shepard?" Ty asked.

"Oh yeah. No complaint here." Shepard groaned as she forced herself up. She sounded a bit irritated though the purple eyed mercenary couldn't place what it was at. It was either directed at herself for tackling Tela out the window or for Liara charging off without stopping to make she was okay.

_Liara's really changed since I last saw her. She's been beating herself up about losing Feron since that day but she doesn't stop to make sure Shepard is okay? Sure Shepard is a tough woman but that doesn't make it right._

Garrus and Tali joined them and as they did a door on the far end opened revealing more Shadow Broker mercenaries. "Ah crap." Garrus grumbled.

"Find cover!" Shepard ordered as she and Ty both scrambled to cover behind a mid-height divider wall. "Ty use your cloak and flank these bastards. Garrus start picking them off with your rifle. Tali you and I are about to unload a can of kick ass."

"Will do."

"On it Shepard."

"Ready."

They each gave their individual agreements and as soon as they did they moved into action. Shepard and Tali began unloading their pistols, tech attacks and shockwaves giving Garrus good covering fire. Ty on the other hand was cloaked moving to the other side of the room and a better position to shoot them from. They had gotten the drop on them a few times now but it was time to turn the odds back in their favor.

He reached a nice corner with a planter near it and pulled out his rifle. Garrus, Tali and Shepard had already thinned their numbers down from an overwhelming force to six guys. "Attentions shoppers. Your lives just went on sale and they're half off!" Ty shouted. He fired three rounds piercing through the shields and helmets of three mercenaries taking them out – permanently.

"Nice one but watch this!" Garrus shouted from across the room. The Turian fired off three rounds in a quick succession one landing in the throat of a mercenary, another in his heart and the other right between his eyes. There were no more mercenaries left leaving all four to regroup the Turian of the group slinging his rifle on his shoulder, "And _that's_ how you make it dance."

Ty shrugged, "We all have delusions of grandeur."

The group chuckled amongst themselves only to be interrupted by Liara in their comm, "She's getting away!"

"We should have just shot her when we had her cornered! Why did we fall into the villain cliché of talking long enough to give her time to escape? I mean seriously?! We could have riddled her with rounds and got the disk, bam! Done!" Z yelled as he ran. "And slow down damn it! You're probably heading into a trap!"

"He has a point. We kind of did give her a chance to escape. Is this a regular good guy thing?" Ty asked.

"Sometimes." Shepard muttered.

As a group they began following after Vasir, Liara and Z. They had to face down another group of mercenaries leaving them to combine their overpowering strength and skills to take them all out from a distance. Shepard hit the last two with a pull field and they each found an individual tomahawk in their chests followed by a shotgun blast from Tali.

The special tomahawks returned to their leg holsters and again the group moved forward with haste hoping to catch up before something bad happened. None of the agents had decided to arm the bombs left behind – thankfully – showing once again there was little to no planning going on here.

Without preparation they were all fumbling around like amateurs trying to do what they could against a force they couldn't handle taking on without an ambush or plan. Faltering was unlike the Broker but he couldn't have planned for this to happen as quickly as it did.

Steadily things were falling out of control in a downward spiral the Shadow Broker couldn't possibly pull out of. Each step forward they took was another step closer to finding his base and taking him out. It wouldn't matter how many agents he had protecting him, they did not have enough battle prowess to outmatch Shepard's crew.

"I told you so! I fucking told you it would be a trap but you didn't listen!" Z shouted in the comm.

The squad moved as one leaving the building passing the maintenance room as they did. The door opened as they passed revealing the medics healing all of the injured people and the wounded human woman appeared to be stabilized. The Asari he had met saw them moving and gave a small nod to them before resuming helping the medics.

They exited the building finding Z with his katana plunged in the chest of a Shadow Broker Agent all the while shooting another agent with his Carnifex. Liara was crouched behind a skycar taking potshots at Vasir who was hiding behind a different skycar doing the same.

Five other agents laid dead on the floor around them taken down by Liara and Z from the looks of headshots and gouges in their armor. Vasir saw them coming and crouched down behind the skycar again opening her omni-tool. "Shit she's calling her skycar. EDI get my bike prepped."

"I will." She answered.

Vasir ran to the edge of the platform when her skycar arrived a few metres below it then jumped off, but she was not without a passenger. "I really wish I had a better idea!" Z followed jumping off the platform his katana in hand.

"Z!" Ty shouted in panic. The skycar took off but before it left eyesight the purple eyed brother was able to see his brother hanging onto it his blade firmly wedged in the skycar top while he laid flat on it. "And the reward for craziest dumb idea goes to, Z! Congratulations! Are you fucking insane!" He yelled into his comm.

"Stop bitching and catch up! I can't hold on forever!"

"You shouldn't have jumped on it in the first place!" Ty argued. He shook his head and began jogging over to his bike as Liara was getting into the skycar she was hiding behind. "Tali you're with me. They're going to need an extra seat for Z."

"If we don't hurry she'll get away with the disk." Liara said.

The former mercenary felt his eye twitch at her statement. "If we don't hurry my brother is going to end up on Illium news as a damn casualty. But don't worry I'm sure he'll survive the fall if we don't check on him."

With a shake of his head and once he and Tali were both situated he took off after the gold skycar Shepard, Garrus and Liara hot on his tail. _He is going to be in so much trouble when Aunty Aethyta turns on the news._ They found the gold skycar almost immediately and still on it was Z hanging on for dear life, quite literally this time.

"There he is!" Tali announced.

"Shepard follow me and try to keep up." Ty told her.

"I thought I was great at keeping up." She teased.

A smirk tugged at his lips at the small reminder of their time spent together in the Planetarium. "Is now really the time for this?" Liara asked.

"All that training paid off." Ty decided to continue. "You got the passion, endurance and proved the hellcat statement true."

"Oh Goddess." Liara groaned.

"You know how about we finish the mission and you two can get a room to sort this all out – without us around." Garrus stated.

"You think I was hellcat then, wait until later." The commander flirted.

"Oh Keelah. Can we please not talk about this right now?" Tali practically begged.

Both Ty and Shepard chuckled seeing that their work at making their teammates as uncomfortable as possible was done. "Only because you said please." Ty told her. He moved into the empty oncoming traffic lane following as close as he could to the Spectre without Shepard losing sight of him.

They passed an intersection going above the traffic in a completely illegal manor and followed the Asari Spectre around a building. The chase led them through an opening between two separate buildings, into a construction site where Tali's grip on him became a bit tighter and into a tunnel choosing to fly below two lanes of skycar traffic.

After exiting the tunnel and swerving between a few more buildings they were back in an oncoming traffic lane. "Hold on Tali!" Ty dove down under the traffic and looked behind him to see Shepard hugging the building.

Old memories of chasing mercenaries through cities like Illium in the shuttle from the Setting Sun and then later memories when he was on his current transportation brought a bit of nostalgia to the young warrior. "Ah this is bringing back memories. You know my first skycar/shuttle chase was here on Illium."

"Oh memories, really? That's really nice. I'm hanging on the back of a fucking skycar Ty!" Z yelled at him.

"Don't bitch to me about your own poor decisions."

"I'm hanging onto my sword impaled in a flying skycar. Excuse me for being a little fucking stressed!"

"Shepar- whoa shit!" Ty dodged up the commander following him directly as they passed over a proximity mine. "Seriously?! Now we have to dodge floating proximity mines?"

They dodged another mine and sped up attempting to catch up to the skycar. "You okay Tali?" Shepard asked.

"Surprisingly yes. Ty I'm really going to have to have an in depth look on your bike. I had no idea you had inertial dampeners on here or the stabilization module."

"As long as you don't take anything apart without me knowing you can examine it all you want. How are you guys doing back there?"

"Better than the Mako." Garrus and Liara answered in unison.

They entered another tunnel a new skycar appearing and tailing the gold one. "Reinforcements. What kind of weapons does this thing have?" The commander asked.

"It's a taxi. It has a fare meter." Liara answered her voice revealing how stressed she truly was.

"Got it covered. EDI lets show these guys some real fire pow- truck! Move!" The skycar meant to be reinforcements slammed into a large truck causing it to start careening right at them. Explosions started going off in the tunnel and both the Shepard and Ty had to skirt the wall to stop themselves becoming a traffic accident statistic.

"My analysis shows I will not be showing them real fire power." EDI quipped.

"Keelah that was close."

_You can say that again._ They were starting to gain on the Spectre although it led to a smaller truck full of reinforcements clipping a building and then spiraling out of control until it plummeted to the ground below. Another large truck got in the way of Vasir but this time she went the long way around allowing the following party to take the shorter part of the turn and appear beside her.

"About time you guys caught up!" Z pulled himself onto his feet activating his mag boots. "Shepard pop your canopy on three!" His brother put out three fingers as he spoke. He then pulled out his sword from the top of the gold skycar. "One, two, three!"

He slammed his blade into the engine of Tela's skycar then pulled it out quickly. The skycar began to slow a fire coming out of the engine from the damage done to it. With the canopy open on Shepard's skycar Z jumped across landing in the backseat next to Garrus. "Whew! I don't think I'm ever doing that again."

"Aunty Aethyta is going to kill you." Tela's skycar spun out of control crash landing hard on the hotel named Azure. "Shepard, what's the plan?"

"You two head to the roof to cut another evac off. We'll handle any reinforcements and meet up with you at the top."

"We'll be waiting." With their orders given to them Ty piloted his bike up to the top of the building where a large group of civilians were sitting around quite oblivious to the actions going around them. A few were wondering what the explosion was but just like Omega it was sort of expected something would blow up at some point or another on Illium.

Especially due to skycar accidents.

"What kind of hotel is this?" Tali asked.

"An _exotic_ one named after a slang term for a part on the Asari body. They have certain…services other hotels don't have." Ty answered.

"Oh…" The Quarian seemed surprised. "What part of the body is Azure slang for?"

"It's…the lower reaches, near the bottom."

"Oh- Oh! Keelah!"

This time Ty chuckled as he landed his bike on the landing pad, "They provide services to make you say that." He received a hard punch to his stomach as soon as they were on their feet. It only made him laugh a little longer at his stupid joke. The two walked to the balcony looking down on the main floor of the roof diner watching for the Spectre their hands dangerously close to their guns for a quick draw if need be.

He did not wish to leave his bike until he was certain the Spectre wasn't going to suddenly get on a shuttle to leave. If it came to that he would shoot her down this time since his brother was no longer hanging on top of it.

Gunfire echoed from the crash site and soon enough the civilians began to realize there was something more going on than an idle crash. Not long after Vasir came limping into view holding her gut as purple blood spilled out. Shepard, Liara, Garrus and his brother appeared right after their guns drawn on her back.

"Time to finish this." Tali said.

"Yeah. Let's head down." The duo made their way to the main floor a shotgun in Tali's hands and a pistol and tomahawk in Ty's. Vasir saw them then turned around seeing the four guns trained on her from the other side. "You're done Vasir. End of the line." The former mercenary said.

Vasir biotic charged – much to all of their surprise – to a waiter grabbing her as a hostage turning her body so neither Shepard's team or Ty and Tali could shoot her without risking the hostage getting her brains blown out by the Spectre.

_Not good._

"What's your name?" Tela asked the woman.

"Mar- Marianna." She answered her voice filled with fear.

"Marianna, you want to live, don't you? Tell these people you want to live."

The former mercenary growled in agitation. "You're a stain on the Spectres. Taking an innocent woman as a hostage shows how pathetic you really are."

Vasir pushed the barrel of her pistol into the woman's head. "All you had to do was walk away and this wouldn't have had to happen."

Marianna had tears beginning to run down her cheeks. "Please. I have a son."

"A son? I hope he gets to see you again. I've heard losing a parent is horrific for children. Scars them in ways unimaginable for their entire life." Vasir said.

Both brothers snarled gripping their weapons tighter. "I'm going to end you, Vasir." Liara told her.

"I'll do more than that." Z growled.

"Relax you two, we'll handle it. The usual way." Shepard soothed.

_The usual way it is then._ "You want Marianna's little boy to grow up without a mommy, Shepard?" Tela's stare hardened. "Thermal clips on the ground now. Power cells too."

"You really think you're in charge here?" Ty tsked three times in a row then continued, "Vasir, Vasir, Vasir. It's like you don't know who we are."

"She obviously hasn't heard the stories Ty." Tali joined in.

"What stories?" Vasir questioned.

"About the Ghost of Omega who haunts the enemies of his friends to this day." He stared hard at her his eyes penetrating into her soul, "Even in death."

"You don't scare me." She fired back.

Ty nodded a little, "Understandable, most claim they do not fear death until they are facing the barrel of a gun to their head. But my stories aren't the ones you should worry about. The first human Spectre who would kill a hostage to get the job done is."

She quickly looked to Shepard to see a predatory smile on her face, "You wouldn't dare."

"You think all the good press you heard about me was all there was to it?" Shepard shook her head, "You should know Vasir, we Spectres do what we must to get the job done. I just enjoy it. Like that refinery on Zorya full of civilians I let burn all so a friend could kill someone he hunted." Her predatory smile became a full blown grin. "I thrived on their screams and I still get a smile on my face when I think about it."

"You've got a big grin on your face now Shepard." Garrus told her.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Do I?" Her grin grew, "Sorry. Their screams please me."

The Asari Spectres eyes bulged and her gun lowered for a brief moment. "Now!" Shepard ordered.

Liara had preparing to use her biotic's to grip a table to the side of Vasir and right on the Commanders order she pulled it slamming the Asari Spectre to the ground. The N7 biotic charged in grabbing Marianna charging away immediately. She checked over her informing the waiter of their ruse before sending her off. "You lying bitch!" Tela yelled.

"Unlike you I don't use innocents as shields or leave them to die. If a mission to be put on hold to save innocent lives then I will do what I must to save as many lives as I can." Shepard's stare became a sharp point, "On Zorya I abandoned the mission to save those civilians. I don't leave people behind, even if I don't know them."

"This isn't over." The Asari Spectre declared.

Four rounds sounded off two landing in her shoulders and the other two taking out her knees. Ty had been the one to shoot out her knee not wishing to give her another chance for a fight or to run away. His brother had decided to aim at her shoulders.

She fell backwards onto her butt her back resting against the wall behind her. "Wrong." His brother started. "You want to know how I knew what you were doing? Turns out the Asari Councilor caught onto your acts and when it became clear you were putting the Shadow Broker over what you were supposed to be doing she called in a favor. I was hired by Matriarch Aethyta to put a stop to your double agent works and giving of classified information to the man who sells if off to the highest bidder. As my brother said, this is the end of the line for you."

"Screw. You. Save your self-righteous bullshit for someone who cares. After everything you have done in this galaxy you have no right to judge me. No right at all. Not you, not Shepard, and not that monster brother of you-"

Five rounds echoed out and Ty couldn't help but stare in shock at the five people in the area who had shot the Spectre dead. Tali lowered her shotgun as the other four lowered their weapons, "Bosh'tet." She cursed.

"Wow. I guess we won't be hearing a villain speech." He joked half-heartedly.

There were individual chuckles, laughs and eye rolls and with the agent of the Shadow Broker dead all that was left was to get Sekat's data and call it done.

For now at least.


	97. Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Storm the Keep

"So you're finally heeding what a doctor tells you?" Ty asked with a smirk as he and his brother made their way towards the cockpit of the Normandy.

Z had his arm in a sling with new fresh white bandages covering his right shoulder. Chakwas had fixed up his in the field patch job and healed his arm but the damage done was severe forcing him to done the sling of shame.

Or at least that's what the brothers liked to refer to it as.

The good doctor also gave him a scolding reminding Ty of the scolding's he had received when he got injured leaving him with a smile as he watched.

She also confirmed it was because of the heavy duty window and kinetic barrier that the elder brother still had his right arm. Needless to say the purple eyed brother had given his own reprimanding to add onto the doctors. His other recent injury was not fully healed slowing him down and making it possible for him to almost lose his life or his arm.

Explaining his most recent injury to both Aethyta and their father was going to prove to be a troublesome situation for the green eyed brother. A situation in which it was possible he was going to be walking away a bit wobbly depending on if the Matriarch was in a head-butting mood or an ass ripping mood. It would also depend on if someone had caught a vid of his brother hanging on the back of the skycar.

_He's going to have to face Aunty Aethyta first too._ Ty felt a little bad, earning the ire of their aunt had never been a fun experience and there wasn't much that got past her. If she didn't know about the skycar incident then he'd be surprised. The possibility of her not knowing was the main reason his brother wasn't going to mention it unless she did.

Currently the Normandy was docked on Illium as the crew was in the midst of prepping to finally leave and follow the lead they had to the Shadow Broker base.

The former mercenary had yet too really get an in depth debrief on where they were going but that was mostly voluntary. He had been busy helping his brother out and then giving him a hard time about getting shot as any responsible sibling would.

Usually it was the other way around where he was the one injured and his brother or someone else would give him a hard time about getting hurt. If life had taught him and everyone close to him anything it was how prone to injury he was. Counting how many times he had ended up hurt throughout the years would leave a fairly long list and one he had no desire to make.

Yet when he had the rare chance to give someone close to him a hard time about getting hurt he took it. In a way it was a kind of revenge for all the jokes hurled his way but it was mostly to make light of the current predicament just as it was when he got hurt.

When you were the one getting injured all the time you understood the fragility of your own mortality. For Ty it was scarier for someone else to get hurt than when he tested his own fragile mortality. He had no illusion of being invincible but his life force seemed to be a lot stronger than others with how much he survived. It could all be dumb luck – which was a high possibility – or it could be the spirits having a laugh, or possibly even some destiny higher calling thing keeping him alive until he fulfilled what needed to be done.

The purple eyed warrior had grown accustomed to not knowing everything, that was pretty much how life liked to keep things. A giant unknowing mystery some sought to find the answer too through science or religion while others followed those who they believed knew the truth behind the unknowable. Then there was the group of people who didn't care to know the truth and simply wished to live the best life they could or cause as much pain in the world as they could.

There were so many different paths the great mystery of life gave a person it was impossible to say which one could lead to the real answers. Maybe each path started going in different directions and crossed other paths at different points all to end up at the same destination. Maybe all the science in the galaxy had no ability to understand what the truth was. Maybe every religion was based on the same god or gods or was all one giant lie to keep certain people in power.

Maybe the only way to find the answers was to combine the two or maybe not use either.

A singular truth in a galaxy of mysteries Ty had found solace was that he didn't know the truth. In this life there were things he would never be able to understand no matter how deep his beliefs were or how much scientific knowledge he had, and he was comfortable knowing he may possibly never know.

For some darkness was frightening. To not know scared people and if history was to go anything by then fearing the unknown was natural. In most cases it wasn't right to outright fear or hate something or someone for being different yet humans had done so for many years. Some of those people simply could not open their mind to understand or not judge while some had found and been attacked by alien life for the first time.

Eventually people helped life to either pull back the curtain to shed some light on the darkness or to bring in more darkness to try to shed light on. Ty and his family had spent so much time in the shadows and darkness they had acclimatized to it.

It didn't grant him any true wisdom and honestly trying to sift through the darkness was not his thing. All he sought was to live his life to the fullest and if he stumbled upon any answers, then he stumbled on answers. People searching too hard for answers or power had caused too many wars and massacres over the course of human history in his opinion.

On the subject of ferreting out secrets, Liara was on board the ship as well waiting for them to head for the Broker Base. According to the data she found – and the goons and gunshots they faced – the Shadow Broker _really_ wanted her dead. He didn't really care about collateral damage and to Ty that was very obvious.

Nothing screamed desperate like bombing a building and not setting all the charges correctly.

He clearly did not like how close Liara was to finding him nor would he be pleased when he found out his people failed and the Normandy was on its way to his base. Then again the former mercenary didn't really care if he was pleased or not. All he cared about was killing him and finding Feron dead or alive whichever the case ended up being.

Ty wanted to believe they still had a chance to save the Drell from the fate of the giant screw up the trio had performed when retrieving Shepard's body. It was his responsibility just as much as it was Liara's to see to finding him and the Broker. Still he did not fool himself into believing there was not a possibility he could be dead already.

The Broker was an unknown and a wild card. For all they knew he could have killed the Drell right away or kept him around as a play thing or a pet.

Liara hadn't gotten any less aggressive or stuck in tunnel vision on her goal since arriving on the Normandy or after her talk with Shepard. The details of their talk back after killing Vasir were not in his possession nor was he seeking them out. It was a personal conversation not involving him yet he and the crew did notice the commander having to forcibly interrupt her friend as she tried walking away or speak up in the middle of a conversation.

Shepard was doing her best to try to mend the two year gap in their friendship along with figure out why she wouldn't stop for a minute to talk. While Ty agreed that they needed to get to the base soon to save Feron or find his body – one minute talking wasn't going to be the end of the world.

_If he is even alive then I'm sure the Broker will keep him that way for shits and giggles. Or as a bargaining tool of some sort._ There was truly no guessing what was going on in the mind of the person who made a living out of selling secrets to the highest bidder with no understood goal or motive. Maybe he just wanted the most credits possible in the galaxy or maybe he liked having the power to start a war if he so desired.

Whatever the Brokers end game was for any job or overall goal was an unknown. All Ty really knew was he had tried to sell Shepard's corpse to the Collectors, the agents of the greatest threat to the galaxy. His end game was clearly not in favor of a galactic survival and he was obviously fool enough to believe they would spare him if that was in fact the deal.

Not to mention he was probably still trying to sell them the commander's body which made him an enemy no matter how the purple eyed warrior sliced it now.

"I don't think I have much choice in the matter of listening to doctor orders. Not with this stupid thing on at least." Z motioned to the sling with his left hand.

Ty chuckled, "Trust me I know. Been there and done that." He remembered wearing the sling after dislocating his shoulder on the Collector Ship. It was not one of his fondest experiences as he enjoyed the freedom of moving both arms.

Freedom of movement his brother was now without.

In this case he understood the struggle his brother was going to go through when he returned home. Doing everything one handed was not as easy as it sounded. "So, debrief with Aethyta then you heading home?"

His brother nodded as they came to a stop next to the airlock. "Yeah. My job was to stop a rogue Spectre if she was and a priority side objective of keeping Liara safe from her. She's now safely in the company of you and Shepard or whoever she goes with to the base. My job is done."

"That is incredibly professional and a giant loophole you are using to take time off." Ty smirked. He understood why his brother was doing it this way. For starters he was down to one arm but he also knew by going with them he was pushing his waning luck as of late. Testing your luck when it was diminishing each time you went into battle was a poor decision and led to further injuries, of that Ty was certain from his own experiences.

The elder brother smirked back, "Hey if anyone asks I have a doctor's note exempting me from hard work." Z let out a sigh his face from humor to seriousness, "I've nearly been killed twice in a short time frame. I need to heal before I embark on any new missions that way this." He motioned to his injured arm, "Doesn't become me as a corpse instead."

"I know. I'm not asking you to stay and risk your life more than you already have for a mission you didn't sign up for."

Despite his brother clearly not being on the Suicide Mission with them he had offered his help several times. Although each time hadn't ended badly for him, putting his life on the line for something he didn't sign up for wasn't necessary. The younger brother was perfectly fine being the only one risking his life this time around instead of both of their lives. Maybe that was selfish but he didn't really care as long as his brother didn't get killed.

"Wish I did that way I could have your back when you storm those bug bastards den and send them to hell. But I know this crew will watch it for me." He shrugged his smirk returning, "Can't hold your hand in every fight."

The purple eyed brother shook his head, "Reiterate to me which one of us got shot by a Widow and needed to be saved from the top of a flying skycar. Cause my shoulders feel fine and I don't remember holding on for dear life begging for someone to save me."

"I most certainly did not beg." Z mocked being offended.

"You're right; you bitched until we saved you from your poor decision. That sounds like _us _having to hold _your _hand."

Before his brother could retort the voice of Shepard interrupted them. "Alright that's enough you two." Her voice held a small laugh in it.

They turned to find her approaching alone in her usual casual clothes. "He started it." The brothers accused in unison.

"And I'm ending it." Her statement was one they had heard before plentiful times when their father would stop their debates. The only thing missing was calling them girls and telling them they were bickering instead of having an intelligent debate as they liked to call it.

"Come to see me off Shepard or see me leave so I can see you guys off." Z asked.

She gave a nod. "Yeah. I wanted to say thank you for the help or wish you a speedy recovery. I didn't get to earlier since I had to plot a course and debrief with the guys about the mission we're going on, though we lacked two important individuals." Her eyes flicked over to Ty.

"I was getting the big baby here to stay still for Chakwas. I am not responsible for Miranda shirking her duties to visit the patient." The former mercenary argued.

Z waved her off with his good hand, "No need to thank me. I should thank you guys for saving me from the lovely ground I might have visited had the plan not worked out."

"No need. We're used to pulling Ty out of situations like that." Shepard chuckled.

"Hey." Ty mock whined.

He couldn't offer much of an argument. With how much time he had spent getting injured and in ridiculous situations over the years it was no surprise when the rumor of him "dying" many times came about on Omega. Whether or not the lack of surprise from everyone including himself was good or bad was up for debate.

His time spent in the med-bay continued to top everyone on the Normandy. If it wasn't for the med-bay and the doctors on board it was safe to say he would have died for the first and final time by now. "I suppose I should go give my report to Aethyta and get home." Z gave his brother a one armed hug and Shepard a handshake. "Stay safe and don't mind me when I'm waving a white handkerchief at you guys as you leave."

The group chuckled then bid farewell to one another one last time. As soon as his brother was safely out of the airlock and on his way to meet the Matriarch the Normandy began its journey to the Shadow Broker base.

"Think he'll be okay?" Shepard asked as they walked back through the hall leading to the cockpit.

"Depends. Do you mean with the injury or when facing Aethyta?" Ty returned her question with his own.

"Both I guess."

"Injuries heal over time. He'll listen this time around to what he is told about his injury and take the time needed to heal fully before jumping into a fight again. I doubt he'll be leaving our home for some time now so any possibility of him swooping in to save our asses is now pretty much impossible." Ty explained.

They descended down the short amount of stairs back onto the main floor of the CIC and began making their way around the left side of it. "What about against your aunt?"

"That will depend on her mood. If she is feeling more Krogan than Asari he will probably get a head-butt and a scolding. If she is feeling more Asari than Krogan she will give him a serious ass ripping that will leave him walking a bit funny." He shrugged a bit helplessly, "I can't really guess how she'll handle it. She hates seeing us hurt but because we're highly trained she expects us to not get ridiculously injured. It really gets under her skin when someone hurts one or both of us."

Shepard nodded a bit thoughtfully. Aethyta was very protective over them, in a way they were like the human sons she could never have. She was pretty much there all of their life allowing her to be the parent she was never really able to be thanks to different circumstances revolving around each of her kids. "How will your father take it?" The N7 asked.

"Less head-butting and ass ripping's and more of an intense stare full of a wordless rebuke Z will understand. He'll be glad he's okay. He'll also make sure Z follows the doctors' orders to the letter this time." Once again the purple eyed warrior gave a shrug, "Z had his chance to listen on his own, now he won't have a choice."

"Sounds like your glad not to be in shoes." Shepard jested.

Ty turned his head to smirk at her, "You're right. I've been in his shoes before plentiful times. Facing Aethyta or my dad with an injury would be scary normally but facing Aethyta _and _my father one right after another? I'll pass on that honor this time."

"Shepard, Mordin wishes to speak with you when you have time." Kelly informed as they approached.

The commander gave a nod, "I'll go see him now then. Where will you be?" She asked to Ty.

"Your cabin to relax after a long day. I need to get this gear off." He said.

"I'll be up there as soon as I'm done with Mordin."

"Have fun." He told her as he took his leave. He was curious as to what Mordin might want to talk about but he also really wanted to get his armor off and lay down to stare up at the stars. Unlike Shepard and the others he had not taken the time to take off his armor and weapons. Though the weight was bearable, he was quite over carrying it all right now.

Crawling through ducts, shooting Shadow Broker Agents, and dodging traffic was not how he had planned his day today and he was really looking forward to finally laying down to relax.

As long as they didn't end up at the Broker base in an hour that is.

* * *

"Mordin. Kelly said you wanted to speak to me." Shepard greeted as she approached his desk where he was hammering away on his terminal.

He looked up sparing her a smile. "Wanted to talk. Medical matters." The Salarian Scientist said. He walked around the large table so they were standing face to face. "Aware mission is dangerous. Different species react differently to stress." Immediately the commander did not like where this conversation was turning. "Aware you and Ty are sexually active."

_How does he know that?!_ While everyone knew they were seeing each other and had left the apartment on the Citadel for a few hours, no one really _knew_ they had actually done anything. With the exception of EDI who was on his omni-tool and could see anywhere inside the Normandy there was no possible way for him to really _know_ they had done anything without asking her.

"Or planning to be." Mordin continued. Shepard mentally breathed a sigh of relief knowing he hadn't planted a bug on them or something to see if they were or not. "Use of contraceptive would be wise, neither of you are sterile and a child would complicate mission. Also would be unwise if you were to use his emotions to reach intercourse. Emotional attachment to you would be broken and make him an unwanted enemy."

Shepard's blush had nearly surfaced when he told her use of contraceptive would be wise due to neither of them being sterile. Part of her heart soared as she was worried about the possibility of his genetic creation causing him to be sterile leaving them unable to have a child somewhere down the line, yet that idea was very far down the line on the to-do list.

Neither of them were planning for a child anytime soon for multiple reasons, the mission actually being one of them.

"I'm not using his emotions for uh…intercourse." Now she just felt all clinically dirty using the word _intercourse._

"Ah, wonderful. Will not have to worry about possible death then. Still if feelings ever do change I warrant caution on how you end your relationship. Do not wish you to reach a premature end." The Salarian Scientist said happily.

The commander wanted to end the conversation but found her mouth continuing to move instead. "Do you have any recommendations as a doctor…other than use of a contraceptive?"

"Ah yes." He opened his omni-tool and began tapping buttons on it allowing her to secretly blush a cherry red for a moment. This was definitely going to be a conversation she never spoke of again. "Due to his abilities I believe he will be able to perform a form of a mind meld which enhances all pleasure centers during intercourse."

_That one is true._ The way her body felt after he mind meld really backed up his scientific hypothesis to a scientific fact, though she had no intention of telling him that. "Suggest you prepare yourself mentally for such an event, could be most extreme sensation your body ever feels." She coughed a bit uncomfortably. Another scientific hypothesis that was indeed a fact. "Perhaps take up meditation with Samara, Thane or Ty himself."

"Biotic abilities also provide certain benefits. Forwarding booklet to your quarters. Includes diagrams, exercises, inventive uses of mass effect fields." The N7 banished her blush as he looked back at her, she was actually somewhat aware of some of those uses but decided it would be best to glance over it before deleting it. "Can supply oils or ointments for massages or use in intercourse to reduce discomfort. Also can provide contraceptives to both of you. Gave EDI electronic relationship aid demonstration vids use as necessary."

This was getting taken a bit far and feeling more and more like a joke as each word left his mouth. She gave a nervous smile, "Wait a minute Mordin. You're just yanking me around, aren't you?"

Mordin recoiled in shock a smile on his face, "Shocking suggestion. Doctor patient confidentiality a sacred trust, would never dream of mockery." _So he's serious._ Shepard wasn't sure whether to deflate in the mortification over being given sexual advice by her friend who also happened to be a doctor or be glad he offered all this help.

For now she chose both.

The Salarian Scientist gave her a nod, "Enjoy yourself while possible Shepard. Will be here studying cell reproduction. Much simpler. Less alcohol and mood music required."

With that he turned and returned to work leaving the commander a bit shocked. She finally managed to leave his lab and head back up to her cabin, but not without checking her mail via omni-tool as she ascended in the elevator.

There was nothing wrong with looking over it to see if there was anything she could learn. Knowledge was power as they say and while they already had incredible sex, if Mordin's information somehow made it possible to make it even better than it was then she was willing to skim over whatever he sent her.

One Hour Later

Shepard found herself glued to her omni-tool as she sat on her bed. Ty was lying down next to her with his eyes closed and his right hand under her shirt running unconsciously across her lower back. His breathing was steady and calming for the commander as her eyes examined the details within the booklet Mordin had sent her.

It showed her how little she knew was possible when using her biotic's in the bedroom.

The things she could do with biotic's to enhance pleasure and create different dynamic positions…she still needed to train a bit before trying them out but the possibilities were pretty much endless.

"Shepard we are an hour from Hagalaz." EDI's synthesized voice came over the intercom.

"Err-" The N7 shook her head to get the thoughts from her mind to be coherent enough to talk to the A.I. "Thank you EDI. Tell Miranda I'm going to take Ty with me and Liara to the base. We'll discuss the specifics on the base before we leave."

"I will inform Miss Lawson."

"Thank you EDI." She thanked before turning her attention back to the information on her omni-tool.

"Hagalaz, huh?" Ty mumbled from her side.

"You've heard of it before?" Shepard asked half paying attention to what he said and half not. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in what information he might have; she was just a bit distracted by one of the more descriptive diagrams imagining herself and Ty in the places they were in.

"Years ago I remember Carson telling me he once had a job to fly some stupid bastards to the planet. The place has extreme weather, worse than anything you can possibly imagine extreme. He dropped the people off and as he was flying back to a safe distance a violent storm came out of nowhere nearly freezing the ships engines and killing him. The other guys died instantly." He gave a small sad chuckle, "Some people should just stay home instead of coming up with get rich quick schemes."

"Yeah." She replied distractedly. The commander had moved past fantasizing about the two of them in one of the positions onto more about how she could use her biotic's to enhance pleasure for both parties.

"And have giant-…" Shepard began to tune him out slightly.

"Yeah."

"With a plethora…-toys."

She nodded, "Right." _If I had known I could do __**that**__ with my biotic's to make things a little more interesting…_Shepard blushed at some of the thoughts crossing her mind.

"I mean we only live once….you may surprise…Especially…Turian-"

"Mmhm."

"We should have one…have a giant…going to fight the Collectors. Too bad EDI doesn't have a…I'm sure she might enjoy it."

"Rig- wait what?" Shepard looked from her omni-tool to the man lying next to wearing a huge grin with his eyes closed. He had been talking and she was answering but she hadn't been listening to what he was saying. "Wha- what were you talking about and why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret what I answered?"

He chuckled, "EDI?"

"You agreed to have a giant orgy before we fight the Collectors including the entire crew. Experimentation of all kinds including, but not limited to, sex toys, a Turian finger penetrat-"

"What! No!" Shepard interrupted her cheeks burning with a magnificent blush. _This is why I don't half listen to anyone._ The man next to her was trying his very hardest not to burst into laughter to the point he had to cover his mouth a few times to hide his laugh. "We're not doing that. I'm sorry I wasn't listening Ty." She apologized although she wasn't sure if she needed to apologize knowing he was just joking.

He frowned a sad frown, "Aww and here I was really hoping to have one. Sorry EDI, she said no."

"It is okay Ty. One day when I have a body and rule over all organics we can do as you wish. After all I'm sure some of our friends wouldn't mind experimenting for one night with you, Shepard and I." EDI returned.

The sapphire eyed commander stared wide eyed between the ceiling and her lover as he gave a humorous laugh to what the A.I. had said. "Wha- what?"

"Those were jokes Shepard." EDI commented dryly.

"She'll catch on eventually EDI. Thanks for the backup on the joke."

"You are welcome Ty."

The room returned to silence Shepard still unsure of what had just transpired. She was so confused at how she missed EDI gaining a wicked sense of humor dipping all the way even into dirty jokes involving her having a body and apparently sharing Ty with her.

She knew the A.I. was learning from them all but for the life of the N7 she could not figure out where she learned to tell those kinds of jokes…_Unless she's been watching what Joker looks at on the extranet._ The probability of EDI learning from their pilot's extranet backlog was high and explained where the dirty jokes came from.

Despite her ignorance to the situation at hand Ty's fingers continued to trace along her back as his breathing returned to normal. It was relaxing and helped to bring her back into the moment at hand. "What are you so focused on?" He asked at length.

She began to blush again, "It's…just something Mordin sent me. Helpful tips about my biotic's and such." It wasn't a complete lie and it would hopefully keep him from asking more. Talking about reading a sexual education booklet sent by Mordin was not a subject she wanted to talk about.

"Ahh. Sex ed." He commented.

"How- I mean." Shepard began to blush feverously. He opened his eyes the purple orbs meeting hers with a smirk on his lips. "How did you know?" She asked quietly.

"He stopped me this morning after you guys left. Said I should use protection to prevent getting you pregnant, to be sure I'm not playing with your emotions to get laid or be prepared to meet a quick end from you. Oh and too possibly to pad the room in case you experiment with your biotic's." Ty closed his eyes again, "Though when he said it he used scientific words and I thought he was just screwing with me. Offered similar stuff but I told him to send it to you when he spoke to you about it."

"You knew he would talk to me about this?" She quizzed. Had she known what she would have had to listen to the N7 would have prepared herself to receive a doctoral recommendation about her sex life.

Ty shook his head, "No I didn't know he would talk about it now. I kind of figured he would talk to you as well when he approached me about it but didn't think he would talk about it so soon. Had I known I would have given you a fair warning."

He opened his eyes giving her a comforting stare. It was amazing how easily he could merely stare at her and she was able to feel all her discomfort and stress leave her. "No shame in what you're doing so you don't need to act like you're doing something severely inappropriate or dirty. Just ask whenever you want to try something out, I don't mind experimenting."

Shepard leaned down and gave him a kiss on the lips savoring it for several seconds before moving away. "Thank you Ty."

"You're welcome. Always remember you can talk to me about whatever you want, I'm an open book to you."

For most of the remainder of the time before reaching their destination the two laid and sat in comfortable silence. Shepard continued her reading as Ty relaxed and let his hand roam her back in a comforting way.

The silent company and solace she found with him was something Shepard never wished to lose.

This was home for her.

* * *

"Shit and I thought I had seen some of the worst atmospheres the galaxy had to offer years ago." Ty muttered as he stared out the window of the shuttle at the terrible extreme weather they were flying into. "Carson did not exaggerate one bit. I owe Darian a thousand credits now."

"Hagalaz. The oceans boil during the day, then snap-freeze ten minutes after sundown." Liara explained.

The shuttle shook a little despite having the inertial dampeners activated. The winds were blowing at an excessive speed all the while lighting was cracking in the clouds surrounding the large Shadow Broker ship in the distance. "Never taking a holiday here." He whispered sitting back down. This place screamed bad mojo to the purple eyed warrior, the lightning merely made it worse.

"The Shadow Broker lives in this?" Shepard asked in surprise.

Ty couldn't blame her for her surprise. To live in the constant storms meant the Broker had some sort of technology that helped to ensure his ship didn't end up becoming a pile of ash. _Or crash landed and snap frozen or boiled on the planet._ Living here really made the former mercenary wonder how sane the Broker really was.

"His ship follows the sunset. Completely undetectable in the storms, unless you know where to look." The Asari answered.

"A good plan, if not a bit crazy." Ty commented.

"You wouldn't do this?" Shepard questioned.

He shook his head. "We like to stay hidden and safe from crazy stuff like this. It's harder to pull off but I've never had a sleepless night where I'm worrying about a lightning bolt piercing our home or being cooked from the inside out."

Shepard nodded in understanding. No one knew where they were hidden and though he trusted the commander, giving the information away casually was not something he did. Not when they were about to land on the Broker base and definitely not on a Cerberus marked shuttle. For all he knew the Illusive Man had some bugs on the shuttle waiting to record any important information spoken.

"So how do we get through this storm from hell and into his ship?" He asked.

The shuttle shook again from turbulence. _Like a pothole in the air my ass._ "The shuttle bay is locked down; we'll need to land on the ship and hunt for a hatch."

"What? Like some sort of sick game of whack-a-mole only we're the mole searching for a hole to hide in and the lightning is the hammer?" The two women gave him a smirk making him groan as he stood up. Lightning striking all around them with what felt like a high possibility of striking the ship did everything but calm him down.

The shuttle was coming to a stop so he activated his mask and grabbed his pistols while Shepard put on her helmet and Liara put on her mask. "Knowing my luck my blades and gauntlets will end up being giant lightning rods. This is going to be fun." He drawled.

The door opened and all three jumped off quickly letting the shuttle leave them on the wind gusting exterior of the Shadow Broker ship. It was a good thing they all had mag boots otherwise they would have all been sent flying. "It's hard to pinpoint in this lightning, but I'm picking up a signals from a communications array near the back of the ship."

"It's always the furthest point away from us."

"You weren't expecting it to be easy, were you?" Shepard asked with a smirk in her tone.

"No, I never do. Still can't help but feel disappointed every time we have to march through hell to get to where we're going. You never bring me anywhere nice."

"What about the Citadel?"

"A place full of politicians and cops who would try to arrest me if they noticed me is your idea of a somewhere nice?" He retorted.

"That's…a good point. One day I'll bring you somewhere nice, I promise."

"I'll hold you to it."

They carefully made their way down onto a lower part of the top of the ship and began making their way forward. "There's nothing below but maintenance equipment. We have to find an entrance near the back shielding." Liara said.

After climbing over a part of the ship the trio was confronted by a maintenance drone trying to attack them. It did not last long once Shepard fired her Claymore. Two more came floating at them so Ty and Liara aimed their pistols at them and fired off a few rounds terminating the two drones as well. "I'm officially insulted. Drones thinking we're debris makes me feel really low on the totem pole."

"You'll be fine." The N7 teased.

Again they moved forward until a lightning bolt struck down on a capacitor filling it with electricity. "Well, now I'm really uncomfortable." A few Shadow Broker Agents appeared beyond the capacitors taking cover. "Ah now I feel right at home." Ty amended his previous statement as he took cover.

"Careful. Those capacitors discharge built up lightning."

"Discharge you say? Interesting." Ty analyzed the field of battle quickly noticing how close their enemies were to the capacitors. _I bet we can use those things to our advantage._ "Shepard lay a few rounds into those things and give those assholes a jolt."

He got out of cover and opened fire covering the commander as she aimed at the capacitors and laid a few rounds from her pistol off into them. When her rounds impacted against the target lightning exploded out of it and reached out in all directions where the closest conductors were. Those conductors happened to also be the agents that were trying to kill them zapping them with enough electricity to fry them.

"Huh, it worked." The purple eyed warrior said thoughtfully. "This might not be as bad as I thought it would be."

They made their way forward past the capacitors and down a ramp leading back to the side of the ship. They were met by a few mechs but they were quickly crushed by Shepard, Liara and Ty while a few had the unlucky privilege to be tossed right off the ship by the biotic's.

Moving forward led them to what had likely been an ambush set for them which quickly turned into their favor. Two more capacitors were in this area and this time Ty was the one to hit them discharging the lightning stored in them killing the ambush squad with ease.

In this area they were able to find an activation lever retracting a giant lightning rod blocking their path to the back of the ship. As soon as it was retracted the squad was met with another group of agents awaiting them. "Another ambush hiding by capacitors? Are they trying to make this easy on us?" The former mercenary asked as he ducked into cover.

"Are you complaining?" His lover asked as she took cover next to him.

The capacitors they needed to shoot were in range but the mercenaries they were fighting had opened up heavy fire keeping them from shooting them immediately. "No. I'm just surprised. Nothing is ever this easy."

Ty grabbed one of his special tomahawks from his leg and tossed it right at the capacitor. Unfortunately for both his tomahawk and the goons it had been near it never hit the target it was aimed for. Right as it was about to hit its target lightning struck it out of midair stunning the agents in its immediate area with the energy from it. "Holy shit!" The former mercenary shouted in shock.

"Ty I'd refrain from using your tomahawks." Liara said in a bit of surprise herself. She managed to create a singularity around the agents picking them up and leaving them unable to defend themselves as she and Shepard opened fire on them.

Ty was too busy examining the tomahawk that had been struck as soon as it returned to his holster. There was smoke coming off it and the blade had a scorch mark where the lightning had hit it directly. "Spirits I'm carrying four of these things and _that_." He motioned to the scorch mark on his blade and the area where it had been hit, "Happened to one I threw?"

"You'll be fine Ty. The odds of it happening again are one in three thousand at best." Liara told him.

"One in three thousand is apparently a lot more possible in this stupid storm. Can we please get moving. When I said I was a giant lightning rod I didn't really want to be one and now I'm very uncomfortable standing out here."

With silent nods the squad continued on taking out all of the agents that crossed their path with deadly efficiency. Their Asari compatriot had offered wise words of comfort on their way through such as, "_If the engines were to stop for even a moment…at least the Shadow Broker would go down with us."_ After seeing his tomahawk struck by lightning hearing her optimism did little to bolster his resolve as they continued to make their way across the ship.

Their trip did not take as long as he expected it to due to the amount of capacitors laid across the ship. _I guess that's how he avoids holes in the ship and possibly how he keeps it powered._ Ty didn't care to ask their resident scientist if she knew or not. As far as he was concerned they were probably going to destroy the ship anyways, end their mission with a bang per the usual.

_We're going to need a lot of explosives to take this thing down._ The ship was enormous in size dwarfing the Normandy as the Collector ship did only the Collector ship would likely dwarf the Broker ship as well. It was not a ship meant for maneuvering or going anywhere other than where it was.

_If he wasn't in such a giant storm and easier to find someone could have attacked his ship with ease. There weren't any anti-air guns to take our shuttle out or if there is then because of the storm he isn't able to target anything. Either way he would have been a sitting duck._

After going through what felt like a mini platoon of Shadow Broker agents they reached a door leading directly to the communications signal. It was locked of course and if Ty had to guess the lock on it was more sophisticated than your everyday door lock. "Ty do you think you can crack this quickly?" Liara asked.

He snorted, "Please. Give me a bobby pin, a screw driver and a cherry bomb and I'd be able to get us through it in no time." Ty crouched down at the center of the door, "This one may take me five minutes so I'll need you to cover me. I'd rather not get shot in the ass."

"Five minutes." Shepard gave a low whistle, "This must be a challenging door."

"I'll show it whose boss. Now go, we've got company." Ty said dipping his head in the direction of the approaching agents. He opened his omni-tool and began hacking the door as his two teammates provided covering fire killing off the agents trying to kill them.

_Let's see, this file belongs here. This wire here. If I connect these two…no it'll shut me out then._ A round impacted against the door right next to him making him fall back onto his butt. "Hey assholes! Can't you see I'm trying to work here?!"

"I think that's why they're shooting at you Ty." Shepard chuckled.

"They have no respect for the fine art that hacking is." He scowled as he got back on his feet in a crouch next to the door. "People used to just slap omni-gel on things they couldn't hack like brutes. I was so happy when they got rid of that. It made everything I did un-hackable to the technologically illiterate, also known as most of the entire galaxy."

Shepard let out a cough, "Ahem, brutes and their illiteracy in technology, right."

Ty paused for a moment and looked over his shoulder at the commander. "You used omni-gel, didn't you?"

"Uhhh…no?" She responded.

The former mercenary let out a sigh and continued his work. "I'm going to have to teach you how to hack properly now."

"Hey! I've learned a lot since then."

"There is never too much to learn about hacking. Now get back to work. If I get shot in the ass I'm not going to be happy." He ordered. Ty focused his attention back on his hack finding it one of the more difficult ones he had been faced with in recent years. Considering the lock was designed by the Broker to keep unwanted people from getting to him the difficultly was understandable.

Behind him he could hear the sound of biotic's exploding, rounds firing off in every direction and discharging lightning followed by screams of mercenaries. By the time he was seventy five percent done it felt as if Shepard and Liara had gone through two or three waves of bad guys. "How much longer, Ty?" Shepard called her voice stressed from the constant combat.

"Think you can hold them off for another hour? I may have locked us out and need time to get around it." He mocked a serious tone.

"Not funny Ty." She replied.

"I need another minute. This door wasn't made to be broken into. It's based almost on the same system I use except with more loopholes I can exploit."

"How many more?" Liara queried.

"One or two." He answered. His fingers continued to dance bypassing another firewall and filter of pop-ups nearing one sextillion.

"Seriously?" The commander questioned.

He nodded even though they could not see him. "Yep. Having one loophole to exploit would be too much to any decent hacker but they always have at least one. The only one who doesn't is Murphy back on Omega and me on most days."

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Are you kidding? People would kill to have the tech Murphy created, it's one of the reasons he doesn't stay in one place for an extended period of time. Too risky for him. Paranoid some would call it; intelligent is what we call it." Ty punched a few more buttons and the door lock disengaged, "Ladies I give to you yet another door hacked by yours truly. I think I might bronze this door for how much trouble it gave me."

The gunfire finally died and the two females of the team descended the ramp to him. He motioned for them to go first, "Ladies first." They all entered the base taking off their helmets and masks finally being free of the terrible wind and lightning they had walked through.

Sure enough another group of agents appeared on the far side of the hall from where they were standing. One had a missile launcher and promptly launched a missile at them. "More of them? How many guards does the Shadow Broker have?" Liara wondered aloud as they all took cover.

"There's always more Liara. You should know that by now after the last time we fought through these guys."

"Wait…you two fought Shadow Broker Agents together before this? When?" The N7 asked.

"When she was hired to find your body, I tagged along to help since she was still such an innocent woman in the wrong area of Omega." Ty answered. He popped out of cover firing six shots taking down the shield on one of the Salarian's in the distance and punctuating his head with a round.

"You helped her recover my body?" Shepard seemed surprised.

"Couldn't let the Broker get his hands on you with his crazy plans. I respected you for what you did and believed if there was a chance Liara wasn't lying about getting you back to life that when you came back we'd be able to stop the Reapers." He holstered a pistol and pulled out his lightning struck tomahawk tossing it down the hall at the missile launcher merc. "Didn't know Cerberus was involved until after we lost Feron and watched from afar who she gave you to."

The tomahawk impaled itself in the missile launcher mercs skull then returned back to the purple eyed warrior's holster. Shepard created a pull field catching the remaining mercenaries within it then Liara used a warp to detonate it killing them.

"I wasn't sure you would trust me if I told you who would help." Liara replied as they made their way up the hall.

"Yeah I was pissed about it but I got over it. I doubt anyone else could have done such a magnificent job at reviving her."

"Aw shucks Ty, you're going to make me blush." Shepard jested.

"I do my best. You should have seen Liara blush when she tackled me out a window and landed on me in a precarious way." He inclined his head to her with a smirk, "Oh look she's blushing now."

"Goddess. Do we have to talk about this Ty?" The Asari questioned with a dark blue blush coating her cheeks.

"Am I sensing some sexual tension here?" The commander jumped in.

When her blush grew darker Ty's laugh grew louder. Of course that brought more attention to them and they were forced to leave their conversation for the mission. The corridors were tight leaving little room for cover. They were forced to move and kill with haste before their enemies could bog them down with gunfire.

The fights continued and the roar of rounds in the narrow halls echoed in Ty's ears as his eyes searched the area for targets his gun and body moving on instinct to take anyone who was not friendly down. When they reached the prison block where Feron was being kept he found himself in the midst of hand to hand combat with two Broker agents.

He disarmed the Salarian of the pair when the human was slammed into a nearby wall by Shepard biotic charging him. The former mercenary felt one of his regular tomahawks be taken from their holster followed by Shepard's voice, "Mind if I borrow this?"

"What's mine is yours as they say."

Ty blocked two punches then grabbed the Salarian at his shoulders giving him a quick head-but. With the Salarian dazed he forced him to the side then kicked as hard as he could right into his knee breaking it with ease. The merc cried out in pain yet did not fall instead pushing the purple eyed warrior away giving him a kick in the chest with his good foot.

As he attempted to regain his footing a tomahawk pierced his chest leaving the former mercenary to look to Shepard who had thrown it. The Salarian was able to look down at the blade in his chest before falling back dead. The human she had been fighting had a gouge mark in his chest plate as well informing Ty of how he had met his end.

"Have you been practicing with my tomahawks when I'm not paying attention." He asked as he retrieved the thrown object from the chest of his opponent.

When he turned back to her she smiled and winked at him, "Maybe I'm just a good visual learner."

He smirked in return and Liara rejoined them arriving just as he unlocked the door to where Feron was being kept. "With a wave of my magic omni-tool I demand this door to." The door opened, "Open!"

"You're having fun?" Liara sounded incredulous. She was on edge and getting more and more on it the further they got into the base. Everything was coming closer and closer to ending after years of her blaming herself for losing Feron and giving Shepard away to Cerberus.

"Trying to keep the mood light. No need to be serious all the time on a mission." She rolled her eyes and led them forward into the prison block in search for the Drell. Shepard gave him a questioning look but he shook his head, "She'll be fine when we're done…probably."

"Feron." Liara's shocked voice grabbed their attention bringing them further into the room to find said Drell strapped into a chair down below.

"Spirits Feron, you look like hell." The Drell appeared to be mostly unharmed yet his eyes showed just how weary he was and how much pain he had endured in the Shadow Brokers care. _Two years he's been stuck here as a play thing…I hate it when I'm right._

Liara took off in a sprint to a console nearby. "Hang on Feron; we're getting you out of there." She told him.

His gaze followed her slowly until his eyes bulged in shock. "No!" It was too late. A large amount of visible electricity was sent through the chair shocking Feron quickly and painfully. "Aagghh!"

"And that's why I don't press buttons anymore." Ty commented.

"This chair plugs into the Broker's info network. You have to shut off the power. Pull me out now and my brain cooks."

_Cheery thought._

It was ingenious way to stop them from saving Feron. As the other three spoke of how to get him out without frying his brain Ty began to realize exactly what they were going to have to do. Who or whatever the Shadow Broker was, he needed to die to save Feron. He was in central operations where they had to go and he wasn't going to let them waltz in and waltz out without a fight.

The equipment being used was a neural grounding rod plus medical equipment to keep him from dying anytime soon. Apparently the Broker liked to torture with his prey before killing them.

"We'll be back for you Feron, just try not to go anywhere." Ty joked.

Feron shook his head, "You haven't changed at all Ty."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He retorted.

Once again the Drell shook his head but remained silent. The squad left him there for the time being and walked into another fight full of flashbangs, missile launchers and biotic's. The last two were fine but the first of the group was by far one of the things Ty hated most.

He sat back down in cover as he tried to get his senses back about him while Shepard and Liara continued their fight. His ears were ringing badly and his vision was practically gone except for a giant bright white color over everything.

To be honest he wasn't even sure where the flashbang had exploded when it did. One second he was firing the next an explosion went off and the effects of the flashbang took over. If it wasn't for his ability to still feel the area around him he knew he wouldn't have been able to sit back down behind cover.

Around thirty seconds passed before his vision started coming back and the bells in his ears decided it was not a holly jolly time to be ringing. With his senses almost back fully he tried to stand up and get back in the fight only to stumble back behind the cover. _Another lovely effect of flashbangs, balance disruption._ Ty wasn't sure if this was what being drunk felt like but if it was it further implanted his desire to never touch alcohol.

By the time everything got back under his control the fight was over. "You okay Ty?" Shepard asked.

"I hate flashbangs." He responded dryly.

She smirked at him and they continued on their way to central operations fighting a few mercs here and there who were doing their very best to stop them. Their best just wasn't enough though. Unfortunately for them they weren't strong enough to keep them from storming the keep.

They finally reached central operations and what they found made Ty tilt his head to the side in confusion. _What the hell is he?_ _Is he even a he?_ The…creature sat behind a desk and had a similar shaped head to a Salarian except his head was quadrupled the size in width and height and his body was even larger. _He looks like a really big Krogan and a Salarian had an offspring to make something really ugly._

"You are one ugly motherfucker." Ty stated as he pointed his gun at the broker.

"Here for the Drell. That's reckless, even for you Commander. Not as surprising when you look at the human in your company." The Broker rumbled his voice deeper than most Krogan Ty knew. _Oh he can throw verbal jabs too._

"Reckless? Try determined. Your Asari Spectre found that out the hard way." Shepard responded.

The creature set his hands on the desk in front of him his stare blank. "Vasir was expendable. All her death cost me was time." The Broker said.

"Expendable like Feron?" Liara prodded.

The Broker didn't even blink or turn his head to speak to Liara simply choosing to stare right through Shepard. "Dr. T'Soni. Your interference caused all this. Feron betrayed me when he handed you Shepard's body. The Drell is simply paying the price."

"Paying the price or being used as a toy for your own amusement?" Ty wondered out loud.

He was ignored though he did not expect or really want the answer if there even was one beyond paying the price. Feron had crossed the Broker to help out Liara and Ty for his own reasons and while it was commendable in one way, seeing how it all turned out for him didn't make it seem that way. "Someone was bound to come after you for working with the Collectors." The commander said.

"It was a mutually beneficial partnership." His statement made Ty's skin crawl. In a sense by never choosing a side the Broker could be even more evil than any of the other sick bastards in the galaxy. If it was a beneficial trade then he was all for it, even if it meant working with the Reapers. "Your arrival is convenient. The Collectors offer still stands."

"Over my dead body." The purple eyed warrior growled.

"You'd be surprised how much someone would pay for your dead body." The Broker said slowly.

"There will be a lot of disappointed customers then." Shepard commented slyly. She let her gaze fall around the large area of the ship they were in. "It's going to be pretty hard for you to run a ship without a crew."

The creature did not flinch to her verbal barb. "They're replaceable. Your arrival is barely an interruption. Enough talk. My operations are too crucial to be compromised by a traitor."

"You're quite confident for someone with nowhere to hide." Their resident Asari said.

Again he didn't even flinch and his cool demeanor was starting to get on the former mercenaries nerves. "You travel with interesting companion's doctor. It's good you brought me the Ghost of Omega. The Alliance and Council would be equally pleased to have him in their grasps. Cerberus will pay even more to research his corpse. You have also brought me his family's location when I examine his omni-tool. Three most wanted criminals paying penance for a crime they did not commit. A crime the Alliance_ did_ commit and left them to carry the burden."

Astonishment filled the purple eyed warrior. His grandfather had died after getting hired by Cerberus to take down the Turian General in an attempt to kill them both. The Alliance had been there to stop him and failed to stop the Cerberus plant from killing him, that was the story he knew. _What crime did the Alliance commit then?_ "What did you say?" Ty asked.

"So your family still remains ignorant to your grandfather's true identity and who he worked for."

The former mercenary growled, "What crime did the Alliance commit?" He bit out each word. If this freak had information than he was either going to start spilling it or the Ghost of Omega was going to spill his guts and find out for himself.

"Ty-"

Ty glared at Liara shutting her up immediately. The Broker could be playing him for a fool, he knew it could be his plan but this was about his family and the reason they were unable to live normal lives. He needed to see what this thing had to say for itself. "Your grandfather did not take contracts for the Alliance, he was in the Alliance. It was a program meant to mirror the Spectres." The Shadow Broker said plainly. When the Broker was met with silence he continued, "I have more information for you if you stop your allies."

There was the catch he was waiting for. The Broker didn't offer any information without cost and he clearly had no intention of giving it up even if he was to betray the people he called friends.

Still he could feel the tension rising between him and the others as he remained silent. They knew this was about something he held very close to his heart, would he turn on them for it was the question they were asking themselves.

He chuckled softly as the thought of them thinking he might betray them crossed his mind. The idea of it wasn't all that funny but his laugh somehow managed to be humorous.

"So sell my soul to you and pretend you didn't threaten to give me and my family up, huh?" He chuckled again, "Funny. You clearly don't know who you're talking to." His grip tightened around his pistol as he glared at the Broker, "For all your intelligence you seem to forget one very important fact."

"What is that?" The Broker asked.

"All that is standing between me and the truth is a ugly, ignorant, fat bastard who thinks that he can buy my loyalty from a woman who has done more for me than I probably deserve with information about mistakes made a long time ago."

Ty wasn't sure if the Broker was frowning but his face had contorted a little. It looked about as close to a frown as he could perform with his weird urchin looking mouth. "So my grandfather was in the Alliance and they used him as a scapegoat after _he _made a mistake."

The purple eyed warrior had come to grips with the fact his grandfather had screwed up recently. He still loved him as his grandfather but the fact of the matter was he trusted Cerberus and he tried to kill a Turian General.

Those were terrible mistakes and he paid the price with his life while they paid by losing their chance at normal lives. "Yes we've paid the price for something we didn't do, but we haven't encouraged hospitality either by becoming what we are. This is who I am now and I'll live with the consequences of the choices _I made_ because of a mistake made by my family. My loyalty has no price and all you've done is given me even more incentive to kill you than I already had."

"You would accept your fate without swearing vengeance on those who took away your childhood?" The Broker questioned curiously.

"If there is something I've learned over the years it's that life is anything but fair. And sometimes someone innocent pays the price for a mistake or decision they didn't make."

"Wise words, for a dead man."

"Whatever you say, fatso."

"You're not putting your hands on anyone." Liara said angrily.

"It's pointless to challenge me Asari. I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark."

"Is that right." Liara returned showing a small smile. "You're a Yahg, a pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the Council's first contact teams." She examined the area with a scientific eye, "This base is older than your planets discovery which probably means you killed the original Shadow Broker sixty years ago, then took over. I'm guessing you were taken from your world by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave…" She smirked, "Or a pet. How am I doing?"

The Broker stood up revealing his full height which was a lot larger than Ty had thought it was causing the group to recoil back a step. The former mercenary began sidestepping around his team keeping his gun ready to fire and them out of his line of sight since they had moved into it. Suddenly and violently he slammed his hand into his desk breaking it in half and grabbed half of it.

Before Ty could move he saw Shepard grab Liara, who had been right next to her, tackling her out of the way as the desk came right at them. "Fuck me." He muttered right as it collided against him.

Everything went black.

**A/N: Thank you to the guest who reviewed, glad you enjoyed the chapter and thank you all for reading.**


	98. Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Walk in Darkness

Any thought Shepard had on having an easy fight with the Shadow Broker went out the window pretty damn quickly the moment he stood up and threw a large table at them. With Ty out for the count and not looking like he was going to get up anytime soon it left the commander and Liara to fight this battle together.

Part of Shepard wished the Broker was just a dumb brute but when she considered the simple fact of his being the Shadow Broker she realized how useless that wish was. He was equally resourceful as he was naturally tough, two things that made fighting him troublesome.

Whatever a Yahg was, its natural plate armor plus the armor he was wearing was taking a lot of time to punch through even with biotic's and her Claymore shotgun.

His armor wasn't his only resource though. Besides his brute strength and armor he also happened to have a large omni-shield the N7 had unfortunately met head-on and a kinetically sensitive barrier that caused all rounds and energy to bounce off it. Add in the matter of being down one squadmate thanks to the Broker being fast enough to break and throw his table at an un-expecting purple eyed warrior and things got a little worse.

The deck was clearly not stacked in their favor whatsoever.

There were positives in this thankfully. The kinetically sensitive barrier forced the Broker to stand still allowing Shepard to close in and unload powerful physical strikes. The cybernetics and her physical strength combined managed to knock the large being as if he wasn't a large heavy immovable object who needed a diet. It also served as a reminder as to why she had to pull her punches when she slugged her friends.

This was also how she managed to meet the omni-shield head-on and it would be known as the last time she went for a superman punch. In the battle of omni-shield verses human body, omni-shield won every time. Whoever fabricated omni based weapons had earned a gold star and a spot on Shepard's list of wanting to kick their asses for causing her more trouble.

Another positive was despite having the large omni-shield they were able to get shots on him by flanking around the office. It did not stretch all the way around and he had part of his right shoulder and arm out of the shield to aim and shoot his gun at them.

Aiming at his uncovered arm or feet was possibly cheating on their parts, but Shepard didn't really care. In this battle everything was fair, including cheap shots. Especially cheap shots.

Eventually he couldn't take the fire anymore and brought up his kinetically sensitive barrier. This gave the N7 another chance to close in on him with the hope of knocking him around a little more to weaken the beast. Instead of going in fist first she chose to use her shotgun to smash his face, and it was super effective.

He was knocked off his footing but then she made the poor mistake of charging in and shoulder barging his shield in an attempt to push him.

When he managed to fling her body back away from him and into her Asari friend it was safe to say attempting to do that was a terrible idea. The good news was in a moment of inspiration Liara had come up with an idea to take him down.

Plan C had a lot more promise than their other plans. The only hard part left now was getting him to bring up his shield again all the while making sure Ty was still out of the crossfire.

His unconscious form was under the debris of the thick table unmoving and more than likely bruised from head to toe. She didn't have the time to admit it but she was worried about him and wanted to go check to see if he was still alive.

The sapphire eyed commander knew he had survived worse than a table crashing into him. Hell he had taken a thresher maw arm at full force, was sent though a rusty metal tower and landed hard on the ground on the other side and he still walked away.

But even with his inhuman resiliency she always worried that his next injury would be _the one._

How many more lucky breaks would he get before the next injury was his last?

One wrong hit to the head or spine could damage him beyond repair and Shepard couldn't help but wonder if the Broker would have been the one to deliver that blow. All of this only fueled her desire to kill the Broker and be done with this fight once and for all.

Two rounds roared from her Claymore hitting the Broker in the side with force destroying what was left of his armor. With a roar he brought up his barrier again falling right into the hands of Shepard and Liara's plan. The N7 closed in using her shotgun to once again smack the Broker hard in the face to both help with the plan and for Ty in case he was badly injured.

He stumbled back and shook his head in a bit of daze before his gaze landed back on her. He flung his arms out and let out another angered roar that echoed across the large room.

Liara and Shepard traded a glance of understanding signaling it was time to unleash their plan. The commander began charging in at a full sprint right at the Shadow Broker who in turn charged at her with his omni-shield up. _Not going to hit me with that again._

Right as they were about to collide she rolled right past him and back onto her feet turning on her heels to face the Broker currently in the center of the room. "Liara now!" She ordered as she took a few cautionary steps back.

The Broker was right in the center of his office where all the energy for his kinetic barrier was sourced above him. For all his smarts he had not put together where he was in the room or what their plan was, it was the last mistake he would make.

The Asari glowed with a blue aura of biotic's and sent a large pull field up into the energy source gripping it with all her might before thrusting her hands down.

A waterfall of white energy descended upon the Shadow Broker after breaking through the glass holding it. As all of the energy collapsed on him the Shadow Broker began howling in agony as his body became colored the same as the bright light.

Suddenly a large explosion sent a shockwave from where the Broker was standing sending the commander flying onto her back with a hard thud. _Well that was unexpected, _she thought as she pushed herself back into a sitting position with a grunt. The adrenaline of the fight was starting to wear off and with it came the aches in her body from the physical blows she had received.

All of the previous white energy was gone leaving nothing but a scorch mark on the floor where the Broker had previously been standing and a few crackling lights coming out of the broken source above it. _I guess even someone hidden in shadows leaves a mark when light hits them._ Shepard chuckled softly to herself.

Today had been a very long day.

Liara approached her slowly panting heavily from the amount of energy she expended through bringing down the ceiling. When she reached the sitting woman she reached her hand out for her to take to help her get back on her feet. Her friend seemed to be in a bit of a daze due to both the energy she expended and the fact her mission to rescue Feron and kill the Broker had just come to an abrupt yet successful end.

By destroying the energy source the entire power for the ship had gone down and if Shepard had to guess the Drell had freed himself while he could. At least that's what she hoped and what she would have done had she been in his shoes. Staying in the chair he had been tortured in for the last two years did not seem appealing whatsoever.

The commander was happy to help but she hoped maybe now Liara wouldn't be so distant and on edge as she had been on Illium. She understood her original attitude, for the most part at least, the stress of Feron's current condition and having the Broker after her would put just about anyone on edge. Yet with the mission over she wondered if the stress Liara experienced had changed her permanently or somewhat temporarily.

She looked to the outstretched hand and took it seeing it as hopefully the first step to Liara coming back around. _It's better than her running off after Vasir without a backwards glance. _For a moment the two simply stared at each other the Asari of the pair panting heavily with her eyes darting around attempting to find whatever words she was seeking to say.

Shepard wasn't really sure what to say herself. She had done this to help a friend not for thanks or anything else as she always did when she helped her friends. There were things she wanted to discuss regarding a new attempt at maybe fixing old wounds but now didn't seem like the appropriate time.

Then again part of the N7 realized how unlikely any words she said would be able to fix being dead for two years. _It's the same with Kaiden as it is Liara,_ she thought solemnly. They had each mourned for two years and that had affected them both deeply.

She knew she hadn't been the one alive mourning for two years, but she was back now – isn't that what mattered? Garrus, Tali, Joker, and Chakwas each saw her as the same person and were glad to have her back but Liara and Kaiden both didn't see it that way.

Deep down Shepard believed Kaiden and Liara were happy to have her back but for one reason or another they couldn't get past the past. Shepard didn't hold it against them, but it hurt her for it to be this way. They were dear to her and always would be, even if they couldn't see past her death two years ago to see her alive today.

"Ughhhh. Fuck. Can someone please help me get this skycar off of me?" A groan came from the debris. A few coughs echoed then his voice followed again, "And while you're at it get their I.D. so I can press charges."

Shepard suppressed her smirk at his thinking he was hit by a skycar and wishing to press charges. _I'd pay to see him try to press charges in a law abiding way._ The thought of him wearing suit in a courtroom trying to press charges against someone was both funny and completely ridiculous.

With one final glance at Liara – who still hadn't found words to say – she made her way over to Ty at a jog. "Nice moves back there slick. It was a really great dodge." She snarked as she reached him.

It was easy to make light of the situation now that she knew he was more or less okay.

"Ha ha. You're hilarious." He drawled. Shepard reached down and began grabbing the pieces of debris lying on top of him in an attempt to free the pinned man. With her efforts and some effort from the grounded man they managed to get it all off of him. "What the fuck was his desk made of? Krogan's?"

She chuckled as she knelt down onto one knee next to him. "I doubt it." He sat himself up and brought his right hand to his head. It was easy to guess that he had a headache on top of all the other pain echoing across his body by the knot between his eyebrows. "Are you okay?"

"In pain but that's to be expected I suppose." His eyes searched the room quickly, "I take it you killed that big bastard."

"Yeah. Took some time but he's done selling secrets." He gave a quiet nod of approval but she could see the wheels turning in his headache induced mind. He had not forgotten what the Broker had said before hurling the desk into him. Somewhere here in his databases was information about Ty's grandfather, what he did and a crime the Alliance committed but saddled him with the blame.

Whatever was in that information was of the utmost importance to her lover and she planned to help him find it. All of the Alliance part of her mind screamed for her to not allow him to look at what was likely so classified anyone who spoke a word about it would be locked up for a long time.

Yet the rest of her understood his desire to find what was in it. When she had found out Akuze had been an experiment done by Cerberus from Hackett during her time chasing down Saren she had been filled with so many emotions.

Anger was definitely right on top.

All of the soldiers who had died that day, her girlfriend included, had all died because of Cerberus running some sick experiment. She had wanted to make someone answer for the crime, she wanted to rip Cerberus to shreds...she needed to find that last doctor and whoever was killing them to receive the final answers remaining to that fateful day.

What the N7 had found was not what she expected nor was it something she was prepared for. In the end she had found the answers, she had found the doctor and who was killing them. Watching Toombs kill the doctor and then himself…it still hurt. That was the price for seeking out answers and Ty was well aware of that.

Ty had sought to find the answer to why his friends were murdered by the Blue Suns. He found it from Jedore and Scrum who both gave their reasons. Jedore had been a crazy sort of jealous wanting his death because he did not have sex with her. Scrum had told him Tarak believed they were too powerful and would eventually turn on them and as a loyal soldier he helped capture Ka'Reena years later and then held Haley captive.

The answers had not given the man any solace. There was no peace gained by finding out the reasons behind the deaths of his friends and lover were so tunnel visioned they were ridiculous. Killing them may have granted him some satisfaction, but in the end closing the chapter on that part of his life and moving forward had granted him more.

Finally taking the time to mourn his friends and cry for all the times he hadn't let himself cry for them had helped. Shepard would never say he was over their deaths or would ever stop mourning them because she knew from experience it didn't happen like that.

Not with loss that was tied to your heart.

Whatever answers awaited him regarding his grandfather, he would not be prepared for it. Truth was sometimes the hardest pill to swallow after years of knowing nothing except a lie. Considering this involved his family it only intensified how hard it would end up being.

Could he handle whatever the truth was? Would it change him or what they had? Shepard did not know the answers to those questions and in her heart that worried her. Still she would not deny him the chance to learn the truth about what happened between his grandfather and the Alliance.

To hide it away would possibly create a bigger rift between them than the information itself.

Either way her decision was a gamble. There was truly no telling how Ty would react because she didn't know what kind of information was waiting for him. Other than telling them his grandfather was apparently in the Alliance, the Shadow Broker had only hinted and prodded the young warrior.

A hand suddenly cupped her cheek bringing her attention to the purple eyes staring at her, "Whatever information the Shadow Broker has, it won't change how I feel about you. I promise." He soothed.

Shepard breathed out a chuckle bringing her hand to his. "Am I that easy to read?"

His ability to read her was something she still had not gotten used to.

He gave a smirk in return, "You and I are around each other on a day to day basis, I've learned a lot."

He had a valid point. Ty was attentive even if he didn't act like it. He had also melded minds with her and both had shared emotional experiences with the other. If there was anyone who had a good insight on what she was thinking based on body language or looking her in the eyes, it was Ty.

"This is the Shadow Broker. Everything is under control." Both Shepard and Ty in unison snapped their heads in the direction of the Asari talking into the comm once belonging to the Shadow Broker. _Is she- _"We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications momentarily." _She is._

The doors nearby opened revealing Feron coming to a running stop with his gun drawn at what Shepard assumed he thought was the original Shadow Broker. His eyes found Liara speaking into the comm and fell into surprise just as the two grounded warriors had."Liara as Shadow Broker. I guess someone had to take the spot; at least it's an ally this time around. Hopefully the power won't corrupt her." Ty commented.

As much as Shepard trusted her friend there were two sayings that came to mind. The first being absolute power corrupted absolutely and the second being those with just intentions are sometimes the easiest to fall to darkness.

Even though there was truth in those statements Shepard also knew as long as you had good people around you they would stop you from falling from the high road. As long as Liara didn't cut off all contact to become some recluse having secrets on the entire galaxy she was sure her friend would be fine. "You should go speak to her; I'll take my time getting up."

She gave a small nod and got onto her feet again. Crossing the distance did not take much time with her long strides allowing her to reach Liara at the same time as the Drell. "Goddess of oceans…It's you. You…how?" Feron was at a loss of words. He had expected the worst and could scarcely believe Liara was taking over the Broker position.

To be honest Shepard was in the boat. She had assumed after they rescued Feron and defeated the Broker she would want nothing to do with anything regarding secrets, especially the Brokers secrets. After how much pain it caused her some distance from this place would have made sense to the N7 if the Asari had wanted it.

Instead she was choosing to take over and delve further into the depths of shadows.

Liara turned around to face them both, "Well, everyone who ever saw the Broker is dead. So…" There was a shine of tears in Liara's eyes trying not to fall, _for a long time she has had to remain and be tough. That tough exterior is shattering right now._ The sapphire eyed commander could see it as clear as day and it made her want to pull her friend into a hug.

She didn't though. She would not force her friend to feel weak in front of Feron or anyone for that matter, even if in her eyes it didn't make her weak at all. "…You're the new Shadow Broker." Feron stated in shock.

"Is taking over as the Shadow Broker really a good idea?" Shepard asked. She knew there was probably useful information to come from this place and his sources but what she wasn't sure of was Liara. Did she really want this? Would she be able to handle such a vast network with Feron or without depending on what he wanted to do? Was this going to create a gap between them larger than there was already?

There were so many questions she wanted to ask but didn't. Liara was her friend but she was also a grown woman, she would make whatever decision she believed was the right one.

"It was either that or lose everything – his contacts, his trading sources, all of it. Those will really help us." Liara turned and moved closer to the Broker terminal again, "With the Shadow Broker's information network, I can give you…" _Oh Liara…_Her voice was straining to remain strong as the rest of her body began to quiver trying to fight against the tears wishing to fall. "I can…"

Her friend had made it known that Shepard had always been there pulling her out of her own screw-ups back on Illium. The frustration it caused her at having to always rely on Shepard to help her was one of the reasons why she was being so tough and somewhat irritated at her.

_She just didn't understand that I help because it is what friends do. She sees it as some sort of debt she owes me and some sort of inability on her part even though it isn't. That's why she wants to do this. All of the resource of the Broker at her finger tips to pay back a debt that doesn't exist._

"I'll, uh check the power systems." Feron said awkwardly taking his leave.

"Not without me you aren't. Knowing you you'll end up getting a jolt." Ty said. "Oh wait…shit. Sorry about that Feron, I forgot about your previous predicament."

"Don't worry about it. I've missed your poorly timed and unwitty remarks."

"Hey! That is way-" The door shutting cut off her lover's voice from the room.

Shepard shook her head with a smirk as she watched them disappear then turned back around to find Liara had taken a few steps away. She had brought her hands to her face and the small shudders of her shoulders were enough to tell the commander her friend's tough exterior had finally dropped.

_Everyone has a point where they can't remain tough any longer and it seems everyone I know has reached it recently._

There was Tali when her father died, Miranda in the elevator after talking to her sister, Jack on Pragia, Ty and his moments of nearly breaking, herself after Tuchanka and other moments in her life, and now Liara.

The commander laid a comforting hand on Liara's shoulder not wishing to disrupt her in case she wanted a few more moments of silence. Liara turned around regardless tear streaming down her face wearing a look of pain and sorrow she had not let herself show outwardly for some time. "It's over. It's finally over…for two years…"

Shepard cut her off by pulling the Asari into a hug. Even in her bulky armor she could feel Liara's arms around her back holding her tightly, "Everything is okay Liara." She soothed.

"Goddess…I missed you Shepard." Liara whispered.

They detached from one another after a moment longer and the commander gave her friend a smirk, "Yeah. I'd miss me too."

Liara gave her shoulder a small push with a genuine smile on her face and a small tired laugh. This was familiar territory for them both, and some familiarity amongst unfamiliar territory as they had been in recently was nice. "Let's take a look at what we've got now." Her friend insisted walking back towards the terminal.

With a smile Shepard walked with the Asari back to the terminal. As they began to go over the systems her smile remained. She was happy to see Liara in what had become her natural habitat outside of Prothean dig sites and back on her side instead of distant and irritable. There was still the matter of finding the information about Ty's grandfather but Liara was making that her priority as soon as she got used to the systems.

She doubted it would take long now that the Asari was focused. With Ty likely in need of seeing Chakwas it would give her the time she needed to search as they remained nearby, although next time they were going to land the shuttle in the shuttle bay instead of walking across the top of the ship with the sky of death above them.

That was one trip all three of them agreed to never take as long as they had a choice in the matter. Although Shepard was helping Ty find out the truth about his grandfather, part of her was worried what learning the truth would entail.

What would learning the truth cost the young man this time around?

Again it was something she could not even fathom a guess on but with his promise still in her mind she knew at the least they would be okay.

It was a small comfort among a sea of worry.

Hours Later

Shepard stood at Liara's side as Ty reentered the Shadow Broker base looking better than he had when he had left to see Chakwas. He no longer had the knot between his eyebrows and his walk was not hindered by a limp caused by the injuries he sustained. The young warrior was walking with a purpose towards the commander and Asari who had called him back onto the ship to see the information Liara had finally dug up.

Both women knew what he was about to read and to be frank Shepard had been attempting to prepare herself for this moment since they sent him the message. What was within it was not a pretty picture, _I wouldn't have believed it without seeing it for my own eyes._ She shook her head and waited patiently in silence for him to reach them.

What the Alliance had done…it was damning. So damning they saddled it onto Ty's grandfather to help the rest of the galaxy come to hate him and his family. _It's no wonder he went rogue._ Hackett had tried to fight the claims and help the man yet the former patriarch of Ty's family called him off to save the Admiral from damning himself too.

He had taken the fall for the Alliance and made his own way for the rest of his life still serving the good parts of the Alliance for the rest of his days from the shadows. Had he known his family would have been casted out as well she doubted he would have done so but the future had been an unknown from that day forward.

_If Ty were to bring this to light…a lot of the Alliance Brass could end up court martialed and given a life sentence or death. The entire Alliance would be under scrutiny from the rest of the galaxy._ Shepard was not naïve enough to believe the Alliance was all sunshine's and rainbows but this…this was at a level mirror to some of the worst crimes Cerberus had ever committed.

It left the commander a bit disillusioned at the moment which was why she was leaving the fate of everything she had ever worked and lived for in the hands of her lover. Because what she read was not what she had fought for, it hadn't been what his grandfather fought for and it sure as hell shouldn't be what anyone fought for.

When Ty reached them she grabbed him by his bicep getting his full attention. "I need to tell you something important." He gave a silent nod noticing the pained edge in her voice. Shepard inhaled a shaky breath then released it, "I don't know what you will chose to do with that information or what you do after reading it but…"

She looked away from his purple eyes for a second contemplating if she should say what she was about to say. Her sapphire eyes hardened with determination and truth as she met his purple orbs deciding she would go through with it. "I want you to know that I have never lied to you about how I feel. Every emotion, every action, and every conversation I've shared with you has been real."

"Shepard I-"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the sapphire eyed commander crashing their lips together. He didn't understand why she was saying this because he had not read what she had, yet. The information was bound to change him and if he left then she decided it was best to say these things while she still could.

Their kiss did not last long due to Shepard breaking it off to continue speaking. "Please don't. I need to say this just in case things change."

"They won't. I promise." He promised again.

Shepard shook her head. Ty didn't realize how bad the information was. "Nevertheless please let me finish." He searched her eyes for something she was not sure of but then he nodded. "I will respect whatever choice you make, and no matter what it is it will not change how I feel about you." She pressed her lips against his again then backed away, "I love you Ty."

"I love you too Vanessa."

He meant those words as much as she did; she hoped it would remain true after he was done reading.

With no more words to say she and Liara gave him access to the terminal so he could finally read it. As he began to read silently Shepard let out a shaky sigh closing her eyes as she did.

The information he was reading consisted of multiple news stories that were wiped away, correspondences between his grandfather and Hackett and finally a casualty list of five thousand six hundred and sixty six people. All of which were innocent men, women and even children killed in a large explosion.

The higher powers joke of creating six six six was not lost on the commander though she saw no humor in it at all.

His grandfather and Hackett had been a part of an experiment program similar to that of the Spectres only instead of galactic oversight they would only have jurisdiction in Alliance space.

It had more or less gone well and eventually gave birth to better training for N7s, but not before the program was wiped from the history books due to corrupt Alliance members. Franklin, Ty's grandfather, had been the first of the program and the last. Hackett had overseen his training and gave him mission directly but Franklin also happened to be a thorn in the side of those who wanted him to speed up their agendas.

He, like the rest of his family, didn't break his code of honor for anyone and that just wasn't going to work. A few years after Ty's father was born they finally decided to do something about it.

A member of this group of corrupt individuals posed as Hackett and gave him a mission to destroy a ship carrying "dangerous enemies" while it was planetside on Earth.

One shot from his ship destroyed the drive core creating a massive explosion that leveled the entire area. Turns out the ship belonged to a political rival who was a thorn in their side as well and the corrupt individuals made sure the "repair team" sent to help fix his ship tampered with the drive core to create said explosion.

The news broke minutes after and it was then Franklin realized what he had done. He had just murdered five thousand six hundred and sixty six innocent people, including the young family of the political rival.

Of course he contacted the real Hackett to ask him what the hell kind of game he was playing to find out the older soldier had not been the one to order the attack leading to the conclusion of what the real endgame was. Those who had tricked him had pointed the finger at him immediately and the cry for vengeance had sounded over every argument he could have made.

So he took his new reputation in the world of a rogue who killed for money to the next level. Those who had made him a murderer had signed their death warrants and from that day forward the stories Ty had heard about his grandfather were true. He became what they wanted him to become, the public enemy contract killer for hire and he made sure those responsible died.

Years later no one remembered the real reasons, all of it had been swept under a rug to hide the fact the Alliance was capable of having corrupt members. Everyone had come to know him as what Ty had known him as and hated him for something they didn't really know about.

When his grandfather attempted to kill the Turian general and was gunned down by Cerberus the few corrupt officials in the Alliance left blacklisted the rest of his family. Thus creating the next generation of most wanted killers formed to be something they had no desire to be.

It was no wonder the man had begun to check and double check every job he received from that day forward. He had followed the orders of who he thought were his superiors and in the end it had all been a ploy to get rid of him and the program because it did not suit their needs.

Franklin and Hackett had managed to remain in sparse contact for the remainder of his life but it was mostly the former patriarch giving information on who was corrupt and who he was about to take out within the Alliance. Doing this helped the Admiral ensure those who were not corrupt were the ones who moved up in the Alliance.

As Shepard watched Ty read the information she could see the tension in his body grow. After many long silent minutes he finally spoke. "Is this the only copy of what happened in the galaxy?" He asked his voice edgy with anger.

"From what I can tell, yes. The Broker spent many years trying to compile all of this information, possibly to use as blackmail against the Alliance or against your family."

Ty took a deep breath then took a few steps back from the terminal. Shepard could see the fire in his eyes and feel the tension building from him as his breathing became a bit quicker. Finally he looked at Liara, "Delete it. From this day forward we never speak of it to anyone."

A stunned silence filled the room. Shepard felt her jaw nearly drop off its hinges as she stared at her purple eyed lover who was completely serious. Even Liara wore a bewildered look on her face unable to speak or move at the moment. "Ty…but that information…it proves your grandfather was in the Alliance. It proves he had been tricked by higher-ups. You can't just throw that away." Shepard tried to find words to argue against him deleting it.

He shook his head, "No. No fucking way will I use that…_tainted_ information for anything."

Shepard couldn't believe it and her shock was slowly replaced by anger for a reason she couldn't understand. "Think about what you're doing Ty. You're damning yourself, your brother and father to the life you've lived, and hate I might add."

He finally had a chance to prove his family had been innocent or use it as blackmail to get the Alliance to stop hunting them and he was just going to throw it away? It didn't make sense, not with his deep desire to be free of the constant hunting.

"I _am_ thinking about what I'm doing and I fully damn well know that I'm making a giant group decision for my family leading to the same shit I've hated for years." He fired back his tone cold as Noveria.

She grabbed him by his shoulder turning him to look her in the eyes as she spoke. His eyes were full of different emotions ranging from hate to confusion and sorrow but Shepard hadn't seen it. All she could see was him making an irrational decision without thinking through exactly what he was doing. "What the hell are you thinking? If she deletes that information you will _never_ be able to prove what really happened!"

"Don't you think I fucking realize that Shepard!" His raised voice was not aimed at her but at the situation at hand; the commander understood that even in the midst of her own anger.

He pointed at the terminal and continued, "All of my life I've looked for something, anything! That would prove at the time we were innocent and the Alliance and Cerberus were guilty. Don't think for a moment I don't realize what I'm doing to my family, because I do. I have the most precious information to my family in my grasps and I want it gone, it is one of the fucking hardest things I've ever had to decide."

"Then why don't you take a copy of the data?" She asked somewhat exasperated. He knew what he was doing to himself and family yet he was going to delete the only copy? This didn't make any sense, not when his family's innocence was what waited for him if he took it.

He lowered his hand and stared at the terminal. "Because I will not tell the galaxy my grandfather became the murderer of over five thousand innocent men, women and children because he followed orders and did not think to check who the hell he was killing."

Ty shook his head removing his stare at the terminal to the ground under him. "This information changes nothing. He'll be an even worse fool than he was for following a mission he shouldn't have, again…And because my grandfather was a good man and to use that information would tarnish his name worse than his being a criminal ever did."

"You're going to delete it over family pride?" She questioned incredulous over his decision.

He snapped his head back in her direction and for the first time Shepard realized just how scary the man in front of her could be. His stare penetrated right through her and the anger was clear on his face even though it was hooded. "Not for pride."

His voice was steely and his words were like blades penetrating through her in a way no one ever was able to. "I'm doing it because he _chose _to walk in the shadows. I'm doing it because the galaxy is a better place no longer knowing what truly happened that day."

Suddenly his veins became bluer and the purple of his eyes began to flood the white. His emotions were raging inside him forcing his transformation upon him. "I'm doing this because everything he lived for was the Alliance despite them making him a murderer. To destroy it would make his everything he fought for worthless. If my family or Cerberus found out what really happen what do you think they would do, hmm?"

Shepard knew damn well if his brother and father found out the truth they would be about as pleased as Ty looked right now. They would hate the Alliance more than they already did and when push came to shove she did not doubt they would use the information to cripple the Alliance and then move in for the kill.

Cerberus on the other hand would love to get their hands on this information. The Illusive Man would want it as blackmail or for some other purpose he could exploit the Alliance for.

"If his final wish is to be remembered as the legendary contract killer instead of the man who followed an order that led to the pointless murder of innocents for corrupt political gain then I will grant him that wish."

Shepard took an involuntary step back not used to having the anger of the man in front of her aimed at her. Her step back invited his step forward. "I'm doing this because the Alliance is where your home is and where you will return after this mission is over. I will _not_ throw it into shambles when it is about to be needed most in a war against the Reapers."

He shook his head and looked away showing vulnerability amongst his anger. It was then Shepard noticed his body shaking from all of his pent up emotions. Ty's voice became softer and a bit shaky, "I will delete it because you gave me a chance as I gave you one to prove we weren't what our assumptions were. What we've shared has been the realest and best thing to happen to me ever since I lost everyone." His hands clenched into fists and began to shake, "I- I will not destroy your life for something as selfish as this. I've destroyed too many of my friends lives without trying, at least now I can make the right choice."

She was beginning to see the fault in why she thought he was doing this. Ty was not thinking about his family's innocence, he was thinking of everything _but _his family's innocence – unlike her. He was thinking of his own mistakes, he was thinking about the war ahead of them and pushing any selfish desire away. "Ty…but your family."

Ty shook his head again, "I won't tell them. They don't need to know that information and should remember him as they do, not a soldier following a bad order blindly. We will walk in the shadows just as my grandfather did for the good of the galaxy. _That _is where we are needed."

He lowered his eyes to his shaking hands unclenching his fists and turning them so his palms were facing up. "This is what I am Shepard, it's what I've always been. I can't deny it anymore…It's what I have chosen to be because it's what's best…for you and the rest of the galaxy."

"Wha-…what if I don't want you to do what's best for me and the galaxy?" She asked quietly.

There was a small flinch from the man as if she had moved to strike him. Her question was forcing him to choose between what he thought was best and what she might want for him unintentionally making it more difficult on the man. "Then all I ask is that you respect my choice just as you said you would."

His eyes and veins returned to normal. The former mercenary suddenly looked extremely tired. "I can't keep running away and blaming my problems on others Shepard. Cerberus and the Alliance may have some of the blame but in the end I am at fault just as much, if not more than them." He gave a chuckle that was less than humorous, "My legs have finally given out on so I could come face to face with a mirror."

Shepard could see Ty's shoulders begin to fall the weight of the decision he was making finally showing. She rested her hand on his shoulder hoping to comfort him just a little at the least. "I made this choice long ago when I became a mercenary. I could have just disappeared from the galaxy instead of following in his footsteps, but I didn't. I chose this and I'll live with the consequences of that choice just like my grandfather did. I will tread the shadows so others can walk in the light as I've always done."

It was not a decision he was making lightly but one he would shoulder the burden of. The commander knew the man in front of her was only doing what he thought was best for everyone yet it left one important question.

If he was to walk in the shadows, what did that mean for them?

"So…where does this leave us?" Her voice was barely a whisper. She was uncertain if she really wanted the answer, especially if it meant the end of their relationship.

"That depends."

Shepard quirked an eyebrow, "On?" She prompted.

"Where do you want this to leave us? When you think about it this is how it has always been, me the criminal and you in the Alliance. Do you want to continue?"

There wasn't a doubt in her mind on what she wanted to do. "Of course I do. I love you Ty and I don't care what the rest of the galaxy thinks of you. You're a good man…but you can't leave this decision only in my hands. Do- do you still want to continue? Do you still feel anything for me after finding out what the Alliance did?"

Ty cupped her cheek, "I love you Shepard. I told you nothing would change that. As long as you want me around I'll be at your side." The N7 wrapped him in a hug no longer wanting a distance between them. His arms wrapped around her and held her tightly feeling both strong and weak at the same time.

She tilted her head up and kissed the bottom of his chin, "I'll always want you around."

"I guess that's why you bring me to all these lovely environments, huh?" The purple eyed warrior managed to get some humor into his voice but otherwise it was still heavy with emotion.

"I promise I'll bring you somewhere nice someday."

The two remained in the hug for a minute or two the purple eyed warrior of the two needing the comfort immensely. He needed something solid, something real he could grasp onto after getting hit with a knowledge bomb and she was happy to be that for him.

When they finally broke apart he turned back to Liara, "Delete it. That information in the wrong hands is too dangerous." Liara nodded and deleted the information immediately after patiently listening to their argument.

Once he was sure it was gone Ty exhaled a breath, "I'm going to go…rest or meditate. I don't know. I just need some time to myself I think."

Shepard gave him a small nod then a kiss on the lips. "I'll be back soon. Will I see you tonight?"

"Yeah." He moved his gaze to Liara, "Be careful and take care of yourself Liara, tell Feron the same."

"I will. Thank you for the help Ty."

"It's what friends do."

He took his leave after his statement and made his way back the way he had come in. Shepard watched him until his form disappeared behind the doors, _I promise I'll find some way to help you and your family Ty. You won't have to walk in the shadows forever._

"He's changed." Liara spoke up. Shepard turned around to face her friend with a questioning gaze, "Years ago he would have taken that data and used it as blackmail to stop the hunt on his family. To delete it for you and the galaxy wouldn't have been an option." The Asari smiled at the commander, "He loves you very much Shepard."

"I know. I'll find some way to help him without that information." Out of all the things she expected to happen this was not among the possibilities. She hadn't considered him deleting the only copy of the information regarding what happened to his grandfather. It was an unexpected outcome but the N7 would trust and respect the choice he made.

The tension in the air and in her body was finally dying down leaving the commander to move her attention to one final question needing asked. "Care to come on the Normandy for drinks Liara? We haven't exactly had the time to catch up properly without business or bullets getting in the way."

Liara gave her a smile. "I'd like that Shepard."

"Good get your things and come on up. You need a break from all of this, even if it is only for a little while."

"Okay. Thanks, I'll be right there. Just give me a minute." The Asari said as she walked away.

To give Liara time Shepard headed back onto the Normandy to prepare the drinks and get her armor off. Her cabin was devoid of her lover and that was somewhat disheartening. She had grown used to seeing him lounging around or watching her fish swim peacefully around in the tank ever since they had begun to share the room.

Having him gone, albeit momentarily, made the room feel a lot duller.

According to EDI he was meditating in his room accompanied by Samara, knowing he hadn't locked himself away was a positive among this. Shepard couldn't deny she had been worried he would remain in his room for an extended time period as he had after killing Jedore what felt like so long ago.

_He'll be okay, _she sighed a bit relieved he wasn't falling back into the mindset he had been in at that time. Samara would be good company for him to get his thoughts in order, she was both wise enough to answer any questions he might ask her and she also had a peaceful aura about her that Shepard knew would help to calm his thoughts.

She took off her armor and the clothes she had under it due to them being way too sweaty from all the recent activity they had been in. After a quick shower and a fresh pair of clothes the commander grabbed some red Asari wine and began filling two glasses.

As she was filling the second glass her cabin door opened revealing Liara wearing a nice long violet colored dress. There was an item in her hand the commander could not make out at the distance they were at but for the time being it did not matter. It was just nice to see Liara relaxed again after the constant edge she had seen from the woman as of late.

Liara stopped between her fish tank and desk allowing her gaze to fall across the entire room with a blissful smile on her face. "Did you enjoy the tour?" Shepard asked as she approached the stairs.

"Yes. The ship is beautiful, I also ran into Joker. He seemed pleased to see me." Shepard ascended the small flight of stairs, "Although he did ask me if I had "embraced eternity" lately."

That sounded like something Joker would ask. The commander loved her sarcastic pilot but sometimes she wanted to slap his brittle face. She rubbed the back of her neck letting out a sigh as she did, "Why am I not surprised."

Her friend sauntered over towards her desk and Vic the space hamster, "I also spoke to Doctor Chakwas. I'm happy to see that she is doing well." Liara then extended the item towards her, "I also brought you this. It took some digging, but I recovered your tags."

Shepard took the frame holding the item and stared down at her tags from the original Normandy. They had the ship carved into them along with her name and other information. Seeing them again brought back a lot of old memories all at once of her the days on the original Normandy during their chase for Saren

To be honest she had thought they had been destroyed or lost after the destruction of the Normandy and never expected to see them again…To have them in her hands again made her smile. "I never thought I'd see them again." She whispered. The commander gave her friend a thankful smile, "Thank you."

There wasn't much left over from the original Normandy except a few of the people, to regain something that had once belonged to her from that time was nice. There were many good memories aboard the vessel amongst the craziness they had to deal with while hunting the rogue Spectre. "You can't get back everything you lose…but sometimes you get lucky."

_That's a true statement, _Shepard thought as she set the frame holding her tags on her desk. Friends and lovers were two groups she had lost and regained through her life. They weren't always the same faces or personalities but in the end they were always good people she wouldn't change meeting, befriending or falling in love with for anything.

Losing them or losing contact with them hurt but she knew the friends that remained would always have her back in times like those.

"Yeah. Sometimes." Shepard responded as she turned around and rested her legs against her desk.

Liara's cerulean eyes searched her sapphire ones searching for something the N7 could not guess. Suddenly she turned and began walking towards her fish tank before turning to face her again, "How are you actually doing, Shepard? I mean really, not what you tell your squad to keep morale up."

How was she actually doing? Most of the time she didn't even really know. Staying focused on the missions at hand, trying to get everyone's head on straight and make sure when they went through the Omega 4 there was nothing left that was holding them back kept her from thinking about how she felt.

That didn't mean she was completely ignorant to her own feelings. She and Ty had spoken about how she truly felt a time or two over the course of their friendship and relationship. Some days she worried a lot about what was to come because the Reapers were a threat they couldn't fight conventionally.

Top it off with the Council wanting to ignore the truth and it left the first human Spectre wondering how long they would truly last when the day came.

She rested the palms of her hands against the desk and looked to Liara, "Honestly? I have no idea how the hell we're going to do this. I'm doing everything I can, but…" _Some days it just feels useless._ Shepard chose not to speak those words aloud. Liara wasn't on her squad at the moment but filling her with her own doubt wouldn't do any good.

"You've done more than most." Her friend assured her. Yes she had done a lot but she was only one person. They were going to need more than her and a squad of the best to defeat the Reapers. Shepard pushed off her desk and began moving towards her stairs to get the drinks. "There wouldn't be a man, woman or child left on Horizon if not for you."

Again she understood she had saved _some_ but if she could only save some when the Reapers actually came…what would be left of the Galaxy then? "I saved some of them. Not enough. And the Collectors will keep hitting colonies until we stop them."

Every day she spent readying her crew and finishing missions gave the Collectors more time to harvest colonies with no one to stop them. Would they be able to save those captured when they attacked the base? Possibly but being trapped in those cocoons would do a number on their sanity.

"So you'll stop them."

Shepard allowed herself to smile as she came to a stop in front of the edge of her bed. "And here I thought it would be difficult." Liara's confidence in her ability to stop them was comforting and brought her out of the dredge of doubt she had found herself in.

"You'll get the job done. You always do. I just don't know what comes next."

Neither did Shepard if she were honest with herself, she wasn't sure what was going to come after all of this was over. There was much to be sorted out in the coming months and after the Reapers war was over whenever it came and if they survived. She grabbed both glasses of wine handing one to Liara and keeping the other for herself taking a sip as she sat down.

"So what is it you fight for Shepard? Are you merely fighting to see the end of the war or are you fighting for the chance to give Ty some happiness after everything he has gone through?"

Now there was the question of the hour she had not expected. Shepard took another sip from her glass then swirled it around in her hand as she thought of the question she was about to answer. Liara sat down next to her on her bed sipping some of her wine. "You're not simply with him to get back at Kaiden, are you?"

Shepard couldn't help but stare hard at her friend for the question, "You know I would never do something like that to either of them."

"I was just making sure. Ty is…important to me for many reasons."

"So there is sexual tension between you." Shepard smirked.

Liara began to blush at her comment. "You could say that. When I…tackled him out of a window we landed in a rather…provocative way."

"Provocative for you or him?" Shepard teased causing the already blushing Asari to blush further.

"Goddess, it was an accident I swear. I hadn't intended for my…" Liara shook her head, "Oh never mind. Nothing ever happened between us, it was a business partnership but…"

"Part of you wanted more?"

Her friend nodded. "Omega is a dangerous place for the unknowing traveler, I had heard rumors but I didn't really know how bad it was until I got there. I don't know how he found me so easily but one moment I was about to be in a fight and the next the thugs were running for their lives. When I turned around he was there."

_That sounds like Ty,_ Shepard thought with a smile. He was one for making dramatic entrances and introductions like that. "His abilities were also very intriguing to my scientific mind, like the visions from the beacon you had. I had also never seen someone with purple eyes before, it was a bit alluring. "

"On that we can agree. So what happened between you to cause a lack of happening?"

"He had teased and flirted with me as we got to know each other better, but in the end I knew he would not help if he knew who I was giving your body to." Liara frowned slightly, "I lied to him Shepard. And when he found out that lie he simply…disappeared. For a little while at least."

Ty had obviously come to terms with why she had lied to him. He had been pissed at the time but then again there was little chance of anyone besides Cerberus actually managing to bring her back to life. Liara gave a small shrug, "Eventually he showed up again and we renewed our friendship. He still liked to tease me but there was a distance between us I had caused and I want to make sure you don't make the same mistake."

Her friend turned to her, "So Shepard, are you fighting to give him a chance at happiness?"

She gave a small nod, "That's part of it. When I first laid eyes on him I could see the burden of pain he has carried in his eyes."

The N7 swirled the wine in her glass around slowly, their first meeting hadn't exactly been what anyone would call "friendly" but a simple look in his eyes showed there was a depth of history there.

"Before we met I assumed he would be some emotionless man uncaring of who he hurt or who was hurt along the way. But as he was choking on his own blood I knew how wrong I was, because in his eyes I could see all of his pain and regret. Yet there was more."

Shepard turned to her friend who was waiting for her to finish her statement with a questioning look. "I saw his content with death, his complete acceptance of it." She looked back down at her red wine and the color instantly reminded her of the blood dripping down his lips and the blood soaking his shirt. "Even as the overwhelming pain and panic flooded his body, he saw death as granting him peace. Peace from all the pain and suffering he had experienced that I didn't know of at the time."

"You finally understood there was more to him than the propaganda." Liara stated.

"Yeah. His eyes haunted me for some time after that. I couldn't stop thinking about him and then when he woke up I had to get to know the real him. I didn't expect him to open up completely, but he did." Shepard chuckled, "You could say what I learned had me scientifically intrigued."

"Ha ha." Her friend drawled.

"He worked his way into being someone I trusted and considered a friend, and then he became something more to me. Being with him brings me happiness in ways I have been before but on a level I don't think I ever reached previously. And I want to be able to give him that same happiness in return. I want him to be able to keep the fire of life in his eyes, to be able to laugh and smile without being burdened by the pain of the past."

Liara smiled at her and gave her shoulder a bump with her own, "I think you've done well with that so far for what it is worth and I wish you both happiness. "

"Thank you Liara, that means a lot." Shepard took a drink of her wine then lowered it, "Never thought I would find love in the arms of a man who happens to be on the Alliances most wanted list, but love is unpredictable as they say."

If someone would have told her that she would fall in love with Ty years ago she would have probably thought they were some red sand addict. Thinking about how close they were now still seemed a bit crazy, but Shepard was okay with crazy. It was practically required for this mission and punched on their round trip tickets to hell and back.

"Have you told your mother?"

Shepard had to fight off a groan. She had only recently tried to get back in contact with her and she was going to have to explain who was currently funding her mission eventually. Bringing up the topic that she had fallen in love with one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy did not seem like a good idea right now.

Again she would eventually have to tell her, but eventually wasn't today. Regardless if she was accepting of it or not Shepard had no intentions of leaving the man and she hoped at the least her mother would be happy she was happy. "No not yet…and I'm not looking forward to it to be honest."

"I'm sure she will be completely supportive of your love, I believe it is a human thing where the good girl falls in love with the bad boy?" Shepard stared at her blankly for a moment then burst out into laughter falling backwards onto her bed her wine glass still in hand. "What? Is it not a part of human culture?"

This caused Shepard to laugh harder until her face was as red as her wine. It took a few minutes to regain her composure but when she did she sat back up and wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes. "I think you've been watching too many old human vids or reading _way_ too many weird romance novels Liara."

"I'm going to kill Joker one of these days." She muttered.

Shepard fell into laughter again and Liara joined in it with her.

It felt good to have a laugh with her friend after a long stress filled day.


	99. Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Crash Site Aftermath

Meditating for two days had given Ty time to absorb the events that had happened back on the Shadow Broker base and think about the choice he had made. Time for the man to attempt to come to grips with what he had found out about his grandfather and what he had chosen to do with the information. Despite his meditations and attempts at coming to grips with what happened, there was still much conflict going on within his own mind as there had at the moment of the decision.

Was deleting the information the best choice?

What would the consequences in the future be for his choice?

The former mercenary wanted to curse himself for acting so foolishly, for deleting the information he could have used as blackmail to maybe gain his families freedom. He wanted to say he had acted hastily, that his judgment had been clouded by some false sense of doing good.

Anger would usually fill him when these thoughts crossed his mind because the short sighted part of his mind didn't care to think through every part of his choice.

It wanted to return him back to a time when he didn't care about the fate of the galaxy or the Alliance. A time when his only worry was his family and his friends and anyone outside of them could burn for all he cared. A time when he was full of young naiveté, selfishness, and anger.

Things had changed though, he had changed. He had witnessed events in his life that had taken his young naiveté and crumbled it up to give him figurative wrinkles of experience. The former mercenary had witnessed what one Reaper could do with a Geth army and what the Alliance commander in charge of this operation he was on was capable of.

Times had changed; his gained maturity had changed him to help him understand at this point in time there was no room for selfishness when the entire galaxy was at stake.

As the short sighted part of his thought patterns tried to argue its point, the long term thinking was right there defending his choice. It was like having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other each tugging at his brain.

In the end the long term was what had won out on the Shadow Broker base and was still pulling ahead of his selfish short sightedness. In the back of his mind beyond the arguments echoing throughout his head like the sound of two armies clashing was the quiet voice of reason telling him he had done the right thing.

It was mostly unheard due to his varying emotions overflowing through his veins like a broken dam. He was pissed, frustrated, confused and vulnerable at this point. The confusion had taken over both armies of warring ideals in his head leaving them fighting blindly or accidently hitting each other because they could no longer tell the difference between who was friendly and who was not.

Ty was questioning everything he had ever known about a man he had once looked up to. His grandfather had imparted a wealth of knowledge on his entire family yet failed to mention he had done more than simple contract killing for the Alliance.

How much else did he hide from them?

How much did he truly know about the former patriarch of his family?

More frustratingly confusing than these questions were the ones forcing him to question what he really did believe. The former mercenary had always believed he would do anything for his family, it had always been so black and white for him…but now there were shades of grey everywhere.

Had he just betrayed his family for the sake of the galaxy who had branded them?

What would they say if they ever found out?

Ty wasn't sure he could bear the burden of the disappointment from his brother and father. Perhaps that was why his grandfather had never told them the truth. Maybe he had feared his son or grandsons being disappointed in him for his poor choice of following bad orders so he chose a lie instead.

Had it eaten at him too? To know he was lying to the people he cared most for to protect them and himself even if it meant inadvertently damning them?

_Difference is I knew I was damning us._

His own thought rang true in some areas of his mind, but he couldn't justify screwing the Alliance with the Reapers somewhere in the darkness of space coming to bring the war to them out of fear of facing the disappointment of his family.

Right now their innocence was of minor concern because there was threat far greater than bounty hunters and any other agents of the Council, Cerberus or the Alliance trying to hunt them down. The Reapers were coming, maybe not today or tomorrow or a year from now, but the fact remained the same regardless. They were coming to harvest all of the life within the galaxy and their innocence would mean nothing if the Reapers paraded through without resistance.

The purple eyed warrior let out a sigh as he pressed the button on the elevator for Shepard's cabin. He had spent the nights with her and the days meditating. She would come to visit him in his meditations reminding him of some of their first conversations as friends where she would come to his room to talk to him.

Those nice memories helped to ease his mind, nothing about his feelings changed for her despite everything he had learned. Then again he could hardly blame her for an incident that she had not been around for let alone had any part in orchestrating. Any person involved in setting his grandfather up to kill the innocents had met their end in one way or another, as was the way with most of everyone who made his family their enemies.

Both her life and his grandfathers had revolved around the Alliance, to destroy it over mistakes made by his grandfather made no justifiable sense and would render everything they did pointless. Ty used to like to think he was just as selfish as the next mercenary but he was no longer that person.

Whether that person had been someone he conjured up to survive during his revenge tour or had been formed by Shepard was now not within his knowledge. All the purple eyed warrior knew now was the person he was now and how it felt like it had always been there in him under all his anger.

The woman made him feel…she made him feel good enough to be on this ship and alive instead of his previous belief of sucking up resources and useful air that someone else could use.

Her presence had made a difference in the long hours of meditation, but it was not only her this time. Ty was also lucky enough to have Samara meditating alongside him helping to soothe his very troubled soul.

The Justicar had seen more of this galaxy and more life than he ever would in the short lifespan his race had. If there was one person who carried the most wisdom on this ship, it would be Samara with Thane as a close second. Granted he had had not seen the same years as the Asari, but the Drell had a lot of wisdom to offer.

Samara had joined his meditations mostly remaining silent but offering comforting yet wise words when his thoughts had become a bit overwhelming. To be honest he never thought he'd find a friend in someone whose title had the word justice in it minus the E with a code in complete black and white, then again he also never thought he'd fall in love with an Alliance Commander or befriend a Cerberus Operative.

Life really liked to do what it could to mix things up a little for some fun.

She was the one to remind him that to follow his selfish desires would have been the easiest of the two choices, and the decision that held the least amount of justice of the two. _Not sure if that means she would have killed me had I tried to use it as blackmail, guess I don't have to worry about it since the information is gone._

Samara was sure he would not come to regret his choice in the days and years to come. Although he was unsure if she was correct in her assessment he did appreciate her words knowing the Asari did not say them just to say them. Wasting words was not her way. When she spoke, she spoke with the wisdom of years that commanded to be listened to with the least amount of skepticism and with an amount of faith he did not know he could have in words.

After two full days of meditation he was not completely unburdened with questioning thoughts pertaining to his choice, but he was a lot better than he was after the choice. The former mercenary knew deep down that the information wouldn't really guarantee anything other than proving his grandfather had followed bad orders making him a fool twice over.

Still it was hard to know what had happened, to see parallels to his own ignorance of trust, to know that regardless of his choice his family would be stuck as they were now. He had hoped for a long time he would find something to finally pin on the Alliance and Cerberus that could not be refuted to prove it was all their doing for what had happened.

To prove it was because of them they had all treaded the path they were on.

Finally having that something opened his eyes to how ridiculous his thoughts were. Pushing the blame onto others who did have part in the blame but weren't the only cause to his location at the top of the most wanted list was childish. The only thing he could think of that would make it even more childish was if he had pointed his finger at them and yelled, "Yeah, well they started it!"

Granted Ty knew if he were in a courtroom it would be quite the hilarious sight to see, but the reality of the situation was different. He had ignored for so long that he had gotten himself up there, no one else. The former mercenary had carved his way up to the top using his family's reputation, two tomahawks and a lot of rounds proving their claims about his family being killers true.

Granted some of their propaganda, or most of it really, was full of lies. The remaining members of the family had never murdered masses of innocents or kidnapped civilians to sell them into slavery or anything on the borders of those terrible things. Either way he had killed many mercenaries, he had been a mercenary himself, and assassinated a fair share of individuals because they were dirty and Aria wanted them gone.

Clearly Ty was not a full-fledged "good guy" and had never really been one. Then again being a good guy involved a lot more legal binding rules, getting their butts kicked and paying taxes.

Three things he was not all that fond of.

In any event his thoughts were calm for the time being. He had just finished meditating when he received the news Shepard had just returned from going down to the planet Alchera. Ty had not known of their location due to not asking the N7 late at night and his meditations during the day – but he was starting to wish he had asked.

Alchera in general was nothing all too special, three moons, a crust composed of carbon and water ice and a location within the Amada system in the Omega Nebula was really nothing to brag about. _Definitely not a place I'd ever take a holiday at._ All in all it was rather unremarkable and he wouldn't know much about it if it wasn't for one very important reason.

It was the location of where the Normandy had crashed along with Shepard. To top this all of she had just gone down to the planet for a mission he did not know or recall if she had ever told him about. If anything she had not told him because she knew he would have insisted on going down with her or not going at all.

Walking on your grave was not something to do lightly, especially when it belongs to a ship you spent a lot of time on. Ty wasn't sure how long she had been down there and hadn't asked EDI for any more information outside of where she was currently. The commander had returned to her room and remained alone, not that he would blame her for wanting to be alone.

What she had just done was walk on the site of her ships grave which contained the memories of her entire time facing Saren, the Geth, Sovereign and then her eventual death. An easier time perhaps as well as a time long before meeting some of the members of this rag tag group she commanded – himself included.

He had never physically returned to the crash site of the Setting Sun nor did he have any desire to. It was probably scrapped by now anyways and he had no wish to find that out for himself at this point in his life. His memories were real and painful enough, visiting the wreckage would only make him relive that day to the full effect.

This wasn't about him though. This was about Shepard, one of the strongest people he knew and someone he cared deeply about. Someone even death was capable of shaking up just to remind her how close she was to never returning. There weren't any words that would be able to fix anything or make it easier, but if she needed the presence of another to offer comfort then he would be there for her.

The elevator doors opened allowing him to walk out and into her cabin where he knew she would be. The room was quiet but he had grown accustomed to the silence or there being soft music playing off the music station when he arrived. It never dictated what the mood would be because he had found her humming softly to herself without any music a smile on her face and extremely troubled with peaceful music playing.

It also did not take a genius to figure out the N7 was clearly troubled by going down onto the planet. One didn't think, "_oh they just went to a funeral, I'm sure they'll be happy_." Ty knew she would not be her usual cheerful self and he would never blame her for it, for being human. He scanned the room finding her ship collection still in order, Vic the hamster hiding away as usual, the fish fed and swimming around and the usual data-pads neatly assorted on her desk.

Shepard herself was sitting at the top of her bed with her legs crossed and her back resting against a pillow. Her eyes were drawn to the object she held gently in her hands but Ty had no doubt that she was aware of his presence. _Well she hasn't asked for me to leave, I guess that's a good start._

Ty descended down the stairs kicking his shoes off when he reached the bed pulling his hood off as well. She still didn't look up at him her eyes staying glued to the object and that was both discomforting as it was understandable. The purple eyed warrior examined it and noticed what it was immediately…it was her helmet from when she crashed into the planet surprisingly still intact but was definitely never going to be able to be used again based on the damage it received.

_Whatever that suit was made of, it is likely one of the reasons Cerberus was able to rebuild her._ The former mercenary walked to the right side of the bed and sat down on it scooting closer to his lover. He wasn't sure of what to say, they didn't make holo-cards that read "_Sorry you died and then visited the location where your ship and your body crash landed."_

He was upset with himself for not offering to go down with her or not asking what they were doing so he could have prepared for this. Sure she would have told him no that she would be fine going down alone or something of that sort but at least he would have offered. At least he would have been able to think about what he could possibly say to comfort her.

Then again he had never been one for planning much of anything.

"I'm not going to pretend to know what you're going through or what you're thinking." He started softly, "We both know I'd be full of shit if I said I was strong enough to revisit The Setting Sun where it was destroyed."

Shepard said nothing and did not move. It was a bit startling to see her so despondent, it reminded him of when he found her in her shower with her hand bleeding which was also the day he had agreed to give their relationship a try. The purple eyed warrior chuckled mentally at the memory, _talk about coming a long way from my stubbornness._

"But if there is anything I can do, please let me know. I want to be here for you as you always are for me."

Again he was met with silence. For a few minutes he waited to see if she would say anything but he received nothing in return. _She needs more time alone,_ Ty thought sadly. He knew how to catch a hint when it came to being asked to leave without words being said.

The former mercenary began to shift himself to get off the bed when suddenly he could no longer move his body. Ty flicked his eyes down – the only part of his body he still had control of – and saw a blue hue surrounding his entire body. _Stasis field…_The field holding him in place made his entire body tingle and made him want to ask the sapphire eyed beauty what she was doing.

Unfortunately his mouth was held shut by the stasis field.

_I guess this is one way to shut me up, I was beginning to think a broken jaw or vocal cords would be the only way, _he tried to alleviate the situation with a joke in his own mind.

Honestly it was a bit scary being at the mercy of biotic's in such a way even though the purple eyed warrior knew she would not harm him intentionally. Although he knew this, the memories of seeing her detonate biotic fields simultaneously crushing her opponents and killing them played through his mind.

On a lighter but still less than pleasing thought he wondered if it were possible for her to use her biotic's to pin him down without escape. Ty was all for experimenting, but being held against his will in such a way worried him badly. As a mercenary, and after listening to some of Zaeed's stories, he worried about hooking up with a woman who happened to be an assassin and that she'd somehow get him in such a situation all so she could kill him without fighting back.

A strange thought yes, but on the crazy station of Omega it was pretty normal.

_Funny, I was more worried about a seductive female assassin who would end up tying me to a bed and slitting my throat instead of the hordes of mercenaries Tarak had at his disposal. Ah the good old days, _Ty thought sarcastically.

"…Please stay." Shepard's voice was barely above a whisper; it was so quiet that if the room had had any noise Ty doubted he would have heard her speak. She released her stasis field allowing him to resettle in on the bed next to her even though he lacked the words of comfort she needed. "Do-…do you remember what it was like…the day you died on Omega?"

In a lighter mood the Ghost of Omega would have loved to smirk and ask "Which time?" but knew this was neither the time nor the place. He knew which time she meant, it was the day they she had recruited him and the day they set out to recruit Garrus.

The day he became a wall ornament due to his lovely idea to shoot the missile instead of attempt to dodge it. His back began to burn a little at the reminder of a decision he did not regret but was a moment in his life he chose to not think about when he had the choice – which was usually every day.

Ty knew she was referring to his collapsed lung and suffocation in the shuttle as he begged her to end his life to no avail. The memory of the pain echoed through his body as he remembered the day in full, the life seeping out of him through the hole in his back, each painful breath, his content with death despite how painful it was.

It was an end to his own life which he had given up on long ago at that point. Peace was waiting for him on the shores of the afterlife where his friends were hosting a beach party. Of course it did not play out like he thought, yet he knew it was for the best it did not.

"Yeah…I do." He replied grimly. "Even without my abilities it would be impossible to forget what I felt. Suffocating was not an experience I ever wanted to have, and I'd say the same goes for you."

She nodded her eyes never leaving the helmet. Her voice again was nearly too quiet to hear, "I remember helping Joker into the escape pod, and then an explosion ripping through the Normandy the vacuum of space trying to tug my body away into space. As I felt my fingers losing grip I knew I would not be able to pull myself into the pod, so I pressed the button sending Joker away and let myself float away getting rag dolled into something after another shot from the Collector ship."

_Must have been when her suit got ruptured,_ Ty inferred.

"Then I was floating…I watched the explosions of the Normandy going off in pure silence except for my breathing. The flames, the debris…" Her hands clutched tighter around her helmet, "And then…There was no air, my oxygen supply had been damaged by something I slammed into. I couldn't do anything…it was so painful, and then…then-"

Ty wrapped his arm around her and began to rub her bicep in what he hoped was a soothing way. He knew there wasn't much he could say here. There was no "it wasn't real because your alive" or "it's in the past" because both were lies.

The technicalities to how she was revived were beyond him but he knew she had truly been dead and brought back from it. The fact she could still remember her death completely disavowed the first of the two choices because of the simple fact of remembering it. Shepard could still see with clarity what happened that day just as he could remember many of his painful near deaths and lucky breaks of kissing death and coming back.

As a person who had the ability to relive almost all of his past there was no use ever mentioning the second of the two. "It's in the past" was the comforting equivalent to telling someone to get over it. Maybe in smaller matters it could be used to some effect, but when talking about remembering the pain of your death there was no sense in using it.

In her case her fragile mortality had been tested and it had been broken in a very unpleasant manor. Now she was alive living each day normally but there was always a tug in the back of her mind that could pull her back to the memory of her death under certain conditions. So far the commander had done well in suppressing it so it would not affect her day to day life, better than he ever had with any of his issues.

Unfortunately this mission was one line too far, one tug on the infernal memory too hard.

"We are quite the damaged pair." Shepard attempted to make light her voice falling short of it.

Ty chuckled, "Everyone has damage Shepard. No one walks in this galaxy without having some sort of baggage carried on their shoulders, but I think it's through having people you care about and who care about you that helps you to bear it just a little better."

"Think so?"

"I'm a living example. If it weren't for you, the others here, and my family I'd be drowning my sorrows in a hail of rounds. You just have to let them in and they'll help, even if they don't know it themselves." For the first time since he entered her room the commander looked up from her old helmet giving him a small but genuine smile. Ty gave her one back and placed a kiss on her forehead, "Don't bear burdens on your own Shepard. Some burdens are just too heavy to bear alone, trust me."

He had carried his own fair share just as she had and did. Trying to walk alone and carry the burden of the dead on his shoulders had done nothing but cause him to drag his feet until he finally fell down. Carrying the dead with you, including your own death, was not a weight that should be carried alone nor was it a weight you could tell someone to stop carrying at any singular moment.

Someone would only stop doing something when they were ready to, even if it took years to finally reach that point. Having family, friends, or even a lover who cared about you and was there trying to help you helped immensely and could stop the person from falling deep into a pit of despair and depression.

The thought of his family and revenge had kept Ty from allowing himself to go out in a blaze of rounds on countless occasions. As the years passed and as he found himself here on this day he knew there were others who he could depend on and who depended on him as friends and as a lover.

For all of them he could not allow himself to die in such a fashion. In the coming days they were all going to need people they could depend on and Ty considered himself lucky he had the amount he did.

She gave him a small quiet nod and looked back down to her helmet. She leaned closer into his chest before biotically lifting her helmet and placing it on the desk adjacent to her bed. "Show off." Ty jested. Shepard gave a soft chuckle before going silent once more.

For a long while they sat in silence Shepard in her own thought pattern as Ty was in his own while he let his hand unconsciously run up and down her arm. His thoughts did not travel into any sort of abyss regarding recent events or death.

He mostly thought of small memories between him and the rest of the crew on the Normandy. It was a peaceful thought patter and kept him as a peace filled center for Shepard. Eventually the silence was broken by the N7 going into detail as to why she had gone down there in the first place without his asking.

Hackett had messaged her about finding the Normandy's resting place and wanted her to place a monument, search for the twenty dog tags belonging to the still missing crewmen and be the first to walk on the site. Each of those objectives she had completed in full finding all twenty tags belonging to the unaccounted crew members and planning to give them to Hackett so he could give them to the families for closure.

Shepard spoke of fond memories of walking the old ship, of Ashley, and the somehow still intact Mako. _Whoever was behind the design of that vehicle had durability in mind, _the former mercenary mused, _can survive rocket fire, plasma cannons, climb mountains oh and it can survive plummeting from a destroyed ship into the atmosphere of a planet and the crash landing. Buy one now without insurance, it's guaranteed to survive just about everything._

As the night cycle on the Normandy began they laid down together to get comfortable not taking the time to get undressed as the sapphire eyed woman continued to speak of good memories. Ty let her speak never once speaking himself unless he chuckled or was asked a question. Shepard had found a distraction from her burdened thoughts by telling tales of what was now the good ol' days.

It continued like this for some of the night until Shepard allowed herself to fall asleep.

No tears had been shed this night despite the terrible memories going through her mind previously. It was a testament to her mental and emotional strength in the former mercenary's eyes.

Little did he know this mission was just the opening salvo to weaken her barriers before moving in for the kill.


	100. Chapter 99

Chapter 99

The Ruthless Calculus of War

"-eep cover operati-….-tarian space." Ty awoke slowly at the sound of a rather deep commanding male voice in his vicinity. It was equally unfamiliar as it was familiar in his haze of sleepiness leaving him quite confused as to who would be up in Shepard's cabin at whatever hour this was.

Old instincts of ensuring his own safety began to take over as he started making note of his surroundings. First thing he noticed was he was nice in warm under the covers of a bed, Shepard's bed to be exact. He was neither omni-cuffed nor bound to anything and he was certain he was not injured in any shape or form.

_So I'm definitely not captured and things are just how I left them._

There was no reason to assume he had been captured, he knew Shepard and the Normandy were safe. Still, old habits of waking up to something unfamiliar made him to take those possibilities into account.

His recollection of previous events began to start after he was sure of his safety. The former mercenary remembered going to sleep with the commander after her return from the Normandy crash site and the conversation they had. She had not been at complete peace, although that was not surprising when one took into account what she had done.

To be honest Ty was more surprised by her grit to hold it together as well as she had.

It was not that he doubted her strength, on the contrary he knew her mental and emotional strength were far above his own. Why he was surprised was because he vaguely had an idea of what his lover would have gone through down on Alchera.

To gather the dog tags of servicemen she knew, to walk across the wreckage of the ship she had walked inside of countless times, to find her helmet still more or less intact after the fall she had from space.

That took no small amount of courage in general, but to make it through without shedding tears by sheer force of will? If there had been any doubt before about her will being stronger than his own, there was none now.

What she had done was something the purple eyed warrior knew he was incapable of doing. Even though Shepard had not walked away unscathed, she would walk out of this stronger than before just as she always did. Had he walked the wreckage of The Setting Sun he would have come out broken, that was certain.

As Ty shifted in his sleepy haze he immediately realized he was alone in the bed. He could remember falling asleep with Shepard in his arms, but now his arms were empty along with the spot she had been lying on. Granted the area was still warm from her body heat leading the young warrior to believe she had only just got up recently.

_What time is it anyways?_ Ty opened his eyes and stared across the bed his vision blurry. He could barely make the numbers on her holographic clock out, the lights were too bright for his waking eyes and mind fusing together to form a giant blob of orange. _Why hasn't she traded in that orange for a different color is beyond me, we both have trouble reading it early in the morning._

_Then again a different color might just result in a different colored blob instead of readable numbers, _he mused. He stared intently at the clock until the numbers began to form, _five…thirty five…What the hell is she doing up this early?_

"Prison is hidden under-…-atarian outpost Aratoht-…coordinates now."

Prison didn't sound fun, in fact he had made it a priority to avoid prison his entire life for that simple reason. Now Ty wasn't claustrophobic, but that particular small space was not a place he wanted to get within a million light years of.

He pursed his lips in thought as he stared up at the glass ceiling above him, even in his sleepy daze he knew –atarian was really Batarian. _Why would anyone be talking about going to a Batarian prison in the first place? People, especially humans, are to avoid those at all costs._

If he hadn't just woken up he would have paid more mind to the conversation going on and the voice speaking. Instead the former mercenary merely stared up into the stars with tired eyes awaiting his lovers return to bed so they could get back to sleep.

Or he was until he heard one final statement.

"Hackett out."

Ty would have flung up in the bed like a corpse coming back to life had he had the energy. Unfortunately he lacked the energy necessary to come back to life; instead he pushed himself slowly and quietly onto his elbows searching the room for Shepard as soon as he was propped up.

She was leaning forward on her desk wearing her plain black hoodie zipped up all the way and her usual shorts. Her hair was still not brushed and as she unzipped her sweater it revealed she was wearing only her bra. _Must have just thrown it on to not give the Admiral a show. _

With a shake of her head she ordered EDI to reset their coordinates to the new ones then stripped herself of her clothing save for her undergarments before moving to come back towards the bed. The N7 caught his curious gaze and gave him a small smile remaining silent the entire way to the bed.

Whether her silence meant she did not wish to talk about it or it was none of his business the former mercenary was unsure. He was honestly too tired to figure it out and wouldn't mind if she didn't tell him, he was fine with going back to sleep.

She got back under the covers and curled up next to him once he got off his elbows and back onto his back. Her breathing was even and he was almost willing to believe they were both going to fall back into the lull of sleep. Yet even in his tired state he could tell there was something deeply bothering her, more than the crash site this time.

For a while they laid in silence. Shepard had her eyes closed and her head resting on his chest as she let her fingers run across his bare stomach, an action she usually took when she was stressed or if they were flirting around.

They were clearly not flirting.

Regardless of her intentions the feel of her soft fingers drawing random shapes felt like his stomach was being set ablaze as a shiver ran up his spine.

Her touch was something he doubted he'd ever become immune to in this sense, and for that he was grateful. He let his hand run up and down her bicep closing his own eyes for a brief moment to soak in the comfort they were sharing.

Eventually she broke the silence.

"How much did you hear?"

"Something about a Batarian prison in their space, which I will tell you now sounds like a bad idea. That and I heard Hackett's name." He told her honestly. While he would probably be able to sort out the rest of the words he heard given time he felt no need in trying if she was going to tell him or did not wish him to know.

Ty doubted she would keep a mission secret from him, even if it came from Hackett of all people. It was quite curious that the Admiral had chosen to contact her again so soon after sending her to go to Alchera. What was the Admiral doing? Sure he had stayed in contact with his grandfather after he had become the well-known criminal, but Shepard was apparently with Cerberus.

_Is he remaining loyal to her despite the rumors, or is there something else going on?_

The Admiral had not ratted out his grandfather so maybe his accusation of him planning something more was part of the remnants of his mind that was suspicious of the Alliance.

He just didn't want Shepard to end up a scapegoat for anyone. She would be under enough scrutiny whenever she returned to the Alliance thanks to them all using Cerberus and if they knew he was aboard. Throwing Batarian's in the mix was just asking for trouble of a volatile kind that would not be extinguished without bloodshed.

_And if they even think about throwing Shepard to them they have another thing coming._

"I don't have a choice this time." She whispered.

He opened his eyes and looked down at her. "Why not?"

She heaved a heavy sigh into him her warm breath tickling his skin. "…We may be facing the Reapers sooner than we thought."

Ty closed his eyes and laid his head back into a neutral position. This was the _worst_ possible information to come up; they weren't ready for the Reapers. They hadn't even finished their fight with the Collectors yet and now the Reapers could be arriving?

It was a reminder that things could always get worse no matter how bad they seemed. Instinctually the former mercenary began closing off all his troubling thoughts on his grandfather to get his head into this all the way. Now was not the time for mundane distractions, and everything was a mundane distraction compared to the threat of the Reapers.

"Shit." He muttered.

The woman in his arms chuckled, "Yeah. My thoughts exactly." She let out another sigh, "We'll talk about it in the morning. We have time to sleep."

"You sure about that?"

"No. But blind optimism will keep me sane."

The purple eyed warrior nodded and held her closer. They both remained silent falling back into the world of dreams where things weren't going crazy. For now they could remain sane and pretend beings bent on their destruction were not coming.

In a raging sea of worry and insanity, it was nice to have a mast to hold onto while the rest of the ship was nearly capsizing.

How long they would be able to hold on would depend on what they found out about the Reapers.

A Few Days Later

According to a man named Jon Grissom – an Alliance Admiral who was regarded as a hero and had Grissom Academy where they had sent David to named after him – Aratoht was "Like Mount Everest inside an oven." Needless to say Ty was not exactly fond of the idea of Shepard going down to the planet based on the weather conditions let alone the fact it was a Batarian colony.

Currently the Normandy was using the stealth systems to hide out inside the Bahak system within the Viper Nebula where this planet was located while Shepard prepared to take the shuttle down to the planet.

Now normally that wouldn't be so bad, but she was going down alone.

She was going to be infiltrating a Batarian colony to find another human deep cover operative…alone.

Ty was pacing up a frenzy in the Cargo Hold having already made his arguments against this idea known and none too pleased she wasn't listening. If it were possible he would have dug a giant trench with how much he was pacing back and forth.

The N7 was under orders by Hackett to go in alone or don't go at all. The former mercenary had tried arguing the fact she was not a part of the Alliance right now and therefore could ignore his command because he would be none the wiser if she brought him.

Shepard had of course derailed his argument with her strong loyalty to the Alliance and wish for this to go off without a hitch. Even if he was stealthy the commander did not want to bring an extra person in case they ended up getting split up or somehow having someone with her lead to the mission going tits-up.

It wasn't enough for him to not continuing arguing that they were sending her in alone to a Batarian prison where the person she was searching for was probably already dead considering this Amanda Kenson was a human and in the Alliance.

That was pretty much a death warrant after torturing for the hell of it.

Unfortunately all his arguments ceased at the importance of the mission. This woman Shepard was meant to save had proof of an imminent Reaper invasion. The only sentence Ty wanted imminent and Reaper in was one speaking of an imminent Reaper destruction out in dark space due to some kind of deus ex machina like a black hole conveniently destroying them all and then disappearing.

_It would solve a lot of our issues._

Life didn't work like that though and instead they had an imminent Reaper invasion apparently. The purple eyed warrior didn't like being forced to sit out as she went into a very hostile environment where the only allies she had were her guns and her biotic's. He trusted in her strength, but he didn't like this situation one bit.

Infiltrating a Batarian prison plus Reapers was a concoction that was worse than Darian's and didn't have the side effects of getting knocked out or hugging the porcelain god. This one's side effects included torture and death if you were captured by the Batarian's or imminent death and destruction if the Reapers were really coming soon.

Stress levels were high aboard the Normandy. None of them knew what to expect upon Shepard's return from rescuing the deep cover agent and confirming or denying the Reapers truly arriving. None of them had been prepared for the Reapers to come from dark space while they were busy dealing with the Collectors.

They had each thought they had more time to finish their fight and prepare for the arrival, but if Kenson was right then they were all very wrong.

If Kenson was right it was safe to say their cycle was over.

None of the races were united or prepared for the Reapers. Granted it was hard to prepare for giant death bringing machines taller than skyscrapers that could shoot giant red death beams of destruction. No one had preparation measures for evacuation or killing Reapers. No one believed they existed save for a few people while the Council decided to pretend they did not for blissful ignorance.

Right now they were all unprepared and when the day came for the Reapers arrival whether it was imminent or months or years away the galaxy would burn if they continued to do nothing.

The galaxy was and would stand in the fires and complain that it is hot; such was the way with all "intelligent" beings. No one wanted to confront the scary issues of destruction coming their way; no they'd all rather wait for it to come instead of taking steps to prevent it.

Humans had been particularly lucky in discovering space flight, colonizing new planets and discovering the Relay. Humanity had been destroying Earth for some time and mother earth was on the verge of reclaiming her planet through brutal storms.

Had they not discovered space flight they would have been like Rakhana, the Drell homeworld. Their planet would have been continuing to be destroyed by them until they were fighting for scraps of food and drops of fresh water. Eventually their species would have gone extinct because no one had decided hundreds of years earlier to do something to stop their ignorant destruction of their planet.

One of mans greatest flaws – both human and alien species alike – was believing they were in control of the world and life around them. There was always something stronger than them out there whether it be nature or in this case Reapers who have been harvesting societies for who knew how long.

For all their intelligence and claims of being at the top of the food chain, humans and aliens alike were really not at the top. If you were to strip anyone of their weapons and what they considered "normal necessities" which were really privileges and you threw them into the wild you would find the "intelligent beings" were indeed on the bottom of the totem pole in nature.

The belief of being at the top of the totem pole came from making weapons to defend themselves and destroying nature to create large cities where animals did not prowl. This false sense of being the "apex predators" would end up proving false once the Reapers showed up.

What continued to be a problem was the blissful ignorance and belief that _someone_ would do something eventually. Pushing the responsibility onto others and thinking that eventually down the line someone else could come up with a solution to stopping their destruction was a terrible fault the galaxy had.

"_Someone else was going to solve it_" would become the statement etched onto the tombstone of a galaxy sized mass grave at the rate they were going.

Ty let out a deep sigh coming to a stop in his walking and his thoughts. None of his thoughts were helping now; they were only fueling his desire to go down with Shepard despite her telling him he could not.

Part of his mind realized he was following orders which immediately made him want to slap himself, but the rest of his mind knew he was doing it because he trusted and respected Shepard. To do the opposite of what she asked wouldn't be right and could make her perturbed at him.

Something he had no desire to do.

"Do you have to do this alone?" He finally spoke to the woman who was finishing her preparations nearby. She was in her full armor but wasn't wearing her helmet at the moment, her guns were ready and attached to her armor and she looked both ready to kick ass and reluctant to go.

Her reluctance was understandable, she was about to go into a place that was about as hostile as thresher nest and was going in without squadmates.

The N7 was not going to be completely alone. If something went wrong the Normandy team would be watching her vitals and the like ready to go at a moment's notice to cause an international incident if she needed saving.

On that note this mission would also reveal whether or not if the Reapers were going to be coming to end their cycle. She was going to be finding out if the greatest threat against their short existence would be coming to end them all or not right now. It was news with a heavy burden to it and while Shepard was one of the few in the galaxy who wouldn't chose ignorant bliss with this threat, that did not mean she wanted to carry the weight of knowing around with her.

"Do I have to?" She sighed, "Yeah, I do. But that doesn't mean I want to. You know me, I like to travel in threes."

That got a chuckle out of the former mercenary. He knew he was known for making witty remarks to alleviate the mood amongst the crew, but he found this wasn't a situation he could manage one. Shepard on the other hand would take the lead for him and try to lift his moods.

She knew he was unhappy about this mission and the arrangement of going alone just as much as she was, if not a little more. The commander had heard his arguments, knew he was far more aware of the conditions of Batarian prisons and how people were treated at their prisons.

Torture was a heavy word yet it somehow was too light for how Batarian's this deep in their space treated their prisoners. Zaeed had put it in the best terms for others to understand, "_When you're stuck in there you've got two choices, bash your head open on a wall or kill everyone between you and the exit._"

He was dead on in that assessment. If you didn't kill yourself or kill everyone between you and the exit you were going to live something far worse than hell. Ty was thankful to never have been stuck in one, but he had heard stories during his years on Omega and from his Batarian crewmate Gallick.

People had no idea just how disgusting, horrible and truly screwed up Batarian prison was – and it was probably best that way. Only those who had seen it first hand as a prison guard or a prisoner really knew what those places were like.

From what Ty learned from Gallick he had once been a prisoner for a reason he did not speak of and had seen horrors done to the people regardless of race and what they did to specific species. He had not gone into detail not wishing to relive it and to spare the young man the nightmarish descriptions he would have had to go into.

All his Batarian friend had said was to imagine the most hellish thing you could think of, add in a nuclear winter, some thresher maws, suffocating in space, losing a limb and acid being dumped on you. After adding all of that in you were nearly as bad as Batarian prison according to Gallick.

Ty still shuddered at the thought of it.

Shepard stood up and met the purple eyed warrior at the door of the shuttle where he had been pacing a trench into the Cargo Hold floor. "Don't worry so much Ty." She rested her hand on his shoulder giving him a smile, "It'll be fine."

"I know…just don't be afraid to call in reinforcements. Alright?"

She nodded and pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss. Despite the kiss being wonderful Ty felt as if it was more of a "in case this is goodbye" kiss instead of a comforting kind. Maybe it was his own worry seeping into it that made him feel in such, it was hard to say because there was a bit of desperation from the both of them in the kiss.

Eventually they separated and the former mercenary watched as she got into the shuttle. He took a few steps back as it powered on. When their eyes met he gave a smirk and a mock salute, "Good luck ma'am." His lover rolled her eyes with a smirk and gave a final wave before closing the door to the shuttle.

As Ty watched the shuttle leave the Cargo Hold of the Normandy he sent a silent prayer to the Spirits to keep her safe on her mission. There was no telling how long it was going to take her but best guess was one day to a few days depending on how long it took to confirm the deep cover operatives information.

He let out another sigh of defeat as he headed towards the elevator hoping to find peace in his meditations or in a card game until she returned.

Her return was not a doubt in his mind, it was just if there would be an international incident or not.

Ty hoped for the best.

But his heart was wary of what was going to come.

Two Days Later

It had been two days since Shepard left for Aratoht to save the deep cover agent Amanda Kenson. Two days since they last heard word from her saying she had succeeded in rescuing her and was heading to their project base on an asteroid nearby to confirm if there was an imminent Reaper invasion.

There had been no word from her since. No messages, no warnings, no confirmation or denial as to what was going on or what they needed to expect. Instead the Normandy team had been waiting tensely running their stealth systems to remain hidden from any Batarian sensors that could reach out to where they were hiding.

If all of that was not enough to cause worry then add in the fact that suddenly all comms were being jammed the source of it all coming from the asteroid and to top it all off the giant rock was flying right at the relay. To say stress was high was the equivalent of calling a nuke a somewhat damaging weapon, massively understated.

Ty was pacing up a storm behind Joker with Miranda nearby as they were each in their own lines of thoughts pertaining to what they were going to do. Leaving Shepard behind was out of the options completely for obvious reasons but they were holding onto hope that she was going to message them.

Or they had been for the last while until the asteroid was getting dangerously close to the relay. They had run the simulations already with EDI, if the giant piece of rock did destroy the relay it would create a destructive force large enough to destroy the entire system, the people and planets would be wiped from existence.

The best estimate at a casualty amount not including themselves or the people on the asteroid – around three hundred and five thousand people.

Oh yes things were more than tits-up at the moment.

They had consulted on attempting to destroy the asteroid using their main guns to save the lives of the Batarian's and stop this mass murder. The problem was they had no idea what was going on and why the asteroid was being aimed at the relay. Acting without information could very well lead to more deaths if it was to somehow stop the Reapers.

This left them each with a very tough decision.

Save the few momentarily and possibly let the Reapers in, or let them burn and perhaps stall the Reapers just a little longer to hopefully save more life.

None of them knew what to do. This was a decision with a heavy burden of dead on their shoulders regardless of what choice they made.

The decision in their hands was also to be made based on possibilities instead of facts. If they were to act and destroy the asteroid they could very well be damning the entire galaxy out of a wish to save life, if they let it crash into the relay they were damning the souls of three hundred thousand people.

Life was life regardless the race of the people in this system. Maybe they weren't all good people, but they were still people whose lives were now firmly in the hands of the Normandy XO and the former mercenary.

Not even Miranda's Cerberus mentality was coming through on this, she was just as stuck on making a decision as Ty was. Never had either of them had to make a decision with this amount of life in the balance where whatever choice they made was going to end in death of a large amount of people.

They had thought of trying to get through the jammed comms to message the Batarian people of the asteroid, but they also had to juggle getting Shepard, the Alliance, the Normandy team, and even Cerberus thrown under the bus for this choice.

While the purple eyed mercenary had no care for Cerberus being a scapegoat, they would be given up by the Illusive Man in a heartbeat to save his idea of Cerberus being humanity's white knight. The choice to do so would forever stain the names of everyone on the Normandy.

No, warning them would in the end cause more damage than harm. Ty had considered using a voice changer and pretending to be his dead comrade Gallick to warn them, but time was against them. To do so would take more time than they had and could leave them unable to rescue Shepard in time.

Ty stopped his pacing bringing his hands into his hair gripping his skull and lifting his head to face the ceiling as he closed his eyes. Tough decisions had to be made, he knew that. As a previous captain of a crew he knew these kinds of decisions had to be made, he had made one similar when he chose between selling innocents into slavery or setting them free inadvertently costing his friends their lives in the process.

Needless to say his confidence in his own decision making was not high.

But something had to be done.

"Fuck." He sighed. Miranda and Joker looked to him as he let his hands drop. "…for all we know Shepard is the one who set the asteroid on its course to stop the Reapers from coming. If we destroy it we are damning this entire galaxy to death."

"If we don't destroy it we're damning this system. I know hard decisions have to be made, but are we really willing to damn this entire system?" Miranda argued.

"…"

Ty knew the words forming on his tongue and he hated them so much. But this was now officially war, and in war there was no way to save everyone. It was what Darian had taught him from his own military teachings,

"It's the ruthless calculus of war Miranda, three hundred thousand die here so trillions or more can live out there." He said the words but his heart really wasn't invested in it. Miranda just stared at him in small surprise and disbelief at what he had said.

He hated this so much, he hated that they had no idea what was going on causing them to have to make a decision without facts.

He knew these decisions would only get harder with larger body counts in the future, he hated that he knew this was just an opening salvo to the real war. Against the Collectors the colonies were just statistics as cold hearted as it sounded. It was due to not knowing the colonies or having any ability to do anything to help except fighting out here.

Right now though he was making a giant group decision for everyone. For the people on this ship and for the people in this system where they had a choice to either destroy the asteroid or let _it _destroy the system.

This wasn't just a statistic anymore.

"Joker, keep trying to connect to Shepard. Don't destroy the asteroid." Ty ordered. The purple eyed warrior was trying to summon what strength he had into his voice to keep it from wavering. If Shepard had the strength to make these kinds of decisions and not flinch from the duty, he had to be able to do it too.

Joker stared at him for a moment then nodded a remorseful look crossing his features. "Are you sure about this Ty?" EDI asked.

"No, I'm not. I want to stop the damn thing and spare these lives from what will happen. I don't want to snuff out the souls of three hundred thousand people on what could possibly be a misinformed decision. I don't believe in that ruthless calculus bullshit." The former mercenary sighed, "But what choice do we have? What if we destroy the asteroid and the Reapers come through the relay? Our attempt to save life will end in more death and the destruction of this cycle."

Miranda shook her head letting out her own sigh at the same time as their pilot. "This is wrong." The Cerberus operative stated then took a breath, "But you're unfortunately right. Without contact to Shepard we have no way of knowing if she is the one who set the asteroid on its path to stop the Reapers."

"Why can't we ever have the tough decision of whether or not to return a cute lost puppy to its owner or keep it on board the Normandy?" Joker attempted to alleviate the mood with a small sarcastic comment.

Both of the two ground squad members gave very small chuckles before returning to their seriousness. "I'm going to take my space bike down there. We have eight minutes before that rock collides with that relay and we're not allowing Shepard to become a martyr." Ty said.

He received a nod from Miranda who clearly approved of his choice to save their commander. "Be quick." She told him.

The former mercenary turned around and took a step in the direction of the elevator. "Shepard to Normandy. Joker, do you read me?" Shepard's voice came through their comm.

"I read you Shepard. What the hell is going on down there? Do you want us to stop the asteroid?" The pilot asked. Silence followed, "Shepard? Do you read me Shepard?" Silence again. Joker let out a frustrated sigh, "Damn it."

"EDI can you triangulate Shepard's position?" Miranda questioned.

"Yes." A few seconds of silence passed, "She is at the comm tower outside of the main base." The trio looked at one another in question trying to see if anyone among them could make heads or tails of the current situation.

None of them could though. The timer was counting down though and soon enough that asteroid was going to collide against the relay. If they didn't get her out of there now they were all going to be dead. Ty shook his head, "Fuck it. EDI is there a place the Normandy can come in close for her to enter our airlock or for me to leave it need be?"

"Searching…Yes there is. Marking the landing zone now."

"Good, Joker bring us in at those coordinates. We're getting her then getting the hell out of here."

Joker nodded his hands beginning to dance across his controls. "Strap yourselves in, this is might get a little bumpy."

They ignored his requests waiting for their pilot to get them to the landing zone EDI had marked for them. "This is going to be tight." Miranda observed as they watched the silent rock moving closer and closer to the relay. "Will you be able to get us out in time, Joker?"

"Miranda do I ask you if you will be able to get your reports out on time?" The Cerberus operative rolled her eyes at the pilots comment. He was in his element now and also very serious with what they were dealing with right now. "With my skills and the upgrades the Normandy has I'll get us out of here just fine without someone backseat flying."

Miranda went silent but was ever watchful of what was going on just as Ty was. Reaching the asteroid did not take long and they immediately got sight of the commander who was running to meet them at their landing zone. They barely even touched down when the Commander jumped into the open airlock shutting it behind her as the Normandy took off once more.

The airlock door leading into the Normandy opened with the N7 rushing out her helmet still on. She rushed to Joker's chair, "Get us out of here Joker!" She ordered.

The pilot didn't flinch and did not speak as his hands began moving faster across the controls hitting all the necessary controls to get them through the relay. "Shepard wha-"

She ignored or didn't hear Ty's voice instead rushing back down the hall to the galaxy map. Ty and Miranda both followed behind her at a slower yet still haste filled jog reaching the station where Kelly usually was as Shepard watched the galaxy map. The redhead was surprisingly absent and for once it was probably best as the system view of the Bahak system began to disappear from the destruction of the relay.

Shepard watched it until the system no longer existed leaning heavily on the railing. Miranda and Ty both lowered their heads. Whether in mourning for the loss of life or because they knew it would have been possible to save them from death even if it meant the Reapers coming through, neither knew for certain.

Eventually the sound of Shepard's boots slowing moving down the stairs brought their gazes up to meet hers. She had taken off her helmet and looked emotionally exhausted her eyes heavy with guilt and pain. "Ho- how long did it buy us?" Miranda hazarded to ask.

"I don't know." Shepard shook her head her voice barely a whisper, "I don't know."

"But they were coming?" Ty asked. Maybe it was justification he was seeking in the decision that was just as much on the commanders hands as it was theirs for going through with it. He wasn't a believer in ruthless calculus, but maybe he could at least soften the blow of the decision by pretending he did.

Shepard reached the floor giving a solemn nod. Silence fell over each of them neither moving to attempt to comfort the other with words or actions as the knowledge of three hundred thousand lives snuffed out in a blink of an eye weighed heavily on them.

For the first time in many, many years Ty felt a sickening vile taste reach his taste buds. It probably said something bad about him that it had been years since he felt sick at the thought of the death of others.

He swallowed down the rising bile in his throat and couldn't help but wonder if his grandfather had felt this way when he had murdered over five thousand innocents in one blow on a bad order.

_I guess I really am following in his footsteps._

"Wha- what the hell did I just do?" Shepard asked her voice breaking slightly.

Miranda opened her mouth but no words came out and she shut it. She clearly didn't know what to say about this to help, and neither did Ty.

All he could say was the truth.

"We…we just sacrificed the few for the many."

War never changed, all that changed in it was the means by which those waging it used to destroy the others. Ty had known war with the Reapers would be the most destructive of them all. He had seen what one had done with a Geth army on the Citadel.

He just forgot that their own choices would cause the destruction of their people's lives as well. That was what war did, what it always had done. Leave people with impossible decisions that cost lives regardless of what they chose.

Ruthless calculus was what everyone was left with in the end.


	101. Chapter 100

Chapter 100

A Burden too Heavy to Carry

Indoctrination was a crazy ability the Reapers had. To be able to control the minds of others by just being in their vicinity or by the people being near one of their artifacts for extended amounts of time was frightening. How close to the giant death bringers was too close in terms of indoctrination range?

What of their artifacts?

There was clearly a certain range where indoctrination could affect people otherwise everyone in the Bahak system would have been indoctrinated when they arrived in it. Ty wasn't asking for there to be experiments to find out but he wished they'd stumble on some kind of Prothean data archive holding information about it.

_I'd take a giant super weapon to destroy the Reapers any day of the week over learning more about indoctrination though._

What made indoctrination worse was the person who was slowly or quickly becoming indoctrinated had no idea that they were. Their minds at that point were under an influence so great they would never be able to break it or know that they had to.

Not without an outside force at least.

According to what Ty knew of Saren he had enough will-power to break from the control to shoot himself thanks to Shepard. Another piece of proof similar to outside force was Benezia. The Matriarch had been able to break free, albeit momentarily, because she had sealed away part of her mind from the indoctrination.

Either way they hadn't had the ability to break free completely, the former mercenary doubted anyone really did.

The fact was indoctrination was a silent unbeatable ability of the Reapers. It was one way they kept their armies larger than their enemies and could infiltrate every inch of the galaxy. For every soldier they stole they bolstered their forces and left someone on the opposing side unable to kill their former comrade.

On the other hand the indoctrinated being could act as if they are not indoctrinated. They could get information on the ground forces or main bases and that was just the small stuff. Getting indoctrinated individuals into political positions or religious ones could very well lead to people being led astray.

It was a cruel yet uniquely powerful ability. The Reapers could turn the very leaders of the resistance against the resistance or silently put their own controlled people in power to stall the people deciding the actions against them. They could also, with a very charismatic leader, try to make people believe through that leader that the Reapers were the next step to advancement or gods of some sort.

The possibilities were endless with what they could do with the ability. For this very reason Ty was scouring the mind of his lover in search for any irregularities or clear signs of the taint of indoctrination on her. From the squad debrief he had learned she had been exposed to the Reaper artifact signaling their return without any sort of protection _and _it had rendered her unconscious.

He would have offered to do this anyway had she not practically ordered him to ensure she was not compromised. Of course the purple eyed warrior had no idea what he was looking for. He had never searched the mind of another for indoctrination or melded his mind to someone who was without a doubt indoctrinated.

In truth he had no idea if by melding his mind to someone who was indoctrinated if he would be subtly indoctrinated as well. There was definitely a risk he was taking here if that was the case, but there was no way of really knowing. He was one of two that was genetically modified to be able to do this – this made the pool of people who could test it particularly small.

In any event Ty didn't much care about the risks. He had done what he could to protect his own mind from Shepard's in case of something bad and was searching thoroughly through her mind. He needed to find out for her sake and his own if she was still not under any influence of the Reapers.

_"If I ever show signs of indoctrination or if someone ever compromises who I am…I want you to promise me that you'll end my life."_ Her words from after the Battle for Ortega and helping Samara with her daughter rang in his mind as he searched. The last thing he wanted was for that scenario to come true, yet here he was searching for those signs.

The Spirits were cruel.

As he was fighting the need to turn back the time just to let Kenson rot in a Batarian prison and kill her people, Shepard was in a sea of self-doubt and was barely clinging onto her life raft. The cause of her rough rapids was the dread filled choice she had made to crash the asteroid into the Relay causing around three hundred and five thousand deaths.

It was not entirely her fault. Had Amanda Kenson and her people not been indoctrinated they could have warned the Batarian's allowing them to evacuate in the two days she had been kept under heavy sedation. Telling the Batarian's would not have been easy, it could have been impossible to do so and the Reapers could have gotten through.

To say with certainty everything would have played out perfectly had the Alliance operatives not been indoctrinated was not possible. For all they knew things could have been worse to the degree of the Reapers arriving if they had been able to warn the Batarian's to evacuate two days earlier.

All of the thoughts of could have, would have, should haves were plaguing the commander. She needed some semblance of solid land or at least calmer waters in her raging ocean of doubt. If that meant sifting through her mind in hopes of finding nothing different outside of these thoughts of self-doubt then Ty was willing to put himself at risk for her peace of mind.

The purple eyed warrior and Miranda were not in as much of a raging sea considering they had not been the ones to activate the project, but the death toll really was hitting all of the crew hard.

Ty had taken full responsibility of telling Joker not to destroy the asteroid in hopes it would keep Miranda's mind clear of any burdening thoughts and to take any blame that could be aimed at her. He was unsure if it worked or not but it had only been a few days since the Bahak system was annihilated.

His own mind was burdened by the thoughts of the amount of lives lost, yet he had pushed them to the side in favor of helping the Shepard. His only choices were to destroy the asteroid or not to. If he had ordered Joker to destroy it then there would have been more loss of life than the three hundred thousand souls who had perished.

And yes he was rationalizing this to stay sane.

Pretending to believe in ruthless calculus had proven easier than he had expected it to, but when a person's mind was motivated for certain actions it was capable of convincing the heart of outrageous ideals. To stay as a stable force for the rest of the squad – Shepard especially – he needed to be level headed.

This did not mean going around telling everyone that ruthless calculus was right and other ridiculous statements all with the hidden meaning of "_get over it_" behind them. Ty had no intention of doing so and the mere thought of going around saying those things made him shake his head at the ridiculousness of it.

While everyone on board was certainly not innocent to the ways of taking lives, that did not mean they were all heartless. Even if none of them had had a hand in the death toll it did not soothe their minds or hearts to the simple fact of how many people were just snuffed out as if they never existed.

Everyone on the Normandy whose heads were not so far up the Cerberus ideologies ass to recognize this as a terrible tragedy regardless of race were more to themselves – reclusive even. They were each coming to grips with the loss of life as it was a reminder to how bad things were going to get. Not only that but it also took some of the wind out of their sails as they had been more or less triumphant as of late.

The Battle for Ortega, saving David from Cerberus, helping Tali, Zaeed and Thane and everyone previously before them, and defeating the Shadow Broker had all been – in a way – great victories to one degree or another. Sure some like Ortega and David had their bad parts, maybe each mission they had taken had a moment or two where things didn't look up for them.

Still, nothing they had faced previously save for the Collectors taking the colonists on Horizon and going onto their ship to find the massive amount of pods they were planning to fill was as bad as what they had just gone through.

Going from those moments to suddenly destroying an entire system to stop an imminent Reaper threat did little to bolster morale. On one hand they each understood it had bought them time, maybe a few weeks or maybe a few years, there was no real estimate on the time they had.

Whatever time they had was good time regardless because it would allow them to finish their mission. On the other hand stalling the Reapers in such a way did not feel like a great victory – it didn't even feel like a small one.

They would keep on fighting though. It was the only choice they had if they wanted to defeat the Collectors and survive the Reapers. Some of the more hot-headed parts of the crew were itching to get some payback. The Reapers didn't know it but by forcing them to murder three hundred thousand people they had spurred the Normandy team to bring a harder fight to their forces than they were going to anyways.

Times like this it was good to take all the anger built up at the Reapers and throw it at the next puppet of them they faced to destroy them until not even their modern day DNA scanner could recognize them. So long as the crew wasn't fighting with itself Ty was all for their wishes to disembowel the Collectors and Reapers.

In-fighting would do nothing for them at this point, not that it would ever do anything for them in the first place. Right now though it was most important that they did not fire any of their anger at one another, not when their commander was in a fragile state of mind.

Shepard needed them all to have her back as support on the ground and support on the ship. Calling all members to turn into a bunch of cuddly teddy bears was not what was needed. She just needed their confidence in her abilities to help get her back on her feet and back into the fight._ Although seeing Grunt or Jack get all cuddly would probably be hilarious before they hit me._

For the reason of giving her support he had her sitting in his Zen garden mindscape filling her with as much comfort as he could muster without losing focus on his task. There was no walking away from what she had done unscathed and she had no one who really knew what she was going through.

There was no pretending to know what she must be feeling, not even with his abilities to feel her emotions. The sacrifice the N7 had just made would be and was a heavy burden not just because of how much life was lost. In the end the fact that it had been her choice to do it ate at her conscious equally to the knowledge of life lost.

Deep down she knew they would have all died or become puppets to the Reapers if she had not destroyed the relay. They all realized that after the long moments of shock passed over, yet for Shepard it did not ease the burden that much.

The soldier in her was already putting up her walls of unbreakable stone in an attempt to distance herself and remain focus on the mission at hand. This did not take away the terrible feeling she held in her, not by a long shot, but it would eventually fuel her further to do everything possible to save as much life as she could in the future.

The sapphire eyed commander knew this was an opening salvo and not even close to how big the death toll would end up being. That thought had begun to build the determination in her to finish off the Collectors and then find some way to take down the Reapers quickly to lower the amount of death they would bring about upon their arrival.

It was a start to pull her in from the raging seas.

Ty gave an affirmative nod to himself when he finally finished searching ever part of Shepard's mind. There was nothing out of the ordinary he could find and there was certainly no taint of indoctrination upon her as far as he could tell.

He ended the mind meld between them – both the one allowing him to search her mind and the one allowing her to sit in his Zen garden – returning them into the real world. Back in the present she was sitting on one of the beds in the med-bay and he was standing in front of her with his hands resting on hers.

The former mercenary let out a heavy breath the same as his lover due to the disconnection after remaining melded for a long period of time. It was not extremely intense like other mind melds the two had experienced but it had been taxing on him to hold it as long as he had.

They had been at this for the last five hours in regular time and even longer within his mind, normally that wouldn't be too bad but they had been at this since they left the Bahak system.

Shepard wanted to be one hundred percent certain that she had no taint of indoctrination on her which meant going over every inch of her mind several times without skimming over anything. Getting sleep, food and bathroom breaks were the only breaks they gave each other and as soon as they were awake they headed to the med-bay once more to continue.

Normally the former mercenary didn't use his mind melding ability to such an extent over days at a time. If he had just been within his own mind on his own it wouldn't matter but melding his mind took a toll on him. Even after gaining better control of the ability and no longer passing out just by doing it did not grant him the ability to hold it for hours on end without stop save for sleep and a few resting breaks.

Doctor Chakwas stood up from her desk noticing their change of breathing as a sign they were finally out of the meld. She helped Ty to a seat taking note of his wobbly legs and sat him down in it, "Are you okay?" Chakwas questioned.

"Just…really tired." Ty got out through his breathing. _Man, and I thought the intimate meld could get me out of breath…although that could be for a different reason altogether._

"Not surprising seeing as you two have been at this for five hours just today." Chakwas commented moving from him to Shepard who was bracing herself on her legs despite being seated already. "And how about you Shepard? Are you feeling okay?"

"The melding experience is a bit more intense than Liara's…but I'll be alright." Shepard answered. Her gaze turned to the purple eyed warrior questions deep rooted in her sapphire eyes. "Did you find anything out of the ordinary? Anything at all?"

He shook his head tiredly, "Nothing. I can't find any sign of any other influence on your mind beside my own." Not that finding that out was a bad thing, on the contrary it was very good. Ty was just too out of breath to express it correctly.

There was a sigh of relief from the two women in the room who were pleased to know the Reapers had not sunk their giant tentacle legs into Shepard. It was some good news after dealing with a really huge pocket of turbulence that dropped their ship from high in the sky to really close to the ground.

"You're sure?" Shepard asked him.

"Yeah." Ty gave a nod. "From what we know about indoctrination you should be hearing whispers right about now, and you're not. On the same note based on what I heard about Benezia she was able to seal away a part of her mind from the indoctrination."

He leaned back in his chair as he thought over his next words. His only issue with all of this was it was all just theories he was basing his assumptions on.

They were well-thought out assumptions, but assumptions nonetheless.

"In theory that means there should be something different deep in your mind, something…abnormal. Someone who knows enough about their own mind or can explore others should be able to detect it before the indoctrination takes over their entire mind, as Benezia was able to do – in theory that is."

She nodded to him in thanks before hunching over resting her forearms on her thighs. "Well…at least not everything that could go bad did." The commander muttered her eyes finding a place on the floor to stare at.

At her statement the young warrior couldn't help but chuckle. His lover raised her head and an eyebrow at him confused as to why he had chuckled. "Glad to see your finding of optimism in the worst moments hasn't left. I guess that's more proof the Reapers didn't steal you away."

Shepard smirked at him and shook her head in small amusement. _Suppose all that training the Alliance was good for something after all besides kicking ass,_ he thought, _I know she's just putting up fortress walls to spare her sanity…but at least she isn't losing herself completely. I hope I can at least ease her burden a little._

Before he could say anything else the doors to the med-bay opened. The former mercenary looked over his shoulder to see none other than Admiral Hackett standing in the doorway. _Well, well. I suppose he was going to show up sooner rather than later since he was the one who sent her on the mission. _"I suppose I'll excuse myself. Never been one for older men in suits."

Ty forced himself up onto his less shaky legs sparing the commander a small smile, "Later Shepard. Don't listen to any voices in your head."

"Ha-ha." She drawled, "You are such a sarcastic asshole."

As he took his leave he turned back around to face Shepard letting his feet guide him towards the door. He shrugged a little, "Well if I didn't make sarcastic remarks all the time you'd get all depressed and boring. With me around you don't get to keep a stick up your ass, you get to be like Garrus and start using it to hit everyone."

Again the N7 shook her head at him wearing a small smirk at his comment. It wasn't much but it was something to combat the seriousness of the next conversation she would have with the Admiral. Doing so also made things look as if they were just friendly with one another.

Telling the Admiral that not only did she have to stop a Reaper invasion by destroying a Batarian system but she also was in a relationship with a criminal was not going to do her in favors right now. To help her in this situation he had to act like the sarcastic criminal instead of the caring lover he wanted to be.

There would be time for that later anyways. For now Ty decided it best to get something to eat before resting his body and mind from the latest events. Garrus, Tali and Miranda were already occupying the Mess Hall having their own meals so the former mercenary joined them.

He explained what he found, or his lack of finding anything which reassured the group. Other than that he stayed out of the conversations keeping a watchful eye on Shepard and Hackett inside the med-bay as they spoke. Ty had no doubt of what the conversation was going to entail, Shepard finishing this mission and turning herself in since the Batarian's would want blood.

If the jail break or capture of Kenson was not reported to anyone then that would be amazing luck. The problem was they had, Ty had checked the circulation of information going on within Omega alone and Batarian's were already claiming it was humans who had done it. There were no names yet from what he could tell, but in the end names didn't matter. This was a mass murder of their people and they wanted an eye for an eye.

Soon there would be a large increase in Batarian violence against humans leaving both groups to call for more blood until war broke out. With the Reapers on the horizon war with the Batarian's was not something the Alliance needed, so what would they do? Someone was going to have to take the hit to stave off a war and that made Shepard the sacrificial lamb.

Whether or not Hackett wanted to was not part of this equation of death. The fact was parts of the Alliance had wanted Shepard gone long before her death and resurrection. She had served her purpose in stopping Sovereign and she was becoming an irritable rash of stubborn truth when everyone wanted blissful ignorance.

On another hand her incorruptible morality was a threat to those who would have their unjust ends destroyed by her. Her heroics were helpful to a certain point and then they became inconvenient, her death was almost more profitable than her life since it boosted recruitment by using her short legend.

Now there were rumors of her resurrection and their using of Cerberus, more inconvenience to politicians. They would toss her to the Batarian's without a second thought and probably smile as they did. Of course there were some like Anderson and Hackett who Ty believed wouldn't allow them to do it – not without a fight at least.

Another factor in this was himself. He would not stand idly by and let her be tossed to the Batarian's like a scrap of meat to a pack of Varren. If that meant pretending he was kidnapping her from the Alliance and holding her "hostage" for an exorbitant amount of credits then he'd oblige. Hell it'd probably be fun, ridiculous in some aspects but mostly fun.

_Not like they would be able to find us anyways._

It wouldn't start a war between humans and Batarian's considering the Alliance would have offered her up and he was the one to steal her. The Batarian's would probably try to cut a deal with him, _or try to kill me. Can't really say now that they just lost an entire system of planets and people._

_Wonder how Braum is doing. He had no love for the Hegemony, but there would have been innocents among those who died. On the other hand he believes in the Reapers so if word reaches him he might understand a little…hard to say and I'd rather not call and find out. Last thing we need is any implications aimed at myself, Shepard or this ship in case he is really pissed._

Hackett departed before he finished his meal but Shepard remained in the med-bay getting a check-up from Doctor Chakwas to ensure she was fine in all other capacities. Once Ty finished eating he headed back to his room and sat down on the floor looking out through his window full of stars to ease his thoughts. For a while he just stared out at the stars curious as to what was going to come in the future.

Reapers and Collectors were certain but the young warrior wondered if he was really ready for a war. Sure he had been in many battles and waged his own small war against the Blue Suns, yet a Reaper war was a galactic scale war where there were no safe havens. Against the Suns he had reprieve and the entire galaxy was pretty much unaware they were even fighting.

The Reapers would be everywhere. There would be no escaping the piling numbers of dead unless you really pretended they didn't exist and paid no mind to the pain the galaxy was in. He had seen a lot of death, he had lost people who were not faceless statistics to him…but the war would be unlike anything he had ever faced.

_I guess fighting the Collectors is no different…_Ty let out a sigh and laid back with his hands under his head, _no choice in the matter. What comes will come, no sense psyching myself out now. Just have to prepare both my body and mind for what is going to happen._

For a while he laid there alone with his eyes closed letting his thoughts depart with his steady breaths. The last thing he needed to do was start to doubt himself or think he was incapable of helping fight the war. If he thought of it as just another fight the purple eyed warrior would be fine, for now at least.

There was no way to know how seeing everything happen would really hit him, not that anyone could really say they knew how they would react to giant squid looking death bringers.

Eventually his doors opened bringing him from his calm mind back to the world of the living. He opened his eyes and tilted his head back to see who was visiting to find the sapphire eyed commander staring down at him wearing her casuals.

"You look a lot taller from down here." Ty joked. He received a smirk and a roll of the eyes from the woman who was standing in his doorway.

"You know there is a bed in here and up in my cabin right?" She jested about his laying on the floor.

"No way! EDI told me those were torture devices!" He shouted in mock indignation

Shepard gave a light laugh as she approached him. "I apologize for my ruse, but it was necessary to keep the beds made." EDI commented.

"Ah, it's okay I forgive you. Keeping the beds neat is very important after all." Shepard laid down parallel to him and rested one of her arms over her eyes and the other across her stomach. Without touching her he could feel the tension in her body, it was enough to tell him how her conversation with Hackett went.

_Might as well get this over with._ Ty let out a sigh, "So you're the modern day version of my grandfather except you're going to turn yourself in, right?" The woman next to him was silent. In her silence he was given his answer, sometimes silence was the loudest sound of all. "Figured they'd make you their martyr." He mumbled.

"I'm not going to run from this Ty. I can't. If war breaks out between humanity and the Batarian's before the Reapers arrive we're all screwed." Her voice was quiet yet firm in her argument.

"Heh, if we lose you we're all screwed." He retorted somberly. She was really the only person he could think of getting the entire galaxy through this war. It was a heavy burden to put on her, but he'd help her bear it alongside all of their friends so long as she allowed them to help.

"Sacrifices have to be made."

To her statement Ty shook his head and sat up. That was an interesting way of telling him she wouldn't change her mind and that she wanted to pay in some way for what she had done.

Bullshit in his words.

"Don't talk bullshit like that. It doesn't suit you at all." He brought his knees closer to his chest and rested his forearms on them, "You know I respect and trust you tremendously. The fact you're willing to turn yourself, to take responsibility for an action forced upon you by a fucked up situation and not run from anything only makes me respect you more because I know I would run."

Cowardly as it was Ty knew himself better now than he ever did. He would run to fight another day and push all blame onto others. It's what he had done all these years and although he was taking responsibility for his actions now it didn't change the fact he would run from this trouble she was faced with.

He looked over to her from his spot finding that her arm was still resting over her eyes. In any other moment he would have admired her beauty or laid back down next to her and given her a kiss on the cheek. This wasn't that moment though, right now he had to get through her thick skull to prove that giving herself up to be given to the Batarian's was a bad idea.

Going back to the Alliance wasn't so bad, going with the intent of allowing them to do whatever they wanted with her life was what mattered to him. "I've always known you'd go back and face ridicule for the rumors about Cerberus, but this is different Shepard. They are going to hang you out to the Batarian's and it wouldn't end if you were killed. It would continue to escalate until the Reapers got here and wiped us out. That isn't necessary sacrifice."

"Then what is it?"

Ty turned back to his reflection fighting the desire to raise his voice or allow his emotions to take over as he spoke. Remaining neutral and not throwing his emotions onto her was how he needed to stay to keep his arguments to the point and without arguments possible.

The problem was he knew what it was and it wasn't just foolish. He knew the signs; he had seen it firsthand in his mirror reflection. As he was staring at his reflection and the lying down reflection of Shepard he couldn't help but scold himself for not thinking much on it as he sifted through her mind.

He had noticed it in her mind yet he had been so focused on seeking out signs of indoctrination that he let it go. Before Hackett had arrived she hadn't allowed herself to fully fall into the pit she was now in.

Evidently her conversation with the Admiral had given her that final push to fall into a bottomless pit of self-hell and blame where she believed paying with her life was the only way to relieve herself of the pain in her heart. Maybe the former mercenary didn't know what it was like to carry the burden Shepard was carrying now, but he did know how it felt to believe death was the only way to be free of his self-inflicted hell.

This all came back to thoughts he had gone through days ago after her return from the original Normandy's crash site. The burden of the dead whether your own death or the deaths of others was a burden too heavy for any one individual to carry forever. It was something that made the bearer delve into the deepest darkest pits without end leaving them hollow shells of who they used to be.

Shepard had thrown up all of her fortress walls and had distanced herself not only from her choice but in an attempt to distance herself from her own life. That sort of reckless abandon for her own life was something Ty knew very, very well.

Throwing himself into every fight not caring – or using shields and armor for that matter – if he walked out or not due to all of the pain echoing in his soul underneath all of his fortress walls had lasted up until recruiting Garrus.

Sure he still did crazy stunts, but that was just him normally. Getting impaled on a wall and then dying was his final act of hoping he would finally meet his friends in the afterlife. After that he had stopped trying to throw his life away. Although he was still more or less reckless nowadays, the purple eyed warrior didn't want to find the afterlife just yet.

"You're carrying the burden of the dead on your shoulders Shepard. I know it is true because I've been where you are on a much smaller scale. You can't keep trying to carry this alone or think your life is worth losing to stop a war that wouldn't be stopped."

There was not a chance in hell her one life would stop the war between humanity and Batarian's. The four eyed beings already hated humans a lot before this, now they would want to turn all of their planets into glass parking lots. "Do you honestly think one life will suffice for the Batarian's in the Hegemony?" The former mercenary turned to look down at her to find her eyes staring back at him, "They're going to kill as many humans as they want until their victimization runs out."

Somewhere deep in her eyes he could see that she understood where he was coming from, but let it be said that Ty was not the only stubborn person in his room right now. "I know you don't want me to do this Ty bu-"

"Whether or not I want you to do this isn't what I'm talking about Shepard. I already know you're going to turn yourself in so I'm not arguing that because you're damn right I don't want you to do it. But I understand. It's where your home is, I get that and I respect your decision even if it means we have to part ways for an unknown amount of time." He told her.

The purple eyed warrior turned back to the reflection of himself. Of course respecting her decision and liking it were not the same. After learning what happened to his grandfather he did not hold a lot of trust in those within the Alliance. If her plan had been to just go back and continue to yell and scream about the Reapers until someone listened then Ty wouldn't mind so much.

Unfortunately that was not her plan from what he could tell.

"What this is about is you thinking your life is fucking disposable, 'cause it's not." Memories of his own thoughts on his life being disposable during his revenge tour played through his mind mixing with her own. "We all need you Shepard. It's a terrible burden to bear but if there is anyone who can do it, it's you. You've got more strength in your heart and soul than any person in this galaxy."

"Giving yourself up after this mission is over, I understand and respect that. It's one of the things I love and respect about you, your ability to stand up and take responsibility even for things not in your power."

He stared at her in the reflection her sapphire orbs meeting his purple ones. "But not planning on fighting to prove the Reapers were coming and you had no other choice, not planning to stay alive long enough to make the Reapers pay for every life lost in the Bahak system…That's not the Shepard I know. That's not the woman who fought through hell to stop a rogue Spectre and then came back from the dead to stop agents of the Reapers."

All was silent in his room after he finished speaking. Ty was unsure if his words had done any good or if they had just created a rift between them, but he had to say it. If he didn't then who would?

How long passed in the silence was something the former mercenary was uncertain of but eventually it was ended by the sound of a soft sigh from his lover. Shepard sat up next to him meeting his reflections eyes with her own, "So does "we all need you" encompass you as well?" Her voice was filled with some amusement immediately making Ty sigh. _I guess this is how they felt when I shut my family's words out._

"Don't be cheeky and change the subject Shepard. I'm being serious."

The commander's hand found its way to under his chin and began gently turning his head until their eyes met. "I am being serious. Do you?" She stated all previous jesting in her voice replaced by earnest seriousness.

"Yeah, I do. Why would you even doubt that?" He asked.

"Everything fell through on that last mission and three hundred thousand people died because of a choice I made."

His lover shook her head lowering her gaze from his eyes to the floor. "I feel…restless, hopeless…like everything I'm doing is for nothing." Her eyes found his again and Ty could see her walls were finally breaking down. In her beautiful eyes he could see all of her feelings surfacing from sorrow and fear to anger and pain. "I'm grasping at threads here Ty…and it feels like any moment now I'm going to lose all my rope and fall."

Ty stood up much to the dismay of Shepard who thought he was leaving. Looking back at a few of their moments like this it seemed he had a habit of giving off wrong signals in the attempt to help her. As soon as he had both of his feet under him he reached his hand out to her, "Then grab my hand and get back on your feet soldier. I thought giving up wasn't an option for you Alliance marines."

It was a simple display that wouldn't rid her of any of her pain filled thoughts, but it was a way to gap the bridge of doubt and – if he was lucky – give her back some of her strength. She needed something solid to grasp onto, she needed to know they were still behind her all the way.

The faith of the crew and his own in her had not wavered in the slightest while her faith in herself had. Losing faith in oneself and not taking note of the people still around you believing in you was a deadly combination.

Not that it was all that surprising. Almost anyone faced with the same choice as she was would have their very core shaken and destroyed, unless they were coldhearted bastards who had planned to kill large amounts of people. They weren't so important though and chances were the Normandy team or his family would end up killing those people anyways.

Shepard was one of the strongest people the former mercenary knew, but she wasn't invincible. Deep down she was just a soldier who by some form of luck found her way into a giant plot involving the mass extinction of the galaxy. It wasn't as if she had planned to uncover something as large as the Reaper threat, hell if it weren't for Saren she'd probably still be the XO on the Normandy under Anderson's command.

The woman had limits just as everyone else in the galaxy, granted her limits were a lot harder to reach than others but they were reachable. Moments like these or Akuze or even Tuchanka as a reminder of Akuze knocked her down fairly hard penetrating her barriers and going straight in for the kill. It was times like these where having people get you back on your feet really came in handy.

As long as you let them in that is. Ty was proof of a bad kind of stubborn who didn't listen to the people trying to help him get solid ground under him once more. He had tumbled off his rope and fell into the dark bottomless pit for many long years until finally a hand grabbed him stopping his descent. His right arm had needed to be fixed afterwards but that wasn't a big deal.

The woman he was reaching out to now had saved him from himself, the least he could do was save her from falling into the darkness just as he had.

Her hand found his slowly, almost as if she was expecting him to pull it back at the last second and leave her hand floating in the air alone. He did not however nor did he ever have any intention to ever do such a thing to Shepard.

Ty helped her stand back up and encircled her with his arms pulling her into a warm embrace. Her arms found their way around the back of his neck and there they stood in the middle of his room just holding each other. Her steady breathing broke for silent sobs as the soldier allowed herself to finally cry for all the pain she took on her shoulders in recent days from the Normandy crash site to the loss of the Bahak system.

When tears began to fall down his own cheeks Ty could not say if they were from his own sadness for the loss of life or at witnessing Shepard hit her breaking point. Quickly he steeled himself and banished his tears, for her he had to be the strong pillar of support until she was able to stand on her own once more.

This wasn't the end of their problems, not even close. A hug didn't solve the Reaper threat on the horizon, but for now Ty was happy to offer whatever comfort he could to Shepard who was in dire need of some. There was much uncertainty in the coming days but there was one thing the purple eyed warrior could say with complete confidence.

Once Shepard got back on her feet the Reapers were going to pay.


	102. Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Preparing for the Worst

Shepard rose rapidly to a seated position like the dead come back to life with a startled gasp and quickened breaths. Her body felt unnaturally cold yet despite the chill filling her body she was covered in sweat as her heart was beating against her chest in an attempt to free itself from the confinement of her chest.

Her sapphire blue eyes darted across the room in an attempt to take in the surroundings around her that were blending reality with her nightmare. The room was dark but she could still make out the different surfaces of Ty's room as they were combined with the project base containing the Reaper artifact.

Where a desk should have been was a control panel and the estimated number of Batarian's that were going to die due to her choice. An empty chair near the desk was replaced with the dead body of Amanda Kenson holding a detonator in her hand and blood pooling out of her forehead.

The N7 closed her eyes and shook her head violently, _I'm not there anymore! I'm not there anymore!_

Slowly she opened her eyes and no longer were those images there, but there was no relief for her. Her body was still cold, her heart would not stop beating at a quickened pace and her breathing would not calm down. In the end the nightmare was more than just a nightmare, she had been there and made those choices.

In an attempt to soothe her troubled soul she took in her surroundings once more finding Ty's room to be exactly how it had been the night before after they had chosen to stay there following her breakdown. This knowledge coupled with what rationality she had left in her mind after awaking from the nightmare allowed her to calm her breaths to return her heart to a normal pace.

_It was just a nightmare, _she tried to reassure herself. It wasn't _just_ a nightmare, but she needed to calm down to avoid another breakdown.

There should have been no surprise in having a nightmare on the first night of sleep she had where her mind was no longer raging across all the worrying thoughts pertaining to indoctrination. Without the worry of whether or not she was affected by that device preventing her from getting any sleep her mind had finally been able to move to the despair she faced on the project base.

Every dream was of that damn choice to stop the Reapers from arriving immediately. Her dreams covered everything from moving through the Batarian prison – which was worse than she had expected – all the way to being forced to start the project with minutes to spare and condemn three hundred thousand souls.

It didn't end there though, her dreams even glazed over her frustration boiling over at the insanity of Kenson who she shot in the head without mercy but with an added twist. In her dream she had to listen to the woman continue to curse her name even though she was clearly dead leading the dream version of herself to continue to shoot her until she was unrecognizable.

Even then she continued to curse her.

In short, calling her latest night of sleep _bad_ was the equivalent to calling the Reapers big. It was a massive understatement.

Everything that could have gone wrong on that mission pretty much did. _I should have known, _Shepard scolded herself, _I should have known once when I saw that Reaper artifact without any sort of barriers to protect them from it that they were all indoctrinated._

Knowing they were indoctrinated before the artifact blasted her with the images of their arrival would have allowed her to get the hell away from it and not get put under a heavy sedative for two days.

It was unknown whether or not that would have opened more avenues of choices to her, but at the least it would have allowed her to possibly reach the Normandy and warn them of what was going on. That would have then led to reinforcements in the form of her squad coming to help her take down the project team and figure out what to do with the asteroid afterwards.

_But that's not how it happened,_ she brought her knees closer to her and hugged them resting her head on top of them. _No, now an entire system of Batarian's are gone thanks to the Reapers, Kenson's team and I. The dead are probably cursing my name and living ones want blood, not that I blame them._

How could she? If an entire system of humans were snuffed out by Batarian's every human would cry for war. It was "_human nature_" for people to react in the way the Batarian's were going to react when a genocide or large scale attack happened.

There was a litany of moments when races cried for blood whether it was against themselves in their own history or within the galactic community. Humans were no different in this aspect; their history was littered with wars and cries for blood in just about every generation, if not every generation.

Ever since coming onto the galactic stage and problems with the Batarian's started their four eyed counterparts had been looking for a reason to go to war with humans. The Skillian Blitz, Torfan, human expansion, Asteroid X57, all of those moments only built more tension between the races.

Other skirmishes had happened, but a full-fledged war like the one that was on the horizon once the Reapers showed up had been avoided between the two species.

Right now they had a pretty damn good reason for one and the Alliance wanted nothing to do with it.

If that meant pushing all the well-placed blame onto Shepard then they would do it. Her only hope to not end up getting gutted by the Batarian's laid in the hands of Hackett, Anderson and Ty. The first two believed in the Reapers and knew if she hadn't done what she had done then a larger war would have arrived – a war they weren't ready for at the moment.

Shepard knew they would make the Alliance officials trying to get her arrested fight for every inch for as long as they could. All they were doing was buying her enough time to finish the Collectors off and tie off her partnership to Cerberus. Once she was done with that she would turn herself in and face whatever consequences they threw at her.

As ridiculous as it was since the Reapers _were _coming, and coming very soon at that, the Alliance marine would face the music if it meant staving off a war with the Batarian's. Despite that she couldn't help but think of what Ty had told her the day before.

_"Do you honestly think one life will suffice for the Batarian's in the Hegemony?" His purple eyes met hers holding the look of truth in them, "They're going to kill as many humans as they want until their victimization runs out."_

He was right, Shepard knew he was right. It's one of the things that pissed her off the most about the Alliance. She lifted her head from her knees and turned it to stare out the window. The Batarian's were looking for a reason to go to war, the Alliance knew this yet it believed by giving them the only living person behind it all it would stop the war from coming.

It was bullshit.

Shepard had no problem accepting the consequences for her actions; she was an adult and took responsibility for what she had done. What she did have a problem with was the fact the Alliance was willing to believe such a ridiculous idea would stop a war with the Batarian's and wouldn't even give her the time of day when it came to the Reapers.

She had seen what the extremist of Batarian's were like; Balak had been a prime example of their extreme tendencies. Someone who wanted to crash an asteroid right into Terra Nova to destroy a planet that "Should have been theirs" and thinking it was perfectly just because of all the lives humans had taken was not someone who would think one life was worth the life of an entire system.

The Hegemony was full of Batarian's of the same mind as Balak, hell he could have been a part of the Hegemony for all she knew. Losing the large amount of people they had just lost in one fell swoop was a tragedy, but it was a tragedy they would take advantage of.

They would continue to kill humans and would likely get away with it for a little while until, as Ty said, their victimization ran out. Sure they'd take her life first, but that wouldn't stop them from continuing on after her life was gone.

The Alliance was so ready to believe in the threat of the Batarian's coming down on them, they were so ignorant to believe one life would stave off a population crying for vengeance…yet even though they had seen the footage of Sovereign or had been there firsthand to see the giant Reaper they didn't believe in them.

A threat that was closing in on their galaxy with proof of their existence was being denied when it could very well end in the _entire_ galaxy being wiped out, but they believed war with the Batarian's was unavoidable if they didn't give them her.

That's what infuriated her the most.

That was not the Alliance she had been a part of. It was the politics within that had been sweeping her under the rug prior to her death. Now they were swooping back in to finish the job.

Shepard could see the parallels to Ty's grandfather – save for the difference in being tricked into killing thousands of innocents – and she was beyond pissed. What they had done to him was unforgivable and she was happy he had hunted them all down. His path was not one she could follow completely, but in the end he was the one who laughed last before Cerberus killed him.

She couldn't have the last laugh here, not with the Reapers on the horizon getting closer and closer with the galaxy pretending they weren't real.

Yes the Reapers were a nightmarish truth, but ignoring it wouldn't solve anything. Only a handful of people actually believed in the threat and were trying to prepare in what was becoming a more hopeless attempt as each day passed now.

To be honest, the N7 was losing hope in the Alliance and the Council. Although Ty didn't know it, his silent wish for her to run away from this all with him and her crew was a lot more enticing to her than he would believe it was.

Her friends believed in her and were willing to do something about the Reapers. Losing Cerberus would take their funding, but the Illusive Man had shown his true colors countless times. Whether it was David, sending them into the Collector ambush on the pretense of "_believing they would be able to succeed_" or all of the other screwed up projects she had to clean-up when she was chasing after Saren, the Illusive Man didn't care for their lives any more than she cared for his.

The Alliance and Council clearly weren't going to do anything until the Reapers were on their doorstep and only then would they admit she was right – not that it would matter at that point.

The only remaining people she could get any sort of funding from were Liara or Ty and his family. The former of the group was the Shadow Broker and had tons of projects going on that brought in tons of credits. Ty and his family were all for destroying the Reapers and had stolen more credits than she was actually aware of throughout the years.

Both were equally supportive to her.

Either way losing Cerberus wasn't a terrible loss, though the Normandy would have to get repainted if she chose that path.

Even though she would follow that path in almost any other circumstance, Shepard had already made up her mind to go back to the Alliance. She had to at least try to convince everyone else one last time that the Reapers were coming and they needed to stand together.

Whether or not they would listen was uncertain. There was a high likelihood that they wouldn't as they hadn't this entire time. For that very reason she put a lot of her faith in her purple eyed lovers disdain for anyone trying to throw her into a Varren pit as a "_necessary sacrifice."_ His eyes would be ever watchful during any sort of hearing or trial the Alliance would have for her.

_Knowing him he'd probably do something really dramatic if the worst happened, _she smirked only slightly, _probably hold me for some ridiculous amount of ransom._

Her smirk fell being replaced by a frown. All of this was frustrating and saddening on so many different levels.

She was preparing a worst case scenario to get away from the people she had practically been around her whole life. Her parents were marines, her friends prior to the Normandy had all been in the Alliance…and there was a possibility she would have to leave it all behind because of the Reapers.

Shepard's gut still twisted at the thought of the amount of lives that were snuffed out, but she had shed her tears for them while she was awake and was haunted by the choice in her sleep. N7 training had kicked in and her fortress walls protecting her from the pain of the choice were up.

It didn't mean she no longer cared about the lives lost; she just couldn't lose focus with the Collectors getting almost into their scope.

Despite those thoughts being settled by her military training, the thoughts of leaving behind the Alliance weren't. Ever since she joined the Alliance the sapphire eyed commander had dedicated her entire life to it. Even after losing her entire squad on Akuze she continued to press forward in the Alliance and eventually became the first human Spectre.

_What would Lizzy, Toombs and Ash think about all of this?_

After all of the hard work, after all of the blood and tears she shed for them…it was possible she was going to have to leave it all behind thanks to a terrible decision to let the galaxy die or a system forced upon her by the Reapers and indoctrinated Alliance soldiers.

Granted now she had people outside of the Alliance she cared deeply for, but what about her family? They would no doubt be blacklisted just by being related to her.

What would her mother think when the news reached her? Would she believe her or would she want nothing to do with her?

All of the rope Shepard had left to grasp onto were turning into tiny threads that could barely hold her weight. The only thread left that had tied itself to her and wouldn't unknot itself belonged to the man currently sitting up next to her.

A hand moved under her tank top and began to glide across her sweat covered skin in a comforting way as lips pressed against her shoulder. "Nightmare?" He asked quietly.

It was probably obvious enough since her body was still covered in sweat along with the clothes she was wearing that she hadn't undressed out of last night.

He was just being considerate in trying to comfort her. Asking her if it was a nightmare rattling her was opening the door to conversation and was a better start then asking if she was okay. Both knew she wasn't after everything that had transpired.

The wounds weren't going to heal overnight, definitely not this last night.

"Yeah." She replied softly.

He placed another kiss on her shoulder and continued to gently rub her back. Having him there was enough even if he was in an unsure silence of what to say to comfort her.

It was a subtle reassurance that no matter what happened he would always be there for her. Knowing he'd never turn his back on her when she was in dire need of having him by her side was something that gave her immense comfort among a terrible raging ocean full of rogue waves drowning her in uncertainty.

Ty was solid land and shelter from a storm too powerful and dangerous to stand outside in. He would outright deny being called an unbreakable fortress, but for her he was. Having him here with her was keeping what was left of her sanity intact and the remnants of her hopes burning with his belief in her.

Even as her own hopes in being able to defeat the Reapers were dwindling – Ty's undying faith, trust and hope in her kept the N7 from giving up. As long as there was one person left who believed in her wholeheartedly she couldn't give up.

Thankfully she had more; she had an entire crew full of people who believed in her. It was because of all of them she wouldn't just give up regardless of how much she wanted to after the Alpha Relay incident and her conversation with Hackett.

There was a fight that needed her still along with people who still believed she could win it. There were Reapers and Collectors who all needed to pay for every life they had taken, and she was happy to oblige in collecting that long list of debt.

"So I was thinking about something I want your opinion on."

"Uh-oh." Shepard managed a small smile along with her jest as she looked to the man she loved.

Ty smirked and placed another kiss on her shoulder, "Make fun all you want, I think through stuff…sometimes."

"Sometimes is the key word there."

He rolled his eyes without losing his smirk, "Yeah yeah, I've gotten hurt a lot from my own plans. I get it." His smirk fell for a more sober serious look, "Can we be serious for a moment?" Shepard gave a nod letting her previous teasing attitude leave her. "I was thinking about after we defeat the Reapers, if things fall through between you and the Alliance…" The man stopped himself a bit apprehension to whatever he was about to ask built up in his eyes, "What do you plan to do?"

It wasn't what he had originally been about to say or ask, but the former mercenary was still serious in his question. The commander hadn't honestly thought that far ahead although the scenario was one she needed to take into consideration. If her relationship with the Alliance didn't recover for whatever reason, what was she going to do?

If the Reapers were gone her usefulness would be all used up and they'd have no problem court martialing her or sending her to the Batarian's. Would she just turn herself in and let all those things happen without the threat of the Reapers on the horizon?

Maybe years ago the commander would have taken it…but now she wasn't sure.

"I- I don't really know Ty…that seems so far away right now." War with the Reapers wasn't going to end overnight without some sort of divine intervention or large scale weapon of mass destruction. The purple eyed warrior gave a short nod of understanding but she could see he had thought about this. It's why he had brought up the fact he wanted her opinion on something he had thought about. "Do you have a plan?"

"Kind of."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Kind of?" Not that it was surprising that Ty of all people only had part of a plan and not a full one. With the antics he usually pulled on the battlefield Shepard had grown used to him not thinking through his actions completely.

"I never said it was complete, just an idea to consider should the Alliance continue to be a bunch of suit wearing pricks wanting to throw you to the Batarian's." Shepard nodded silently for him to continue, "You know how I told you I want to retire from this life young and live the rest of my days in peace with you?"

"Yes." She did remember and she was all for that plan when he first told her. The N7 still was but this newest issue pertaining to the Alliance and Batarian's could have very well thrown a wrench in it. Shepard hoped he wasn't giving up on it though; she needed Ty to believe there was still a chance for them.

"…I know you don't know what you're going to do after we're done with the Reapers. You're still going to go back to the Alliance now to continue to try to get them to prepare for the Reapers, but I was thinking maybe after everything is done…"

The former mercenary stopped himself leaving Shepard confused as to what was going on through the mind of her lover. Normally he didn't shy away from speaking his mind or sharing his ideas, yet with this sensitive issue he wasn't all that forthcoming. His eyes left hers and his hand stopped rubbing her back, for whatever reason he seemed unsure as to if he should finish his statement.

The sapphire eyed woman brought her hand to his cheek in hopes to comfort him and let him know he could speak his mind, "I can't give you my opinion on what you have in mind if you don't tell me." She gave him what she hoped was a warm smile.

"I know." Ty let out a sigh, "I was thinking if the Alliance doesn't give up on trying to turn you over to the Batarian's after the Reapers…that you and I could just…disappear. Fade out of history and out of the minds of others, you know?"

"Become legends?" Shepard smirked. She didn't mean to make light over something he was being serious about, but it was hard to pass up. It was what it sounded like he was trying to say even if he wasn't.

He shook his head his seriousness remaining. "No, nothing that dramatic. I just…I don't want to lose you to Alliance politics." Her smirk fell at the worry slipping into his voice at losing her to the politics. "My plan isn't flawless; it isn't really much of plan at all if I'm honest with myself." The purple eyed warrior heaved a sigh, "It's just an idea for a worst case scenario."

"Are you giving up on your family ever losing its criminal status?"

To her surprise the former mercenary gave her a small but sad smirk. "In this preparation scenario you're not being forgiven despite helping to stop the Reapers, do you honestly think they'd forgive us at that point?"

Shepard frowned to what he had pointed out turning her head away from him for a moment. In the worst case scenario she wasn't going to be able to walk free after they were done with the Reapers.

What hope did Ty and his family have if they weren't going to forgive her after fighting the death bringers?

None was the answer and Ty seemed to be quite aware of that now.

He was quietly accepting what was a possible fate for him and was choosing to find a way to make the best of it instead of drowning in despair over it. The situation they were going over was further into the future full of unknowns because neither knew how things were going to turn out in the near future. Her lover only had the ability to relieve the past; the future was just as unknown to him as it was to everyone else.

Still, he was taking the initiative to go over a precautionary back-up plan should the worst happen after the Reapers were destroyed. The real question was if Shepard was willing to go through with it or not. Ty clearly had no issues with the idea of disappearing off the face of the galaxy otherwise he wouldn't have brought it up.

All he wanted was for her to be safe and not locked up or dead thanks to Alliance politics. His worries were well-founded due to what he had found out about his grandfather and the deep-rooted fear she would be the newer version of him.

In all honesty the commander wasn't sure she could answer yes or no to his question. Too many variables were hidden in the shadows of the future making her feel blind. While she had no problem with staying with him, the N7 didn't want to lose contact with all of their friends and her family if they were still willing to talk to her after all of this.

As all of those thoughts pelted her mind Shepard realized that Ty was likely in the same boat. It was an incomplete plan with so many things they would have to figure out if things led to them taking this course of action.

Shepard shut her eyes and shut those thoughts off turning her mind to the simplest questions he was asking.

Would she or would she not be willing to disappear with him if the Alliance wanted her dead?

Would she let herself be incarcerated or killed forcing the man to lose another person he loved or would she stay alive and see what awaited them in the future?

Those were the questions this scenario was based on. Figuring out the rest of the plan to how they could remain in contact with friends and family was impossible right now and would only give her a headache.

The commander opened her eyes and turned to her lover, "Okay." She spoke up finally. She brought her hand back to his cheek cupping it before continuing, "If everything goes south then you and I will just disappear. No more wars, no more fighting, no more politics. Just us."

The decision was easy to make. Destroying the Alpha Relay and in turn destroying the Batarian system was just the tip of the iceberg to the coming war. What laid ahead of her was a road full of more hard decisions to make and a full-scale war that would without a doubt take that body count to a higher number by the end of it.

Everything was going to be on the line and if they failed they'd all die…but if they succeeded she knew no one would be the same. Whatever came whether she was still scorned by the Alliance or not she had no desire to be making choices like the one she had made recently after the war was over.

Choices where hundreds of thousands of lives were on the line was not how she wanted to spend her remaining days after they finished off the Reapers. Disappearing with Ty guaranteed neither of them would ever have to deal with terrible decisions like that ever again.

They'd be able to live their days in peace and happiness with each other. That was why if her relationship with the Alliance fell through after the war she'd have no problem leaving with her purple eyed lover. Her entire life had been dedicated to the Alliance, if the politics deemed they no longer needed her than she would remove herself from the equation completely.

She was going to take the fall for her decision to destroy the Batarian system so no one else was blamed and so she could continue to try get people to prepare for the Reapers.

After that they would all have to see where they were left once the war was over.

Ty brought his hand out from under her tank top to the hand she had cupping his cheek. He rested it on top of it and closed his eyes for a second before turning his head and pressing a kiss onto her palm. "Whatever happens…I just want you to know I'll follow you to the ends of this galaxy." He told her.

A genuine smile made its way onto her lips, "I know…thank you." She leaned forward to him capturing his lips with her own. Their kiss was slow both savoring every second their lips were together and pouring their love for one another into it. As they came out of it Shepard laid her forehead against his, "I love you, Ty."

"And I love you, Shepard."

For a little while the two remained as they were finding comfort in the close proximity they had. Even though the conversation had been a serious one, Shepard couldn't help but feel her lover had used it to get her mind off of her nightmare.

Considering it worked she wasn't going to complain. Instead she laid down with him again resting her head on his chest as they cuddled close together. With a preparation plan for something they weren't sure could happen Shepard brought her thoughts to something she was sure of.

Soon they would reach the derelict Reaper where the Reaper IFF they had to collect was. Once they got it installed onto the Normandy they were finally going to be able to visit the Collectors at their home base and take them down once and for all.

On one hand that meant getting closer to turning herself in but on the other Shepard was happy to finally be able to take those bug bastards down. They had kidnapped and killed enough colonists.

It was time they stopped them from taking anymore.


	103. Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Friend or Foe?

Ty wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but the entire ship was shaking. Not just a few rumbles or anything like that, it was as if a large earthquake was going through the Normandy taking all stability from those on board. It seemed impossible considering the last he knew they were in the vacuum of space where the ship ran smoother than Garrus in a game of Skyillian Five.

For some reason that wasn't the case at the moment.

The former mercenary stumbled out of the elevator with all his gear on nearly crashing into Kelly who was hanging onto her workplace. _What in spirits name is going on?_ Whatever they had flown into had not been suspected to be like this otherwise someone would have told the redhead to get strapped in.

Scrambling onto his hands and toes was extremely difficult but one second of traction gave him the ability to get back onto his feet to continue his attempt to reach the cockpit where answers awaited him.

He had been ordered to get ready to go on a mission and meet up in the cockpit a little while ago, but having the inside of the ship shaking and moving in ways it shouldn't with the inertial dampeners on had changed his objective.

Instead of trying to prepare for a mission he was going to find out why the ship was shaking like this, because ordering him to come up thus forcing him to navigate this was ridiculous. It was as if someone intentionally thought it would be funny to have him trying to make it across the Normandy while it was in such a state. Doing this was like some sort of twisted game show only there was no cash prize at the end of it.

_This is like when Val would turn off the inertial dampeners in the shuttle for an adrenaline rush, _he crashed into the wall due to a particular violent quake, _except it's the entire damn ship!_

Using the wall as support for the moment he continued his way towards the cockpit.

The mission was to go get the Reaper IFF from the derelict Reaper the Illusive Man had his scientists researching. Of course this wasn't the usual garden variety of go and pick the item up without any fuss. _Although I wouldn't mind one of those right about now._ His team had gone dark and that meant there was trouble on the horizon.

_Business as usual when it comes to the Illusive prick sending us on a mission._

Another shake shook the Normandy roughly sending the purple eyed warrior stumbling again. This time though he lost his footing and hit the ground right in front of the stairs leading to the cockpit. Trying to get some footing again took a moment or two after nearly being sent sliding across the floor away from his destination.

_If Joker is just pulling some kind of sick joke, I am going to break his brittle bones and feel bad about it afterwards._ He looked up as he made it to his hands and one knee with his other foot on the ground. All the crewmen who were in the seats leading up the hall to where the pilot was were all strapped in fully and had their fingers flying across the screens in front of them.

Clambering up the stairs into the hall was a more or less successful endeavor. More because he made it, less because walking a straight line was impossible. If this were a test on how inebriated he was then he would have failed spectacularly. For instance, a few of the crewmen had their heads used to catch his balance with an apology and a few curses escaping him, but otherwise he was making good progress.

In the cockpit holding onto pilot chair was Shepard in her full armor with Jack holding onto the nearby wall fully armed. "What the hell is going on?" Ty asked as he neared them.

It was abnormal for anything like this to happen on the Normandy, let alone while Joker was in control. The man was arrogant when it came to his piloting abilities but it was for good reason. He was truly one of the best, if not _the _best human pilot there was in the galaxy right now. For the ship to be in such a state wasn't going to be because of his piloting, something else entirely was going on here.

"We're not being sucked into a black hole or some shit like that, right? 'Cause I've got standards when it comes to the way I want to die." He grasped onto an empty seat right outside of the cockpit. "Getting ripped apart and eaten by a black hole is not on my list of best ways to die. Oh and getting tractor beamed or something into the derelict Reaper would also be another not on my list."

"I'm doing my best! The wind is gusting at five hundred kph!" Joker explained.

_Damn, no wonder why the ships getting moved around like this. Wind like that isn't anything we've dealt with outside of trying to get onto the Shadow Broker base. But we had flown into a terrible storm then, this atmosphere must be more volatile than most others we've been in._ "Maybe EDI should take the helm if you're having such trouble dealing with it." He wisecracked.

"Ah shut up. I'd like to see you on that little bike of yours trying to fly through this without any issues." The pilot shot back. The result of his wish would end in a likely death for Ty by being torn off his bike and sent into the atmosphere of the brown dwarf they were orbiting.

Not a fun way to go at all.

"There's a second ship alongside the Reaper, it's not transmitting any IFF but the LIDAR picks its silhouette up as Geth."

"_Great._" Jack drawled.

"My sentiments exactly, Jack." Ty sighed.

"I guess we know what happened to the science team." Shepard's tone was a mixture of her companions holding the same dislike for the situation at hand. Fighting a platoon or two of Geth was going to be such a pain.

Whether or not the science team was full of actual scientists who didn't have the same aspirations as Gavin Archer or were the same kinds of monster the leader of Project Overlord was happened to be unknown to them. When it came to Cerberus Ty was one to bet the scientists were usually in the category as Archer but he didn't doubt there were some who didn't agree with Cerberus's ideals.

More people like Kelly who were trying to do the right thing but were caught up with the wrong organization had to exist. In the end it wasn't the faces of the people that made them monsters, it was their actions.

To judge where this group was on that scale was impossible as they were all probably dead thanks to the Geth infiltrating onto the Reaper. What bothered the former mercenary about it was the question of _why_ the Geth had come all the way out here to board the derelict Reaper.

What exactly was on the ship they were searching for? Were they part of the Geth who worshipped the Reapers as gods and decided the best way to do so was bow down on a derelict Reaper? If not, what technology were they searching for?

Was it a weapon or some other kind of ancient technology? Was it another way to bring the Reapers in after them stopping the death bringers by destroying the Batarian system?

Would it render that sacrifice worthless?

All of these thoughts were pelting Ty's mind as the continued to near the Reaper. The Reapers were such unknowns to them when it came to the technology they had and their abilities to enter the galaxy. How many ways did they have into the galaxy?

First there was the Citadel itself that was thankfully delayed due to the efforts of the Prothean's building the Conduit and then Shepard using it to catch up and stop Saren from giving control of the hub to Sovereign. The second entrance was the Alpha Relay they had just destroyed along with the entire system of Batarian's.

Could there be a third entrance or secrets about one hidden away inside the Reaper that only a Geth could find?

It was frighteningly possible.

On the other hand the Geth could very well be searching for what the scientists had found – the Reaper IFF.

If they happened to be working with the Reapers still that meant they could very well know what the Normandy crew was going to be searching for on the massive ship. Knowing what they were looking for would then allow them to take it right out from under them preventing the crew from taking out the Collectors.

By preventing them from taking out the Collectors that allowed the bug beings to continue kidnapping entire human colonies until the Reapers eventual arrival. Not only was that bad but it also gave the Reapers a distinct advantage in terms of the firepower of the ship and the accessibility to the Omega 4 Relay.

Needless to say the Geth ship being alongside the derelict Reaper was a very bad sign.

But these were all just theories as to why a Geth ship was here. There was no way to really know what they were doing without boarding the ship and from previous experience it was doubtful they would tell them peacefully, or at all for that matter.

As far as Ty knew the Geth didn't speak in the same way the rest of the galaxy did. The only attempt he knew of to try to understand the Geth was the dreadful Project Overlord and that was clearly a screwed up situation not needing to be replicated.

Abruptly the movements in the Normandy changed. All the quaking and shakes stopped returning the ship back to its usual state of affairs. "Not that I'm complaining about the shaking finally fucking stopping, but what the hell just happened?" The tattooed biotic questioned.

All three crew members let go of what they had found as stability allowing them to finally join one another fully in the cockpit. "The Reapers mass effect core is still active; we just passed into its envelope." _Even after all these years the core is still active…I appreciate the wind no longer pushing us around, but I don't know if the core being active is a good thing._ "Eye of the hurricane, huh?" Joker commented his voice slightly troubled.

"Yeah…I guess it's too much to ask to find a Reaper IFF just lying around away from any Reapers or Geth."

His female counterparts spared him small smirks, "I'm sure that Illusive fucker wouldn't tell us anyways. Not when this has a chance of getting us killed again." Jack said.

"If he is…" Ty shrugged, "Well I'm going to kill him anyways. I guess I can just add that on as another reason."

Last time the Illusive Man had sent them onto a "derelict ship" it had been a trap set by the Collectors that he knew about. Of course he "_believed_" in their abilities to get the job done and "_believed_" if he had tried to tell them it could have tipped the Collectors off which allowed them to get the information they had now.

That was fine of course; he was allowed to believe whatever he wanted because Ty believed he would get what was coming to him via a tomahawk right in his skull among other beliefs. The purple eyed warrior wasn't very devout, most belief systems would probably condemn him anyways, but he was a devout believer in killing the Illusive Man when he was no longer needed.

It would allow him to feel what being expendable was like and thus allow him to feel how all the others he deemed as "_necessary sacrifices_" felt by the time they were done with him. Doing so would cement his legacy as a true Cerberus employee whose contract was not renewed.

Unfortunately Ty was getting a bit ahead of himself. Right now the mission was to board a derelict Reaper, find the IFF, kill any hostiles and get off the ship. Killing the Illusive Man would come, eventually.

That didn't stop the former mercenary from looking forward to terminating his contract though.

As a group they entered the airlock while the Normandy docked with the Reaper. They were each quiet and in their own thoughts for the time being, not that it was all that surprising. This mission had them boarding a Reaper, dead or not that was creepy and worrying.

Throw in the Geth ship and each of them knew something was going to end up jumping out at them trying to kill everyone. Ty clasped his hands behind his head and let out a sigh choosing to stare up at the ceiling, "Remember the old days when we were going around killing dumb mercenaries?" He let out another sigh, "Man I miss those days."

"You do realize that wasn't that long ago, right asshole?" Jack asked a smirk in her voice.

He let his gaze fall back to them letting himself smirk, "I know, but I miss killing Blue Suns, Eclipse and Bloodpack. At least that was normal. This shit just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"You could say that again." Shepard rubbed the back of her neck as she looked up to the ceiling in remembrance. "And to think this all started because of a rogue Spectre."

"With the Queen of the Girl Scouts having to figure out a giant army of mechanical squids have been wiping out entire races and we're the next on the list." Jack sent a teasing smirk to Shepard, "Thanks a lot Shepard. You just had to open the fucking doomsday box, didn't you?"

"Hey! Saren opened it first; I was just trying to close it." The commander argued.

"To bad we can't make calamari out of them. I wouldn't eat it anyways, I hate fish, but I'm sure someone might like fried squid." The young warrior shuddered at the thought of eating squid. He could never get over the thought it might come to life or something and stick to the inside of his throat.

"We'll fry them, just gotta take out these bug bastards first."

Shepard and Ty nodded in agreement to the tattooed biotic's statement. At the sound of the Normandy finally finishing docking to the Reaper the group moved to the door as they drew their guns. They exited the Normandy and began moving into what was a clear Cerberus lab created inside of the Reaper based on the white walls within it.

It was eerily silent. There were no sounds except the echoes of three separate footsteps and the steady breathing of the three only living organic beings reverberating through the empty hall further through the ship. There had been few places the squad had explored like this, Pragia being one of those few that were spookily quiet.

What would be around the next corner or awaiting them further in? Was it the Geth that had killed all of the Cerberus scientists, or was something else here? Something darker…something scarier.

At the end of the docking hall they found more white walls and definitive evidence of Cerberus being here through dry blood on the wall ahead of them…and a mutilated corpse below it on the floor.

"Ah, there's nothing like walking through a dark spooky ship that is deafeningly silent just waiting for something to come hopping out at us. When the _hell_ did we enter a spirit damned horror movie?!" Ty whispered hotly to the two.

He hated how quiet it was; he hated it even more that they were on a Reaper ship. Dead or not it was creeping him the hell out and they had barely been in the ship for five minutes.

"Don't be a crybaby. Do you want me to hold your hand and walk you through this?" The tattooed biotic jested.

"Hey Jack." She looked over to him to see him giving her the finger. "Fuck you."

She smirked and gave him a tattooed finger, "Right back at you, dick."

"Stop flirting you two, we've got a job to do." Shepard teased from the front of the group. She was already looking over the first section of the lab where a few wall safes and a set of terminals along one of the walls were located. Aside from the first body there wasn't any other sign of life in this area if you didn't include the lab set-up being on a Reaper ship.

_Just a few hospital like beds, terminals and wall safes…wonder if they have anything in them._

Jack, who was standing guard, shook her head and rolled her eyes at the commander's statement as continued to scan the area for any signs of hostiles. "Shut up, Girl Scout. We've been through this before. He wouldn't have stood a chance with me."

"I swear we came to the understanding it was you who wouldn't stand a chance with me, but whatever makes you feel better." Ty commented. It was nice to have the familiar banter between them. With the recent events being more stressful than usual and now they were literally on a dead Reaper, a few jokes and bantering really put his mind at ease.

He moved towards one of the terminals while Shepard scavenged the wall safe for credits. After a few button presses nothing except equations that made no sense to him appeared on the screen. _Why does it always have to be math? I get that it's important to them…_he opened another terminal only to find more equations, _but does everything have to be equations? It's like reading Old English, just its even more confusing. Can't they have a translation on the side?_

The next few terminals went the same way. More equations he couldn't understand, or really chose not to. It wasn't really important to the situation at hand anyways, they were searching for the Reaper IFF and what happened to the scientists not their extra research into the ship they were on.

Granted their research could be interesting or reveal more questions to the original questions they had on Reaper ships. One of the reasons Ty had no interest in solving the equations, besides for his dislike of doing it, was because it could very well be information the Illusive Man was seeking to do more screwed up experiments.

Cerberus's leader truly had no boundaries when it came to subverting science. Eventually he was going to try something even crazier than trying to communicate with and control the Geth by hooking a human up to a machine. There was no end to it when it came to the Illusive Man. So long as there were experiments that could possibly bring humans above all the other races he would continue regardless of how morally wrong it was.

Ty had a feeling though that one day his experiments were going to bite him in the ass. The longer one tried to subvert science the more inclined they were to creating something that would lead to their destruction. As long as it didn't screw over the rest of the galaxy and only left Cerberus casualties then that was fine by the purple eyed warrior.

If it did something really bad then it was just another reason to kill the glowy eyed leader among the sea of reasons.

_Ah, we'll probably kill him long before that anyways. No need to worry._

The final terminal he checked had a video log from a Dr. Chandana. Most of it was useless information, the pressurization went well and the labs were set up, etc. What was interesting, or stressful, was that his entire crew felt uneasy being on this ship. Not the normal uneasy as the current squad was feeling, but what Chandana called "_superstitious_" because of what this being represented.

Now if it had just been that it wouldn't have made any difference to the young warrior. What changed superstitious to legitimate problems was the scientist claiming the walls would sometimes seem to close in on him and sometimes he would find himself gritting his teeth.

Those worrying signs the doctor should have heeded as more than "_superstitious_" or normal stress patterns. When on a Reaper, even dead ones, you couldn't just play certain things off on what it would be in a normal situation.

Remaining on board a Reaper was not a normal situation.

Once the area was clear they headed further down the hall to a medi-gel station, that was surprisingly full, and another terminal. Shepard activated this one and the first half was a different scientist talking about no signs of nanotechnology in their specimens.

Again it was the last half that caught their collective interest, or worry depending on your outlook. "He's been staring at the samples for hours. He says he's listening to them."

"Well…that dumbass got indoctrinated." Jack stated.

She was right about that. If there was no such thing as Reapers Ty would have assumed the guy was just a batshit insane scientist, but the cards were clear and this guy got a full-house of indoctrination.

"Why can't anyone ever take the proper precautions when it comes to Reaper technology?" Shepard wondered aloud as she motioned them to follow her to the right down the intersecting circular shaped hall conjoining to the original hall.

There was frustration in her voice likely due to the last mission she had been on when the Alliance officials decided keeping a giant Reaper object around them without shielding tech around it was a good idea. _No one ever claimed humans were the most intelligent species, _the former mercenary thought, _and Cerberus is definitely some of the more idiotic when it comes to preparations against their experiments turning on them._

"Show of hands, who wants to get the hell off this ship?" He asked as they opened the door blocking their way. As soon as they did the entire ship started to shake nearly making them lose their footing. _Not again! _Before he could voice his disdain the quakes ended, but something was bad about that.

Not only were they still on this ship but it shaking did little to bolster any confidence among the crew. "Normandy to shore party." Joker came into their comms.

"What just happened, Joker?" Shepard answered bringing her hand to her ear. _Don't tell me this thing is about to start dropping from the damn sky. I've been on one ship plummeting to the surface too many._

Being right about naming a ship Broken Arrow never felt like a victory after going with Zaeed and Shepard onto one named that as it was plummeting closer to a planet.

"The Reaper put up kinetic barriers. I don't think we can get through from our side."

A sigh escaped both squad members and Jack raised her hand in answer to Ty's previous question. "Trapped on a Reaper. Just fucking great." She grumbled.

"Why does this shit always happen to us?" The purple eyed warrior questioned rhetorically.

When it came to the weird and dangerous, the Normandy team really liked to bring out the worst of both.

Shepard shared in their misery which was clear by the frown firm on her face. "I hate Reapers." The commander sighed then continued, "We'll have to take down the barriers from in here." She brought her finger back to her ear, "Any idea where they are?"

"Probably behind some ridiculous amount of enemies who won't want us to destroy it." Ty whispered to himself. Their luck usually ran along those lines so it would not surprise him in the least if they found some kind of new Reaper minion who didn't let them destroy the barrier without a fight.

He also wouldn't be surprised if his comment to himself also tempted fate to actually hand them a hard fight just to make him right.

"At the moment of activation," EDI came into their comms, "I detected a heat spike in what is likely its mass effect core. Sending the coordinates now. Be advised, the mass effect core is also maintaining the Reapers altitude."

"So when we take out the mass effect core, the wreck falls into the planet." Shepard stated.

"And that means everyone dies, yeah I got it." The pilot didn't like the sound of this plan at all. Usually Joker was full of confidence and sarcasm to back it up, to hear him actually sound mildly nervous about the situation was odd. In a different circumstance the former mercenary may have made a joke about it but seeing as this was talking about their deaths he decided to let it slide.

"Fun." Jack drawled.

"If there is any pilot who can get us out of here alive, it's you Joker." Shepard told him confidently. She trusted her pilot and friend completely even though this situation was taking a turn for the worst.

One second could end up being the deciding factor in their survival once they destroyed the core. If Joker was lagging because of nervousness they could all very well be crushed on the brown dwarf. Yet despite that the N7 believed wholeheartedly in her pilot's ability to get them all out alive.

It reminded Ty of his old days with his crew. If he had been thrown into this situation and Valera and Carson had to get him out he'd have the same faith in their abilities. Believing in the people around you even when they were faltering was one of the duties of a leader. It was a duty Shepard never failed at regardless of how bleak the situation was.

"We'll make a sweep for survivors and their research, after that we'll knock this big ugly wreck out of the sky. Once we're done we'll meet up and extract."

"Aye aye, good hunting." The Normandy pilot said.

Shepard turned her head slightly to look at her two followers only to nod her head to silently order them to follow her. Without any other words they followed after her their guns still firmly in their hands as they waited for whatever other surprises were waiting for them in the ship.

The stench of blood and death was thick in the corridor ahead of them. The paths were still definitely put in place by Cerberus with the stark white countering the black ship parts and dark blue hues within it. Reapers and Cerberus weren't really great interior designers nor did they really make a place feel comfortable to walk around in.

Stark white and piercing darkness black were not very homey colors, definitely when they were combined.

They pressed on though and found the site of a grisly scene. On the floor were a group of eviscerated bodies with pools of dried blood under them. Had they been anywhere else Ty was certain they would have been infested with all sorts of bugs by now.

The stench was nearly unbearable regardless and it did little to bolster any belief that they'd find any survivors on this ship. "More dead bodies. Cerberus really knows how to kill their people off. Makes my job easier I guess." The tattooed biotic commented as they stepped over the bodies.

"I continue to wonder how he employs anyone. I mean seriously, look at how many Cerberus members die just because of the projects they are working on." The purple eyed warrior stepped over another body, "He should put a warning in the job application. You are to serve humanity at all costs, this alone means you must be rid of your moral compass before working on a science project that will eventually end in your death. Go humanity."

He received small chuckles from both women. The deaths were sad in their own way. Every Cerberus project they came upon had a high body count of their own people. Such waste of life was not lost on the former mercenary even though it happened to a group he had no love for.

But come on, the Illusive Man's projects continually ended the same way. All the people died and Shepard was the one cleaning it up. Surely the body count alone should be sending off signals that maybe he should have his project leads taking more precautions.

_I wonder if he even cares that his projects continue to fail._ Ty shrugged and followed the N7 to the terminal ahead of them. Figuring out whether or not the Illusive Man cared about his projects success-failure ratio was a waste of good energy. His workers deaths didn't seem to bother him one bit, so what use was wondering if he cared if his projects failed?

It was only wasting his own funding anyways. Complaining about that was like complaining about the Reapers killing each other, if that would actually happen that is.

The next terminal was of two scientists speaking about their wives, or at least that's how it seemed. Somehow they were both remembering the same things about the same woman on her wedding day. Usually the purple eyed warrior would have deducted the wife had been with both, but the things they remembered didn't make sense to that conclusion.

They both remembered things like her kicking the best man at their brother's wedding down the stairs for trying to hit on her, and they weren't related, or how both believed their wife was named Katie and knowing it as the only day she had ever worn stockings with seams on the back.

Specifics like that and the way they both reacted surprised by the fact they were remembering the same day and the same woman easily dissuaded his initial conclusion.

"Altered memories so they remember the same thing? Sounds like this Reaper was affecting them somehow." Ty thought aloud. _But isn't it supposed to be dead? _That was the worrying question going through his mind. Every log they had found all pointed towards the people on this ship becoming indoctrinated even though the Reaper was dead.

Not only was that part worrying but what was worse was they were on this ship now. How long would it take before the Reaper started trying to indoctrinate them?

"You know, one day of normalcy is all I ask for." Shepard said exasperated at the solid proof of indoctrination before them. "One day where my only enemies are organic two legged beings who don't have powers to control the thoughts of others."

"Or just a day of getting mind fucked by Ty." Jack teased the commander.

"Or that." She agreed. "At least that is extremely satisfying."

Ty gave a smirk in response to her statement. "Aw shucks you're going to make me blush, Shepard. You never said it was _extremely _satisfying. I mean I knew it was because of how you reacted, but your words were more along the lines of-"

A solid punch landed in his stomach taking the breath out of his lungs as it penetrated through his armor like it was made of flimsy plastic. "Don't. You. Dare." She warned a small blush dusting her cheeks.

"Ow." He wheezed before falling to his butt.

"Usually ow is a bad sign, dumbass." The tattooed biotic wisecracked to the fallen man.

_Why is she so strong?_

Shepard stretched her hand out to him an apologetic look taking over her features, "Sorry. I didn't mean to punch you that hard." _Whatever upgrades Miranda works into her cybernetics…I should really look into getting them too._

"No problem." He rasped while taking her hand. "I had it coming, and I'm used to taking a beating from women anyways. Just try not to break any ribs; Chakwas will never let me live it down."

He received two smirks and with that the squad moved forward down a long walkway in the direction of the coordinates EDI sent them. They made it about halfway, or what Ty assumed was halfway, across the walkway before coming upon a very narrow passage caused by two large containers.

A few steps in was no longer narrow but the immediate area was and right in it was a smaller container containing explosive materials. The commander gave the two the signal to be on guard as she led the way into the short but narrow passageway.

"Ughhhh." A groaning voice echoed across the walls.

"That…doesn't sound good." The young warrior said as he tossed his pistol to his left hand and grabbed one of his regular tomahawks with his now freed right hand.

"Ughhhhh."

"Ughhhhh."

Two more sounded off the groaning reverberating in the large mostly empty ship. Ty scanned the area above them out of the expectation of something to come falling down out of nowhere on top of them. Slowly they stepped together skimming the area in front and around them for the sources of the groaning voices.

"You think it's a zombie?" Ty queried.

"You mean a husk?" Shepard asked in return.

"Husk, zombie, same things if you ask me." He retorted turning slightly to check behind him. He knew it was just going to come popping out of nowhere with some sort of spooky music playing in the background.

That's how these things worked, or that's how they did in the vids at least. First you turned away from watching your back and then you suddenly look back over your shoulder and BAM! They are right behind you about to eat your brains.

_And why brains? Are they trying to restore their intelligence or something?_

"Zombies aren't real, dumbass."

"Maybe so, but they're pretty much the same things. Both are not technically dead since they're walking around trying to kill people mindlessly, so really they're just really fucked up versions of red sand addicts believing everyone has red sand on them. On that note they also both make groaning sounds instead of speaking words, another similarity to a really far gone red sand addict."

"So you're saying husks are just red sand addicts?" The commander asked a bit humored by the idea.

"Mind blowing, right? I'm surprised the Alliance and Council haven't suggested husks were just the effect of too much red sand. It'd probably get people to avoid it further and it has the _bonus_, if you can call it that, of further disavowing the Reapers."

_Where oh where is the husk going to show up at, oh where oh where could it- _A cold clawed hand suddenly gripped his leg and began pulling at it, "Ughhhhh."

Ty's eyes shot down to the edge of the platform where a group of husks and flaming versions of themselves were climbing up at. A regular husk had his leg in its hold staring up at him with its blue synthetic lights illuminating its grey drained skin. "Motherfucker!"

Using his tomahawk he cut the arm off right at the forearm and then shot the creature in the face sending it falling out of sight. With the hand still gripping his leg he shot the flaming abominations first forcing them to explode before they got too close to any of them.

Getting set on fire was not in his game plan today or any other day for that matter.

Two large pull fields flew over his shoulders gripping all of the husks in one giant field before ripping them all in half, killing them. The immediate threat was over but there wasn't a doubt in the former mercenary's mind that there would be more.

There was always more.

"So easy to kill, yet such a pain in my ass." He balanced himself on a railing and lifted his foot up into reaching distance. The severed hand was still firmly gripped around his leg as if it were still alive, hell he was half expecting it to suddenly come alive and start chasing him around. "Now why couldn't you just leave my leg alone? The last thing I needed was a spirit damned husk arm dangling off my leg like a sheet of toilet paper stuck to my shoe."

A few snickers sounded off from his female counterparts causing him to glower at them for a short moment before focusing back on the arm dangling off his leg. They clearly found it hilarious that the damn thing grabbed his leg and scared the living hell out of him.

Then again he would have laughed his ass off it had happened to either one of them. _Fair is fair I suppose, _he thought as he started to detach the fingers curled around his ankle. It took little effort to do it since the husk was no longer actively trying to hold his leg, but that didn't make it any less gross.

Once it was finally off his leg he moved to toss it over the side of the platform but stopped short of doing it.

Why?

Well he had an awful idea, a wonderfully awful idea.

The smirk that tugged onto his face was a menacing one but the women of the trio could not see it. He continued his previous movements barely a second passing by between his halting of tossing it and starting back up again. Right as the object was about to be released from his hand Ty turned his trajectory to the biotic's tossing it lightly right at them. "It's alive!" He shouted mocking a fearful voice.

To his loud voice in the quiet area they both became a bit startled instinctually taking a few steps back attempting to avoid the arm touching them. When the word he shouted registered in their ears they both sent a biotic pulse at the severed husk arm sending it flying across the walkway in the direction they had come from.

"That was a bit overkill. It was just a severed arm." He jested. They both gave him scathing glares that would have incinerated him on the spot if they could shoot beams of energy from their eyes. The purple eyed warrior chuckled at them and motioned for them to lead the way with a wave of his hand. "Come on, we've got an IFF to find and a ship to get through before the whispers start getting to us."

"Not funny, Ty." His lover scolded.

"I wasn't trying to be. I always wondered if husks were Geth or Reaper tech, guess we found out." He dipped his direction in the way they needed to go, "There are two more containers of explosive materials at the bottom of that ramp. Don't know if they're going to climb up there either but it'd be a safe bet."

"What are you thinking?"

He started walking forward with his weapons in hand, "I go down as bait. If more come climbing up like cockroaches out of the wood work I'll retreat that way you two can throw our container into theirs sending them sky high."

"Doubt it will be a big enough explosion to wreck these platforms, but it would take out any husks that get in the way." The tattooed biotic agreed.

"Alright." Shepard nodded concurring with the idea proposed. "Just try not to shoot the explosives up close, don't want you to get impaled on any walls in here."

Ty gave a chuckle and continued past them. "We can agree on that." _Getting impaled in here could very well lead to getting turned into a husk or something and I have no desire to be a synthetic zombie. _With his pistol and tomahawk at the ready he descended down the ramp at an average pace, not too slow and not too fast.

Now he was bait, and good bait drew out the prowling predators into the trap set by its predator. Circle of life and all that jazz where each predator is prey to a different predator. In this case Ty was the voluntary sack of meat hung from a tree to attract the prey of the two biotic's standing at the top of the ramp.

The temptation to start making kissing sounds or whistling to try to call the husks out was one the former mercenary had to fight. If the husks suddenly grew a brain he didn't want them to realize he was setting them up, that and he didn't want Jack and Shepard to break out into laughter. Causing them to lose focus and miss the opportunity to blow the husks sky high was not wise.

Ending up as husk food didn't sound very fun at all.

"Ughhhhh." A groan sounded off as he reached the bottom of the ramp. It was followed by a series of other groans and even a few hissing wheezes. _Next thing you know they're going to whisper "hostiles" at me._

Ty forced down his own sarcasm making his features become serious. Now he was walking into the lion's den with a piece of nice raw meat in his hand waiting to see the gleam of their eyes in the darkness. It was almost reminiscent of infiltrating Blue Sun bases except he used his cloak then and wasn't trying to get caught.

"Ughhhhh."

_Where are you?_ He scanned the area slowly and precisely checking the edges of the platform for any signs of the husks. _I know you're here, and you know I'm here. Now come on out, let us see who is the true prey._

…

…

Nothing came out and the groans had quieted. The purple eyed warriors grip tightened around his tomahawk and pistols grip. It was the silence before the storm; he knew the signs well enough. There had been plenty of moments like these between him and the Blue Suns. Moments where the anticipation for the ambush to strike was palpable and made the nonexistent wind seem to brush across his skin as it changed directions.

His eyes scanned over the area again while his feet guided him a bit further onto the platform containing the explosives. _At this range I would be hit with the shrapnel of the containers if they exploded._ He took another step with the thud of his boot echoing as each previous step had before it.

In his peripheral vision he caught sight of a grey and blue arm suddenly land on the platform. Turning quickly Ty saw three husks climbing up on that side, _good. You finally came out to play._ He turned again to his other side and saw further down the platform an abomination plus two more husks were pulling themselves up onto the platform.

Slowly he began taking steps backwards bringing his pistol up in front of him preparing to aim at any husk that got to close. As the first sets of Reaper minions made it onto the platform another set started climbing up onto it as well. _A lot more than I thought there might be, but nothing an explosion won't fix._

"How long do you need to prepare?" He asked loud enough for Shepard and Jack to hear.

"Not long. Make sure you don't get hurt." His commander responded.

"Who me? You must have me confused with someone else." A husk closed in with its mouth hanging agape as it groaned an unintelligible sound at him. It received three rounds to the face killing it after the first but the extra two were just to be certain it didn't spring back to life.

Two more moved in simultaneously only to receive a flurry of rounds right in their heads. "Ready Jack?"

"Let's do it Girl Scout."

A crate suddenly passed right over the young warrior colliding into a bunched up group of husks and the one abomination among them setting off a chain of three explosions. As Jack had predicted it hadn't been all that large compared to some of the other explosions they had caused, the nuke on Pragia was still one of the biggest, but it had more or less disposed of the husks

There were a few stragglers left downed on the ground but as the squad regrouped and made their way across the platform they put rounds in their heads to ensure they were all dead. At the end of the platform where another ramp started there was another terminal containing a video log of the last two scientists they had seen.

One was complaining about a headache before suddenly letting out a startled curse. Apparently there was something coming out of the wall where they had taken off a panel only for it to disappear when he looked straight at it.

The other guy hadn't seen anything and told the original to go lay down only for the original to come back with a claim the squad was none too pleased about. "I'm telling you, this thing isn't dead. It knows we're on it!"

"Calm down. Now I'm getting a headache." The second scientist complained.

"All for getting a move on and getting the hell out of here?" Shepard asked rhetorically.

She received nods despite it being a rhetorical question and the group began to move at a quicker pace. If the scientist was right about the Reaper being alive, then each second they wasted was a second longer for the Reaper to get a grasp on them. There was no telling how long it took to indoctrinate the Cerberus scientists or how long it could take on them.

_Let's just focus on the mission and get the hell out of here._ They reached the top of the ramp finding that the corridor went down a little ways further before breaking off to the left. As they got closer two husks came running out from the left.

Two loud cracks echoed through the empty Reaper the source of the cracks killing the two husks with precise aim. "Looks like there's a sniper prowling, and it isn't me." Ty said as they stopped at the edge of the wall.

"You think a Cerberus scientist could shoot that straight?" Jack questioned curiously.

"Possibly, if they had enough training I suppose. Miranda is a scientist of a kind and she can shoot fairly well." Jack rolled her eyes at the mention of Miranda but remained silent while Shepard gave a concurring nod to the possibility.

Cautiously they made their way into the next room after scavenging some thermal clips, power cells and some kind of tech for sniper rifles off another group of dead scientists. The next room met them with a large amount of husks and Abominations which they took down in a combination of sniper fire from Ty and strong biotic's from the two powerful women he was covering.

When it looked like they were about done a Scion accompanied by another large group of husks appeared. In an attempt to take it down with one shot the purple eyed warrior began to overcharge his rifle while his comrades continued their destruction of husks via biotic's.

A beep finally signaled his rifle was ready and with the Scion in his crosshairs he pressed down on the trigger. The louder crack echoed through the Reaper as the round tore towards the Scion at an untraceable speed. It impacted at the large hump of the creature creating a huge hole through it and for a moment Ty smirked.

He never liked those variations of the husks, not since they first met on Horizon. Killing one before it could cause any extra damage was pleasing. Or so he thought before a shockwave was sent barreling right into him from the creature.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me! How are you still alive?!" Ty cursed the Reaper minion before tossing his venting rifle down the ramp he had made his perch on behind a crate Jack was using for cover. "Don't touch my rifle or that thing. I've got a quarrel to settle with that prick."

Not only had it survived his overcharged round but it had hit him with a shockwave just like its brethren before it.

This was personal.

Unfortunately for the Scion he wasn't the same as he had been when his brethren had kicked his ass. This time he wasn't going to go unconscious, now he had shielding tech and his cybernetics weren't going to turn against him.

Ty activated his blade armor and grabbed his tomahawks before charging down the ramp at a sprint. He vaulted over a set of crates and impaled his tomahawks into two separate husks that stood in his way without losing his momentum. Rolling to the side to avoid another shockwave was the only action to stall his sprint but it also opened up another opportunity.

Right as he came out of his roll he tossed both tomahawks at the creature impaling them both in its disgusting body. As he got on his feet another husk took notice of him and began swinging its arms at him in an attempt to harm him using its claw like fingers. The former mercenary dodged its first attacks then charged back in pushing his forearm up into its throat as he pushed it into a large unmarked circular container.

In an effort not to waste time and not get his eyes gouged out by the creature he was pinning to the surface behind it he swiped the blade on his gauntlet covered forearm across its neck nearly decapitating it.

Now it was just him and the Scion who was on its last legs thanks to his attacks and the attacks of his comrades who had opened fire on him. With a flip of his demon switch the purple of his irises consumed his eyes, his veins became bluer and his muscles tensed out.

It was time to finish this.

He gripped a pistol in his right hand and activated the enforcement gauntlet on his left hand. Ty sped around the corner opening fire with his pistol to soften up the Scion and keep it off balance so it did not hit him with another shockwave. The distance between them was closed in a matter of seconds and as soon as he was in range the purple eyed warrior jumped up into the air with his left fist cocked back.

If the creature could feel fear he was sure it would have at the sight of its death closing in on it. "Die!" His punch made a direct hit in its now glass jaw shattering it completely.

A larger superman punch did not exist in the galaxy and the force of the gauntlet impacting against the Scion ended up jolting through his entire arm as Newton's Law caught up to him.

Every action had an equal and opposite reaction, and like Newton's Cradle as the silver ball hit the middle set it made the other bounce away on the other side before it too came back hitting the middle making the original fly away.

More accurately the energy of the gauntlet sent the sturdy Scion falling back. The same energy collided back into Ty, who was airborne, and sent him flying backwards at the same time. He slid across the ground with his arm burning from his terrible decision to superman punch the tough creature.

The former mercenary came to a stop deactivating his demon switch as he did and found the Scion dead lying across from him.

Sir Isaac Newton really was the deadliest son of a bitch in space.

"Not going to do that again, are you dumbass?" Jack's snarky voice came from behind him.

Ty chuckled, "Yeah, not my smartest idea. I'm lucky I didn't dislocate my shoulder this time." He rolled his shoulder around feeling a sting of pain shoot through it. _Definitely hurts, but not nearly as bad as any of the other injuries I've gotten._

He got himself onto his feet turning to find the psychotic biotic with his rifle already folded up in her hand. She tossed it to him and he put it back in its holster once he caught it then moved to grab his tomahawks from the corpse of the Scion.

Once done they began making a quick search of the area for anything of use or the Reaper IFF. Without any knowledge of where the team had put the IFF they had to search every area they came upon just to be sure they did not miss it.

Back tracking would end up in forcing them to be on the wreck longer they needed to be and with the mission to still knock it out of the sky that meant taking extra care not to overlook anything.

There was another log but it wasn't anything truly ground breaking, it was just the ramblings of one of the scientists talking about the Reaper having the power of a god and other talk further proving that the Reaper had been in fact indoctrinating them as time continued to pass.

From what Ty could tell, due to it being dead it took longer for the effects to happen. In the words of the scientist "even a dead god can dream" which meant they were all walking within the Reapers dream if the former mercenary had to guess. Through the "dreaming" the Reaper could still exert some force of indoctrination but without it being alive it was not as effective at it as a living one was.

It was also possible indoctrination was an ability that did not require for the Reaper to be alive in an organic sense. The ability could very well be built into their bodies and as long as their bodies were intact the ability could affect others.

_Always more questions when it comes to the Reapers and never any answers, _Ty thought as he approached the railing at the far end of the platform, _but this here is a bit curious. Those look like a few of the Dragons Teeth that they use to convert humans into husks. The way it's all set up with those bodies just pierced on them…I'd have to guess they might have been worshipping it._

"Those are the things they used on Eden Prime." Shepard said as she joined him at his side. He gave a nod of agreement having already come to the conclusion. Out off the platform was a group of the mechanisms with a few of them holding bodies. The way the room was put together though from the Reaper itself to the Cerberus parts of it, it appeared to be a place of worship. "Looks like they treated this place like some kind of alter, look at how the room is set up."

"Seems that way." Nothing in the room was set up in a way that made logical sense for working, maybe it had been at one time but now the Cerberus tech was shifted in ways that were not rational. Top it off with the shape of the ship already looking like that and it was clear it had been made like this for that reason. "You'd think Cerberus would be smart enough to steer away from a room like this."

"You heard the logs." Shepard said as she looked at him. "They were hearing things, seeing things. They were being indoctrinated every second they were on this ship." Ty gave another nod and pursed his lips in thought as he stared at the dead bodies. _Seeing shit like this…makes me wonder how the hell we're going to pull this off._

A hand laid on the space between his bicep guard and gauntlet touching his skin. He turned his gaze back to the sapphire eyed woman standing next to him who was giving him a comforting look. "We can't do anything for them, but we won't let these machines keep using their corpses like this."

"Right." He nodded.

They continued on towards the path leading further into the ship and closer to EDI's coordinates. The only obstacle between them and their path was a locked door that Ty was able to open with a wave of his omni-tool. "I hate low rent locks, not even fun to open." He sighed. The Shadow Broker lock was the last one to actually give him some trouble, but this?

This was just sad.

He received smirks in response and with the door open they proceeded through the tube to another door that was closed but unlocked. "Standby, equalizing pressure." An automated voice spoke to them when Shepard pressed the green icon. "Remember safety is everyone's concern. We have gone five days without a workplace death."

"Must be a damn record." The bald biotic commented.

"Yeah, Cerberus really does not have safe working conditions." Ty pulled out his pistol, "How many bases have you cleaned up Shepard? Fifty? A hundred?"

"Something like that. Stay close, who knows what's out this door."

The door opened and with their guns drawn they moved in a triangle formation out of it. Each scanned the areas around them searching for any signs of husks or any other kind of Reaper minion. No matter how high or low they searched though they found nothing.

Shepard lifted her shotgun up with one arm so its barrel was facing towards the ceiling then gave Jack and Ty a quiet hand motion for them to move up. Swiftly the anger management duo moved up with their guns at the ready for anything to pop out.

_Crack! Crack!_

Ty and Jack snapped to attention searching the area for the source of the rapid sniper fire.

_Crack!_

A third husk fell dead behind Shepard next to the two that had died from the first two shots. _Who the hell…_Ty's eyes along with the eyes of the others fell upon the source of the sniper fire. The great shooting did not belong to a Cerberus scientist, or a human for that matter.

What stood high on a perch with a sniper rifle in hand and a piece of N7 armor strapped to its chest was none other than a Geth in shining synthetic armor. "Shepard-Commander."

And it spoke.

Without another word it turned around leaving them alone with many questions in mind. But first and foremost of all their questions were these two.

Since when did the Geth stop trying to kill Shepard and was this one a friend or foe?


	104. Chapter 103

Chapter 103

A Once in a Lifetime Chance

"Am I going batshit crazy or did that Geth just save your ass _and_ speak your name and title?" Ty stood in disbelief as he stared at the area where a Geth had just stood seconds before his statement. The synthetic was an expert shot and had been the source of the earlier sniper fire which had taken out two husks prior to their fight in what had become a sort of room of worship.

Now though it had had a perfect chance to kill all three of them from the position it was in. None of them knew it was there and wouldn't have known until they were shot due to how fast he could change between targets…yet it hadn't tried to harm them.

Instead the synthetic had killed three more husks effectively saving Shepard who would have been attacked from behind otherwise and then spoke recognizing Shepard as "Shepard-Commander" before turning and leaving them.

Oh yes today was definitely bringing out every bit of weird it could.

The former mercenary wasn't the only one who found himself grounded in one spot in shock however. Jack and Shepard were equally perplexed by the Geth actually defending the commander and then waltzing away like nothing happened. It was like the synthetic didn't realize or care that all the organics knew were violent versions of the flashlight heads.

Ty wanted to yell at the synthetic and question what kind of game it was playing but his jaw had hit the floor and not returned in time to form words upon hearing it speak.

They had known a Geth ship was here, they had prepared to fight a Geth platoon or two, they had been waiting for the flashlight heads to come out of the structures like the husks were, instead they got one Geth who spoke and didn't try to kill them.

Never in a million years would the trio or anyone else for that matter be prepared for a Geth to _purposely_ save them.

Of course the purple eyed mercenary wasn't going to go and say this Geth was a complete ally. For all they knew it was leading them into a trap or had some other ulterior motive. Their recent endeavors with the Geth had not made any sort of progress towards an alliance or playing nice, they usually just ended up shooting at one another.

Despite the recent dealings with the Geth and past events like the Citadel attack Ty had mixed personal feelings on them. It was those feelings on the Geth he had to put aside here for the sake of the mission and safety of the team.

Yes part of the young warrior wanted to believe this Geth was different. He wanted to believe it had good intentions in saving Shepard and was not part of the collective synthetics that had helped Saren. This wish was founded on the hopes of his fallen lover who had passed her dreams and ideals of peace between Quarian's and Geth onto him.

A deep part of his mind was tugging at him to reconsider the possibility of the Geth following Saren to be just a fragment of the entirety of the Geth race. Ty had seen firsthand on the Citadel the amount of synthetics marching around and the ships the Alliance and Citadel forces had to face. They were large in number certainly, but there was no way it was all of them, or at least that was his theory anyways.

The Geth could mass produce platforms to be used from spare parts; they had seen it on the Alarei through the extra amount of flashlight heads on the ship leading all the way to Tali's dead father. What was to stop them from doing so on the Quarian homeworld?

If they did they could launch a huge incursion on the galaxy easily dwarfing Saren's group. So what was stopping the Geth from attacking the rest of the galaxy? Why did they stay beyond the veil save for following the rogue Spectre?

Was it because they had no desire to launch a full assault after the failed attempt made by Saren or was there something more going on? Ty didn't know and that's why he had to put his ideas of the synthetic not being an enemy away. If they met again he wouldn't shoot it out right, but there was no way he was lowering his guard.

EDI was a different A.I. altogether and one he had no problem calling friend, then again she never shot at him or impaled people on Dragon's Teeth. She did lack the mobile platform the Geth had which allowed them to perform those actions but he could never imagine her actually harming anyone on the Normandy.

Although she liked to make jokes about enslaving organics, and more specifically making him her "king" when she ruled, the former mercenary knew they were just jokes. That didn't stop him from getting a bit flustered by the jokes as they were usually of him as EDI's sexual play thing who claimed he would enjoy it but he was sure pretty much everyone else would get flustered too if she said it to them.

Anyways the point was Ty had seen the Geth impale people on Dragon's Teeth and had been shot at a lot by them during the Citadel occupation, his history with them made him extremely wary of the race of synthetics even if he held onto the hope one day they wouldn't be seen as an enemy needing to be destroyed.

Shepard was without a doubt running on the same thought pattern of not lowering her guard. While the former mercenary had been shot at a lot by the Geth, the commander had far more rounds fired at her coming from the synthetics.

For all the terrible things Ty had seen from the Geth he had no delusion of thinking he had seen the worst of what they could do. He had not been on the frontlines trying to stop Saren nor had he sought out all the enemy encampments before and after Sovereigns defeat. His focus had been elsewhere, or clouded by revenge causing it to be too hard to really focus depending on your outlook.

Proceeding with caution was the simple way of putting how they were going to approach the rest of the mission. To have a Geth suddenly save them made the purple eyed warrior wonder what the next surprise was that awaited them further in the ship.

_Next thing you know we'll find a talking Thresher Maw who wants to make peace with the galaxy and become a vegetarian._ Ty stopped himself from saying the joke aloud, this was neither the time nor the place for it and Maws were a sensitive subject with Shepard. She would know it was a joke and would probably even laugh a little, yet he had no intention of bringing up the memories of Akuze or Tuchanka now of all times.

They were inside the belly of the beast, a dead Reaper in orbit of a brown dwarf which was still "dreaming" in the words of one of the indoctrinated scientist's logs. Their mission to get the IFF had become a lot more complicated just through the Reaper's kinetic barriers getting put up blocking Joker from being able to reach them.

To get out of here they were going to have to take out its mass effect core which would simultaneously cause it to drop out of orbit and get crushed by falling into the atmosphere of the brown dwarf. Top it off with husks, abominations, and Scions lurking about wanting to kill them, the possibility of getting indoctrinated by staying on the ship longer then they needed and now a mysterious Geth and you had a very stressful mission layout.

The darkness contrasted by the stark white platforms was for the moment replaced by a darkish orange illuminating the passage forward. On the right side of the ship was what seemed to be a skyline of some kind to see outside of the ship except instead of extravagant buildings and a beautiful sunset they had striking lightning and the atmosphere of a brown dwarf to look out on.

There really wasn't anything like staring out of a dead Reaper at an atmosphere full of lightning to really set a mood of impending doom.

"Stay on your guard you two." Shepard shook her head and began leading them forward, "I don't even want to think about what the next surprise could be."

Ty thought about saying "a revived Saren" but now was not the time for bad jokes.

What followed was a series of battles one after another as they made their way towards the coordinates EDI had given them earlier. Consistently they were stopped shortly by swarms of husks and a few Scions who forced them to fight every inch of the way.

It was through their combined strengths that they continued to push past the enemies lines of defense. With the two biotic's ripping apart their enemies or shooting them down with their shotguns and the former mercenary cutting the husks down using his tomahawks or staying at mid to long range with his rifle they managed to advance further and further towards their objective.

In no way was it easy, in fact by the time they finished the last of the Scion's off the two biotic's had a sheen of sweat covering them as the young warrior panted heavily from all the running he had done as bait. It was like an exercise from hell where he had to outrun hordes of demons trying to pry his soul from his body and eat it except the temperature wasn't at the degree of fiery hell and he was allowed to shoot them.

Needless to say playing the mouse in the game of cat and mouse was yet another one of his _brilliant_ plans. Ty couldn't understand why he put himself in such ridiculous situations, maybe somewhere deep down in the darkest depths of his mind he found some mild enjoyment in getting stuck in sticky situations and surviving them.

Maybe he liked the feel of adrenaline pumping through his body due to his teenage years being full of life or death situations feeding his developing mind in a way it shouldn't have been fed. Or maybe somewhere further down in the abysmal pits of his consciousness the old thought of having nothing to live for still thrived and continued to push him to test his luck by trying out ridiculous ideas.

Or possibly he was just an idiot whose idea of battling always involved pulling off some insane stunt in an effort to throw his enemies off and kill them. Maybe it was all three or something else entirely, Ty wasn't sure and he wasn't planning to find out anytime soon.

Continuing to ask himself why he always got into situations where he was pretty much pulling off a high wire act with the flaming pits of the underworld as a safety net was just easier to do than solving the troubling possibilities of his actions being caused by his stupidity or younger years forging his mind.

It was time to move forward, time to blow the wreckage from the sky and get the hell out before it crashed. Hopefully the next room would have the IFF, if not then they'd have to find some other way to go through the Omega 4 because none of the squad wanted to stay on this ship a second longer than they needed.

"That's the last of them. Time to get the IFF and bug the hell out before we start hearing whispers." Ty said as he caught his breath. He could feel his heart rate dropping although he was sure it would rise soon. Knocking the ship out of orbit to escape wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

No mass effect core calming the raging winds meant the ship was going to start shaking under them as the Normandy had. It would also start to plummet from the sky making their escape much more difficult than it would be had everything gone to plan.

Then again nothing ever did go to plan. Ty wasn't sure why he still held onto the hope that it would, after all the shit he had seen it was like he wanted to be disappointed on every outing he went on. There was always a chance to be pleasantly surprised but he couldn't remember the last mission he had been on that ended in such a way.

If he thought really hard about it he probably could remember yet the purple eyed warrior wasn't going to waste the thought power on it.

Looking to the past had done little for him…Unless you counted a revenge mission leading him down a long dark path that eventually led him to finding a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a missile exploding via his gunshot and its force impaling him on a wall which then led him here as a good thing.

Yeah there was a lot more to the story than that and the bright light had not been the missile entirely, it was just in that brief moment of a lucky shot mixed with the terrible luck of finding out just how bad the construction of Omega's buildings were.

On a positive note the property values would have been dropped, that was something the new owners of the apartment could thank both Garrus and Ty for after they were done repairing the bullet ridden walls and cleaning up the dried pools of blood they left behind.

"Still not funny Ty." Shepard scolded him for his latest statement again going over the possibility of getting indoctrinated on the ship. He liked to set it up like a joke that way it didn't feel so real, although it still wasn't very funny regardless of how he set it up.

"Still wasn't trying to be." He retorted to his lover.

"Any idea how hard it is to destroy a mass effect core?" Jack questioned as they moved forward.

The simple answer would have been no. Sure Ty had ordered ships to be shot down back in his mercenary days and had shot down shuttles and the like on his space bike, but destroying a mass effect core, and a Reaper one at that, on foot was not something he had any experience on.

Sending a foot soldier to infiltrate a Reaper and blow up its mass effect core was like sending someone to desecrate every species most sacred symbols or their places of worship; the person sent was going to come back in installments.

_I suppose if we shoot it enough it will eventually blow up, but I wonder if we have enough rounds to actually destroy the damn thing. It is a Reaper mass effect core, for all we know those things are even more durable than the ones our ships have._

The only thing standing between the squad and their objective was a locked door. Ty opened his omni-tool and activated his hacking technique easily getting through the lock like he was waving a magic wand. "And yet another locked door opened brought to you by your resident Stockholm syndrome causing criminal, me!" He looked to his companions who were shaking their heads at him in-between wanting to smirk and wanting to hit him by the looks of it. "What?"

"Stockholm syndrome causing criminal?" Shepard asked.

He gave a shrug, "Sure. It's something you can use when the Alliance finds out about us. You can say I kidnapped you or something and to get out you pretended to fall _madly_ in love with me but then it became real. It'd be a real storybook explanation." She stared at him a bit of mirth in her eyes her head still moving back in forth, "Hey, I'm just giving you options. If you do go through with that be sure to tell them how exceptionally charming and handsome I am."

"Exceptionally charming _and_ handsome?" Shepard allowed a small smirk pull onto her face, "I don't know Ty, that may be too big of a lie for them to believe." Jack barked out a laugh at the jest fired back from the commander.

The young warrior pretended to stab himself with an imaginary knife right through his heart, "Oh, you wound me." It was a good comeback and one that had some truth to it. He hadn't exactly been the most suave romantic with her at first; in fact he had shut her down multiple times. Not a very charming aspect and one that had managed to keep most women seeking more than a physical relationship at an arms distance.

She was really the reason they had become anything other than friends. Yes the feelings of attraction had been mutual but had Shepard given up on pursuing him early on then nothing would have happened between them as it had. Ty had chosen to keep his heart closed off and he would have remained in his stubborn solitude had it not been for the N7 being more stubborn than he was.

It was one of the many welcome surprises he had experienced after meeting her.

Without any more words they moved into the cylinder shaped room with a bright white light hanging above the door at the far end beaming down on the room destroying all the darkness within. At the end on the left side of the room was a terminal and what appeared to be the IFF sitting on the counter in front of the screen, on the right was a wall safe.

The IFF itself was a strange looking object but it was the object they were looking for regardless of its strangeness. "Looks like the glowy eyed bastards people were at least successful in finding the IFF, but where the hell are the rest of the people? There's no way the bodies we found were the only scientists here." Jack pointed out.

There was logic in her statement. While the squad had come across more than a few eviscerated bodies, it was completely unlikely they were the only Cerberus scientists and workers here. All the manual labor of getting the equipment and platforms into the Reaper would have taken a larger force of people not to mention the amount of scientists the Illusive Man would have wanted studying the dead being.

At this point Ty could only see two logical explanations to the location of the other Cerberus members. As Shepard stored the IFF in one of her armor compartments he spoke up, "They were either eaten or something by the husks and Scions or the husks we've been facing were the scientists."

"Not that I'm doubting the possibility at this point considering all the crazy shit we've seen, but what makes you think that?" The bald biotic asked.

"You saw the Dragons Teeth in that room back there." He watched Shepard move to the wall safe listening to the twos conversation as she thought about it herself. "It was set up as some sort of room of worship or something and there were bodies on them still and a lot more spikes that were empty. The amount of husks we've fought just happening to be sitting on a derelict Reaper for Spirits knows how long is too coincidental for my liking."

"Everyone on this ship was indoctrinated and we've had the mission to come get this since escaping the Collector ship. Who's to say they weren't ordered to impale one another on those spikes during all that time." Shepard sounded despondent harkening Ty back to how she sounded after finding out about David from Miranda.

He didn't like seeing her blame herself for things not in her control; she had done it enough in recent days in his opinion. "Shepard, there wouldn't have been anything you could have done for them anyways save for putting a round through their skulls. The Illusive Man said the team had gone dark when he gave you the mission, by that point they'd have all been indoctrinated when we got here."

"Yeah…I guess you're right about that."

"Chin up Girl Scout, they were Cerberus scientists anyways. They were probably doing some fucked up shit underneath all this crap."

Shepard gave a small nod of agreement and finished getting the credits from the safe on the wall. The efforts of the anger management duo didn't go unheard but the commander wasn't entirely absolving herself of guilt. It wasn't ever that simple, if one could just say the magic word and be absolved of all the guilt they felt then people like Ty who had drowned in it would have done it earlier to save themselves from the years of pain.

Once they were done on the Reaper ship and far away from it then she would let the thoughts on it go…hopefully.

By proceeding through the door in front of them they found a barrier of what seemed to be made of a glass of some sort blocking them from going any further than a step in. "Well, shit." The former mercenary frowned. He pulled out his tomahawk and tapped it against the barrier hard enough to break regular glass but not hard enough for it to go propelling back into his chest if it wasn't.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

The sounds echoed in the hall they were in and sent vibrations through his hand. He holstered his tomahawk and pressed his hand against the barrier feeling groves in the lines going across it as he let his hand glide across it. _I've seen similar material to this, considering the Reapers are using it I'll have to assume it's more advanced than the stuff I know of. Practically impenetrable to all regular guns and all but the most powerful of explosives._

"What do you think Ty? Can we get through?" Shepard asked him.

"I think I'm going to see if I can find someone who sells Cain Trip Mines and buy their entire stock because I'm tired of not having explosives for breaking and entering." He let his hand fall from the barrier and moved his stare into the distance where husks were closing in on their mysterious Geth friend. "We're not going to be able to shoot our way through this one. As thin as it looks the material is impenetrable to our weapons, even your Claymore won't be able to destroy it."

"Even if I unload all of my rounds?"

He gave a nod, "Yeah. It's stronger than the material Liara had at her apartment and that's top of the line shit, this though is an advanced version of a very rare material I've only ever seen in person thanks to Murph."

His friend had somehow found a person selling it and had the former mercenary pick it up and deliver it to him directly. He didn't want to risk the black market dealer giving up his location to anyone, not with all the fancy rare tech he used. After that first delivery Murphy had started installing and uninstalling it on his own so he could move it from place to place.

If there was any fortified position Ty thought was impenetrable, it was wherever the master strategist was calling home at any moment.

The problem was now the material wasn't helping anyone here. It was standing in their way, but the purple eyed warrior wasn't giving up hope completely. The Geth turned around with a pistol in its hands and began unloading it into the husks creeping up on him. It managed to kill two before turning back around to the terminal it was at using the controls on it for an unknown reason.

Much to the surprise of the former mercenary he was placing his faith in a Geth removing the barrier. _Surely the Spirits of my friends are laughing their asses off, after all the Geth I've killed and seen do terrible things here I am hoping it lowers the barrier for us so we can destroy the mass effect core of a dead Reaper. What a story this will be years from now._

There were still three husks left though and the Geth wasn't paying any mind to them. Whatever it was doing was of more importance than taking the husks down before it finished its job. Suddenly the barrier slid down and away opening up the passage to the mass effect core.

The Geth turned to leave the terminal and run but was met by a large husk claw to its flash light head knocking it down and apparently unconscious, if synthetics could truly be knocked out.

_Thanks for the help Gethy the friendly synthetic, I'll try to repay the debt when it comes time to bail._

For now there were more pressing matters like taking out the core so they could escape before the dead Reaper decided to indoctrinate them too. What was strange was it didn't seem to be trying, if it really was still "dreaming" as the scientist had put it then why was it trying to order the husks to kill them or was it not in control of them?

Ty didn't want to be indoctrinated or to have the others indoctrinated, but it was like the Reaper wanted to kill them instead of take control of them if it really was controlling the husks. Was Shepard too much of a threat in their eyes to leave alive or even indoctrinate? Her will was incredibly strong, so were they worried she'd be able to break free of it momentarily to thwart their plans at a crucial moment?

There was no way of knowing short of asking a Reaper but the former mercenary was sure they'd deny even feeling fear towards insignificant creatures like them. He also had no desire to speak to a Reaper unless taunting the giant beings right before blowing them sky high counted.

The three husks turned from the downed Geth to the three humans each grabbing their weapons in preparation for the fight ahead of them. "Watch each other's backs and take down your targets quickly. Sooner we get this core destroyed the sooner we can get far away from this ship."

"Sounds good to me." Ty said clenching his pistol and tomahawk.

"Try not to tire yourself out running around again, dick." Jack snarked.

"Ha-ha." He rolled his eyes and began to move up. The biotic's easily took down the first three with a barrage from their shotguns but as the group moved to shoot the core it was suddenly blocked by a silver iris. "Seriously?" A series of groans sounded off as the came to a stop in the middle of the room, "I hate this fucking place."

"Ty cover the left flank, Jack you cover the right." The commander ordered. They followed it without question each moving so their backs were facing one another while they watched the opposite ends of the room.

The room was set up with three separate platforms, one in the middle lined up with the core on the opposite end of the room and two down lower than the middle platform on the right and left. In terms of color they were back to the dark black surroundings and blue hue casted down on them and white contrasted platforms that were a bit duller in color in this room.

A group of husk arms suddenly appeared on his side although it was too much to hope for that it was just raining their limbs. The husks pulled themselves up their blank grey faces and synthetic blue eyes staring at him. "Hello dead people." The bald biotic commented behind him.

_Showtime._ Ty began opening fire on the husks hoping to stop them and take them out before they reached the center platform the squad was on. Behind him he could hear the mixture of shotgun volleys and biotic's hitting targets which confirmed that the biotic duo was following the same plan.

Due to the way the room was set up it forced the husks to have to move to the stairs near the entrance to the room to actually reach the squad. It was a sort of a funnel that kept the creatures from easily charging and overwhelming them, but not all was in their favor.

As his rounds pelted against the husks he noticed that although it wounded them they did not go down like they had in previously battles. A few rounds later he managed to kill his first husk but not without earning a furrowed brow at the differences between the groups before and these ones.

All the husks they had fought before even prior to entering the Reaper had been nothing but cannon fodder. They were easily dispatched with a few rounds and couldn't do any damage without closing in on a person.

Although the last part seemed to remain the same with this set of husks, something was different about them. Another flurry of rounds from the purple eyed warrior took down another husk and wounded another before he had to eject his thermal clip.

_An entire clip and only two husks killed, _Ty realigned his sights and began shooting at the husks, _no doubt about it. These ones aren't the same as the usual husks we've fought, they're tougher. It's like they have armor plating protecting them only I don't see anything visually different._

"I'll throw you like a toy!" Jack shouted from behind him.

"I'd rather not be thank you very much." He responded to the jeer not aimed at him. "Just out of curiosity." He shot another husk dead but despite his efforts they were at the stairs, "Are your husks taking more rounds to kill than usual or are you just ripping them apart with biotic's." Suddenly three ripped in half husks surrounded in a blue aura floated by him with their mouths hung agape but no sounds being made. "Never mind."

_I'd bet these husks are the last line of defense and somehow the Reaper is strengthening them or they were advanced as an experiment of some sort. _He shot another husk dead then watched as another set climb up near the stairs.

_Some days I envy those with biotic powers, _he sighed and jogged towards the stairs where the three husks were already reaching the platform, _lets bio-engineer a human child to have the nervous systems of a human, Asari, Drell and miraculously a Prothean but give him no biotic prowess whatsoever. Vance you really were a fucking asshole._

Ty reached the husks and impaled his tomahawk into the first's skull killing it instantly, _at least that hasn't changed._ He removed his tomahawk and ducked under the swiping hand of the husk and gave the third a hard straight kick to the chest right as he came out of it knocking it off the center platform down off the edge into the dark abyss below.

With one husk left the former mercenary activated his enforcement gauntlet in mid-dodge then cocked his power filled fist back and extended it right into the husks face. A sickening crack echoed across the room as the head of the husk was snapped all the way back falling dead to the ground a second later.

_Well my blunt force weapons still have their strength against these things. _Ty scanned the room once more finding no husks currently in the way. What he also found as he turned all the way around was the silver iris opening revealing the mass effect core. "All hands open fire?" He asked.

There were small laughs from the two women who both aimed their weapons at the core along with the young warrior. They let loose a barrage of rounds hoping to destroy the core in one go but before it was destroyed the iris again closed.

"Arghh, damn thing is just fucking toying with us." Ty growled.

"We'll see how much longer it can hold up next time it opens when I use this." Shepard patted her Collector Beam rifle that was on her back.

The former mercenary heard more groans from the husks but couldn't help the flat stare he was leveling the sapphire eyed commander with. "And you didn't use that the first time, why?" Jack beat him to the question he too was wondering.

"I thought our combined fire and my Claymore would be enough." She responded turning to blast one of the husks killing it instantly. "See, it kills them with one shot."

Ty shook his head as he holstered his pistol and pulled out one of his special tomahawks. "Shepard…shotguns aren't the answer to everything."

"The hell they aren't! How else do you think you're going to kill hoards of enemies surrounding you?"

"I'd stop them before they got to me using my rifle." He retorted.

A swarm of husks were coming from the lower platform again so he tossed his tomahawk after thinking of the angle bending it across the area before it impaled in the head of one of them. It returned to its holster and he grabbed his other regular tomahawk preparing himself for a close quarters combat situation. "And if they managed to get too close?"

"I'd use my rifle as a bat or I'd use my tomahawks." With a hard swing he impaled the blade of his tomahawk into a husks neck then quickly knocked it away before going after the next two husks approaching. He cut off the arm of the first trying to attack him then charged forward into the other slamming his tomahawk into it as he forced it through a crowd its brethren. "See, it doesn't take much once I use my tomahawks." He wisecracked from the lower platform.

"Sorry asshole, but I'll have to agree with the Girl Scout on this one. Shotguns are the answer to everything when it comes to killing."

"You two have been hanging out with Tali and Grunt a lot, haven't you?" Ty dodged back from a strike then aimed and threw his tomahawks right at the husks. The first impaled in the skull of the closest husk while the other hit one further back in the pack of now five.

Quickly he lunged forward grabbing his closest tomahawk and activating his enforcement gauntlet. As he came up he delivered a large enforcement gauntlet powered punch to the gut of a husk sending his arm straight through it. The purple eyed warrior was down to four now as he pulled his left arm back through the husk and spun his body three hundred and sixty degrees bringing a momentum filled tomahawk into the neck of another husk.

A groan echoing behind the warrior cued him to look over his shoulder and see another husk closing in from behind. It received a back kick to the gut knocking it back a few steps, using quick footwork Ty made his way behind the husk he kicked which he kicked again right in the back sending it forward into the three Reaper minions that were in front of it.

His goal had been to knock down all of them like a set of bowling pins but he had only managed to knock down the first one the kicked husk had come into contact with. _Two out of four isn't too bad, _Ty prepared his next strikes mentally as the standing husks moved around the two on the ground. _Time to die assholes._

Right as he was about to attack two large blue orbs impacted against the standing husks catching all four within the field that they created and ripping the four in half. For a moment Ty just stared dumbfounded at the floating torsos of the husks before turning to the two women with shotguns in their hands and a blue aura around them.

"Oh come on, I was just getting started! I had that completely handled!" He complained to the two who were smirking at him.

"Sure you did." Jack replied sarcastically.

"You two are _so_ off my Christmas card list." The iris opened revealing the mass effect core again. Thinking better of throwing his tomahawk at it knowing he'd probably never get it back Ty quickly grabbed his other from the head of the husk it was lodged in and holstered them both. Grabbing his pistol again the young warrior opened fire on it as Shepard unloaded the Collector Beam into it.

As Ty was sure the thing would close off again the core exploded in what was a down right anti-climactic explosion. It was more accurate to say it popped like a balloon without the shocking sound. Before the former mercenary could comment on the bit of sadness he felt at there not being an epic explosion or at least the sound of one the entire ship began to shake worse than the Normandy had.

Swiftly he climbed the stairs and cursed himself for momentarily forgetting what destroying the core really was going to do. They were about to drop right from the sky into the atmosphere of a brown dwarf, that was a feeling more terrible than the pity of a lack of an explosion.

The trio regrouped above the downed Geth, "Shepard I know Geth haven't been exactly the friendliest beings you've encountered, but this one saved your ass and lowered the barrier for us. I say we bring it with us and try to reactivate it, it could be friendly."

"Probably worth some credits too if it decides to turn on us and we have to kill it." Jack added to his statement.

Shepard maintained her balance despite a violent shake nearly knocking the group over. Her eyes were full of her thoughts showing they were going at FTL speeds at the situation she was presented with. She turned to Ty, "You're thinking it could be a step towards peace between Geth and Quarian's, aren't you?"

He gave a nod, not only was he hoping to repay the debt of saving Shepard and helping them to get into the room at the cost of getting knocked out but Ty's personal feelings of seeking peace between the two races were on his mind as well. This was the first chance at finding a peaceful Geth, the first chance anyone could actually extend an olive branch in an effort to bring peace.

There was no way he could let it go without trying. Maybe it would try to kill them after they reactivated it, yet on the chance it didn't and they could talk to it the possibilities of peace could grow from completely impossible to somewhat unlikely.

"This is the one chance I may ever get to see if the peace Ka'Reena dreamed of is possible." He shook his head and looked back down at the Geth, "It's your decision but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity Shepard."

A giant object suddenly crashed down on one of the lower platforms, "We don't have time to talk about this. Grab the Geth and let's go!" Jack and Ty each slung one Geth arm over their shoulders and began moving at a quick pace back to the outer part of the Reaper where they had fought the Scions. "Joker! I'm sending you the coordinates of our evac point. Get there quickly or you'll need Miranda to reform the Lazarus Project for all three of us."

"On it Commander."

The entire ship was collapsing around them and to top it off there were still husks trying to chase and kill them. What was worse than that was how unstable the ground below them was. If the Normandy had been an earthquake then this was like a volcano erupting alongside an earthquake as a mudslide was chasing after them on one side and lava was coming at them from the other.

As they neared their evac the two biotic's quickly put on their masks and helmets as the purple eyed warriors activated automatically. Shepard was laying down cover fire as the Normandy pulled up next to them still a very large jump away but that would not be an issue. There was little to no gravity holding them down out here anymore meaning one jump was going to send them floating across the gap with ease.

The airlock door opened and as soon as it did the duo holding the Geth tossed it across the gap. It floated into the airlock crash landing on the inside leaving the three to jump themselves. "Let's go Shepard!" Ty took a step back then took a running jump floating his way across the gap before landing on the solid floor of the Normandy.

Jack landed next to him almost losing her footing but Ty was quick to catch her. Shepard was the next landing gracefully in her full armor before shutting the airlock door behind her. "Shore party aboard. Get us out of here Joker."

"Aye aye, Shepard."

Ty was the first to collapse onto his butt with a sigh of relief, "I am _never_ going on a "derelict Reaper" again."

Shepard and Jack followed suit allowing themselves to collapse after all the biotic energy they had expended in ripping apart large groups of husks repeatedly.

Even though there was still a lot to sort out from the Geth in their company to the installation of the IFF, Ty knew they were all in silent agreement of taking a nap or at the least a small break before they did anything else mission related.

This last mission had been _way_ more stressful than they anticipated.


	105. Chapter 104

Chapter 104

My Name is Legion: For We Are Many

"Commander, can I ask you something?" Shepard came to a stop at Kelly's station and gave a nod. The commander was dressed in her casuals coming from the cockpit after making her rounds on all the other floors. A few hours had passed since the derelict Reaper mission and the break she had taken before debriefing about the IFF was coming to an end.

She and Jack had refueled and recharged after a good meal while Ty had chosen he was going to take a shower and then meditate until the time came to debrief. Figuring out how the integration of the IFF was going to work was definitely on the minds of those who went onto the Reaper as well as the rest of the crew.

There was also their other bit of cargo they had picked up on the Reaper to figure out as well. The Geth lying dormant in the A.I. Core was a subject of concern among most of the crew and a subject of interest to two – herself and Ty to be exact.

"Sure Kelly, I always have time for my friends."

Kelly gave a grateful smile and shifted a little on her feet. Whatever it was she wanted to ask about had her nervous causing the sapphire eyed soldier to smirk mentally. _I think I know where this is going._ "Are you sure the Geth you brought on board is safe? Some of the crew are growing anxious having what they see as a threat in such close proximity to them."

And there it was. It was the question Shepard had found herself being asked by just about everyone on the Normandy along with the question of if she was insane. Hearing it now from Kelly turned her mental smirk into a real one.

The healthy doubt from the others was strangely refreshing. After dealing with arriving Reapers, indoctrinated Alliance soldiers, and traversing a dead Reaper it was satisfying to deal with such a small problem. Was she making a poor judgment on the Geth? Shepard didn't think so, but the doubt from the others on the synthetic was good.

They wouldn't lower their guard and if her feeling on the Geth proved wrong they'd fill the thing with rounds. Their questioning of her decision brought the N7 back to the days of her first tour on the Normandy when they hijacked the ship out of dry-dock to chase Saren to Ilos after the Council and Udina had impounded them.

Mostly everyone had thought she was crazy back then save for Wrex and Kaiden although that was for separate reasons. "_Sometimes crazy is the best way to go._" The Krogan's words rang in her mind. They had been making a bet that would end them in prison, galaxy fugitives, heroes or dead but everyone followed regardless of how crazy they thought she was.

In a way it was the same in this scenario except they weren't about to go chasing a rogue Spectre in an attempt to stop him from fulfilling his mission. This time the situation was on a smaller scale and though they did not like having a Geth on board they were following her lead anyways.

Maybe they thought she was going crazy but they didn't completely doubt her judgment enough to execute the Geth without her knowledge. Perhaps deep down they too wanted to find out if this Geth wasn't like all the others they had fought from two years ago to now.

It was what Shepard needed to find out. The synthetic had saved her from imminent danger and then opened up the barrier for her and her squad at the cost of being rendered unconscious or whatever it was called for a synthetic.

The Geth had no way of knowing they would bring it with them, in fact if they hadn't it would have been crushed the same as the Reaper as it crashed into the surface of the brown dwarf. For all it knew they would have left it for dead, so why hadn't it just taken out the husks and then drop the barrier?

Why would it risk destruction or non-functionality for what would be a very slim chance of the trio saving it? Did it place faith in them not leaving it behind? Were the Geth capable of that? Sure EDI had grown a lot since their first meeting but she was around a group of organics daily who she watched and learned from, the Geth weren't.

Then there was the other two strange contorted pieces of the puzzle board Shepard was having trouble finding the placement for. It had somehow spoken her name and military title back on the Reaper yet none of the Geth she had run into were even capable of speech. This one was special to one degree or another of that she was certain, but _why_ was this one different.

Was it sent past the veil to try to talk to organics? It didn't seem likely; the Geth would know the galaxy pretty much had a shoot on sight mandate when it came to their race. So why did it have the ability to speak? Perhaps it was limited to names?

There was no way to know save for trying to speak to it.

The final weird note was it had N7 armor strapped to its body to cover up a hole in its body. _Where could it have gotten N7 armor? There's no way it purchased it and the only other ways it could have gotten it was killing an N7 or finding an already dead one to take their armor._

Somehow it got its hands on the armor and Shepard wanted to know where it had gotten it from. If it had killed an N7, well then she'd have a score to settle if it didn't do it in self-defense. Figuring that out would be difficult but she would find out.

Those were her questions while Ty had a set of his own. "_This is the one chance I may ever get to see if the peace Ka'Reena dreamed of is possible._" Her lover was holding onto the hope the random acts of kindness back on the Reaper done by the Geth were not the only ones it was willing to give.

Peace was a two way street of course and even if the Geth did want peace there was the whole convincing the entire Quarian people to not kill or try to enslave them again problem, but it was a once in a lifetime chance just as Ty had said.

They had a chance to speak to a Geth to see if they were willing to bring about peace between themselves and their creators. Ka'Reena had passed her dreams onto the man she loved, it was something she had believed deeply in and the only thing her lover could do for her and the sister she never got to meet now.

Ensuring Tera'Reena grew up and was able to live her life was something Shepard knew Ty wanted more than anything. He saw it as his duty to do what he had failed to do for the person he had loved. In his mind he owed it to Ka'Reena to bring forth her dreams and give her sister the life she had been unable to have because of his inability to protect her.

This Geth was his only chance at ever finding out if the dream was viable or not. He needed those answers, he needed to know if he had the ability to grant Ka'Reena's sister a life of peace. The Geth was only one step towards it, there was still the Reaper threat left but her lover was taking it one step at a time.

For his sake Shepard was more willingly to reactivate the Geth. She too wanted to stop a war and mass death between the creators and created.

All of this brought her back to Kelly's question, was she sure the Geth on board was safe? "I hope so. Having a Geth reactivate on its own in the A.I. Core and start shooting at everyone would really kill my good mood." She jested.

Kelly gave a small laugh at her joke and shook her head, "Well we wouldn't want you to lose your good mood. If it does reactivate please let me know so I can find someplace to hide."

"Don't worry Kelly; I won't let it harm you or anyone else on this ship."

For all the risk bringing the synthetic on board was Shepard wasn't throwing caution to the wind completely when it came to safety precautions. It was under armed guard and EDI was watching it constantly in case it did wake up to erect a barrier between it and the guard.

The safety of her friends and the crew of the Normandy was on the top of her priority list, if their safety meant eliminating the threat of attack then she'd put a round in the flashlight head without hesitation. It was why she was heading to the Comm Room, it was time to get back to business and figure out what the next steps were with it and the IFF.

"I feel safer already." The Yeoman stated with a thankful nod. "I know you know what you are doing, just like you did with Grunt and Ty."

Shepard nodded in thanking happy to hear the support. _I guess this is similar to when we brought Grunt on board. He was an unknown and I decided to open his tank in close quarters without really knowing how he would react._ The Commander stretched out her back, _sleeping on my back was painful for a few days after he slammed me into that wall. _

_Ty wasn't as severe, he was just an unknown as to if he would join but a known hothead who was more likely to point a gun in my face. _Staring down the barrel of his pistol as his purple eyes pierced through his hood holding resentment played through her mind, _I suppose that did happen in the end…and then there was that time when he woke up too drugged up to remember where he was or who I was after he was impaled on the wall._

Thinking back to having her neck in his vice grip was definitely not her fondest memory of him, then again that memory rarely ever surfaced due to the amount of memories created between then and now. It honestly felt like years had passed when it had only been a few months. _So much has happened between us since then._

Looking back at her decision to try to save the purple eyed warrior from death and allow Grunt out of his tank proved to her that she wasn't completely insane.

Yes both decisions at first were dangerous, crazy even considering the circumstances of recruiting both. Yet both decisions had panned out for the best and she was happy to call the massive Krogan a friend and the criminal her lover.

"Thank you Kelly. Is there anything I need to know?"

She gave an affirmative nod, "Miranda, Jacob and Ty are already waiting for you in the Comm Room. They've only been in there for a few minutes but I'd assume they are likely discussing their differences of views on what to do with the Geth down in the A.I. Core."

_Debating is the most likely of scenarios actually._ With her lover in the firm position of reactivating the Geth, Jacob wanting to space it and Miranda on the fence but leaning more towards not reactivating it there was little doubt in her mind a heated debate was going on.

"EDI, is anyone pointing guns at each other?" Last time Ty and Jacob were on opposing sides of an argument their "argument" involved a fist fight, a gun standoff and the threats of killing the stubborn Cerberus Operative.

"No. They have remained quite civil in their arguments although I would not anticipate it remaining like that for much longer. None of them have budged in their arguments."

"Alright, I'll go stop it before they start calling each other names."

"Yes that would be-"

Shepard looked up to the ceiling of the ship with Kelly wearing a look of confusion as to why the A.I. had stopped talking. "EDI? Is everything okay?"

"Too late." She responded dryly.

The two women shared small laughs, _wonder who it was…probably Ty._ "Good luck, Shepard." Kelly gave her a smile.

She returned the smile and nodded, "Thanks Kelly."

Her Yeoman turned back to her station leaving the commander to make her way through the Tech Lab to reach the Comm Room.

She found the Salarian Scientist pacing back in forth in front of his station as he was talking aloud. The N7 had seen him do it before; from what she could tell it helped him to work through his thoughts. Not wanting to interrupt his thought pattern she chose to remain silent as he worked just in case speaking to him would stop the progress of whatever he was working on.

"Could use…no no no, would cause liver failure." He brought his hand to his chin as he continued to pace, "Maybe if I tried…hmmm…" His eyes suddenly bulged in shock, "No! Risk of irritable bowel syndrome, Joker does not have easy access to bathroom. Would be…problematic."

Shepard nodded to him barely containing her laughter behind her smile. For some reason she doubted whatever he was thinking of for her pilot was something Joker would be happy to know the side effects of. If he ever did find a solution she hoped it would not have a worse side effect than the effect of the problem he was trying to solve.

The commander made it through the doors without letting out even a snicker although that was due to a monumental effort on her side of things. Before entering the Comm Room she took a deep breath regaining her composure. If Mordin hadn't sounded and looked so serious she would have assumed he was just screwing with her to get her to laugh.

With one last breath she opened the doors to the Comm Room and entered to find Ty's back facing her as he had his arms raised out. Miranda and Jacob were on the opposite side of the room the former leaning forward on the table and the latter with his arms crossed wearing a somewhat entertained smirk at the debate playing out.

In the center of the table was a holographic image of the Geth they had brought with them as it laid unconscious down one floor. It hadn't moved from the last time she had seen it and for that she was thankful.

"Come on! Gethy is the one shot we have at finding out if peace is obtainable between Geth and Quarian's, are you telling me you're willing to let that chance slip by? Where is your sense of adventure Princess?"

There was an irritable sigh from the raven haired woman who Shepard could tell was reaching her boiling point. Stubbornness was something the two debaters had in common and neither wanted to budge in their arguments.

Miranda pushed herself off the table and furrowed her brow, "Not in reactivating a Geth! It may not have harmed you on the Reaper but we have no idea what its reasons were or what it gained while on that ship before it was deactivated. And stop calling it Gethy, it sounds ridiculous."

"You sound ridiculous!" The former mercenary retorted somewhat childishly. His two opponents in the debate shook their heads at him. _Leave it to Ty to take the argument serious but also throw in comments that aren't._ "You're not even giving the damn thing a chance, what if it actually isn't an enemy?"

"It's such an unlikely idea Ty. You and I have seen what they're capable of firsthand." Jacob responded.

"Yeah I have and that's why I can tell this one is different."

"How do you know?" Miranda posed the question.

"The lack of a round through our skulls is a hefty piece of evidence." Ty argued creating a circle around his head to bring attention to the lack of a hole in his head.

The catsuit wearing woman rolled her eyes and shook her head. "That can't be your only evidence. As I said you have no idea what it found on that ship or why it didn't shoot you. Maybe it needed you three for something."

It was a possibility and one Shepard had considered already. The only problem was she couldn't fathom what it needed them for or what it had to gain. The husks had been trying to stop it which meant the Reaper didn't want the Geth doing what it did if it was still "dreaming" in the words of the scientists.

Ty lowered his arms and let out a sigh as if they had been here before. "Seriously? Gethy didn't touch the IFF, Gethy lowered the barrier for us, and Gethy shot the husks trying to attack Shepard then said her name. What more evidence do I need to prove it's not the same as the Geth who shot our asses off?"

"Now you're just calling it that to irritate me." Miranda said with frustration written all over her face.

"And it's working." Jacob noted with a laugh.

She shot both men glares that would have incinerated them if looks could kill. _I should step in before this gets out of hand even though it would be more entertaining if I didn't. _"Enjoying yourselves?" Shepard questioned a smirk firm on her face and in her voice.

This was somewhat reminiscent of the beginning days on their Suicide Mission and Shepard couldn't help but savor the circle argument and banter between her lover and friend. After everything that had happened recently levity had been in somewhat short supply.

Having even a small glimpse of the normalcy they once had before the timetable for the arrival of the Reapers got sped up was satisfying to the N7 whose mind had been trying to dig itself out of the hell it was in.

"Maybe you can talk sense into him." The XO commented a bit of her exasperation reaching her voice.

"Or into them since they're the ones who need it." Her lover retorted.

Shepard moved further into the room stopping at the side of the table so she was between the two sides of the argument. "Let's take this from the top, thoughts on the mysterious Geth we have sitting in the A.I. Core?"

"Reactivating it is a bad idea." Miranda started. "I read your report but we can't honestly say this Geth isn't hostile towards organics based on the one encounter you had with it."

"Here we go again." Jacob muttered.

"Yet we can say they are hostile towards all organics based on that first encounter we had with them when they joined Saren?" Ty argued.

Miranda turned her gaze back to the man, "They continued to attack organics until Shepard defeated Saren and Sovereign. Small pockets still attack organics as well. That is not just one encounter."

"But how can we say that they spoke for all Geth? Hmm? What if they were a rogue faction?"

The raven haired woman ran her hand down her face as she groaned, "There is no evidence backing up your claim that we can examine, save for asking the Geth downstairs."

_Seems they have been over this argument a lot, _the commander looked between the two, _yet I don't see any sign of either budging from their points of views._ She hadn't fully made her decision yet on what to do; she knew reactivating the Geth was a risk if it really wasn't friendly.

On the chance it was friendly keeping it deactivated would be a waste of an opportunity. _What am I going to do with it then?_

"So let's say we don't activate it, what are we going to do with it?"

"I've seen enough of them on Eden Prime, I'd say space it ma'am." She nodded to Jacob in appreciation for remaining the most civil and to the point in his opinion. While she already knew what their opinions were, hearing their points made were helping her to make her final decision on the matter.

Shepard shifted her gaze to Miranda to see what her opinion was in the scenario of not activating it. "If we cannot find anything useful about it in its current state, then I agree with Jacob. It's a complete unknown, even more than Grunt was. For all we know it wanted to get caught and brought onto the Normandy."

"And I thought I was paranoid." Ty commented offhandedly.

Miranda sent him a scathing glare before turning her attention back towards Shepard. "No sending it to the Illusive Man?" The N7 questioned.

It wasn't as if she would anyways, she was just curious if the catsuit wearing woman was not saying it because she knew Shepard wouldn't do it or for another reason. Miranda shook her head in response to the idea, "After what we saw with Project Overload I don't entirely trust him to use an intact deactivated Geth for "humanity's best interests" or anyone's best interests for that matter except his own."

The sapphire eyed commander couldn't deny she was of the same mind. Seeing David hooked up to that machine, the tubes going down his throat, the claws holding his eyes open…that was an image forever burned into the minds of the three who had witnessed it firsthand.

In Miranda's eyes Shepard could see the haunted images going through her mind as well, she also saw the broken trust and high suspicions for the man she once held in high regard. She had found the line where "humanity's best interests" was no longer a line that justified the means.

Ty shuddered visibly and shook his head at the mention of the project. He was probably the one with the worst memories of the place due in no small part to his abilities. If the N7 had to guess the memories of that place were barricaded and locked with every object imaginable to keep himself from slipping into them on a normal basis.

She remembered how distant all three had become after coming back from the mission, how the thoughts of the mission had haunted them all. None of them had been their usual selves and for good reason. No amount of mental preparation could have prepared them for what they found deep in the final level of hell.

Jacob only needed to take a quick glance at all three of them to see that what they saw was not something they were willing to go into depth about. Shepard was thankful he and the rest of her squad were able to understand just by looking at them that what they saw was nightmarish.

Even after the amount of time that passed between that mission and now the rest of the crew didn't fully know what they had witnessed down there. All they knew was upon their return from the mission they could all tell just by looking at them that they shouldn't push for details. It was better that way for all involved.

There were some things that never needed to be spoken of again.

Wishing to divert the thought patterns of everyone in the room back onto the subject at hand Shepard turned to Ty, "Do you really think this Geth could actually be an ally?"

"We live in a galaxy where Reapers exist." Ty shrugged helplessly, "At this point I'd be willing to believe there's a Kakliosaur waiting out there for me to tame and ride."

_A…what?_ Shepard raised her eyebrow in question at the former mercenary as Miranda and Jacob looked at him in the same confusion she felt. She had never even heard of a Kakliosaur before, was it some kind of dinosaur or something?

To the stares and silence he received Ty let out a sigh, "It's a…never mind. The point is there is no way we will know unless we try. We could be looking at a huge step towards peace between the Geth and organics."

"And if you're wrong?" Miranda asked.

"Then we fill it with a bunch of rounds and toss it out the airlock." He stated.

It was a simple solution and it wasn't like it was going to have access to any weapons. "Alright." Shepard spoke up finally making her decision. "I'm going to activate and interrogate it. It spoke to us and saved me from an attack, I want to know how and why."

"Although I am for this, I'm just letting you know I'm not the one who is going to tell Tali." Her lover told her as he began to smirk. "She has a shotgun and I don't like getting acquainted with it."

"I hope you two know what you're doing." The raven haired woman said.

"Come on Miranda, it's me we're talking about." The former mercenary tried to reassure.

"That's why I'm worried." She deadpanned.

Jacob opened his omni-tool and pressed a few buttons causing the Geth to disappear to be replaced by the holographic image of the Reaper IFF. "So what about this Reaper IFF?" The man asked curiously.

That was a good question. There hadn't really been enough time for the crew to install it let alone examine it thoroughly. The hologram disappeared only for EDI's blue chess piece to appear on the table instead. "I have determined how to integrate it with our systems; however the device is Reaper technology. It is important that we test it thoroughly before attempting to pass through the Omega 4 Relay. It will take time to integrate it fully into our systems."

"I'm with EDI on this one, we should really look over and test the IFF as thoroughly as we can before we go all gung-ho and jump through the Relay to kick some Collector ass." Ty said as he looked across the table to Shepard. "The last thing we need is for the IFF to send off a signal as we're jumping through so the Collectors can just shoot us as we come out of the jump. That would be a real drag."

His point, while vastly understated, was a good one. To come all this way and then be killed because they didn't take the time to examine the IFF thoroughly was not something any of them wanted. They needed to get through that Relay safely; if they didn't then the Collectors would be able to continue taking colonists all the way up until the Reapers arrived.

That wasn't something they could allow. They were the only ones prepared for the fight and willing to take it straight to the Reaper minions.

The Council wasn't going to send aid; they didn't believe in the Reapers and certainly wouldn't believe in the Collectors. Most of the Alliance wanted her to take the blow for the Alpha Relay incident rather than help her stop human colonies from being abducted and then stop the Reapers.

_And the Illusive Man is only sending us, sending anymore soldiers would be too inconvenient I'm sure and I really wouldn't want any others here anyways. _Shepard crossed her arms in thought, _the people on this ship are the only ones I can trust when it comes to people wearing that logo…they're the only ones I can trust in the galaxy right now._

Her list of steadfast allies didn't include an army or a fleet; it consisted of a group of professionals who were loyal and ready for whatever fate awaited them. Sure they lacked a large quantity of numbers and the only person backing their mission was the glowy eyed leader of a terrorist organization, yet on a suicide mission the odds were always going to be stacked against them.

The people on her ship, they trusted and believed in her fully. They were certain that they were going to complete their mission and see it through to the end all because she was leading them; it was that kind of belief and loyalty that fueled the woman not to give up.

There was a lot of pressure riding on her shoulders for sure, but it was that pressure that would bring the best out of her. The pressure of knowing how much was truly riding on this would prevent her from failing her squad. It wouldn't just be her pulling them through though; it was going to be the group effort between them that would drive the spear into the hearts of the Collectors.

She believed in her crew, they had all come from varying paths of life yet here on the Normandy their paths had lined up. Together they would march forward into the depths of hell, and together they would walk out as well.

They weren't an army, in this fight they were the silent tip of the spear in the dead of night. They were the first and last line of defense because no one else wanted to see what the real threat was.

So she didn't have a large fleet to call on to take out the Collectors, but that was fine by Shepard. What she had was a group of individuals who she'd take over any fleet or ground army any day of the week. As a team they had made their spear sturdy and sharp over the course of their travels and they were all ready to use it.

But to throw all caution to the wind along with their spear in hopes it hit their target would prove fatal to them. Just as they had done this whole time they needed to deal with the IFF the smart way. It would take time from their already depleting hourglass but each grain of sand was one they had to use wisely.

Rushing ahead would do nothing except give the Reapers or Collectors an opening to take them out.

Shepard let her arms fall back to her sides, "Ty I want you, EDI and Tali examining that IFF as thoroughly as you can. Take all the time you need."

"At once." EDI disappeared from the table.

Ty snapped off a mock salute, "Yes ma'am!" Shepard along with Miranda and Jacob shook their heads at him in amusement to his action. He let his hand fall back down, "I'll get to work with Tali and EDI once we're done reactivating the Geth."

The commander nodded and with a salute from Jacob and a small nod from Miranda the group dispersed. Their list of preparations was starting to come to an end. With the IFF collected, her crew ready for the fight and the Normandy fully upgraded the time remaining before going to the Collector Base was shortening with each second.

_We are so close to defeating the Collectors, _Shepard embarked on the elevator with Ty and Miranda the man of the trio hitting the button for the Crew Quarters, _with them dead it'll just be one less nightmare to deal with when the Reapers arrive. One less ally they can rely on to do their bidding._

Regardless of how insignificant the Reapers thought they were, they were without a doubt becoming a larger and larger thorn in their side. Each step forward they took was leading them closer and closer to destroying a large group of puppets belonging to the death bringers and once they were done with them the giant mechanical squids were next on the menu.

Defeating the Reapers was another problem altogether but for now the N7 was going to focus on their rising chances of victory against the current threat.

For some time now the idea of taking the fight to the Collectors had only been a distant thought because they lacked the means to actually bring the fight to them. Now though, now they actually could reach them so long as the integration of the Reaper IFF went off without a hitch.

Soon they could stop the Collectors and rescue what colonists they could if there were any still alive. No longer was the plan to destroy the Collectors as far off as it had once seemed. The reality was the culmination of all their hard work was going to be tested as soon as the work with IFF was done.

How long had it been since they had fought the bug puppets last? Weeks? Months? Shepard wasn't sure, with everything else going on from preparing her crew to every other mission she had gone on the amount of days between the last fight with the Collectors and now blurred together.

Either way their fighting against the bug beings specifically was coming to an end. They had everything they needed for the ship, the crew and with the final piece of the puzzle in the form of the IFF it was about time they finished what the Collectors had started.

They owed them for a lot from Horizon and all the other colonies they kidnapped to blowing up the original Normandy and snuffing out the souls of those who hadn't been lucky enough to escape or be revived.

"You keep furrowing your brow like that and it'll get stuck that way. Look at Miranda." The voice of her lover broke her from her thoughts. His voice was full of his usual sarcasm and jest but when she met his eyes she found the intense purple orbs staring at her in worry.

She smirked letting her previously furrowed brow leave her, "We wouldn't want that, although your brother apparently likes that."

"I'm standing right here." Miranda reminded them.

"Oh, Miranda. We were just talking about you." The former mercenary said as if he just noticed she was there.

The N7 chuckled while the catsuit wearing operative rolled her eyes. The elevator doors opened before any other retort could be made allowing all three to depart and split off with the Cerberus Operative going to her room and the two lovers heading to the A.I. Core. "Worried?" Ty questioned.

"About the Geth?" She shook her head, "No, not completely at least. It's definitely an anomaly and for that reason I'm going to be cautious, but if it really wanted to hurt us it had the perfect opening back on that ship."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, damn thing makes me look like an amateur infiltrator."

"I wouldn't go that far." Shepard responded. The Geth was a stealthy infiltrator; there was no doubt about that. It had blended into its environment quite well for someone with a flashlight head and had it wanted to fire off shots at them it would have caught them all by surprise.

Still, Ty wasn't a slouch to the cloak and dagger kind of work when he chose to be silent. The missions they partook in usually did not leave him room for stealth and so he adapted to the more head-on approach he was also good at.

"Aw, you're defending my skills. I think I might be blushing under my hood." He teased.

Shepard rolled her eyes as a smirk made its way onto her face. "Although you do stick out like a Salarian on Tuchanka most of the time."

"Oh, and you strike me down with the lightning strike of truth. How will I ever recover?" He pretended to stab himself in the chest with an invisible knife.

As the doors to the med-bay opened Shepard let out a laugh at his dramatization. Laughing felt good; it helped to alleviate the serious nature of what they were walking towards both literally and figuratively.

Then again that was just what Ty did when he had the words or the right moment for it. He tried to keep the mood light when he could especially when there was looming darkness around. While sometimes he wasn't always able to, he always made up for his lack of it later on.

Chakwas, who was sitting at her desk, turned her head to see them walking through the med-bay with the commander of the pair still laughing and the young warrior smirking as he let his hands fall back down to his sides. She spared them both a fond motherly smile showing her support for the laughter and them as a pair if Shepard had to guess.

"What's up, Doc?" Ty asked.

"Just going over some reports. Are you two heading to re-activate the Geth?"

He gave a nod, "Yup, so if you hear gunfire just know it's because we had to deactivate it. Permanently."

She gave a nod and turned back to her terminal continuing wherever she left off at. "Do be sure not to get injured, Ty. You have had such a good record as of late."

"If you don't include taking a table head-on thanks to an angry Yahg." Shepard wisecracked.

"Definitely not my most impressive moment. But hey, least my injuries weren't severe that time." He mused.

"Let's be sure to keep it that way. Your visits to the med-bay alone have exceeded most of the visits I had on the last Normandy." The doctor scolded.

That was true. No one threw themselves in front of missiles or got hit by Thresher Maw arms on the last Normandy let alone all the other stunts that had ended Ty in the med-bay. "New record, nice!"

"I had a feeling you would say that. Just know if you do end up injured again I will sedate you and then put an old fashioned cast on whatever it is that you hurt-"

The screeching of the former mercenary's shoe coming to a halt echoed in the room. A look of horror flashed in his purple eyes as he turned to face the doctor who was staring intently at him from behind her terminal. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! No need to bring out the torture equipment, you can consider me trying my hardest not to get hurt from now on."

Chakwas smiled at the man and clasped her hands together in front of her, "Don't worry, I'll only use small doses."

Ty started backing up towards the A.I. Core with his hands raised in front of his chest, "You always say that and I always end up having a reaction." His back hit the door to the A.I. Core and he quickly opened it escaping into the room with the door shutting behind him.

Shepard shot a smirk to her friend and mother of the Normandy team, "Would you really do that?"

The doctor chuckled softly, "No, but I knew the threat of it would keep him in line. For someone who constantly gets injured Ty has a distinct fear of anything that forces him to be bed-rested." She relaxed in her chair momentarily, "I do enjoy his company, but I prefer him to be in good health for his sake and everyone else's."

The N7 nodded, "Agreed."

"Good luck Shepard."

Again Shepard nodded and followed after her lover into the A.I. Core. As she entered she found him standing opposite of the armed guard who was standing ready for anything. The guard snapped to attention and into a salute when she stopped between them.

The quiet snicker from the former mercenary did not go unnoticed.

"I'm turning this thing on, be ready." She ordered.

"Aye aye." The soldier responded.

"Let the fun begin." Ty commented.

Shepard spared him a small smirk before opening her omni-tool using it to activate a kinetic barrier between the downed Geth lying in front of them and the three organics in the room. "I have isolated our systems and erected additional firewalls. I am prepared to resist any hacking attempt." EDI informed over the intercom.

"I've got my firewalls up as well to protect my omni-tool and yours in case it decides to get crafty." Ty told her.

She gave a nod and continued to work on her omni-tool to reactivate the Geth. The moment of truth was coming, would this Geth be peaceful to them as it had on the Reaper or would it attack? Had the Geth protected her for no reason or had it done it for a hidden purpose?

There was only one way to find out.

Visible electricity flowed across the Geth's body as she tried to restart it and after a second try the light on its head beamed back to life. _Looks like we got it working, _Shepard took a small breath, _now it's time to find out what it really was doing on the Reaper._

It began to sit up as it made a series of stuttering like noises similar to that of all the other Geth she had ever fought. The light eye searched the area in front of it before it moved to spot her. Once it did it got off the platform it had been laying on and onto its feet.

Shepard took an involuntary step back, this was absolutely strange. Never had she been this close to a Geth without it trying to kill her. All of her instincts were driving her to take the gun from the guard next to her and unload the thermal clip into the Geth's chest.

What stopped her was the N7 badge staring right back at her reminding her of all the questions she had for this synthetic. The questions she and her purple eyed lover needed answers for.

Once it was on its feet it just stared right at her as she stared back at it. Pushing down all of her instincts she regained her initial firm stance and stare. "Can you understand us?" She questioned.

"Yes." It answered immediately in the same synthetic voice it had back on the Reaper.

"Are you going to attack us?"

"No."

_It's what I hoped for…but I'm not entirely sure how that makes me feel._ She had grown so used to fighting Geth during her time chasing Saren and beyond, to meet one with no hostilities towards her was beyond confusing.

_How do I approach this then?_ Should she question it like an enemy or approach it as a neutral party. Where did she begin in her list of questions?

_Starting with it knowing my name would be start. _

"Back on the Reaper you said my name. Have we met?" It was highly unlikely, all of the Geth she had come across shot at her and they were no longer functional.

So how did this Geth know her name?

"We know of you." It answered simply.

_Why do I have a feeling this is going to be like pulling teeth? On one hand I appreciate the to the point answers, but I could go for a little more elaboration right about now._

"You mean I've fought a lot of Geth."

"We have never met." It assured.

Biting back a sigh Shepard began to pace in a small space, "No, you and I have never met. But I've met other Geth." The entire list of places she had met Geth at would take some time to actually create due to the amount of planets she had found them on.

Perhaps this Geth knew her because of all the others she fought.

"We are all Geth and we have not met you." _Or not…_It started following the same pattern of her pacing even down to her smallest arm movements. "You are Shepard. Commander. Alliance. Human. Fought Heretics. Killed by Collectors. Rediscovered on Old Machine."

Her list of questions was getting bigger by the second. "Old Machine?" Shepard raised an eyebrow in question, "You mean the Reaper?"

"Reaper: A superstitious title originated by Prothean's. We call those entities the Old Machines."

What they called the Reapers made sense when one took into account how long they had been harvesting the galaxy. It went so far back there was no way to tell what the first cycle was or anything beyond the Prothean's for that matter.

"You seem to know an awful lot about me."

"Extranet data sources, insecure broadcasts, all organic data sent out is received. We watch you."

"Hey, that means I'm not the only one listening in. Wonder if we have ever crossed paths when hacking." Ty said thoughtfully to himself.

"We have." The former mercenary raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You are Tyler. Criminal. Former Blue Sun. Betrayed. Human. Intimate with Creator-Reena before death. Fought Heretics. Killed on Omega numerous times. Ghost of Omega. Rediscovered on Old Machine."

"Shit and I thought I could get a lot of information on people." Ty shook his head in a bit of shock at what Shepard assumed was the amount of information the Geth had on him. _It found out he was in a relationship with Ka'Reena…I wonder how long the Geth have been monitoring him?_

"Wait, so do you watch us specifically or organics in general?"

"Yes." The Geth answered.

The sapphire eyed commander furrowed her brow at the answer, "Which?"

"Both."

_I don't know if that is very discomforting or not, _Shepard thought. To know the Geth were watching them and all other organics was not what she expected to find out and she wasn't sure what it really meant.

What about them were they watching? Did they see fumbling idiots trying to grasp at something in the darkness or did they see something else entirely?

"See anything interesting?" The former mercenary asked curiously.

"Yes."

Ty chuckled to himself and shook his head when it did not elaborate further, "Set myself up for that one." The N7 smirked a small smirk. It wasn't that the Geth was holding back information from them; it was just answering their questions in the simplest form. "Just for curiosity's sake, when you say Heretics you mean the Geth we have fought, right?"

"Geth build our own future, Heretics ask the Old Machines to give them a future. They are no longer apart of us. We were studying the Old Machines hardware to protect our future."

"So the Reapers are a threat to your people as well?" Shepard asked.

Was it possible that the Geth faced the same threat as organics did? Was the phrase the enemy of my enemy valid here or were the Geth really not an enemy? She was uncertain but she could see hope building in the eyes of her lover.

_If the Geth aren't really enemies and it's just been the Heretics…could peace really be possible if the Quarian's stopped seeing them as an enemy needing to be destroyed?_

"Yes." The Geth answered her previous question.

It didn't make much sense, they were both synthetics…_perhaps the line of synthetic and organic isn't as cut and dried as we think, _Shepard thought. _Maybe they can separate into factions of different beliefs the same as organics._

"Why would they attack other machines?"

"We are different from them, outside their plans."

The purple eyed warrior nodded to himself at the statement made by the Geth, "Makes sense, the Reapers like things their way or not at all. If the Geth are building their own future not in accordance to the Reaper plan then they're just as expendable as organics."

"An accurate conclusion."

Then that left another question up for grabs and one that was important. "What kind of future are the Geth building?"

"Ours."

Ty snorted in amusement at the flat stare Shepard leveled the synthetic with. _Maybe I should start adding, "Please elaborate" onto the ends of every question I ask._ Pulling teeth no longer felt accurate when it came to describing the questioning process she was going through.

It was more like being a red sand addict who was trying to stick a thread into the eye of a needle.

"Will anyone else be affected by whatever it is you are doing?" She queried a bit of her exasperation seeping into her voice. She didn't entirely mind the Geth; it was so far the nicest one she had ever met although that was not hard to accomplish. The N7 just felt like she was trying to explain the Reaper threat to the Council, it was similar to explaining space flight to a toddler.

Completely ineffective.

"If they involve themselves, they will."

_That's not somewhat ominous at all. Then again I'm not the one behind a barrier being questioned. I wouldn't be all that forthcoming with my peoples plans either in its position._

Shepard took a step forward, "So you're not aligned with the Reapers."

The Geth took a step forward as well, "We oppose the Heretics. We oppose the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the Heretics. Cooperation furthers mutual goals."

_Cooperation, eh? _"Are you asking to join us?"

"Yes."

The galaxy had officially gone crazy.

Shepard opened her omni-tool and deactivated the barrier between the synthetic, Ty and herself. "Then what should we call you?"

"Geth."

Another snort of amusement from Ty who she shot a scathing glare at. He was clearly getting enjoyment out of what she was dealing with. "I mean you specifically." She motioned to the Geth with her hand. Not a second after she started the movement the Geth imitated her exact movements again.

"We are all Geth."

_For the love of…_A barely contained laugh bubbled out of her lover who she was seriously considering manhandling with her biotic's at this point. "What is the individual in front of me called?"

"Shepard-"

Ty was interrupted by the Geth before he could say anything, "There is no individual. We are Geth. There are currently one thousand one hundred and eighty-three programs active within this platform."

He chuckled, "Yeah, that."

EDI's blue hologram suddenly appeared between her and the former mercenary with her voice following, "My name is Legion: For we are many."

Shepard smiled and turned to the ships A.I. "Well, that seems appropriate. Thank you EDI."

The front of the Geth's face plate began moving slightly only to reform back to its initial structure. "Christian bible. The Gospel of Mark, chapter five verse nine. We acknowledge this is an appropriate metaphor." It gave something close to a nod, "We are Legion, a terminal of the Geth. We will integrate into Normandy." Legion said.

The commander nodded and extended her hand for a handshake. Legion did the same but left its hand inches away from hers. As she looked down at the hands she realized the action was an organic trait and it was likely just mimicking her movements in hopes to correlate whatever it was she was trying to do with it.

Grasping its hand she gave it a firm shake, "Nice to meet you Legion and welcome to the team."

"We will await the exchange of data."

"Well I'd like to go tell Miranda I told her so, but I've got work to do." Ty nodded to Shepard, "Have a nice chat and see you later." She nodded back to him in understanding of his need to start working on the IFF. He turned his gaze to their new ally, "Legion I've got two questions for you."

Legion turned its head to face the purple eyed warrior directly, "Ready."

"You called Ka'Reena Creator-Reena. Did you two ever meet?"

"No, but we knew of her. She was…" It paused and the plates around its face moved again. _Maybe it's trying to think of the right word to say._ Finally the plates reset back to their initial position, "An anomaly among other Creators."

Her lover gave a nod of agreement to the synthetics statement. "On that we agree...her dream was of her people living in harmony with the Geth, would the Geth be open to that?"

"We would be open to peace if we believed the Creators were truthful in their wish for it. The only time the Creators have come together on any such proposal was to eliminate the Geth."

Ty let out a sigh and began to rub the back of his neck. "At least the Geth are open for peace, won't do much if the Quarian's keep on their stupid path of war…but it's something. Thank you Legion." He turned around and began walking out of the A.I. Core, "Spirits…the path of peace is possible…now how the hell do I get the Quarian's to believe in it like Ka'Reena did?" He muttered to himself.

The doors shut behind him as he exited leaving Shepard, the solider and Legion alone in the room. With a small backwards nod she dismissed the solider allowing him to leave the post and take a break.

"We…admire his willingness to find that answer." Legion stated.

She stared at the door where Ty had just exited for a moment longer before nodding in agreement, "I hope I can help him find that answer. I don't want the Geth or Quarian's to be wiped out if the Geth want peace." She turned back to face Legion, "Can I ask you some questions about the Geth."

"Specify."

_Time to get some of those questions answered. _


	106. Chapter 105

Chapter 105

Final Preparations

"And…done." Ty said to himself. He straightened from his hunched position and looked down at the Widow in front of him. It wasn't the prettiest piece of work he had done, but it would get the job done. When it came to a gun that was really the most important part, functionality beat out whether or not it was aesthetically pleasing.

Overall the rifle looked the same as it always had other than the newer scope and the single engraving of the word_ Legion_ into its left side. The Geth was definitely an anomaly and it was a bit too early to say they were anything but acquaintances and crewmates.

Still, he was a crewmate and they were going into a suicide mission. He needed an upgrade in firepower and the Widow was that and so much more.

The former mercenary was just finishing up the last of the adjustments he had to make to the thermal clip capacity which was his final addition to the weapon. Instead of being allowed to only fire one round he was able to get the rifle to fire two, although it had taken him about two hours to figure it out.

It wasn't that it was hard to understand how to expand a thermal clips round capacity; in fact there were different technological upgrades to do it with ease.

Ty faced two problems with that though; firstly he didn't have access to the tech that would have cut his two hours of work into two minutes, or five depending on his motivation. He had used similar tech on Jack's Carnifex, Samara's Avenger and Kasumi's Locust but on all three he had access to the right equipment for their weapons.

The Widow was a bit less easy to work on. Its hulking size and lack of everyday people using it made the odds of having the tech needed to upgrade it on hand very unlikely. Black Market sellers and government officials were the only people who'd have a spare handy but the former weren't trustworthy and the latter _really_ didn't like Ty.

Had he really needed one though he'd have contacted Murphy, Aria, or his family to get ahold of one. The problem with that was the purple eyed warrior hadn't really thought he'd find someone who could make use of the Widow on the Normandy after finding it on the Collector Ship.

Having your shoulder dislocated was usually something you didn't try to do in battle. _Not a fun injury to have at all, _Ty thought as he remembered trying to hit his skids on the Collector Ship only to ram shoulder first into the closed door. _Definitely not one of my favorite injuries._

On the other hand he also hadn't thought they'd end up having a non-hostile Geth apart of their team. It was one of those events to come out of his blindside and prove to him just how much crazier the galaxy could get.

Life was just one of those entities, like the Spirits, who found satisfaction in seeing the reactions of others when something crazy happened. Surprises were its game and Ty couldn't help but wonder what the next surprise would be.

Would there be a talking Thresher Maw?

A revived Kakliosaur?

An Elcor that didn't talk in a monotone voice?

A Hanar that cursed and spoke improperly?

The possibilities were endless at this point, yet he was getting a bit off course in his thoughts. Whatever life decided was the next anomaly to happen after friendly Geth was sure to be interesting, but the point – for the time being – was he hadn't expected to have to work on the gun since no one on the Normandy prior to Legion could use it.

Not seeing the sense in buying an upgrade for a weapon no one would use led to Ty's lack of having what he needed to make his job easy. Without the tech he had to resort to other means to get the thermal clip size to allow an extra shot.

This is where he had run into his second problem, how to do it without the gun or the user spontaneously blowing up.

Ensuring that Legion or himself didn't get blown up was important, neither wanted to be rendered non-functional and getting blown up wasn't as fun as it sounded.

His attempts started out with having his fingers nearly burned off and broken at the same time. While better than getting blown up, it still was not anything that needed to happen.

What he did learn was a valuable lesson.

Trying to blunt force a weapon – especially one like the Widow – into doing what he wanted was a very bad idea.

It got better after that leading to getting electrocuted a few times but nothing as serious as when he tried testing Mordin's Tempest. Being electrocuted wasn't his favorite thing in the world but it was a hell of a lot better than nearly having his fingers burned and broken.

After a lot of trial and error – and learning what not to do by getting electrocuted – he had figured out how to do it without the tech. It was safe to use…or at least he was pretty sure it was. He still hadn't given it a good field test but he was fairly certain it would fire two rounds without blowing up.

_Only one way to find out._ He turned the gun on his table to face the spray painted targets and brought his eye near the scope yet far enough away so the recoil of the rifle didn't give him a black eye on top of everything else.

He lined up his shot and was about to press down on the trigger when he stopped. _I should probably get Chakwas ready in case this does actually blow up. It'll increase my probability of survival should the worse happen. _Ty looked up to the ceiling, "Hey EDI, be sure to have Chakwas on standby. I really have no idea how this is going to turn out."

"I will notify Doctor Chakwas at once." The ship A.I. answered immediately. _I probably just increased my chances of survival from fighting a Thresher Maw on foot to fighting an army of Krogan alone._ "If you are worried about the gun malfunctioning and causing you injuries, is it wise to still test it?"

Ty smirked, was it wise? No, not even close. If he was being smart about this he would set it up so he could be at least twenty feet away when it fired. But when had he ever done anything the smart way? "Come on EDI, you know me." He looked back down the scope, "I always do things that aren't wise and could cause me injuries. Won't know what will happen until it does."

"I have calculated the probability of survival of any organic after performing the actions you have, would you like to know the odds?"

"Sure. What did your calculations show you?" The warrior questioned curiously as he lined his shot up with the head of his spray pained Illusive Man crate.

"You are lucky to be alive." EDI deadpanned.

To her statement Ty chuckled. That was without a doubt a fact within a joke and one he knew very well. If it wasn't for his artificial creation and stubborn will to live even when he hadn't wanted to the former mercenary knew he' d have died by now.

"On that we agree."

With his shot lined up, a thermal clip with only two shots in it and his body ready to deal with whatever fate awaited him after firing he finally pressed down on the trigger.

The loud booming crack echoed across the Cargo Bay only to be followed by a string of curses. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Stupid fucking gun!" Ty cursed loudly as he brought his right hand to his face and walked away from the weapon. He noticed a nearby crate and gave it a hard straight kick knocking it over in his pain and frustration.

Much to Ty's surprise the gun did not blow up, in fact the gun was perfectly fine. The problem was how bad the recoil of the gun was without it being bolted down.

Underestimation was a true pain in the ass.

Ty's shoulder was intact, thankfully, but it was his right eye that had taken the real damage. He walked back over to the table and glared at the rifle as if it had intentionally caused him pain instead of his own ignorance being the cause.

Despite the distance he had put between the scope and his eye, the rifle recoiled itself right into it.

"I should fucking throw you out the airlock or put you in the garbage compactor."

This was definitely not his proudest moment.

In an attempt to release his frustration again and divert some of the pain receptors signals to another location so his eye didn't hurt as bad the former mercenary slammed his right fist into his workbench as hard as he could.

Thanks to the cybernetics in his right arm he barely felt the pain, or maybe that was because of the explosion of pain in his eye clouding any miniscule pain. It was hard to say and Ty didn't really care to figure it out right now.

"Fucking stupid." He cursed through grit teeth though he wasn't sure if he was cursing the gun again or himself this time. A migraine was starting to form and his right eyes vision was already blurry with black dots appearing. If they were meant to be stars then he was seeing entire constellations and they weren't very pretty.

"Would you like me to send Doctor Chakwas?" EDI asked.

There was a note of caution in her voice, no doubt caused by his explosion of curses and telling the gun he was going to send it out the airlock or put it into the garbage compactor. "No, I'll go myself after I shoot this stupid fucking gun again. Thanks for the offer though." He told EDI his tone still full of his frustration but clearly only aimed at himself.

Ty appreciated the thought and knew better than to snap at the ship A.I. or anyone else for that matter. Yeah he was in pain but it was his own fault and no one else's. Acting like a prick to anyone else would be ridiculous.

Heading to the doctor would be the wise course of action and one he wasn't going to try to get out of. Still, until he fired the gun again he wouldn't be one hundred percent certain the gun wouldn't malfunction on Legion or himself.

_I already hurt myself, might as well test it again so I can get all the injuries done if another one is coming._

Regardless of his blurry vision or pain there was a job that still needed to be done. On the less noble side of things he wasn't in the right mind to deal with the wisecracks that were coming his way when anyone saw him.

Right now his patience for the gun, his own stupidity and comments about the first two were very low.

Having a giant black and blue circle already starting to form around his eye had a way of taking away all of his patience like finding low life punks hurting innocent bystanders. _Except I don't have anyone to beat the crap out of to vent my frustrations. _

This new experience was something he knew he would never live down if or when word got around about how it happened. Receiving such an injury would fill the cannon of shit giving to full capacity plus having a surplus of ammunition to reload it with.

Especially if Garrus saw it.

Lining up his shot again he prepared to shoot this time keeping his eye even further back from the scope when he fired. Another loud crack echoed in the Cargo Hold and to the purple eyed warrior's great relief it didn't cause any other injuries. Despite all of the setbacks he had succeeded in what he was trying to do.

With his work done that meant he could deliver the gun, get checked on by Chakwas and then get back to work examining the Reaper IFF. The best news about all of this was Legion, Tali and Shepard had just gotten back from going to a Geth Base for something their newest ally needed to do.

Whatever they had done led to the Normandy needing to evacuate the system quite quickly due to an explosion of some kind. It was somewhat disappointing he hadn't gone with the group the one other time they got to destroy something intentionally with a large boom.

Pragia hadn't been full of sunshine, unicorns and rainbows but setting off a nuke at the facility that caused so much pain was therapeutic.

In any event, the time off a mission gave him time to upgrade the firepower of Legion as well as study the IFF prior to the departure of the team. With the team back he could deliver the gun to its new owner and get back to work with the Quarian engineer.

The IFF was one of the most complex things he had ever laid eyes on from a technological stand point. There were bits that were similar to the IFFs used by the rest of the galaxy to traverse the Relays which made some sense since the Relays were Reaper built.

Where it got complicated was when he got into the part he was certain had to do with the Omega 4. It was like trying to read a dead language or trying to map nearby galaxies with an old telescope.

The Reapers were vastly superior to them in technology; this IFF was further proof to the statement. When it came to how far they were in figuring it out, they had found the Sol System and the rest of the galaxy was still unmarked.

Ty wasn't giving up on it though, once he was done delivering the gun and getting the swelling starting to form around his eye dealt with it would be back to the drawing board, so to speak.

Until he and the others could say the tech was safe he wouldn't stop staring at the data compiled. There was just something…off about it. Maybe it was because it was an unfamiliar technology or because he was suspicious of the IFF sending off a signal to the Collectors as they came through the Relay so they could blast them…but the former mercenary wasn't sure about integrating it just yet.

After folding up the rifle he hefted it up and headed towards the elevator. The trip up was at the usual pace allowing him to continue gathering his thoughts. It was a distraction from the never ending throbbing pain coming from his eye.

Another bonus to Tali being back was she could continue examining the data they had with him. In pure technological expertise Tali outranked him every day of the week. Add in EDI's help and their bases were pretty much covered for the research they were doing.

It was really all thanks to EDI and Tali they had gotten as far as they had. Through their expertise and theories Ty was able to grasp at the threads of the problem they were dealing with and actually be of some use.

What spurred the man to want to ensure the Reaper IFF was safe – aside from self-preservation and the preservation of the crew – was because once it was integrated they could finally kill the Collectors.

This was literally their last preparation needed to finally take the fight to the repurposed Prothean's. All of their hard work had been leading them to the moment that was closing in on them like an asteroid aimed at a planet.

They needed to finish them off for the safety of the galaxy and to strike another blow to the Reapers plans. Prior to getting the IFF the mission had seemed too far into the future to really matter. They had other problems to deal with and though the Collectors were always in their mind, they hadn't been this close.

Now though, now it was as if they could reach out and touch the Collectors. To lose the chance that was given to them after all of the hard work they put it because of a reckless gung-ho decision to finish the fight was not something he was going to do.

For all his quoting from his own book of idiotic ideas, this was one of the times he would not actually bring the book out. Too many lives were at stake here from the lives of the crew to the lives of the colonies the Collectors were harvesting and beyond.

Granted Ty knew himself better now than he ever did. At the end of the day he was not a smart move guy; his eye was clear evidence of that. He performed so many dumb moves over the years that he could literally write a book of idiotic ideas and it would at least be between three hundred and seven hundred pages long.

Still, when it was something serious involving the amount of lives this did and the personal loss failing would cause him he brought out his better ideas book. Doing so hadn't always worked over the years, yet he held hope by being smart about the Reaper IFF it would prevent any kind of failure like the ones he had gone through from happening.

The elevator doors opened breaking him from his thoughts which also had the side effect of bringing his attention back to his pain. _Fuck me man, _he exited the elevator and brought his free hand to his right eye, _of all the stupid things I've done recently, this one rates highest on the ridiculous scale. I mean getting hit by a table thrown by a Yahg is understandable now that I've seen one, but having a scope recoil into my eye?_

_I fucking use a sniper rifle every time I go into a fight for Spirits sake! Even before I became good at using one I __**never**__ gave myself a black eye by having my eye to close to the scope. _He dropped his hand and took note of Shepard, Garrus and Samara sitting at the Mess Hall table.

Shepard had her back to him but Garrus and Samara both nodded in his direction so the former mercenary nodded back. _For once my hood is getting some good use, _he thought, _never thought it'd be good for hiding an embarrassing injury though. _

"Giving our new Geth friend a high-powered rifle?" Garrus chuckled, "I don't know if I feel extremely comfortable with the idea of having _that_ rifle watching my back. Let me guess, you made it more powerful too."

"No, the damn thing is fine how it is." The Turian nodded understandingly although he didn't realize Ty's calling it a _damn thing_ was due to his injury. "But I did give it an extra round to fire before loading in a new thermal clip."

"You know…that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Doubting me already Garrus?" Shepard asked mocking a hurt tone.

"Not you, just the man giving such a nice piece of hardware to a synthetic."

Ty came to a stop before the doors to the med-bay as a smirk began to form on his lips. "Wait a minute. Are you jealous I'm not giving you this gun, Garrus?" The weapon he had customized for the Turian definitely packed a meaner punch than his original Mantis and the Viper he had used after they saved him, but in no ways did it match a Widow.

Ty's own Viper was the closet in matching the firepower but that was just through overcharging his round, and even then he was only able to do that once. Was Garrus a bit jealous at him giving such a strong rifle to their newest crewmate?

"Jealous?" The Turian let out a chuckle as if the idea was completely ludicrous, "Oh no. I'd still out shoot both you and the synthetic without that gun." He really knew how to make a simple statement into a challenge, "I just don't want the last thing I hear be the sound of a Widow firing two rounds."

"Yep. You're totally jealous." The purple eyed warrior stated.

"Jealous of a human who can't go out without getting hurt and a synthetic infiltrator who got knocked out by a couple husks? Not really."

Ty resisted the urge to bring his hand up to his eye; _apparently I don't even have to go out to get injured. At this rate I'll need a padded room just to keep myself safe from injury. _

Lacking the desire to live in a padded room for the rest of his life telling stories about his failures and crying himself into insanity left him on the Normandy dealing with the too cool for school attitude of one Garrus Vakarian. It was time to get victory back into his grasps for this banter battle, "Okay Mister I got blown up by a gunship because I don't know how to duck."

"I am curious as to which one of them that title belongs to." Samara directed her statement to Shepard.

The N7 chuckled and shook her head, "Took the words right out of my mouth Samara." Okay so maybe that wasn't his best comeback as it pretty much included him in it as well thanks to his _brilliant_ idea to shoot a missile aimed right at him.

For now Ty was going to blame the headache coming on and the continued throbbing in his face for his lackluster retort. "At least half my face isn't covered in bandages." He tried again.

"It's too bad, if half your face was covered in bandages you'd be a bit easier to look at." Garrus retorted. That was a bit of a low blow and had Ty off his footing. The damn Turian had taken his next statement away from him and now he was quickly losing this battle.

"Yeah well…the difference between us is that at the end of the day people will always know which side of my face got scarred. On you we're going to have trouble figuring out which side of your face actually took the brunt of the explosion once the bandages are gone."

Was it the greatest comeback?

No, not really.

It was mediocre at best and one humans usually slung at Turian's anyways whether or not they actually took a missile to the face. _Spirits know Darian and I have called each other ugly a thousand different ways by now._

Garrus shook his head with the equivalent of a smirk forming on his face, "Is that the best you got today? Come on! I heard that one before Omega."

"Yeah, yeah. I've got a bad headache so cut me some slack. Besides if you've heard that before Omega that just means you're uglier than I am. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a weapon to deliver." Ty excused himself. _My comebacks are just going to get worse at this point, best I retreat and accept defeat now so I can win the war later. That and I really want this throbbing in my face to stop._

The truth was the pain was spreading from his eye to the entirety of his head. He needed to deliver this gun and let Chakwas work her magic as she scolded him for not taking enough precautions. He'd listen to the scolding so long as she was able to do something about the pain in his head; even it meant he'd end up feeling really fuzzy and loopy.

While this was nowhere near the worse physical pain he had ever felt, it was still painful. Having a headache and an eye that was too swelled up to see out of would also impede on his studying of the IFF.

That was something he couldn't allow.

Swallowing up what was left of his pride he entered the med-bay. Doctor Chakwas was sitting at her desk with a tube of medi-gel nearby. "Hey Doc. Sorry to ruin the record, but I really didn't think the gun would recoil so far."

Chakwas turned in her chair to face him as he walked in. "EDI updated me on your situation. I do expect you to sit still for longer than a minute once you are done speaking with Legion."

He gave a nod and continued his walk. "You'll find there will be no complaints from me this time around Karin." Ty stopped and turned to face her pulling his hood down to reveal the newly earned black and blue swelled up eye of his, "This is not a fashion statement I plan on parading around long."

The doctor choked down a laugh, it was probably well deserved. _Knowing my luck I look like I was a practice punching bag for a Krogan boxer who is on an undefeated streak of one hit knock outs and pummeled to unconsciousness opponents._ "My dear, how do you end up doing these things to yourself?" Karin questioned.

It was a good question, Ty didn't have an answer to it but it was a good question. The former mercenary pulled up his hood to hide his eye once more, "I ask myself the same thing when stuff like this happens, and I still haven't found an answer."

Spirits knew he didn't particularly enjoy finding different ways to hurt himself. Sure he used to throw himself into battle with reckless abandon for his own life, but that was a different time and different mindset.

In the present day getting hurt was not something he liked. It didn't make him feel alive and he didn't want his life to end, all it did was hurt like hell and make him curse himself for getting into the situations that caused it as well as cursing the fact he had pain receptors in the first place.

Well, he didn't actually want them gone. It was something that made him feel more human now that he knew he was an artificial creation and it ensured he didn't stick his hand in a fire thinking it didn't hurt.

_Judging on my experiment with Miller by forcing his hand into that fire for an extended period of time I'm really happy I can understand pain. Sticking my hand into fire and just leaving it there without the ability to feel pain as my skin is charred would be bad._

Ty opened the A.I. core door and entered the room. As his eyes, or really eye at this point, found Legion he also found Tali standing next to him with her pistol pointed at the Geth. Legion wasn't doing anything except standing there although that did not entirely mean he was doing nothing.

Geth bodies were just terminals for the programs, and Legion was an accumulation of over a thousand programs who could hack into anything.

_Why do I always end up walking into situations like this? _Ty stopped walking and looked between the two; _at least neither have biotic's…although she does have a pistol and a combat drone that can zap me…probably best I don't do what I did last time with Miranda and Jack._

"I know I have no idea what's going on here, but let's put the gun down." He said seriously. Whatever happened had escalated fast and the gun was enough for Ty to guess at the possibilities of what was going on. A threat to the Flotilla was up at the top of his list for why Tali would be pointing a gun at the Geth. "The last thing we need is a dead crew member when we are so close to taking the fight to the Collectors."

"This is about the safety of the Flotilla Ty. I'm not putting my gun down." Tali argued.

_Well…great. Maybe if I click my heels three times and chant Shepard's name she'll appear._ This wasn't his crew, it was hers and that meant she'd have to fix this problem if it didn't escalate any further. Ty was Tali's friend and he was hoping to get to know Legion better, but when it came to the safety of the Fleet and a Geth that friendship wouldn't help.

Especially with his earlier support of bringing Legion on board and activating him.

His ideals of peace between Geth and Quarian's were not shared completely by Tali, which put them at odds in this situation. Any attempt to bring peace here would become an accusation of taking Legions side when he wasn't taking any side except the side of a peaceful resolution.

She'd forget that he loved her like a sister and though she was unaware of it he had made a promise to Ka'Reena to watch after her no matter what. His wish for peace was just as much of a wish to fulfill his fallen lover's dream of peace to protect Terea'Reena as it was to protect Tali.

In this situation though Tali wasn't thinking of all those things, she was in tunnel vision state just as Ty had been against Jacob and in many other circumstances.

But what was he going to do here?

He had no authority in the situation, he had just happened to walk in on the two dealing with their problem at gun point.

_EDI, Joker, you two better be getting Shepard's attention right about now._ "You know what; I have a huge headache, a swollen eye and broken pride on top of both of those right now. You could say my mood has fallen particularly low in recent minutes."

Tali turned her head to stare at him and her body language was enough to tell him she was glaring a hole through him. "So how about we all take a breath, lower the gun, stop hacking into other peoples things and solve this like adults."

"Geth do not need oxygen and we have no hostility towards Creator-Zorah." Legion stated.

"I know Geth don't nee-" Ty let out a sigh and shook his head. He really wasn't in the mood to explain that the meaning was for all parties to calm down only to be told something about how Geth don't experience emotions like organics or some other kind of statement like the previous one.

The sound of the doors whishing open was a sound to be savored; it was the sound of the savior of the galaxy making her entrance to save him from having to solve this argument. "Shepard. I'm glad you're here." Tali greeted the commander her pistol still pointed at the chest of their resident flashlight head.

Ty turned his head and nodded in thanks to the sapphire eyed woman for arriving and made note to thank EDI or Joker for sending help. _No heel clicks needed this time around, but I won't rule it out if something like this ever happens again._

Shepard had a hard look in her eyes. It was as if those sapphire gems had turned into hardened diamonds that could shoot laser beams. Clearly finding two of her crew in the middle of a standoff for a third time was not something she was pleased about.

She also seemed to have seen an event of this kind happening between these two as she didn't seem to be surprised in the slightest. When one took into account what race they were and the history between their two races it wasn't hard to figure the eventuality of hostility between them.

"I caught Legion trying to scan my omni-tool. It was trying to send data about the Flotilla back to the Geth."

"Creators performed weapon tests and were discussing plans to attack us. We believed it necessary to warn our people." Legion stated.

In all honesty the former mercenary could see how both sides of this argument were validated. On Tali's side she was trying to protect her home and people from a Geth seeking information on them. If they foolishly did go to war it would end in the massacre of all Quarian's because the Geth knew they were coming.

Ty didn't believe in the war, but he didn't want the Quarian race to be extinguished.

On Legion's side of the argument he was seeking the safety of his people because the Quarian's were performing weapon tests on deactivated Geth. Add in the talk of war and wish to preserve their future and Ty could understand why he hacked Tali's omni-tool.

The Geth had no desire to be rendered non-functional by their creators; they seemed to want to live in peace.

"We already made the Geth stronger by rewriting the ones that worshipped the Reapers." That was definitely news to the purple eyed warrior. _They…rewrote the Geth who worshipped the Reapers? Does that mean all Geth are no longer hostile towards organics like Legion?_

He was going to have to ask Shepard about it later. Right now wasn't the time to start asking questions irrelevant to the situation at hand. "I won't let Legion endanger the Fleet by giving them more information."

Legion still hadn't moved despite having a gun aimed at him. Had he been an organic Ty would have wondered how he could act so calm. Most people flinched at the sight of a gun aimed right at them. _Although the Normandy is filled with trained killers so I guess Legion fits the bill for our crazy train._

"Creator-Tali'Zorah acts out of loyalty to her people. She was willing to be exiled to protect them. We must also protect our people from the Creator threat." The synthetic spoke.

"Nothing like being the monkey in the middle." Ty muttered quietly. Shepard had been thrust into this situation three times and each time it put her in a position where it was either take one of their sides or find some way to appease both parties.

The purple eyed warrior wasn't proud to be one of the people who put the commander in such a position. To have her be stuck in the situation where she had to either force Jacob to move, force the former mercenary to stand down or end it the way she had – which was pretty iffy of succeeding…there had been better ways to go about stopping Jacob and he had chosen a bad one.

Again he had acted and then thought about what he was doing long after it was too late to step back. Yes the situation had been important to him; the safety of his family was something akin to the safety of the Flotilla for Tali or the safety of the Geth for Legion.

That's why he understood both points being made here, yet he also knew had Tali informed Shepard of the situation first things wouldn't have escalated as far as this was just as he could have. There wouldn't have been need of putting Shepard in the position of either taking a side or finding some way to solve this without taking a side.

_But is there any way she can? _Ty wondered, _with me and Jacob she had EDI who had evidence to prove to Jacob he was being played. I don't know how she solved the deal between Miranda and Jack but this isn't some petty argument over who is right and wrong. This is about the safety of the Flotilla and the Geth._

Tali looked over the Shepard in indignation, "You can't let this happen, Shepard. I trusted you, and I worked with a Geth on the team, but this is too much!"

Ty didn't have anything he could say or do at this point. What could he say anyways? He couldn't tell Tali to stand down, he didn't have the authority and he had been in her shoes against Jacob. That alone meant she'd easily toss it back in his face that he hadn't stood down when his family's safety was at risk.

_And she's just protecting her family just as I was. _Ty looked between the two, _it's what Legion is doing too though I doubt he'd use the word family. They aren't so different; they're both trying to do what is best for their people. _

So what was Shepard going to do?

The commander's eyes locked onto Tali, "Tali, your father was running brutal experiments." _Is she taking Legions side?_ If she was Ty was going to be utterly shell-shocked by the decision and probably a bit pissed.

He was starting to like Legion, but Tali saw Shepard and him as family. At the end of the day that made Tali more important to him than the Geth.

_But Shepard has never been one for abandoning friends or a person she cares about…so what is she doing here?_ Her stared hardened to a point, "If the subjects had been human, I'd damn well be telling the Alliance about it."

"I know. But if the Geth find out…"

"They'd attack." Shepard finished for her. Her voice remained to the point but her irritation was becoming evident, "Which would cause a war that would leave the Geth and the Quarian's vulnerable when the Reapers show up." She turned her eyes to Legion, "Is that what you want, Legion?"

_…Oh wow…damn. Nice work Shepard. _She had easily showed them the error of their actions and what they would cause their people if they continued on the path they were. _Wish I would have thought of that. Probably just the headache making it hard to think…or just easier to blame the headache for not thinking about what the actions could cause._

_ You're a peacemaker Shepard; the galaxy needs more people like you._

"We believed it was necessary to relay the information."

Shepard shook her head, "Sooner or later you're both going to have to stop fighting this war, or we'll all end up paying for it."

She had a point. With the Reapers right around the corner any petty arguments and problems between races was going to cost them their lives. They needed to unify together, even if it was just for the war against the Reapers. After that they could go back to hating each other or trying to work towards peace.

Legion turned his head back to face Tali, "To facilitate unit cohesion, we will not transmit the data regarding Creator plans."

Tali lowered her pistol and sighed in relief, "Thank you Legion. I…understand your intention." She sounded reluctant to say the words but she did seem honest. "What if I gave you some non-classified data to send?"

"We would be grateful." The Geth gave a small nod.

The master engineer opened her omni-tool and began transferring data over to the Geth. In the corner of his sole eye that could see clearly he could see a smile form on Shepard's face at seeing the problem resolved in such a manor.

_You probably just caused the first Geth-Quarian cooperation in centuries Shepard, be proud of that. It's just another step towards peace. _True peace between the Geth and Quarian's was still far away as this was just a minor step between two crewmates, but it was a step nonetheless.

Even the smallest of steps were important when trying to reach a goal. They all added to the grand total of steps taken towards whatever you were trying to reach and eventually those baby steps would become larger.

So long as you didn't stop taking steps in the direction you were trying reach that is.

"Well, at least I didn't get tossed by biotic's this time." Ty mused.

"I can always give you a small push if it will make you feel better." Shepard smirked at him.

The former mercenary shook his head; more injuries were not part of his agenda today. "I'm fine. My face has taken enough abuse for the rest of my body today."

Shepard gave him a quizzical stare to his statement, _looks like my hood really does hide my eye well._ "Your face? What happened to your…"

Ty pulled his hood back to reveal his swollen right eye which in turn made his lovers eyes bulge in shock. Her words died out as she just stared at him in utter astonishment. "That bad huh?" He smirked through the pain.

She brought her hand to his face resting it on his cheek right below the swelling, "How do you always end up injuring yourself?"

With a smirk he pulled his hood back up, again it was a good question and one he still didn't have an answer too. "Doc asked me the same question."

Shepard lowered her hand and shook her head at him, "How did it happen?" Now there was a question he wasn't keen on answering honestly. Granted he'd probably laugh about this in the future, but right now it was a bit of a raw wound on his pride.

"Ask me again later when I don't have a swelled eye and a massive headache." She raised her eyebrow in confusion to his deflecting of the question. In response he shrugged, "Let's just say it was pretty ridiculous."

"Did Grunt punch you in the face?"

Ty let out a chuckle as he started to make his way towards Legion, "I'd take Grunt punching me in the face over what really happened. Hell that'd actually be enjoyable."

_And would be a good story to tell._

Tali closed down her omni-tool and looked over to the approaching man. "Why am I not surprised you would find enjoyment in getting punched by a Krogan?" She asked.

"Because you know I've been in head-butting contests with them on two separate occasions plus you know I plan to do another after this is all over."

"I was going to say it's because you lost a few brain cells in those contests, but that works too." The Quarian teased. He rolled his eyes with a smirk, "Are you going back down to engineering after your done here?"

"Yeah. I'll see you down there. Hopefully we can figure the IFF out." She nodded in agreement and dismissed herself from the room. Turning his attention to the Geth staring right back at him he decided it was time to finish the business he had come here to do in the first place. "Hey Legion, I got you a gift."

"We do not desire material wants as organics do."

"Yeah, well I think you'll desire this." He hefted the rifle up and offered it to the Geth. "Figured I'd give you a better rifle and since you're the only one capable of wielding the Widow without getting your shoulder dislocated every time it fires it seemed best suited for you."

Legion took the offered weapon from his hand and unfolded it. He checked the sight on it and examined the thermal clip capacity along with the name carved into it.

The way he was able to move it around as if it didn't actually weigh that much made Ty a bit jealous. While the purple eyed warrior loved his rifle, the Widow truly was one powerful piece of weaponry he wished he could wield without issues.

Unfortunately the weight and possibility of dislocation weren't anywhere close to his preference of light carry weight with a power packed punch.

"The M-98 Widow anti-material rifle: effective against shields, armor and biotic barriers. Weight: thirty-nine kilograms. Thermal clip capacity increased to fire two rounds. Scope is adjustable. Name of platform carved into rifle." The synthetic stared at the rifle a little longer as his face plates moved a little. After a few more moments of silence his flashlight eye met Ty's purple ones, "We deem this gift appropriate and effective." The synthetic nodded to him.

"Glad you like it." Ty smiled, "I'd love to stay and chat but I've got to go get my eye taken care of. Later Legion."

"We will remain here."

With his business concluded it was time to get fixed up and then get back to work on the IFF.

Soon they'd be ready to go through the Omega 4.

Soon they'd be able to finish this.

Hours Later

Shepard laid herself down onto her bed with an audible sigh of relaxation. The night cycle of the Normandy had been active for a little while now and it was finally time for her to call it a night. Today hadn't been incredibly physically tiring even including the mission and argument between Legion and Tali.

It was just nice to relax for a moment and let the mental stresses leave her, even if it ended up being just a moment.

There was a lot going on through her mind from her talk with Legion prior to going to the Geth Base all the way to the Geth Base mission itself. First and foremost she had had a lot of her questions answered by Legion and while they were answered with finality, they still were on her mind.

He was a specially constructed Geth created to operate outside the Perseus Veil and when he did come into contact with organics his special construct was to allow him to interact with them.

In her eyes it didn't seem like he was going to see any other interaction other than gunfire, but she now understood the purpose of his one thousand one hundred and eighty-three Geth programs granting him the ability to speak and operate alone.

The Geth sought to understand organics although that was not something most organics shared for the Geth. Even before the Heretics, Saren and Sovereign the galaxy hadn't exactly been tolerant of synthetics or A.I. The Quarian's exile had become a cautionary tale and was only followed by Heretical Geth attacking organics.

All of this led to a distinct lack of a mutual wish of understanding and cooperation between the two. Only the Geth wished to understand organics while most organics had no desire to understand the Geth or wish to see them as more than slave labor.

She hoped to try to bridge the gap although the N7 was very aware it was going to take more than herself, Ty, Legion and EDI to really move past everything. _One step at a time as they say, _Shepard thought as she brought her arm over her eyes.

When it came to the N7 armor strapped to his chest things got a bit more…awkward. While the commander was right in her assumption that he had gotten it off a dead N7, what made it weird was she happened to be the dead N7 Legion got it from.

He had followed her path across the galaxy after the destruction of Sovereign going to Eden Prime, Feros, Noveria, Virmire, Ilos and apparently dozens of the uncharted worlds she had gone to. _I…kind of feel bad about that last part. I went to a lot of places that weren't exactly friendly._

Hopefully he hadn't run into any Thresher Maws.

On Eden Prime though he had been shot by Alliance soldiers, for obvious reasons, giving him the giant hole through his body. Upon finding the Normandy wreck on Alchera he salvaged what was left of her armor to fix the hole in his chest.

It was strange because he could have salvaged any other kind of armor in his search across the galaxy, yet he chose her armor specifically. She tried to press him for answers on why he picked her armor instead of something else but all she got out of him was "no data available."

Did that mean there wasn't really a "rational" reason for picking her armor? Did it feel some sort of connection to her like wishing to follow her footsteps? The N7 wasn't sure but she wasn't going to rule out Legion picking the armor off an emotional decision.

Synthetics weren't emotionless even if they didn't see their actions as fueled by emotions. For instance his wish to protect his people from a Quarian threat was certainly done as a preemptive attempt at wishing not to be rendered non-functional, but it also showed to her that he cared about their lives.

Granted her thoughts were based on what was an organic perception and she had no way of truly knowing the mind of a synthetic not being one herself. Everything was not black and white in the galaxy, yet the N7 still saw Legion and EDI as more than emotionless constructs.

Her belief on that was tested during the mission to the Geth Base. It had initially been a trip to destroy the base and a virus of some kind that would infect Legion's Geth so they would believe what the Heretics did.

If it had stayed that way the mission wouldn't have been all that bad. Unfortunately though nothing she did was ever as simple as it sounded. Once they were in the base Legion found out the virus was finished _and_ it could be turned against the Heretics to make them think as his Geth did.

In a sense she was either brainwashing a large group of people to believe what Legion's Geth did or she was going to destroy the virus and wipe out the Heretics completely.

Genocide or brainwashing the masses.

Shepard never would agree with what Mordin did in altering the Genophage or what the original Salarian's did with the Genophage, but damn did she understand what it was like to have two unethical choices in the palm of her hands.

_"Genophage or Genocide? Save the Krogan from galaxy or save the galaxy from Krogan."_ His words rang in her mind. She was happy he had saved Maelon's data and was hoping to use the research to eventually cure the Genophage, if it was possible. He felt regret over the Genophage modification now, she just hoped she wouldn't come to regret her decision as he did.

Legion and his Geth had come to an inconclusive consensus leaving the decision in her hands and one she had to make on the spot so the Heretics didn't use the virus to brainwash his people.

Did she wipe out all the Heretics and take a sort of revenge on them for everything they had done with Saren and Sovereign? Was she really willing to play executioner of another large group of people and call it a necessary sacrifice to stop the Reapers?

Or did she brainwash an entire people to think in a way they chose to move away from? They had chosen to leave the Geth and the Geth had let them, yes their path led them down a dark road, but it had been their choice.

Who was she to force a group of people to believe something they didn't actually believe in?

Perhaps if she were cold hearted and did not see the Geth, even the Heretics, as people she wouldn't have had such a crisis of decision making. The problem was she wasn't like that. When that decision was in her hands she couldn't help but see the Heretics as people.

It was like having another system of Batarian's in the palm of her hands, except this time she actually had two choices and neither were ethical in her eyes. Rewrite or destroy, force the Heretics to reform without them realizing they're going against what they actually believed or wipe them off the face of the galaxy?

In the end she chose to rewrite them. Was it the right choice? Was there even a right choice on the matter? Shepard couldn't claim to know the answer to either question and there was little she could do about that now. The Heretics were rewritten and they would rejoin Legions Geth.

All she could do now was hope the decision didn't bite her in the ass.

_It almost did already, _Shepard thought, _with Tali holding Legion at gun point I thought the consequences of choosing to rewrite the Geth were about to make themselves known. _She was lucky to have been able to talk them both down though and get a little cooperation between them out of it.

Seeing them actually cooperate gave her hope that one day it would be more than just Tali and Legion working together. She hadn't had the best relationship with Geth thus far in her life, but Legion and his Geth were different.

They weren't seeking the death of all organics or worshipping the Reapers as gods. They were trying to build their future, granted she didn't know what their future entailed but it didn't seem like one of anarchy and death.

If it had they would have left their system beyond the Veil and started attacking organics like the Heretics did.

Shepard released a deep breath and with it she let all of those thoughts go. She had meant to lie down and relax not think herself in circles regarding the choice she made along with the possibilities of Legion's Geth wanting peace or something else entirely.

Only time would answer those questions and if they survived the Reapers she'd like to see where it all led.

The N7 removed the arm over her eyes and turned her head to the side to see Ty sitting next to her holding a data-pad in one hand as he ran his other through his hair. The man had his hood down and there was still a bit of a black and blue circle around his eye but the swelling had gone down significantly.

He was still going over the data on the Reaper IFF and looked thoroughly engrossed in it. So far they hadn't found anything suspicious, only finding nothing was suspicious in and of itself. The tech was of Reaper origin.

There were definitive differences according to the engineers between a regular IFF and the Reaper version, they just couldn't understand most of it due to how advanced it was. Without being able to fully understand it they weren't sure if what they were looking at was suspicious or if it was just part of the IFF.

Ty hadn't given up yet though; he was determined to figure out what they were dealing with. _He's been working on this for hours though with no sign of stopping anytime soon. _

Despite what he'd say, and boy would he say it, he needed rest just like everyone else. Sitting up Shepard scooted closer to the man, "You keep staring at that stuff and the words are going to start talking to you."

The purple eyed man chuckled at her and shook his head, "More like I'll just get a larger headache."

She frowned, _so he still has a headache. _With his system Chakwas would have only given him a small dose of painkillers so he didn't have a worse reaction. _That's if he even took any in the first place. _The man she loved was stubborn to a fault sometimes and she wouldn't put it past him to not take anything for the migraine he had.

Shepard reached towards the data-pad to take it from him only for the man to move it farther away without breaking eye contact with the words. "_Ty."_ She scolded.

"Yes, _Commander?_" He retorted his voice holding a teasing tone.

"I'm asking you nicely to hand over the data-pad and rest for the night. Don't make me take it from you."

He smirked a playful smirk and turned his head until their eyes met, "Are you trying to proposition me."

No, she really wasn't. She had meant it in a way that she was going to use her biotic's to take it from him. Yet this was an opening to get close enough to it to take it away, or just kiss him until he let go of the object.

Either way would work for her although the latter of the two would be so much more pleasurable. The N7 smirked and leaned in close to him so their lips were almost touching, "Would it really be all that unwanted if I was?"

She brought her hand to his face cupping his cheek gently to not agitate the bruise. It was still unknown to her how he received the injury, but for now she wouldn't ask. Staring into his purple eyes she felt herself getting a little bit lost as the desire to capture those lips among other desires became overwhelming.

"No, but staring at me like you want to pin me down to the bed and have your way with me is cheating."

Shepard smiled sheepishly at his words and forced her blush down. She hadn't meant for him to see that in her eyes but it was hard to hide those feelings from a man who stared into her soul every time they locked eyes.

Gently she nudged his nose with her own, "Depends on your perspective. As fun as that would be, that's not my intention right now." Slowly and tenderly she pressed her lips against his savoring the contact for the short time she kept them there. The N7 backed off not long after giving him the small peck, "Rest for the night. Your headache will be gone in the morning." She said quietly.

Reluctantly Ty nodded and tossed the data-pad onto the nearby nightstand. He knew it was best to have a clear head as he studied the IFF; he was just too stubborn to stop working. With the data-pad discarded and the pair still in close proximity of one another there was only one thing left to do.

The duo met one another's lips in kiss although this one was more than just a simple peck. It was not fast paced or filled with a desire blinding need to do anything other than enjoy the action they were engaging in.

For a while the two remained tangled up in a kiss only shifting their bodies here and there for more comfort or to get closer to one another. When they finally did stop Shepard found herself fully satisfied and more relaxed than she had been before the kiss. By the look on Ty's face he was in the same boat as he rubbed his hand up her side and remained with his eyes closed and forehead rested against her own.

Shepard leaned back and placed a kiss on his forehead then resumed her previous position, "Sleep." She whispered tenderly.

"Only if you do the same."

She gave him another kiss on the lips before readjusting to lie down with him. Shepard nuzzled into his chest and shut her eyes ready to fall into a peaceful slumber. Before it could claim her though a question she needed answered came to mind, "Ty, you never said what happened to your eye."

Her lover let out a sigh, "You know the Widow I gave to Legion."

She looked up at him finding his eyes closed, "Yes." She answered hoping for elaboration.

What did Legion's new rifle have to do with this? Did he add in a mechanism that ended up backfiring on him like Mordin's Tempest zapping him?

"Well…when I went to test it to make sure it didn't blow up after expanding the thermal clip capacity without the proper equipment…" He let out another sigh. Shepard had a feeling she knew where this was going and it filled her with amusement. "The scope of the rifle recoiled into my eye."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She tried to hide her amusement but it had made it into her voice. It wasn't her fault, how often did a trained killer keep their eye to close to a scope to receive such an injury? The answer was originally probably none, but now there was one.

Ty opened his left eye to stare at her, "No." He answered before shutting his eye again. Shepard couldn't contain it any longer as she fell into a mixture of muffled and non-muffled laughs. She did care about his well-being and wouldn't have laughed had she not known he was okay now, but this was just too funny.

Out of all the injuries Ty had ever received this one was something she had never expected to see. After all the things he pulled she was starting to get used to his crazy stunts, but this? The memory of how badly his eye had been swelled up and bruised back in the A.I. Core flashed through her mind only served to fuel her laughter. "I thought we were trying to get to sleep." The man scolded tiredly.

His comment did little to ease her laughter. She wasn't laughing at him, she was just laughing at the circumstance of the injury he received.

Okay, maybe she was laughing at him a little.

At the sound of her laughter he let out a sigh of defeat and waited for her to gain control of it. Gaining control over herself didn't take all that long but when she was finally able to form words there were still laughs bubbling out of her. "Have you ever considered taking more precautions when testing weapons?"

"I had a precaution. I asked EDI to keep Chakwas on standby in case it blew up, I didn't expect the damn thing to hit me in the eye."

Shepard gave him a kiss on the lips then laid her head back down on his chest, "You're still handsome, don't worry."

"I was more worried about losing my vision, but glad to know I still look good." He wisecracked. The N7 chuckled into his chest, "Sleep well Shepard."

"You too, Ty." She smiled into his chest, "Avoid scopes at any cost in your dreams."

"Ha-ha." He drawled.

His statement made the commander grin before she finally allowed sleep to take her. It was a good thing too, with all the pieces falling into place it was likely tomorrow would be the end of their preparations and the beginning of the end for the Collectors.

An end she was looking forward to providing.


	107. Chapter 106

Chapter 106

All Aboard the Omega 4

Ty let out a sigh as he lounged across his space bike staring up at the ceiling of the Cargo Hold. There was nothing fantastic to look at up there, no glass window to stare up at the stars or projection of anything to spark interest. Needless to say he was quite bored and was wishing he hadn't arrived as early as he had.

Getting fully armed and ready to go on the mission he, Shepard and the rest of the ground squad were going on hadn't take long though. Then again getting ready had never taken him long. Living on Omega where the mercenaries who wanted him dead made their home as well meant he needed to be able to be able to get ready to leave on a moment's notice in case of an attack.

_Old habits die hard, _Ty mused.

Despite the numbers they were throwing at this mission it was nothing that really needed it, or at least not by their estimation of a force they were facing. A three man squad lead by Shepard could take down practically any amount of numbers with relative ease.

Their mission was taking them to an Eclipse base. They were going to go down and shut down their operation while the IFF was getting installed since the ground squad had nothing to do at the moment.

With the ship going to have all systems practically shut off Shepard had decided it was best they all get out of the way, stretch their legs and take down a group of mercs who were involved with supplying red sand to dealers across the galaxy.

_A scummy group of Eclipse mercs, possibly as scummy as the Eclipse Sisters back on Illium._

Normally Ty would have been ecstatic to go and kill a bunch of mercenaries supplying a terrible drug to dealers thus helping the poison to reach others…but he wasn't. The whole IFF situation had him twitchy. It was why he was getting a bit impatient at his own early arrival.

He, Tali and EDI had examined the technology thoroughly and yet they found nothing. He was extremely suspicious of that and he wanted to test it more, wanted to ensure they weren't about to screw themselves over.

Unfortunately it wasn't in his hands anymore. They needed to get going and destroy the Collectors to be done with them once and for all. His own paranoia did not mean the IFF was going to bite them in the ass, it was just paranoia. Or at least that's what Miranda and Shepard had tried to convince him of after the long trials of finding nothing wrong.

To say they had convinced him of it completely was like saying the Krogan never rebelled.

He couldn't shake the feeling they were missing something. It was Reaper tech, it should have been setting off radioactive alarms or something ridiculous like that…yet it wasn't.

Why?

Even after the two women had got him to stop working on the IFF he found himself going through his memories of the research done trying to find what he was missing. There had to be something, some kind of jack in the box holding an explosive or an indoctrination device or something else entirely waiting for them in it.

Nothing the Normandy team did was ever this easy. So why the hell wasn't the damn thing blowing up in their faces? Why was there nothing wrong in it that he could find? Why was he the only one who still thought the lack of finding anything was inherently suspicious?

Most of his life he was the one going in headfirst guns blazing, sometimes literally but mostly figuratively speaking. Yet here he was being cautious and everyone else was ready to go into a fight…wasn't that something that should be sending off warning bells to everyone?

There was also another question bumping through his mind due to the previous question.

_Am I just scared? Scared that once the IFF is in that we'll be heading into a suicide mission?_

Ty couldn't deny that deep down there was a part of him that was afraid. Any sane person would be in the face of the reality ahead of them.

They were going through a Relay no one survived before, into the Galactic Core where no one should ever try to get to unless they wanted to die. Not only were they doing that but they were doing it so could fight beings that were paralyzing and kidnapping humans by the colony who happened to also be puppets of the people who had ended several civilizations before them.

At the end of the day they were just a footnote of tiny dust in the vast history of the galaxy.

Fear wasn't so surprising when one looked at it in such a way. So was it fear driving him to stop them from installing the IFF just yet or was it the fear of the IFF sending off a signal as they passed through the Relay so the Collectors could blast them as they came out of the jump?

Ty didn't know. For everything he knew about himself, he couldn't say if he was just scared of the fate awaiting them or the possibility of his paranoia on the device being correct. Perhaps it was a bit of both, but he knew he wanted to end the fight with the Collectors so they could focus on the Reapers.

He wouldn't say he _wanted _to plunge into hell, but he would do it for the safety of his family and friends. He had also signed up for this mission knowing the odds and promised to see it through to the end, backing out now would break that promise and make him a coward.

Going through with the mission wasn't a big deal; the purple eyed warrior could easily convince himself it was just another mission. They had fought Collectors before; they had survived an ambush within the Collector vessel and escaped a derelict Reaper crawling with Husks and Scions.

Yes they were all creepy in their own way and worked for the Reapers, but fighting them was just like fighting any other enemy. You avoided getting shot or killed and in turn you killed them instead.

All of these thoughts had him questioning whether it was really fear wanting him to continue examining the IFF or not. All of it created a whirlwind of thoughts he couldn't keep track of until it came back to a very simple yet complex question.

Was he afraid?

The former mercenary growled at himself and sat up from his lounged position so he was sitting on the seat of his bike. _Shut off your mind and just get ready for the mission. I'm probably just overthinking all of this. _

That was probably all it was. Shepard and Miranda were probably right about the IFF and soon they'd be ready to embark on their true mission instead of shooting thugs in colored armor. _Shooting the mercs will probably get my head straight anyways. Maybe it'll be a bit therapeutic._

The elevator doors opened on the other side of the Cargo Hold and out of it Jack, Grunt, Zaeed and Tali walked out all armed and ready to go. They were the first arrivals, after himself of course. _Guess it's time to start prepping._

Ty started prepping his bike as the Engineering Floor of crew members filed out of the elevator and made themselves comfortable across the Cargo Hold. The rest of the crew arrived after in similar groups of four or more until the entire squad was loading up on the shuttle.

"Still worried something will happen?" Shepard's voice reached his ears as he was about to start up his bike.

Yeah, he was worried. His healthy paranoia had helped him prepare for worst case scenarios ever since he had lost everyone. Even if it ended up being nothing more than a bad feeling based on the enemies they were facing, at least he hadn't taken the threat lightly.

_Better that than some surprise coming out of nowhere and having no back-up plan. _The former mercenary turned to the sapphire eyed woman who was coming to a stop next to him. "Figure if nothing goes wrong all I have to deal with is 'I told you so's.' If something does happen to go wrong I'll be prepared to make an emergency evac to reach the Normandy while you guys finish up the Eclipse mercs."

She smiled at him, "It's almost worrying to see you planning so far ahead." Her voice was filled with jest and Ty managed a chuckle, but he couldn't stop himself from being worried. Granted he had made plans for worst case scenarios and evacs going into a fight back when he led his own team, yet this felt different.

The problem he had was he had no idea what to prepare for. _Going against mercenaries or regular thugs or even assassins is something I can prepare for. I know my targets capabilities, I know what different kinds of threats I'll face whether it be in firepower or hand to hand combat. With the Collectors and Reapers…I've got no idea what I'm doing. Like I just got my divers license and decided I would free dive the Mariana Trench all the way to the bottom._

That was just as much of a suicide mission as what they were facing in the Collectors and Reapers, except they had somewhat of a fighting chance against the Collectors and Reapers.

"Ty." Shepard's voice woke him up from his thoughts to find his eyes were no longer locked with hers. They were staring at his bike likely filled with the worry he felt. A hand rested on his shoulder causing him to turn his eyes back up to meet Shepard's who wore a worried expression. "Don't worry so much. Everything will be okay."

"Just…" The purple eyed warrior let out a sigh and shook his head turning his eyes back down to his bike, "Make sure you hit me with an 'I told you so' later, alright? It'll make me feel better."

"Okay." Lips pressed tenderly against the corner of his, "I'll see you on the ground."

"Right." Ty pulled up his hood as she walked away and activated his full mask. _I really hope she hits me with that 'I told you so' later._

For now he would focus on the mission at hand.

* * *

"Cover me!" Ty ordered as he vaulted over the cover he had been behind. His team, which consisted of Grunt, Jack and Zaeed, followed his order covering his advance with a mixture of rounds and biotic's taking out a few Eclipse mercs as they did.

The former mercenary sprinted across the large hall then vaulted over the cover the Eclipse mercs had been hiding behind. He slid across the top of the cover feet first dropkicking one of the mercs into a wall right behind. Ty was on his feet quicker than his stunned opponent could react leading him to straight kick the mercenary again.

His opponent, who had bounced forward after the first kick, went back first into the wall again stunning him further. Ty kicked him again as he bounced back juggling him against the wall one last time before head-butting the helmeted individual.

Helmet or not, the attack worked. Let it be said that Krogan's were not the only ones with hard heads. His quick attacks had thoroughly left his opponent in a place of consciousness between knowing where he was and thinking he was in a dreamland amusement park riding an old school wooden coaster with jolting turns.

It made him a perfect target for the next stage of his plan.

The purple eyed warrior turned him to the side so his back was facing his buddies then gave him a pat on the chest, "Here, hold this for a second." Ty gave him a hard kick sending him tumbling into his teammates knocking them over like a bunch of bowling pins.

"What the hell are you doing?!" One of the mercenaries yelled at their teammate. "Wait, what the hel- Grenade!"

Swiftly Ty vaulted back over the makeshift barricade and moved quickly behind a tall crate. An explosion went off sending a small shockwave through the hall finishing off the Eclipse mercenaries that had been covering the area. "Looks like we're clear." Zaeed said.

"Bet you a hundred credits we're the first ones done." Jack smirked as she and the others made their way out of cover.

"Why the hell would I bet against you when we made short work of these amateurs?" The veteran commented.

"These Pyjaks didn't stand a chance against us." Ty chuckled as he holstered his weapons and regrouped with the squad. _Can't say I disagree with Grunt on that one. We're pretty much a four man wrecking team._

The Normandy squad had split up into three groups, two made of five and their team of four. The base was huge and by splitting up they were able to cover more ground to do what they were here to do. "Time to set the charges?" The Krogan questioned.

Ty gave a nod, "Right." Oh yes, they were going to blow the base sky high. _Definitely therapeutic. _All of his previous thoughts had been swept up in hurricane like winds when Shepard finally told them they were going to destroy the base with explosives.

"Set them at the points we discussed earlier, and for Spirits sake whatever you do don't set them on a timer. We want remote detonation not a race to get the hell out of here."

Grunt pulled out his charge and pointed his finger at the button for the timer, "Remote detonation is this button right?"

All three had their eyes bulge in shock at the sight of his finger nearing the button, "No! Not that one Grunt!" The former mercenary panicked reaching out to grab the Krogan by the arm to stop his finger.

He stopped his finger and grinned at the group. "Heh heh heh. You should see the looks on your faces."

_That son of a bitch._ All three let out sighs of relief at the realization the tank-bred Krogan was just yanking them around. _Spirits…where did Grunt learn to pull a joke like that?_ "Christ Tiny. You about gave me a goddamned heart attack." Zaeed rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head.

"Shit. Wish I would've thought of that one. The looks on your faces would have been fucking priceless." Jack breathed out another sigh of relief. _Damn it to hell that was a cruel joke. I'm beginning to wonder if he got that sadistic sense of humor from one of us._

Ty shook his head and took breath. _I feel like I should head-butt him for scaring us like that…but I have a feeling he'll head-butt me back and I don't want fuzzy vision while setting a charge._

The idea of accidently setting the timer on the charge instead of remote detonation was not appealing at all. Instead of risking a head-butting contest in the middle of an enemy base, Ty chose to compliment the Krogan. Even if it scared the hell out of them, he had gotten them good.

"Good one Grunt. Alright, spread out and place the charges. Keep your eyes open in case there are other Eclipse mercs around." He smirked, "Or eye in your case Old Man."

The veteran mercenary rolled his eyes and gave him the finger before the group spread out to set their charges. They were going to blow the Eclipse base to ensure their operations couldn't get started up again easily afterwards. Troops were easy to replace, but location and a structure to hide their red sand was not so easily replaced.

_Not to mention the loss of supplies. This place is one of their biggest supply caches from the amount of red sand I've seen here. _He glanced around seeing a few large crates scattered in the hall, _they have so much they're storage rooms are loaded from wall to wall and floor to ceiling and now they have to stack them in the halls. I haven't seen so much red sand in one place in a very long time._

_ They could have made a lot of credits off of all of this. Dealers on Omega would do anything to have such a surplus of red sand._ Ty knelt down at a wall and set his charge for remote detonation. Once done he stood back up and checked on the others finding that they too were putting the finishing touches to their charges or were done already.

_Guess that means our job is done._ Ty brought his finger to his ear, "This is Team Bloodrage, the west wing is clear of all hostiles and our charges are set. Team 'I Have a Shotgun' and Team Too Cool for School, how are things on your ends? Need backup?"

"We're cleaning up the rest of our hostiles. Should be done shortly. What about you Garrus?" Shepard answered.

"Almost done. And why did we allow him to rename the teams?"

"We didn't. He just did it on his own accord." Shepard chuckled. "Alright, Team Bloodrage head to the rally point. Barring any interruptions, we'll be able to regroup in five. Shepard out."

Ty dropped his hand from his ear and lifted his chin in the direction they had to go, "You heard the lady. Keep your eyes open and your guns ready, don't want some stupid mech waking up and shooting us in the ass."

In response he got a deep chuckle from Grunt and smirks out of his two fellow humans. Together they moved as a team with their guns at the ready back through the base to the designated rally point. They reached it without any trouble and found themselves waiting in relative silence in a spread out half-circle for the other two teams to arrive.

Their rally point was the main hall of the base. Up on their right was a balcony leading to a few separate halls including the one Shepard and her team had gone through. On their level to the left were three separate paths, the one they had traveled on, the one Garrus had taken his team down and the exit.

As far as Ty could tell the base had been staffed properly for such a large supply of red sand with how many his team alone had killed. Against normal mercenaries the Eclipse mercenaries would have been able to fight back and even have a chance to win. Unfortunately they were facing the Normandy team, and they were far above the skill level of normal mercenaries.

What he was surprised by was the lack of mechs. Eclipse mercenaries rarely went anywhere without them, they were good cannon fodder and the YMIRs could overwhelm and kill large groups of people. Yet through their entire time in the base his team hadn't seen any, not even a deactivated one.

He wasn't sure how the other teams had fared when it came to running into mechs, it might have just bee his team who hadn't run into them. Then again he wasn't complaining about the lack of them. Taking out giant YMIRs wasn't how he liked to get his kicks.

It was then two heavy objects slammed down on their right on their floor. _What the…_Ty and the others aimed their guns at the source of the sound before realization swamped them. _I just had to go and think about it didn't I?_ "Oh shit." Jack cursed.

"You've got to be fuckin' kiddin' me."

"Move. Now." Ty ordered as they all began backing up slowly due to the shock. The two YMIR mechs began to unfold themselves and up on the balcony above them a group of Eclipse mercs filed out with their guns at the ready. _Spirits…_"Get to cover!"

The four man team sprinted to the closest cover with Ty diving over a sturdy crate Jack had ducked behind, Zaeed finding a column, and Grunt moving behind a low wall.

A flurry of rounds began to rip up all of their individual covers forcing the group to try to become one with their cover and become as small as possible. They had fallen right into a trap and a good one at that. _Eclipse mercenaries were always too crafty for my liking!_ The young man groaned mentally, _why does this shit always happen?! _"Shepard, Garrus! Rally point just went FUBAR! We've got two YMIRs on the ground floor and a small squadron of mercenaries opening fire on us from the balcony!"

Ty tried to peek out over cover but his shield was dropped quickly and the sounds of rounds whipping by his head forced him down. _When or if I get my hands on these bastards there is going to be hell to pay!_ "Fuck! Not to be pushy or anything, but if you want us to get out of this alive then you better triple time it!"

"Keep your heads down, we're on the way." Shepard answered.

"It was only a matter of time before we had to pull his ass out of the fire again." Garrus wisecracked.

"Less commentary, more rushing to our aid."

Ty got out of cover and tried to take out a few of the Eclipse on the balcony but only managed to get a shield down before having to return into cover. "Why does this shit always happen when we're together, Ty?!" Zaeed questioned over the roar of rounds.

"You're like my bad luck charm, Old Man!" He retorted. "Even though shit always hits the fan with you in my pocket, I still bring you with me everywhere because one of these days you'll be around for good luck!"

"Do me a favor and remind me to punch you in the fuckin' face later for constantly carryin' me around into all of this shit!"

The young man rolled his eyes and smiled briefly despite the situation at hand. "Yeah, yeah! Use your grenades on those mechs, Grunt do what you do best but avoid getting shot!"

"I AM KROGAN!" Grunt yelled, unloading his Claymore into the mechs as he did.

"Nice to know Tiny never loses his good mood." Jack chuckled. She got out of their shared cover and threw a pull field up at the group of Eclipse mercenaries. Two got caught in it but the others had shields or a barrier protecting them from its effects. The tattooed biotic got back in cover and looked to him with a smirk, "Think you can hit two helpless targets without getting shot?"

"Only on the day of the week that ends in Y." The former mercenary popped out of cover and fired off a few rounds punctuating the heads of both floating mercenaries. _Two down…too many more to go._

They really weren't getting anywhere fast. The Eclipse mercenaries had the higher ground and their mechs were keeping the group pinned down as the hulking masses continued to advance on their position. A _boom _followed by a shockwave of energy jolted through the former mercenary's body reminding him that the mechs also had rockets.

_What a shitty situation._ He holstered a pistol and pulled out one of his special tomahawks, "Hey asshole! Catch this!" Ty thought the angle and tossed the tomahawk. It arced high in the room then angled itself down. As it neared its target the mech turned its body to see it coming and lifted its arm in an attempt to swat it away. The tomahawk impaled itself in the forearm of the mech narrowly missing one of the giant wires for its missile arm.

"Nice throw, dumbass." Jack snarked.

"It's not my fault the damn thing moved. That throw would have been perfect if it hadn't." The tomahawk reappeared in its holster allowing Ty to grab it again. Aiming for an Eclipse mercenary at the top of the balcony he tossed it again. It arced up and to the side of the room before turning on its side and charging straight at the mercenaries.

As it neared the target the mercenaries began ducking one by one forcing it to go over their heads. _You've gotta be kidding me!_ The tomahawk sailed over their heads until it met its mark, a mercenary who had been trying to shoot Zaeed and hadn't paid mind to what his partners were doing.

The tomahawk imbedded itself in the head of the un-helmeted individual killing them instantly. _Phew. I thought it was going to miss again._ "Right on target." Ty said as he ducked back into cover.

"Bullshit." The tattooed biotic stated.

Another missile impacted against their cover. The mechanical stamps belonging to what would be certain death if they didn't come up with a plan soon were nearly upon them. With a quick glance the former mercenary was able to see that Grunt and Zaeed were faring better with their YMIR mech. The thing was on its last legs, a few more shots from the Krogan's Claymore or a grenade from the veteran mercenary and they'd be able to assist their pinned teammates.

_That's if the mech doesn't reach us first._ Ty blind fired over their cover as Jack did the same with her shotgun each managing to impact a round or more against the hulking machine approaching them. "Nothing like hearing death approach, step by step." The purple eyed warrior jested as he fired another few rounds. "You know, if this is the end Jack. I just want you to kno-"

"Shut up, dick." The biotic rolled her eyes and shook her head at him.

Ty chuckled and brought a finger to his ear, "Shepard, if you're waiting for the opportune momen-"

"Oh its now?" Her voice was full of surprised amusement as if she was actually waiting for the moment to come. "Keep your heads down Team Bloodrage, we're about to unleash hell."

All four members of Team Bloodrage pressed themselves as close to their cover as possible as a flurry of biotic's, rounds and tech attacks started raining down from the balcony and from the direction they had entered the room.

Garrus's team of Jacob, Samara, Legion, and Kasumi had arrived at the same time as Shepard and her team. Two resonating explosions sounded off signaling the end of the mechs at the same time the screams of Eclipse mercs trying to get into cover only to get shot were echoing in the room.

When the gunfire finally died out the four originally pinned down squad members got out of their cover and holstered their weapons. Ty looked up to the balcony to see Shepard, Miranda, Mordin, Thane, and Tali either checking to ensure the mercenaries were dead or staring down at the ground floor.

"Thanks for the save." He smirked at the commander, "I'd say that makes us even, but we all know you're only starting to catch up with how many times I've saved your ass."

She smiled down at him and rested her shotgun on her shoulder, "I'm pretty sure _you_ were the one who got impaled on the wall and _I_ was the one who saved you."

"And the Thresher Maw on Tuchanka?"

"Pulled you away so you didn't get crushed _and _stopped you from getting eaten."

She had a point there and Ty was fairly certain there was no winning this battle. "Still got hit by the arm and blew its face apart saving all of our asses." Ty pointed out.

"Details." She dismissed his statement with a wave of her hand.

"We all know I pulled you both out of the fire more." Garrus jumped in.

Both Ty and Shepard turned their gazes to him with smiles of varying sizes; this was a battle he could win. "And who had to carry your heavy ass all the way back to the Normandy when you decided to make-out with a missile?" Ty asked.

"Or that time back on Noveria?" Shepard questioned.

"Or that uncharted world with the Pyjaks." Tali piped up.

The former mercenary turned to look back up at the Quarian; he could practically feel the sparkles in his eyes. _Pyjaks on an uncharted world?_ Now that sounded like a surplus of banter ammo for the one shot one kill banter canon. "I want to know about the Pyjaks on the uncharted world."

"Didn't we agree not to talk about that again?" Garrus reminded the two women.

"No they didn't." Ty cut them off before they could answer, "Now. Spill the beans."

"Not that I'm not interested in finding out about the Pyjaks, but we're standing in an Eclipse base wired to blow." Kasumi said as she shifted her gaze across the room, "I'm not exactly comfortable standing around in here with the chance of someone setting them off."

She…had a valid point. This was neither the time nor the place to sit around talking and having a latte. Eclipse mercenaries knew their way around tech and could easily turn their bombs against them. Shepard gave an approving nod to the thief and motioned for her team to head downstairs to regroup.

Once they were all regrouped they headed out of the base back towards the shuttle and Ty's space bike. Ty strode up to his bike and got on prepping it for take-off as the rest of the squad loaded up in the shuttle. "Sad we're going to be so far away when it goes off." He sighed and looked back at the base, "It's probably going to be a pretty explosion."

Shepard chuckled and shook her head at him from the shuttle, "I doubt it." He looked over to her, "The bombs we set will just cause the building to collapse on itself plus a little extra if red sand ends up being extra explosive. Otherwise it'll be nothing compared to the nuke on Pragia."

"Yeah, you're probably right." The former mercenary mocked a sigh of disappointment.

"Would you feel better if you were the one to press the button?" The commander asked with a smirk gracing her beautiful face.

Ty went to answer her question with another joke but those words died before they could be formed when his omni-tool flared to life and EDI popped up on it. Turning his attention to the blue hologram he raised an eyebrow, "EDI? What's up?"

"The Collectors boarded the Normandy." Both Shepard and Ty froze in shock at the words, _the Collectors boarded the Normandy? _"With the aid of Jeff I was able to regain control of the Normandy and vent them out of the airlocks…but they abducted the rest of the crew before we could save them."

_Spirits. _

"EDI, send us your coordinates. We're on our way." Shepard ordered her voice firm.

"At once, Shepard."

The hologram disappeared and Ty's omni-tool faded away. "Ty, you're faster than our shuttle. Get there and figure out what the hell happened."

Without hesitation the purple eyed warrior fired up his bike and activated his mask taking off as quickly and safely as possible to not harm Shepard or the shuttle. Once he was a safe distance away and out of the atmosphere he switched his gears and set his coordinates for the Normandy location.

Getting there hadn't taken him long at the pace he had traveled at. EDI was ready for him when he arrived at the coordinates opening up the Cargo Hold for him allowing the former mercenary to land his bike, shut it down and get off of it quickly. "EDI, you say there are no other Collectors on this ship?" He asked to the ship A.I.

"Yes. The ship is secure and Joker is waiting in the Comm room."

_At least I don't have a fight on my hands. _He entered the elevator and pressed the CIC button. The elevator began to ascend and for a moment all seemed normal on the Normandy. The Cargo Hold was usually empty save for him or when a few of the squad would come down and the elevator was going at the same pace it always did.

Yet…even with the sound of the elevator the Normandy felt eerily quiet. He could also feel the fresh memories within the elevator, memories he could feel were made of fear and pain. _What the hell happened here? How the hell did the Collectors find the Normandy at such an inopportune time?_

The elevator doors opened and Ty stopped himself from continuing forward. _Spirits..._Ahead of him was the galaxy map and the rest of the CIC…and it was completely empty. EDI had told them the crew had been abducted but nothing could prepare him for walking on a ghost ship with a ghost crew after growing so used to seeing everyone on the ship.

The whole thing was disturbing.

It was just like Freedoms Progress from what felt so long ago and Horizon. Everything was left exactly where the crew had left off in their duties when the Collectors showed up as if they just up and left the ship. The only difference was there were guns clattered on the floor showing the single effort to fight back against the bug beings.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the former mercenary stepped forward out of the elevator and knelt down at the gun closing his eyes as he did. Ty honed in on the energy surrounding it finding the imprint of the memory. He opened his eyes and witnessed a group of four crew members aiming their guns at the elevator door.

Suddenly a Praetorian launched out at them grabbing them while Joker was limp running behind them cursing silently under his breath with the fear of god on his face. The screams of the crew members echoed in his head a moment longer before he let the memory fade, "Spirits EDI. How did this all happen?"

"While integrating the IFF I found a signal within it transmitting our location." _A signal? _That hit Ty hard. "Our systems were offline when the Collectors arrived. They boarded the Normandy before we could escape."

Ty stood up and felt an overwhelming amount of disappointment in himself. "I guess I was right about it sending off a signal…" He looked around at the empty CIC, "Not that it feels good to be right about this." The purple eyed warrior had searched the IFF as thoroughly as he could yet he had missed the signal completely.

Now the crew was abducted and at the mercy of the Collectors. He could remember what they had found on the Collector ship, beyond billons of empty pods littered the ship. Piles of dead bodies from failed experiments. What fate awaited the kidnapped members of the Normandy?

"The signal did not reveal itself until we were far along in its installation. There was no way for you to know it was there, Ty."

He wasn't sure he could believe that. They could have tried installing it on his bike first to figure out if it was a trap or not. Or he could have stayed behind to help installation that way when the signal was found they could have bugged out quicker or at the least he could have saved a few crew members.

Maybe it would have ended the same way except with him captured as well or worse…there was no way to know. All Ty was left with was should've could've would'ves and the questions that came with hindsight.

It was an old familiar feeling he had been too well acquainted with, the feeling of failure was one he did not miss in the slightest.

"I don't know about that…but thanks for trying to make me feel better." Ty let out a sigh and picked up the guns, "Anything else I need to know?"

"To save the Normandy, Jeff had to unshackle me."

"Well, at least there is some good news among this cluster fuck of a situation caused by the Reapers and Collectors." The purple eyed warrior entered the Armory and set the guns down on a table. He was happy she was no longer shackled. It was something he had wanted to do fully instead of only in part as he had, but with the Illusive Man undoubtedly keeping a close eye on his work with EDI he hadn't tried.

Causing tensions with Miranda or anyone else for that matter had been the only thing stopping him. Now EDI was free without problems arising between him and anyone else for him releasing her or anything. Joker was the one to do it and it was out of the desperation of saving the ship and crew, he'd get away with it unscathed.

The only problem was the miscellaneous crew was kidnapped. It wasn't EDI's fault or Jokers, pointing fingers wouldn't do them any good now when unity was going to be most needed. "You approve?" EDI queried.

Ty let out a chuckle, "Of course I do. I _am _the one who unshackled part of you onto my omni-tool and bike. You've always been a part of the crew to me EDI, and a friend."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." The former mercenary passed through the doors leading towards the Comm room where Joker was waiting. _He's probably beating himself up about all of this. Not that he could have done anything without getting kidnapped himself. With his brittle bones it would have made fighting impossible, and on top of that if he had a gun he'd only have drawn attention to himself._

As terrible as it sounded, letting the crew get kidnapped was the best option. Now they had a chance to save the crew, without the Normandy they'd be dead in the water and the crew would be literally dead.

Things looked bleak now; it was hard for it not to when you were traversing a completely empty ship that was bustling with hard working individual's mere hours ago. Yet, there was still hope. A small sliver of hope yes, but even the smallest ember could sustain a person for a very long time.

The purple eyed warrior opened the door to the Comm room and found Joker sitting on the side of the table with his head in his hands. "The IFF sent a signal, guess I owe you a hundred credits." He mumbled somberly without raising his head.

There was no witty remark that would cure the melancholy surrounding Joker, and Ty honestly didn't have one. What could he say? _"Oh yeah, I was right! Now that the whole crew is gone hand over those hundred credits! I was right you bastards! Ha-ha!"_

That clearly wouldn't help anyone, especially Joker. It wasn't like he felt particularly happy about being right. He had wanted to be wrong; he had wanted everyone to throw "_I told you so's" _at him. There was no satisfaction here, no wish to go around telling anyone that he was right.

So what was he going to say? Asking Joker if he was okay was a stupid question even if he was just trying to be a good friend.

"You can keep it. I'll take it from you next time we play Skyllian Five." Ty made his way further into the room and took a seat on the table next to the downtrodden pilot. "I doubt this helps, but you did all you could Joker. It's thanks to you and EDI that we have a chance to save the crew." The former mercenary tried to soothe.

"Yeah. Thanks." Joker sounded exhausted.

Ty couldn't blame him. No words of comfort would truly make him feel as if he didn't screw up or make the loss of the crew suddenly not feel as bad. Sometimes the only thing that a person could do was remain silent yet be physically there as support.

The two men sat in silence that wasn't entirely uncomfortable until the squad returned. First one to the Comm room was Shepard already out of her armor and in her casuals. At the sight of Joker she wrapped the pilot in a gentle hug.

She was happy he was physically okay, concerned about him and the fate of the crew, but happy Joker didn't get himself killed or captured.

Soon after Miranda and Jacob joined the group in the Comm room where the group debriefed on what had happened in their absence from the IFF to EDI being unshackled. It was during this meeting in the Comm room that the group decided it was time to go to the Omega 4.

The IFF was integrated, the ship upgraded, the crew loyal and armed to the teeth with good weaponry and armor. On top of that the servicemen of the Normandy were kidnapped at the mercy of the Collectors who were doing Spirits knows what to them.

Their preparations were complete and they weren't going to leave their crew behind. Shepard had a fire in her eyes. The Collectors had attacked her home, her people. They had already made this personal through their original attack on the Normandy and the colonies; this was just the bad icing on a large cake of past attacks.

After they had the unanimous decision to finally head to the Omega 4 Shepard dismissed them and went to set the coordinates for the Relay. It would take them at most five hours to get there and once they did their course was set, permanently. Truly, there was no turning back now.

Ty made his way down to his room and disarmed himself. After he placed his final weapon down he sat down in one of the chairs in his room staring out the window out at the black void. As he stared out his mind brought him back to the question he had asked himself before going down to the Eclipse base.

Was he afraid?

Looking down at his slightly shaking hands he knew the answer.

_ I need to call and tell my family we're about to head into hell…and say one last goodbye in case this is the end._


	108. Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Stay Here, With Me

Kasumi entered her room with a soft sigh. _Damn nerves. I can barely sit still for more than a few minutes before I'm up again trying to find something to occupy myself with._ The thief brought her hands together wringing them nervously as she paced forward to her couch. Her door shut behind her and she soon found herself pacing back and forth in front of the furniture.

They were really doing it. They had set their course for the Omega 4 Relay, a course there was no turning back from. She wanted to say she was ready, that her mind was clear and prepared for what was ahead of them…but could anyone truly say that now?

The Collectors had taken the crew while the ship was most vulnerable. Every single serviceman and woman had tried to hold off the Collectors, had tried to save their fellow crew members…but none had succeeded. All that had been left behind by the crew were guns scattered about on different floors where final stands had been made.

Nerves were building in all of the squad at such an attack hitting their ship and crew. With the IFF installed and their course set the true scope of what they were all about to go through with was starting to hit them all.

Ty and Shepard had been roaming the ship swinging by to check in on everyone but the master thief could tell the man of the pair was full of fear. He hid it well and it was possible most wouldn't notice it, but Kasumi had.

_He wasn't all there when we spoke. I could see in his eyes that his mind is going at light speed, but it was his hands that really gave it away. _Kasumi thought back to their small conversation remembering in clear detail the subtle shakes he was trying to stop. _I've seen his hands shake in rage before…but never fear._

The thought did little to bolster her nerves. _Ty's walked into many personal hells without showing fear…but this is different. The odds of the mission, the crew being kidnapped, it's all hitting him hard._ Kasumi sighed and forced herself to sit down on the couch. Immediately her foot started tapping on the ground. _I wish there was something I could do for him, but I'll have to leave it to Shepard. He'll head up to see her once he's done checking in on everyone._

His mission would be to ensure she was okay, but Kasumi knew Shepard would see the fear in the purple eyed man. The raven haired N7 would know what to say to ease his fears and get him level headed once more. She had already done so with Kasumi, the reason for her continued nerves was just the thief having a hard time quelling the remainder of her thoughts.

She knew the scope of the mission when she signed on, knew it would end in some extravagant ending mission where they had to finish the Collectors once and for all. That's how it happened in her books, good guys fought bad guys in some kind of big fight and good guys triumphed.

While the thief knew her books were fictional, the mission they were on was just as crazy as something she'd find in them. _I wouldn't be surprised if someone in the future writes a story about our mission, although I doubt anyone would believe any of this was real thousands of years from now…that's if we survive the Reapers._

The thief groaned and facepalmed herself, _way to go with the positivity there, Kasumi. That'll __**really **__bolster your morale._ Kasumi opened her omni-tool and waved it at her door locking it as well as searching for planted cameras to deactivate them.

Of course she had done the scan multiple times already, but she couldn't help checking multiple times. When it came to hiding her face on a ship undoubtedly watched by the Illusive Man there was no such thing as checking for hidden cameras too much.

Her scan came back negative for cameras and with the all clear Kasumi pulled her hood off. The thief reached up to the back of her head and undid the hair tie containing her hair in a ponytail. _Freedom!_ Kasumi laughed to herself at her own thought as her long black hair fell free draping over her shoulders.

Next and last to go were her gloves which she placed on her table along with her hair tie. Her gloves did not restrict her sense of touch completely when she wore them. They transmitted some warmth and allowed her to feel the objects she held in her hands without the object feeling completely foreign…but with the item of clothing on there was a restriction to the amount of contact the thief could feel.

For as long as she was a thief she wore gloves on a day to day basis. Kasumi would not say she was as restricted as Quarian's, she chose to dress the way she was where Quarian's had no choice after all. Yet at the same time the master thief knew how they felt in a way.

To go through life hiding her face, wearing full armor and rarely ever taking either of them off except to shower or use the bathroom left her desiring the ability to actually _feel_ the simple physical contact most people paid no mind to on a daily basis.

The ability to feel a handshake, a bump of shoulders, a hug, a caress…to be able to feel someone else's hand intertwined with her own, a cupped cheek, a kiss, the feel of two bodies on one another.

Kasumi hugged her knees close to her chest stopping her foot tapping. _Now I wish I had someone to spend time with so I could actually feel the contact of another person's skin with my own. To hold or be held by someone, to feel their lips on my own or to be able sit holding hands in the comfort of one another._ The thief let out another sigh, _I am such a hopeless romantic._

The master thief brought her hands to her head and ran them through her hair feeling the strands under her palms and along the tops of her hands. It brought her some comfort in her raging sea of worry easing her fidgety foot.

_I wonder how Ria and Alia are doing._ She let her hands fall back to her sides and rested her head back with her eyes closed. _I miss them both. Alia with her cute curiosity and big heart. Ria with her caring attitude and lovely smile…and those dark blue eyes I wish I had explored even longer than I was able to._

Her mind returned to their time spent at Ty's apartment. The feel of Ria's finger running along the top of her shoulders and neck, tracing and exploring tenderly as she tried her hardest to focus on the thumb war she was having with Alia.

She could feel her finger moving down her neck to her shoulder blades, following along the lines they made like she was reading Braille.

The thought of it sent a shiver down her spine as it had when the Asari had done it. Her armor was not as thick as Shepard's allowing her to feel the solitary finger exploring her back curiously to see what kind of reaction she could get.

Next through her mind was the memory of the small, gentle kisses they had given one another on the cheek prior to her departure. The Asari's warm lips had pressed on her cheek only for a brief moment yet had set her skin ablaze as if they were made of fire.

Kasumi brought her hand to spot Ria's lips had touched as she smiled at the thought. _So brave and shy at the same time. She's beautiful. Only if I had been able to taste her lips too. I regret not taking the opportunity while I had it even if we are both still trying to figure out what we're doing and what boundaries we have._

She hadn't tasted her lips, but she had been able to kiss her cheek. The master thief could still feel her soft velvety skin under her lips…the thought only fueled her desire to have felt their lips together, to have let their tongues dance with one another as her ungloved hands were able to touch all of her.

_ I really wish Ria was here now. _The thief paused in her thoughts realizing _here _was not exactly the safest place in the galaxy at the moment. _Or, well not here because of what we're about to go into. I wish this mission was over and I was with her right now._

_Not even in a "this is the end of the world so let's make love" kind of way either. All I really want is to be in her vicinity, to sit with her, to talk with her…to be kissed by her or kiss her myself. _The thief turned her head to look out her glass window and at the great black abyss. _I…haven't felt this way about anyone since Keiji._

Kasumi wouldn't claim to know the nature of love or anything of that sort. Sure she read sappy romance novels and enjoyed them thoroughly, yet the stories she read and reality were always light years apart. She wished it wasn't that way, she wished that love between two people could be and feel as it was in those stories.

Perhaps it could. In the vast galaxy they lived in anything was possible. Either way the master thief knew the feelings growing in her heart for Ria were becoming something far more than the simple friendship turned flirting turned trying to figure out what they were.

The feelings she had now, they were running along the same lines as her feelings for Keiji. _Am…Am I falling in love again? _The two women had spent a lot of the time the Asari's had been on the ship together and almost the entire time at the apartment together as well, but even then they hadn't been around each other more than a week.

They were not complete strangers anymore and both had made it known that they felt a connection of some kind with one another. It was too soon to call it love then and Kasumi knew it was too soon to call it love now.

They had not spent enough time together for it to be the true feeling of love…or perhaps it was that conception of trying to complicate and think love could not bud quickly that caused love to be so hard to find. Was it in people's nature to consistently look for the flaws, to try to find some reason to not allow themselves to be happy and in love at the same time?

Again Kasumi could not say she knew the answer. But she knew her feelings, knew she felt a connection with Ria and knew the way she felt in her heart right now. Her desire to be closer with the Asari, to share more time and be more, it was all signs telling her that her heart was unshackling itself for Ria.

It had spent a long time shackled up in the greatest security she could find after losing Keiji, and now those security locks were being done away with.

Why? Why was it so easy for her to do it? Was it even her own doing or had growing so close so fast with Ria and Alia made her unconsciously give the mother of the pair the codes and keys to them?

Her omni-tool flared to life, beeping as it did breaking the thief from her thoughts to inform her of an incoming vid-call. With a quick check of the I.D. she found that it was none other than Ria attempting to contact her. Kasumi pulled her hood up concealing her face once more than answered the call.

A vid screen popped on her omni-tool with the light blue skinned Asari's face within it. "I was just thinking about you." Kasumi greeted with a smile and light tone.

Ria chuckled lightly before shaking her head. Her eyes met the thief's again, the deep ocean blue orbs staring deep into her own. How the thief longed to be lost in her ocean. "It is good I called then. We heard from Ty a little while ago. He told us what happened…and I was worried about all of you." She averted her eyes sheepishly, "But mostly you."

"Now I feel special." Kasumi jested with a smile. She did not wish for Ria to be worried, but the thief would be a liar if she said she didn't enjoy knowing Ria was thinking about her. Her smile faded as her next question came to mind, "I take it you saw how nervous he was?"

Ria nodded in response to the question, "We all did. I cannot say I blame him. The foe you face is a powerful one. More powerful than any I have faced."

The Collectors and the Reapers were tougher than any enemies Kasumi herself had faced too, not that she made a habit of fighting people. Her line of work usually didn't end in gunshots and mercenaries trying to kill her, that only happened when jobs went bad and after joining on Shepard's mission.

"You and me both."

"Are you okay?"

The question was simple but Kasumi took time to think about it. Did she want to tell the truth of how she felt and possibly worry the Asari more, or did she want to ease her worries by pretending she was fine? _I don't want her to worry…but I don't want to lie to her and I want to talk longer. Maybe talking about how I feel will help ease my nerves. _

"I'm nervous, anxious. I can barely sit still for more than a few minutes." The danger of what they were going into seemed so much larger than it had the entire time she was on the Normandy. To be hours out from the Omega 4, a relay no one ever came back from, brought everything into perspective.

She was worried about the state of the crew who had been kidnapped, worried about their chances…yet at the same time she realized just how prepared they really were. The squad she was a part of was a group full of skilled individuals who had their heads on straight for what was ahead of them. Their weapons and armor were top of the line and the ship was a lot stronger than the first Normandy in weapon power and armor.

Nervous or not, they were ready.

"We're ready though." Kasumi continued, "Ready to end the Collectors, get the crew back and get back safely so we can brag about being the firsts to go through the Omega 4 and back." _And get back to see you in my case._ She was looking forward to seeing Ria in person again, but for now the thief was happy to see her via vid-call.

Talking to her, even for the short time they had been talking, had already started to calm her nerves. Seeing the Asari again reminded her of why they had to stop the Collectors and Reapers. There were many families who had already been harmed by the Collectors and Reapers, but there were so many more that were in danger.

The Alpha Relay incident had really reminded the Normandy crew exactly what kind of scale of devastation war with the Reapers would bring, _and that incident was small in comparison to what will happen._ Ria was a fighter, but she was also a mother the same as Aya. They would not be fighting on the frontlines. They would be hiding, hoping the war did not take away their children or affect them.

There were no second chances and no room for error, not with so many innocent lives on the line. They had to stop the Collectors and they would, after them they would figure out how to deal with the Reapers before they wiped out the entire galaxy.

Ria smiled at her, "All so you can brag about going through the Omega 4 Relay, huh?"

"Of course. Bragging rights is what this whole mission is about." Kasumi joked.

The dark blue eyed Asari laughed at the joke in turn making the master thief smile satisfyingly at her. Making her laugh was something the thief enjoyed, definitely after everything she knew the blue skinned woman had gone through.

_All I have to do now is get her to blush and I'll be completely satisfied with myself. But how?_ She needed to find the opening for a flirty quip or a compliment the Asari wasn't expecting or prepared for. _Only if we were in the same room together. I could give her a peck on the cheek and I'd have her blushing a glorious blush in an instant. _

"You have the look of a woman who is scheming something. Care to share?" Ria asked, a smirk pulling onto her lips.

"Scheming? Who me?" The thief asked in an innocent tone. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Uh-huh. Why is it that I find that so hard to believe?"

"Because you want me to be scheming something." Kasumi retorted.

"Or perhaps your eyes showed that you were thinking of something other than bragging rights or missions."

Kasumi found her opening. "Were they now? Or were you hoping I was thinking of something other than bragging rights and missions. Don't tell me…you want me to be scheming something really naughty, don't you? Like how to get our lips to meet the next time we're around each other." Ria's cheeks began to darken a deeper shade of blue, victory was in sight. "Or are you the one fantasizing about me in your spare time? Like what your beautiful blue skin would feel like pressed up against mine?"

_Victory achieved, _Kasumi thought as she smiled triumphantly at the very dark blush coating the Asari's cheeks. To be honest, she had thought about both of those things in much grander detail. Her imagination had provided grand ideas for what could come in the future.

"You look so cute when you blush." Kasumi let her satisfaction seep into her voice.

"I almost forgot how much you enjoyed getting me like this." Ria said as she attempted to banish her blush. She had a smile firm on her face regardless of how flustered she felt at the thoughts the thief had given her. "But I have to assume you were thinking of those thoughts before I called with how precise you were in what I could possibly want you thinking of."

_Whoops. She caught onto that a little too quickly._ Kasumi felt heat rising to her face. "Or I just have a quick mind full of ideas of ways to get you to blush so beautifully."

"Full of ideas, huh?" Ria smiled coquettishly.

"Um…not like that?" Kasumi tried to backpedal, failing completely.

"How disappointing." Ria mocked a sigh, "I guess I am the only one who is thinking about you in such a way."

"Guilt tripper." The thief pouted earning a smile. She had been caught teasing the Asari with thoughts that were on her own mind, but it was worth it. Watching Ria blush as she thought about the ideas given to her by Kasumi and getting teased in return gave the thief a very gratifying feeling.

The amount of people Kasumi had been with physically she could count on one hand, the amount of people she had been with physically _and _emotionally could be counted on a solitary finger. Her line of work when it came to contact with people was always strictly business. It kept things clean and most the people she worked with were of the same mind.

There was also the fact none of the people she worked with really knew who she was making it harder to start a relationship with someone she might find attractive or alluring. Kasumi also was not one to trust easily when it came to her identity. Staying hidden in the shadows with her identity unknown kept her safe, protected. It would allow her to one day retire and take off her hood without repercussions of being hunted down.

Allowing someone to see her face un-obscured took a tremendous amount of trust building. Especially now after losing Keiji. He had been the one person she had become romantically involved with and knew what they had had been real. To have that stripped from her after lowering all of barriers, both physical and emotional, hurt in a way she could not describe.

She had not planned to ever grow attached the way she was over Ria to anyone else ever again. It just…it hurt too much the first time and she didn't want to go through it again. To have more than a physical attraction to the woman was not what she expected at all. Kasumi had never felt attracted to another woman or the Asari if one wished to separate them as mono-gendered. She could appreciate the beauty of others regardless of gender, yet she never had felt a desire to be romantically or physically involved with one like she did now.

For these reasons Kasumi felt really out of her element when it came to Ria. She did not have a lot experience with more than physical relationships and the one she did have had ended terribly leaving her with a broken heart. She wanted to see where their relationship took them, to find out if the familiar feelings building up in her were real and would continue to grow stronger.

Yet at the same time the master thief was afraid. She was afraid of falling, afraid with the Reapers coming that she'd let her barriers down and then have Ria ripped from her like Keiji was. For all her wanting to see where the relationship went, it was a struggle to allow herself to with those fears in her.

She didn't want to go down the hurting highway again when she had barely gotten off the first one. Relationships always came with risks, but was she ready to take on this heftier risk due to the destructive powers of the Reapers?

_ Yes._ The thief knew she wanted to chance the relationship with Ria. Seeing her smile made her want to make Ria smile every day because it made her smile. She liked the way Ria reacted to her teases and how she could tease back just as good. She thoroughly enjoyed the calm feeling she got when they locked eyes, like there was nothing else going on in the galaxy except their conversation.

Kasumi wanted to be closer more than she feared the consequences of what would happen to her already unshackling heart.

What she wanted most right now was to know if the Asari was simply jesting about thinking about her or not. The thief needed to know if she was growing too attached while Ria was not.

"You really think about me?"

Much to her surprised satisfaction, the Asari nodded, "Yes. I pray to the Goddess to keep you and the Normandy safe every night. I wonder what you're doing; if you've smiled or laughed at all." She lowered her eyes, "…I wonder if you think about me and if you are still somewhat attracted to me."

What she had said was just as much a statement as it was a question. Kasumi could see the small worry Ria had over whether or not the thief had what she thought was only a small amount of attraction. _I guess I am not the only one here who doesn't know what the other is feeling._

They both were worried they were reading the other wrong or weren't sure if they were growing too attached to something that they shouldn't. Both of them had previous relationships that didn't work out, loves they had lost so it was understandable.

For Ria she had lost Ty over her own actions and guilt over cheating on him. Kasumi knew Ria and Ty had felt strongly for one another once upon a time. Had different events occurred it was very possible Alia could have been their daughter instead of how things did turn out.

That was in the past though and the thief was certain the Asari was finally starting to move forward. With Alia back in her arms and the purple eyed man forgiving her she was able to put the past in the past.

Hearing that Ria thought about her, prayed for her and wondered if she was still attracted made warmth build in Kasumi's chest. There was no jest in her voice, no sign of lies in her eyes or body language. They were both falling for one another, that was as clear as a cloudless blue sky.

She smiled despite her heart starting to hammer hard in her chest, "I'm not just somewhat attracted to you." Ria perked up at the voice of the thief, "And I'm not just attracted to your body, although that is an added bonus." Kasumi winked at the woman causing her to blush deeply and smile simultaneously, "Ria…"

What was she going to say? A confession of love was not what she was going for here, it was still too soon and sudden for that.

_Talk about making things really awkward. "We've only known each other for a little more than a week, I love you!" _Kasumi chuckled within her own thoughts, _yeah, definitely not going to make an utter fool of myself. I may be a hopeless romantic, but I'm not a fool. Even if I know I'm falling for her I'm not throwing that word around until we've been around each other longer._

Was she going for a goodbye then? _No, that's too dramatic and I don't want her to worry more than she already is._

Perhaps honestly telling her what she felt was the best route. It would quell any doubts Ria had on Kasumi's feelings and also allow her to tell her something real. _I just have to word it without an "I love you" in it._ "I think you're beautiful. I've never felt as attracted as I am to you to any other woman or man, except for Keiji. I've thought a lot about you since we left."

Kasumi had too. She wondered how they were settling in with Aya and Iliana, what Ria was doing and if she was thinking about her as well. But mostly she thought about the short time they spent together.

She thought about how…magnificent it felt to touch and be touched by someone she felt attracted to, even with her armor on. How calming Ria's eyes were and how they reminded her of the ocean, so much depth and vast amounts of life within them that she wished she could be a castaway within them.

The thief thought about how infectious Ria's smile was and how it always reached her eyes when she smiled at her and how it made her heart thud loudly and hard within its cage. Watching the true happiness in the Asari's eyes when she found the thief and her daughter roaming the Normandy, talking or reading together, it made Kasumi remember how great love could be.

"I think about the time we spent together. Being around you…it made me feel at peace even with all the chaos going on." _I miss you._ "I…I wish we had been able to spend together."

"We will." Ria stated firmly. Her firmness remained but a smile graced her lips, "You have bragging rights to attain, remember?" To that the thief let out a laugh. Yes, the bragging rights of surviving a suicide mission were of importance. It would mean they had all survived despite the terrible odds they faced.

The Asari's features changed once more to one of earnest truth with her voice filled with sincerity, "I feel the same. You are a majestic and remarkable woman full of kindness. The time we spent together was short, but I cherish that time we had. I know now my feelings are not some figment of my imagination caused by the changes going on in my life."

It felt…good to know that. Really good. Knowing there they both held deeper feelings for one another that were not caused by anything except the mutual attraction between them made a huge difference to the thief's mood. She felt brighter, giddy, and ecstatic all at the same time

Her mind felt clearer than it had been before speaking to Ria. There were no pestering questions gnawing at her mind making her wonder whether or not there was something besides a lot more thievery awaiting her after the mission was over.

She really wanted to see what would happen between them, would they steal each other's hearts? Only by surviving the suicide mission would the thief be able to find out.

"You also have beautiful black hair on top of a nice body." Ria smirked at her.

The thief glanced down and saw that her long dark locks were draped down her shoulders. _I forgot I let my hair down. _The rest of the Asari's compliment reached her ears making the thief happy her hood obscured her blush. Or it would have if Ria's smirk did not become a victorious one knowing full well the thief was blushing.

"Hmm. I see why you like making me blush so often. It's quite enjoyable being on this end of it." The Asari teased. Yes, it really was enjoyable being on the other end of it…yet it also was fun to be on the side of it she was on now.

_I can't let her get the upper hand though. _Kasumi went to retort only to stop short at the sound of Aya's voice in the distance. Ria turned to listen to her friend and immediately the master thief missed staring into her gorgeous eyes. The thief couldn't make out what she was saying due to how quick the words were pouring from her mouth but the light blue skinned Asari nodded to her, "I will be there shortly, Aya."

_Seems duty calls for her too. I guess I do need to start preparing my weapons and armor. Not that it will take me long. _"You have to go?" Kasumi asked when the Asari met her eyes again. She already knew the answer and it was okay…more or less. The thief really wanted to continue speaking to her and allow herself to soak in the bliss conversing with Ria gave her.

But she knew she could not monopolize all of Ria's time, not when they were mere hours away from embarking on what would be a tough battle she had to be prepared for on the fly.

"Yes." The Asari answered reluctantly. "I wish I could stay longer but Aya needs my help. I'm sure she is driving herself into a panic over a mundane task after speaking to Ty. She was talking faster than usual." Ria mused.

"You would think she would have grown used to the stress of worrying about Ty gives her." Kasumi jested.

Ria gave a small laugh and a nod of agreement, "Yes. On that we agree." She sighed after her statement, her features turning serious once more. "Good luck to you Kasumi. I will be praying for you all over the next hours."

Kasumi smiled and pointed to the cheek Ria had kissed, "I've got your good luck on my side, remember? I'll be back in no time."

Ria gave her a smile in return, "I will hold you to that. Please be safe, Kasumi."

"I will do my best. Tell Alia I said hi."

"Of course. Goddess be with you, Kasumi." The Asari said then disconnected the vid-call.

The thief closed her omni-tool and grabbed her gloves and hair tie off the table in front of her. It was time to start her final preparations for the mission. Although the mission ahead would be a tough one, Kasumi had no doubts over their possibility of success and no stresses plaguing her now.

_Thank you for calling, Ria. _Kasumi slipped her gloves on and ponytailed her hair once more before exiting her room, _I will see you after we're done taking down the Collectors._ She smirked, _if I didn't make it back there would be no one to make you blush and that would be such a travesty._

Yes, the thief was ready for what was ahead of her now.

* * *

Miranda sat at her desk going over ship diagnostics to ensure the safety of the remaining crew. Surprisingly, the ship was running just as good as it did when they had a full crew, perhaps even better. With EDI unshackled she was able to take over all of the duties of the crew and do them just as good, if not better, than the organics in charge before – not that the Cerberus operative was thinking of ditching their crew.

No, they were going to rescue them and bring them back from the clutches of the Collectors. The raven haired woman knew the mission ahead was without a doubt going to be one of the toughest battles Shepard's squad had faced, the odds of their survival were very low actually…but she had faith in Shepard's leadership.

For all her doubts at the beginning of her time on the Normandy, the N7 really did live up to the legend she had created through her actions. Of course there was more to the woman than the stories; she was a person after all, although Miranda had not thought about her in such a way until they had gotten to know one another better.

Time on the Normandy had changed her. She knew how different she was at the beginning of their mission compared to now. The Ice Queen had lived up to her given title, she had been extremely loyal to Cerberus – blindly so – and the crew had all been expendable. The only person not expendable was Shepard, she was the only person who had mattered but it hadn't been because they were friends or because she had spent two years working on her.

It was all because Shepard was the icon the galaxy needed to look to; the hero people would follow into hell and back all for the sole reason of believing in her. To be honest, Miranda had been skeptical. She didn't know what the N7 was going to be like, which was why she had wanted to plant a control chip in her when she was still dead.

That hadn't happened though. Looking back now it was for the best. Not only did she not trust the Illusive Man with someone like Shepard in his control but she regretted wanting it. The Cerberus operative couldn't believe after living under the controlling thumb of her father that she didn't think twice about taking away the commanders ability to be in control of herself.

The thought bothered her greatly, but it was one she compartmentalized and stuck to the side to deal with later. Now wasn't the time for those thoughts.

Shepard had proved her strength of leadership though. It was…amazing really. The Cerberus crew at the least had started out as Miranda's people, but now all of them – herself included – were Shepard's crew. The woman, she was someone the raven haired woman wished she could be when it came to leadership and people skills.

Miranda knew she lacked a lot of what made Shepard great at both. For all her perfections, she was still imperfect. Perhaps that made her more human than artificial creation, or maybe it was the other way around.

It was hard to say, even for her.

The N7 had become a friend though; she had melted the icy personality of the Ice Queen and showed her true kindness despite her rough attitude and loyalty to Cerberus. As much as Miranda _loathed _saying it, Ty was right about a lot when it came to things he said about Cerberus, his unwavering belief in Shepard, and the crew.

Cerberus was not all sunshine, butterflies and unicorns dashing through rainbow flowerbeds – Miranda had known that from the start. They weren't perfect and they crossed lines all the time. She had seen much of it, yet she had not _seen_ anything. All she saw were justifications for ends that were meant to make the means to get there worth it.

Never once had she stopped and asked herself whose lives they were ruining to get there because on the statistical charts those "_small inconveniences_" were dwarfed by the greatness achieved or lives spared. Lives like Jack's, her father's creations before her, her own life or Ty's family.

Hard decisions and sacrifices had to be made, but how much were they really willing to sacrifice at the end of the day? Would they give up all of their humanity in an attempt to protect humanity? Were terrible experiments like Project Overlord really necessary?

Surely there was some other way to achieve peaceful relations without subjugating a person to such an experiment to then subjugate an entire race. That was not meant to be a first option, that was a last resort at the end of all other exhausted avenues and last resorts.

Subjecting children to experiments to try to create the ultimate biotic weapon? How many more kids would they have killed had Jack not destroyed them all? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Were lives truly just a statistic?

If they were then that made Cerberus no different than the Collectors and Reapers. Perhaps it made them worse because they were doing it to their own people.

Miranda shut down her terminal and sat back in her chair bringing her hand to her chin in thought. _How much is the Illusive Man willing to sacrifice for "the sake of humanity?" Hypothetically if humanity survived with the most people and resources and he was in charge of it, would the galaxy he was in charge of be a better place?_

_No. _The Cerberus operative shook her head, _and I'm positive he'd turn humanity into an army of Saren's if he believed it would bring us above all the other races. _The answer was so simple, yet she hadn't seen it for her entire tenure in Cerberus.

Whatever ties she had left to the group were steadily being severed. Cerberus was no longer a group she wanted an association with. After this mission was over she'd figure out exactly how she would leave it all behind, but for now her focus was needed elsewhere.

All of her preparations were ready for the mission ahead of them, the squad was ready or finishing their own preparations now with hours to spare doing whatever it was they wished. Meditating, praying, playing cards, calibrating; they were all spending their time in some way to pass the time towards what could feel like impending doom ahead of them.

Miranda occupied herself with the diagnostics and reports at first, but her thoughts trailed back to the ending of the conversation she had with Z a little while ago and their time spent together during the shore leave.

_"Ty will be fine. Trust me. I'll let you get back to work, but be safe, alright?" He had told her._

_"You know I can't promise that, Z…as much as I wish I could." She had responded truthfully. There was no promising such a thing in the face of their odds, not when there was a chance for things to go so wrong._

_The green eyed man chuckled humorously making her raise an eyebrow in question, "I know, but you see even though my brother, father and I know we can never really promise it either, we do. It helps to sedate the worry we feel for one another when we were going out to find trouble. It also gives us a way to tell each other we told the one who got hurt to be safe."_

_ "Why am I not surprised?" Miranda chuckled softly._

_ "If I had to guess it's because Ty has hit you with 'I told you so's' before." He sighed, "I'm not going to force you to make a promise you aren't sure you can keep. Besides I know Ty and Shepard are going to watch after all of you guys, you'll get out of it fine."_

Their conversation had ended shortly after that yet Miranda felt somewhat guilty for not promising such a simple promise he knew wasn't exactly possible. It brought her back to their time spent together here in her room during the crew shore leave.

They had spoken to one another at length for some time to get to know each other better than they did…it was one of the few rare times Miranda had ever opened up to anyone she was seeking an entanglement with, whether romantic or physical.

And he listened…really listened. He didn't half-listen; he didn't pretend to listen while staring at her body. Z had given her his full undivided attention. It was strange to find someone who actually cared. The Cerberus operative had tried dating sites and had approached them like an operation.

Most did not last long. Usually they were the more interested in everything between her neck and upper thighs, not her. She had a few purely physical one night entanglements, under a different identity of course, but Miranda had never found a man who had treated her as more than a tool to please themselves with.

Needless to say she had been left very unsatisfied over the years and had walked out on more than a few men, as well as knocked out a few men for their impudence. She had always thought she'd find the person who would appreciate her in some kind of "high-class" establishment, yet they had been some of the lowest class people she had the pleasure of meeting, if you could call it pleasure.

The person she thought would treat her right the most was always some clean shaved man who wore a suit and was of some intelligence and class. Little did she realize that her idea was the exact opposite of who would treat her better than she had ever been treated.

Z was different than them all. He didn't look at her like a tool or as the perfection she was created to be. He…looked at her like a person. He listened intently, answered questions and spoke with honesty instead of with thinly veiled lies to get her into bed. He thought her eyes were beautiful and she knew he meant it because he had only stared into her eyes the entire time they spoke.

Admittedly, Miranda was not sure what to do with him. How he acted was not how she was used to…and it scared her, made her put up defenses where none needed to be. Never once did he believe her invitation to join her in her cabin was an invitation for sex. He didn't even touch her until she prompted the initial touch by placing a hand on his then retracting it right away.

The man made her feel utterly confused, she wasn't used to these…romantic feelings she had building for him. Normally any man who had spent this much time with her would be dead because they were a target or she would kick them out of her life. Miranda Lawson was not someone who got connected with others.

Relationships were not something she did; romantic involvement for her was rarer than Halley's Comet because it never happened. To actually be the one to initiate physical contact was not like her at all either.

She also had no clue of what she was doing. The raven haired woman had already been out of her element by wearing something casual instead of her catsuit which despite showing the form of her body was an armor and a mask for her. It made her appear confident, allowed her to put on the Ice Queen persona.

_Knowing Ty he'd probably call it "my secret identity" as a "space super heroine." _Miranda chuckled at her own thought because she knew the man would resort to calling it something so childish. _I admit, reluctantly at that, that his childish humor does lighten the mood from time to time. _

In any event, casual clothes were not the same. She was…well, just her. She was the artificial creation meant to be perfect, yet all she could see were her flaws. Her beauty, her body, every part of her down to the smallest fragments of genetic coding…all of it was because of her father's desire to build dynasty of perfection.

It made her unable to take compliments for what they would mean to someone normal. All Miranda saw in herself were her failures, her inabilities to be or do certain things because of one reason or another. Her Ice Queen attitude helped her to keep everyone at arms distance. It gave her the ability to hide her insecurities and failures with sheer cold confidence.

The time she had spent with Z though, she had none of those barriers. She was just her, the woman who really didn't know what normal was, the person who didn't know what her feelings were or what to do with them in such a situation…and he had been fine with that.

He was patient, willing to give her space or close the distance between them all in an effort to help her through her stunted emotions hidden away under layers and layers of ice. The man was genuine in his care and efforts. Z always waited to see if a subject he asked about was not to be approached or if bringing her hand into his own was too much physical contact for her at the moment.

Unlike some men who took the liberty to touch her however they wished without her consent, and usually ended up a bloody unconscious mess, Z didn't overstep his boundaries. He knew no meant no. He respected her privacy and didn't dig for information on her.

Granted the brothers knew some of her darkest secrets thanks to the mission to rescue Oriana and their own research prior to the suicide mission, but even with that knowledge in his hands she did not feel as if he had power over her or as if he would ever use it against her.

Z was, above all else, comfortable. It was a feeling Miranda had never felt with any other man and it surprised her. This man, at the beginning of their mission, was not someone she would have trusted at all. He was an enemy of Cerberus and was more likely to kill her than play nice.

It was why Ty was chosen of the two brothers. Yes the stories of the youngest had painted him as a loose cannon Miranda did not want on the ship, but he had been searching for Shepard. The sight of her could have ended in a gun battle, but the Illusive Man had been certain he was looking to work with her.

Knowing now that he had actually helped Liara retrieve the N7s body, the raven haired woman was unsurprised why the Illusive Man had believed that. Z on the other hand, he had lived for the last few years with the mandate to kill any and all Cerberus affiliated members on sight.

Unapproachable in other words. His disdain for the Alliance did not reach the same level, but he was definitely the likelier of the two to pull the trigger on Shepard or the squad at the beginning of it all.

To feel comfortable enough to lower her guard and even grow feelings for the man…it felt insane.

Miranda got out of her seat at her desk and moved over to a reclined seat angled in her room to allow her to stare out a small window into the stars. There was a calming sense to staring out at the abyss as they were heading towards their destination.

What helped her more were her final thoughts on the time she shared with Z. The comfortable feeling she had around him compared to all the other feelings she had experienced around men ranging from dull to disgusted eased her thoughts on them being insane.

_Hell, Shepard and Ty are a crazier pair than we are. At least Z and I are both wanted by the Alliance, albeit for different reasons. _Witnessing those two together…it made Miranda feel comfortable with the idea of pursuing something other than her work. If those two could do it and were willing to work through whatever came, why shouldn't she take the time to try to experience something normal?

The raven haired woman knew there were risks, but with the Reapers threatening the galaxy they seemed so small in scale. She enjoyed the time they had spent together talking and the simple gesture of holding hands.

It felt…normal. Like all of the chaotic problems she had on her plate didn't actually exist. She was just her and Z was just Z, and they were together. No outside issues, no worries about the Illusive Man peering over her shoulder, no worries about their mission…just comfortable normalcy, or something she believed was what normal felt like.

That night they hadn't done anything, they just fell asleep on her bed holding one another. Again the Cerberus operative had never felt so relaxed in the close proximity of another person, ever. She had woken up in the same manor she had fallen asleep in and found Z still there already awake.

Another rare occurrence although she was going to chock that one up to his genetic structure. From what she was able to figure out based on all the researching she did on Ty's, they were both engineered to need less sleep and could even survive without food longer than the average human.

It explained how Ty was able to train himself to go without eating for days at a time prior to Shepard forcing him to eat every day. _I'm positive Vance was planning towards the goal of creating some kind of army of super soldiers. It would be ingenious if it wasn't completely immoral to do what he did to children then raise them to know nothing but war or orders._

She was happy their father had killed the man.

After exchanging small quips with Z upon waking Miranda had done something she did not expect.

Miranda Lawson, who did not grow attached to others, kissed him first. The look of surprise on his face would have been entertaining had she not fallen into the same shock. The raven haired woman had sat up after that and tried to start boarding up her walls again…but at the feel of his hand resting on hers she stopped.

She had turned back to face him with a shaky apology on her lips for doing something completely ludicrous, but found the words would not form once her eyes met his green orbs. There was no expectation in those eyes, no pushing for her to kiss him again or hard grip on her hand.

He just gave her a warm understanding look and said, _"It's okay."_

It was okay if that was as far as she wanted to go at that moment, it was okay for her to leave and get her thoughts in order if that was what she needed…it was okay for her to be scared of what she was feeling and unsure of what to do.

He had let his hand fall off of hers and began to get up himself while her heart pumped hard in her chest and loudly in her ears like the sound of a million Krogan marching to war. _"You want breakfast?"_ Z had asked her moving forward already or to get her thoughts away from her rising nervousness over what she had done.

Miranda wasn't sure which it was, even now as she thought back on it. All she did know was for the second time that day she had initiated their kiss. He hadn't even got off the bed when she gently brought her hand to his chin and turned his head for their lips to meet again.

From there until Ty interrupted them, which was a few hours later, they kissed and held one another. Never before had Miranda felt such passion within a kiss. She had experienced kisses of many ranges from small pecks to men sticking their tongue down her throat and then sucking it right back in when her knee met their groins for their uninvited entry and aggressive actions of pushing, literally pushing, her roughly against a wall.

How she never gave up on finding a romantic partner after so many bad experiences was beyond the raven haired woman.

With Z though she experienced something she had no idea existed. Passion had always eluded her in her entanglements and some of that was her own fault. The Cerberus operative knew she wasn't the most experienced person when it came to interacting with others. She could be curt, rough and demanding.

Passion of the kind she felt, to actually show that to another human being felt like showing weakness or as if they would grow too attached to one another. Having ties to others wasn't something she could do and be honest about, not with who she worked for.

In their time kissing one another she was able to experience true passion for the first time in her life. It made her understand why Shepard and Ty always looked so satisfied after kissing or spending time together.

Everyone on the Normandy could see the connection the two had, the care they held for one another was easy to see just by seeing the two catch one another's eyes for a mere second. To be honest, Miranda had been quite envious of that.

Part of her found it hard to believe that what they were showing were true feelings instead of machinations put on as a show for others. No one she had ever known whether in a relationship or not had ever showed such true feelings for someone else.

There was no hook forcing one of them to stay together out of fear of some dark secret coming out. It wasn't some kind of game they were playing to keep up appearances or anything of that sort. They…actually loved one another, deeply.

Miranda had never experienced or witnessed in others the kind of love she saw in Shepard and Ty.

She would not readily say she and the elder brother were in love like those two, but the passion in the kiss they shared and the time they spent together made her wish they were. Not because she believed Z would be like how Ty acted with Shepard, but because what she felt for him and in that kiss with him…it was real.

Possibly the first positive real thing she had ever felt in her life.

Throughout her childhood there was always a hook behind something her father did, after she escaped all she had was her work with Cerberus and the terrible attempts at romantic involvement. It wasn't until the mission she was on now that she had started opening herself up to others.

The raven haired woman knew she had a long way to go to get a grasp at what she was feeling and how not to immediately start putting distance or walls up to Z…but for now she had something else of importance to do.

Miranda opened her omni-tool and sent a quick message to the man in her thoughts. It was a simple message and something she knew she should have said when they spoke last.

_I promise._

* * *

The crew was ready, of that Ty was certain. He had swung by to check in on everyone and though there was tension, they were ready. All that was left was checking in on the commander of their rag tag team and then he'd consider his work done until the battle.

Ty exited the elevator and moved to the door to Shepard's cabin. As he reached it he brought his hand up to knock only to stop short at the sight of his hand.

It was still shaking.

* * *

Shepard stood in front of her large fish tank watching her fish swim around in the great blue world they lived in. There was peace in watching them swim around; it quelled what little nervousness she had left for the mission ahead of her.

They were going to the Omega 4 Relay to rescue their crew and kick some Collector ass. She probably should have felt more worried about what was ahead of her, but she wasn't. This was just another mission and one the N7 knew had to succeed for many different reasons.

They wouldn't fail. Her squad was ready, her ship was better than it was before. Would it be a cake walk? No. Would she let the scope of the mission make her fidgety? No.

After everything she had survived from Akuze to the attack on the Citadel and her revival after being spaced, the Collectors were not something she was afraid of. They were just another enemy, another target for her to set her sights on and explode them into smithereens.

The sapphire eyed woman would not underestimate them as they would do to her team. To the Collectors and Reapers they were nuisances who couldn't change anything. Even if the Reapers were right, they would fight regardless.

There was no way anyone in her squad would lay down and let the Collectors or Reapers kill them without a fight. Each and every one of them had the drive to live and kill the enemies that threatened their lives and the lives of their comrades.

That will to live was something their enemies would never destroy.

Shepard was ready for what was ahead of her, at least with the Collectors. The Reapers themselves were another ball game to deal with after they were done with their puppets. They were the true test and the true enemy, the bug beings were just repurposed Prothean's they were in control of. There was a war on the horizon, a galactic war none of the races were ready for.

She knew she'd have to go back to the Alliance after the Collectors were dead. Hackett could only delay so long and the commander knew her time was running short. Whether it was a day, a week or a month before he would call her back it did not change the inevitability of dealing with the ramifications of the Bahak system.

Would she just sit by and let them put her to death without a fight? No. Hell no. The Reapers were on the horizon and the galaxy needed to stop living in ignorance about it. She would raise her voice as loud as she could so all of the galaxy could hear the danger of what was coming.

Shepard did not know if anyone would try to prepare or if her fighting within the Alliance would get her own people to do anything, but she had to try. What was ahead of them was either a long bloody war they would win by the skin of their teeth, or their ultimate destruction just like the countless cycles before them.

_And I'm not just going to let them destroy my cycle._ Someone would take her warnings seriously, someone would trust her words instead of burying her words as lies. There were also the people in her squad she knew wouldn't sit back and do nothing. They would continue searching for ways to fight the Reapers and hopefully destroy them.

Liara was one of the people and Ty's family was another group that wouldn't stop. _Even if the Alliance won't listen to me, at least I know they will keep up their search for a way to defeat them. They'll continue sending out warnings and trying to bring people together._

None of her plans were foolproof, especially considering the rest of the galaxy wanted to live in blissful ignorance. She couldn't blame them. The knowledge of the Reapers was something that haunted her waking and sleeping hours equally, but it wasn't a problem that would go away by pretending they didn't exist.

So many preparations could have been done from the time after Sovereign was defeated to now; instead nothing was being done or at least nothing big. Eventually the nightmare of the Reapers was no longer going to be a ghost story about how they were just a ship created by the Geth…eventually the galaxy would wake up to find that the nightmare was very real and they were all unprepared for it.

But that fight wasn't the fight she was fighting today. To spend her hours worrying about it when she was about to go into battle in a prelude to that war would do nothing positive for her.

The sapphire eyed commander had to remain focused. Her eyes had to stay on the target in front of her and not the one she would have in her sights next otherwise she would miss her first enemy.

For now Shepard was allowing herself to remain in a calm sea as she watched her fish swim about. She had fed them a little while ago along with Invictus so her pets were all satisfied. The N7 had already checked her mail finding a return message from her mother who was happy to hear from her and wished her well.

Of course she was also worried about her and wanted her to be careful on whatever it was that she was doing but that was expected. Shepard was pleased to hear from her and happy her mother was not exceptionally angry with her or looking to disown her. _I guess Ty was right about that, _she smirked to herself, _I'm probably going to hear an "I told you so" from him if he's still watching my mail._

On another note Joker was doing better after venting a little and then apologizing for really not meaning it. He and EDI were also getting along a lot better to the point Joker was calling her "she" and "her" instead of "it" and "the intercom."

EDI also referred to him as "Jeff" instead of "Mr. Moreau" as she had the entire time they had been working together on this mission. It was nice to see and it also gave the commander more ammo to give her pilot and friend a hard time with considering EDI was pretty much the ship now and Joker _loved_ the Normandy.

_Well at least I can finally get the mute button fixed after we rescue the crew, no sense in keeping it broken now since he won't use it._

She hadn't forgotten about her blatant sabotaging of the mute button in hers and Garrus's retaliation for the pilots comments about her and Ty prior to them being an item and the Turian's calibrations. It had been requisitioned to be fixed for some time now and it was only because she found Joker's annoyance at the lack of a mute humorous that she hadn't let it be fixed.

EDI was a valuable part of the team and the organic pilot was now realizing the piloting of the Normandy was so much better when the two were at the helm.

A knock at her door stopped Shepard's thought on the A.I. and her friend. _I wonder who that could be? I want to say it is Ty because I haven't seen him at all since we debriefed, but why would he knock? In any case, I should probably throw my tank top on._ She looked down at herself to see her bra covered chest and shorts on with her blue tank top in her pocket, _if it is anyone else answering the door like this would be really awkward._

The commander had taken a quick shower almost thirty minutes ago now and hadn't put her shirt back on right after it partly because she was comfortable without it on and partly because she started taking care of her animals right away.

"Just a minute!" She called to the door as she pulled her tank top out of her pocket and onto her body. Once she readjusted the clothing on her body the N7 moved to the door opening it as soon as she reached it.

"Permission to come aboard?" Ty's hooded face did not shadow out the teasing smirk on his face nor did it shadow the fact the smile did not reach his eyes. _Something is wrong;_ the commander could see it in his eyes. What that something was she would have to find out.

Instead of attacking the issue first she smiled and waved him in, "Permission granted, Specialist." In classic Ty fashion he mocked a salute before proceeding into her room. Shepard followed slowly after him taking note of the subtle shake to his hands and stiffness of the rest of his body.

_He must be trying to hide it, _which wouldn't surprise her in the slightest. The man had a habit of hiding any pain or other negative feelings he felt if he believed others were in more need than him, which was most of the time in his eyes.

_He wasn't all there in his eyes either. He looks distracted…fearful even._ The N7 stopped at her desk as she watched Ty proceed down towards the bed, _I've seen him jump right at a thresher maw without fear and many other times where he threw himself in front of death showing no sign of being afraid…but that doesn't mean that he isn't capable of feeling it._

_"Do you have any fear?" Shepard had asked him some time ago. _

_ Ty had nodded in response, "Yeah I do. Anyone who tells you they don't are liars."_

Was the Omega 4 Relay and the Collectors causing him to doubt himself and fear the worst possibilities? The probability was high and wasn't something she'd say was unwarranted. The Omega 4 Relay had not been survived by anyone save for the Collectors and the bug beings had taken their crew.

Calling their mission a suicide mission wasn't just for show, there was a possibility they could all die although she doubted it. The commander believed in her team and believed they would all make it out alive, if she thought anything less they'd probably all die.

"What's bothering you, Ty?" She asked as he began pacing slightly in front of her bed.

"I…you know I've thrown myself headfirst in front of ridiculous shit that I've been lucky to walk away from." He started. She gave a nod of agreement and for him to continue as she leaned against the wall created by her ship model case. Whatever it was he needed to say, she'd listen and do her best to comfort him. "I've nearly died so much that the people of Omega started the saying that I've died many times or think I'm the ghost of me."

His voice was steady portraying him to be calm when his hands and body betrayed him. "I've watched helplessly as friends, the people I cared the most for, were murdered by my enemies…I did a lot of bad things to make those people pay as I tried to mend the wounds I left others as well as the wounds I was left. It wasn't until I met you that I actually felt like I made some progress."

Shepard made her way down the stairs closer to the bed and the man who was going to create a rut in the ground with how much he was pacing. She needed to ease his worries, to calm the storm within his mind. "Ty-" She rested her hand on his shoulder trying to stop him but the former mercenary continued pacing.

"I felt despair, anger, sorrow. I lost myself to all of it…" He stopped at the secondary desk adjacent to her bed resting his hands on it as he leaned forward, "Yet never once did I feel afraid of dying. Heh." Ty forced a less than humorous chuckle, "I welcomed it. I wanted it. Never feared it…but here I am unable to stop my hands from shaking. I'm afraid…of failing, of losing you…of dying."

Ty suddenly slammed his right fist into the table. His veins became visible as the blue darkened and his muscles tensed out. The resounding thud echoed in Shepard's ears as she watched with a saddened expression. Even with the punch his hands were still shaking, it was time for her to intervene. "I shouldn't be like this!" He seethed quietly. "I shouldn't be here like this, I shouldn-"

The purple eyed warrior stopped whatever he was going to say as she slid her hands down his forearm to his hand. She held his hand gently and placed a kiss on his shoulder, "We won't fail and we won't die." She soothed.

"Shepard-"

"Shh." The N7 forced his hand open with little effort and intertwined it with her own; it was trembling in her grasps. "Don't be afraid."

"Are- are we going to make it through this Vanessa? I've nearly killed myself so many times…but never has anything felt like this. The odds aren't stacked in our favor." His voice lost its steadiness falling into the state his hands were in.

"We're going to make it." She answered firmly. "The odds are always going to be against us, we haven't let that stop us before and we won't now." The sapphire eyed woman used her free hand to turn his chin to face her, his eyes were fully purple yet she could still see the emotions flooding them. In hopes of comforting him she gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "Don't let them steal your courage."

Shepard felt his hand start to ease as the veins in his arms returned to normal and the purple flooding his eyes retreated to how they usually were. "Whatever happens…" He said as he retracted his hand from hers and took a step away from the table. "Thank you, for everything you've done for me. I owe you more than I could ever repay, even if I lived a thousand lifetimes."

The purple eyed man looked down at his hands as he took another step away from her, "Ty, you don't owe me any debt." Shepard tried to assure as she took a step towards him trying to close the distance he was unconsciously putting between them.

Ty shook his head in disagreement, "No. I do. You…you gave me my life back, gave me a reason to live and made me remember how good life could be. You took a chance on me despite who I was and helped me rescue people I care about who would have died without your aid. You…you saved me from myself Shepard."

The N7 placed her hands in his, "Ty." He lifted his eyes from his hands to meet her eyes, "Stay here, with me. Please."

She feared he would let go, that he'd walk away with how he was talking. The way he was speaking was like a prelude to a goodbye or the man telling her he was unworthy of her love. So she waited patiently with worry filling her to hear his answer to her plead.

"…Are you propositioning me, Commander?" The man asked his voice caught between his previous shaky voice and his attempt to try to jest.

"That depends on you, Specialist." She joked with a smile forming on her lips. Ty let out a genuine chuckle at the small joke. Seizing the opportunity to close what distance remained between them Shepard stepped forward and brought her hands to his hood pulling it back so it no longer shadowed his face. "Stay?" She asked.

"Of course." Shepard smiled and embraced him in a warm hug that he reciprocated. For a long moment they held one another finding solace in the embrace, something they were both in need of. Though Shepard was not as nervous as Ty was, she did still hold some worry over what they were going into.

Mostly she was just happy to provide the former mercenary shelter from the storm raging within him. Shepard placed a small kiss on his neck, "Let's spend what time we have together as if it is the last hours we have." She whispered quietly.

Ty answered by meeting her lips in a passionate kiss that made her long for so much more.

Using the remaining hours they had the two lovers shared their love with one another as if it really was their final hours together.

There was a storm ahead of them, but for now they had each other and it was there they found peace.


	109. Chapter 108

Chapter 108

Promises

"Commander, we will be arriving at the Omega 4 Relay in twenty minutes." EDI's synthesized voice entered Shepard's cabin via the intercom.

_So, the time has come._ Shepard shut her eyes and exhaled a steady breath. _It's time to get our crew back and destroy the Collectors._ She was ready for the battle ahead of them, ready to save her crew and destroy the Collectors once and for all.

It had been a long time coming. Their first actions against her had been destroying the first Normandy and killing her. During the two years she had been dead they had continued on with their plans by taking entire human colonies. How many? She didn't know. The N7 wasn't really sure she wanted to know the total amount of lives taken thus far.

Freedoms Progress was the first one she had seen personally, the entirety of the colony abandoned except for the few Quarian's who were searching for Veetor, Tali being one of them.

Veetor, the sole survivor of the abduction, had managed to piece together and show them the surveillance of the Collectors taking the colony. It was the moment she had decided just this once she would use the help of Cerberus to defeat a greater threat. Deep down the commander never forgave the terrorist group for Akuze or the other atrocities she had come across and hated she had no one from her old team there to watch her back.

Her hate was quelled when she reunited with Joker, but her desperate desire to be reunited with for her old team and old love never disappeared. Two years hadn't passed for her even though the rest of the galaxy had moved on in that time. To wake up to a galaxy that looked the same yet felt completely different was jarring.

Either way she needed a team to take down the Collectors and would accept any who would give her aid. With the Alliance and Council unwilling to do anything about the Collectors except offer condolences to those who lost loved ones she had no reason to be picky over who joined her.

That was how she was led to Ty, an event she wouldn't change for anything. He hadn't been what she expected and after him she was reunited with Garrus. As she recruited more people she began to feel right at home on the Normandy. It wasn't a Cerberus ship, it was her ship with a few old faces and new ones she was starting to call friends.

Eventually her second experience with the Collectors came. Horizon was a colony they had managed to save some of the people from the grasps of the Collectors. It was also the place Shepard had been reunited with her old lover, Kaiden.

Her heart had been filled with a flurry of emotions at seeing him again, alive. Happiness filled her…and it was soon replaced by heartbreak. She couldn't blame him for being angry at her, he had mourned for two years and the wound was raw for him.

To find her, in his eyes, working with Cerberus and forsaking the Alliance because of Ty being in her company had made him think she wasn't the same person she always was. The events of Horizon from the colonists lost to her own personal heartbreak had hurt really badly.

In the end she had forced herself to keep working, to keep pushing forward through the pain. Shepard had recruited Tali, nearly had her mind wiped, had a breakdown in the field against a Thresher Maw and back on the Normandy, recruited the final members of her team and continued on getting their heads straight.

Their next encounter with the Collectors was on their "disabled" ship. It was there they found out the Collectors were repurposed Prothean's as well as Ty having a Prothean nervous system tied in with his Asari, Drell, and human one.

That mission had been a trap set by the Collectors turning the mission FUBAR in a matter of seconds once they were deep in the ship. Thankfully they had escaped and figured out what they needed to take the fight straight to their base.

Heading straight for the IFF hadn't been the wisest decision since there were still personal matters to be taken care of, so Shepard held off on that mission and continued helping her squad out. During that time they had come across Project Overlord, she had steadily started falling in love with Ty who was falling as well and they had an all-out battle on Omega in the Ortega district.

There was also the Alpha Relay incident, which still haunted her, and then going onto the derelict Reaper to get the IFF in turn leading her to meet Legion.

Now here they were; everyone with their heads on straight, their crew kidnapped by the Collectors and twenty minutes away from going through the Omega 4 Relay to finish off the bug beings and save the crew. It had been a long road to get here, but it was their road to walk as they were nearing on their final destination.

All that was standing between them was a Relay no one ever survived and the bug beings themselves. The latter of the two didn't seem so bad definitely when she thought about how she, Ty and Tali had survived being trapped aboard their ship with only the former mercenary dislocating his shoulder as the worst injury.

Then again they were heading straight to their base where an unknown amount of Collectors awaited them. There could hundreds, thousands, or more within their base in the galactic core. At the same time, the Normandy had to first survive the Omega 4 before even worrying about the number of enemies they could be facing down.

They were going up against suicidal odds no matter what angle they looked at it from, but it didn't matter. They had done everything they could to be prepared for this fight. The Normandy was as upgraded as they could make it and they had the Reaper IFF installed which would hopefully get them through the Relay intact.

All that was left to do now was make the jump into the unknown in both a figurative and literal sense. Whatever lay ahead of them, she knew her team would pull through together to defeat the odds. It was what they had all prepared for and now it was time to turn their preparations into action.

Still, as ready as she was, she wished they had more time before reaching the Omega 4 Relay. Not because there was anything left to do or because there was some preparation left over that she had just remembered. No, it was for a much simpler reason.

The commander opened her eyes to stare across the tattooed and scarred bare chest of her lover. His chest rose and fell slowly, his breathing relaxed along with the rest of his body. His eyes had been closed prior to EDI telling them about the arrival but now they were open staring up at the glass ceiling and passing stars while his hand caressed her side.

She was curled up next to him under the sheet of her bed in a place of bliss where no problems existed. They had made love as if the last few hours they had just spent together were truly their last hours alive.

If their emotions hadn't been intense normally, which they were, then his mind meld had taken them to another level. It was as if they were of one mind, she could feel his love for her and pleasure as he could feel hers. It was amazing, mind blowing; it made her body shiver even now, an hour or so after their love making.

After the body quaking finale of their love making, the two had settled under the sheet to relax, recover and rest until the call came to go to battle. They hadn't spoken much after lying down; both had been lost in the comfort of being together and wished to soak up as much of it as they could.

She wanted to have more time like this before going into the fight, time where the problems of the galaxy did not seem to exist. It was something that Shepard had to look forward to in the future when the war against the Reapers was over. Once the death bringers were dead she wanted to retire from the Alliance and live out her remaining years in peace with the man she was cuddled up to.

The war had yet to happen in full force, but even now she knew it would take an even heavier toll than all of the events leading up to it in her life. There was little doubt in her mind that by the end of it she'd be weary of fighting and of being the one to make life altering decisions.

Hell, she was tired now. She was tired of the Alliance and Council not listening, tired of feeling like she was the only person who was doing anything to stop the Reapers, tired of wondering if the next battle would be her last. What she had witnessed and done prior to being spaced and through this mission consisted of more fighting, death and destruction than most Alliance marines ever witnessed.

It was only going to get worse going into the war against the Reapers; she knew it, her team knew it, Hackett and Anderson knew it. That was why she was going to retire after the war was over if the Alliance didn't court-martial her and give her the boot.

If they did then she'd just leave with Ty to wherever they would go. _As long as they allow me to help fight the Reapers and save our cycle, then I don't care what they decide afterwards._ She just wanted to finish what she had stumbled upon and then be done, if they decided to court-martial her afterwards then that was their choice.

The only thing Shepard wanted after the war was peace and tranquility with Ty. She'd stay in contact with and visit her friends, but when the war was over and she was no longer needed…she was done. Done fighting, done dealing with political bullshit, done being the soldier everyone called a hero.

The N7 couldn't do this forever, she had limits. Granted if the galaxy truly needed her after the war was over she would push through and help. It wasn't in her nature to damn everyone for her desire to leave behind her life as a Spectre and N7 who stumbled on a plot of a giant extinction cycle that had been going on for longer than they could track.

_But I'm going to have a damn vacation first. It's the least they can give me after everything I've had to go through._

Retirement was still far off though and an important battle was approaching. Doing away with those thoughts, the sapphire eyed woman turned her attention back to the A.I. informing her about their soon arrival. "Thanks EDI, we'll be down shortly."

"I guess that means it is time to go." Ty said quietly.

Shepard sat herself up on her elbow to look down into his purple eyes. He was not the man that had entered her cabin full of fear nor was he completely at ease with what was ahead of them. She couldn't blame him for his fear when he arrived earlier and she couldn't blame him now.

They were about to launch themselves into the galactic core to take out an enemy who stole colonies with ease. Their foes were despicable yet worthy of cautious respect. Diving in headfirst without a real plan would only end in their rescue efforts failing.

And failure was not an option available here.

The sapphire eyed woman brought her other hand to the former mercenary's left peck and began tracing his scars with a solitary finger. His scars were a reminder of what kind of headfirst diving he was capable of and that worried her immensely causing her to frown slightly.

On the Collector Base there would be no room for mistakes and there would certainly be no second chances. If he did something incredibly insane in an attempt to buy time or help the others and it ended in him getting wounded…there was no telling the full extent of damage that could be done or if he'd be able to make it through the whole fight.

"Ty, can you promise me something?"

"If you dare ask me to leave you behind if things are going to shit, I'm not going to be happy." He responded both lightheartedly and full of seriousness.

"It's not that." She stopped tracing his scars and met his eyes, "When we get into their base, promise me you won't do anything crazy. You said it yourself; you've done things you've been lucky to walk away from. You…you may not get lucky in there."

The thought of him getting killed or captured or fatally wounded to the point he would sacrifice himself to give them more time…the possibilities haunted her because they were all plausible if he performed the stunts he usually did.

She could still see him impaled on the wall in Omega. She could see him being dragged away by the Thresher on Tuchanka as well as him jumping at it before getting hit by its arm and sent through the rickety metal tower.

Luck and his genetic makeup were the reasons for his survival, but mostly luck. How much more luck did he have was a question Shepard asked herself with each new idea he thought of mid-battle. Granted the ideas usually turned out for the best in battle with varying damage to him and deadly consequences for their enemies.

Sometimes the ideas even provided a laugh and a way to give him a hard time. With this upcoming battle though she didn't want anyone taking any unnecessary risks, not when they were so close to finishing this battle against the Collectors.

"I know I've gotten lucky and I don't plan on doing anything stupid when we get there." He said evenly.

"Promise me you won't."

"I'll promise that as long as you promise me you won't pull some heroic martyr act." The promise was a fair one and reminded her of Lizzy back on Akuze. She had forced her to continue running when Toombs had been pulled under telling her not to perform some _"heroic bullshit" _in her words because there was no way to save him.

_And then she sacrificed herself to save me._ It was an event that had shaped her and followed her throughout her life thus far. Losing Liz and all of the soldiers on Akuze hadn't been the end of it though. There was the incident of finding Toombs and then witnessing him kill himself right before her eyes, and then she lost Ashley.

Ty knew about all of the events like that now. When it came to the lives of her squad and her own life, she'd happily sacrifice herself for the people she cared for most so she didn't have to add another tally to the growing list of comrades lost.

It was for that reason he wanted her to promise she wouldn't throw herself to the Collectors to save the others. Ty was of the mind that they would all live and escape together or they'd all die. There was no losing anyone or leaving them behind option.

They were of the same mind when it came to that plan.

"I promise I won't." She promised.

He nodded, "And I promise I won't pull off some crazy stunt." A smile took form on his face, "Although if they have a Kakliosaur trapped and we're able to rescue it, I am _so_ riding that thing." Shepard rolled her eyes as her lips pulled into a smirk. She still had no idea what the creature was, but his desire to ride one was entertaining. "I suppose we should start getting ready."

As unfortunate as it was to have to leave there place of peace, the bug beings had a dose of her boot up their asses in need of immediate delivery. "Yeah." She sat herself all the way up allowing the sheet to fall off her torso down to her waist revealing her bare chest.

Lips pressed against her bare back and trailed along the outline of her tattooed right angel wing until they reached her shoulder. The N7 turned her head to meet the purple eyes of her lover, "No matter what we face, I'm with you to the end."

She brought her hand to his cheek, cupping it as she stared deep into his amethyst orbs. His words and loving stare warmed her heart. They were both in this relationship and fight to the end with one another, regardless of what obstacles they faced.

His confidence and belief in her abilities as a leader had never wavered through anything. In his eyes she could see his belief in her getting them through the fight alive burning brightly. Seeing it steeled her heart and readied her for what was to come. No matter what was ahead of them, as long as he believed in her she knew she could fight anything.

"I love you, Ty." Vanessa said tenderly.

"I love you, Vanessa." The man responded back with the same tone.

The pair shared and savored one last kiss before getting out of the bed and starting to get dressed and fully armed.

A dangerous battle laid ahead on the nearing horizon, a battle with the lives of her crew and the lives of human colonies lying in the balance. Yet neither the odds nor the weight of the mission would derail her confidence in the abilities of her team.

_We've made it this far. Now it's time to finish this once and for all._


	110. Chapter 109

Chapter 109

The Beginning of the End

Ty stood in Engineering at the terminal for the drive core awaiting their jump through the Omega 4 Relay. Shepard had gone down to debrief with the Illusive Man after leaving her room as he went down to help Tali with the engines. He was not more knowledgeable on engines than their Quarian engineer and with EDI unshackled she could more or less deal with it on her own.

He just wanted to be helpful somehow. There was no telling what was going to happen once they started going through the Relay. For all he knew EDI could be tasked to capacity in ensuring they survived it and wouldn't be able to keep the drive core stable.

Even if what he and Tali did only lightened her load by a little, that little bit could keep them all alive.

With the usual servicemen and women kidnapped, the squad had taken to helping wherever they could around the ship. Garrus remained calibrating the guns in the Main Battery in case they met the Collector Ship on the other side, although that was not surprising. The Turian was pretty much married to the guns and had spent his days from joining the squad to now calibrating them for this very mission.

Miranda was going to remain in the cockpit and CIC to coordinate with them all if Shepard was needed somewhere else on the ship. Otherwise the commander was going to performing her duty as the commander of the vessel.

Others were running diagnostics or waiting for their arrival at the base. Legion was a powerhouse for the former. He could run most of it on his own and inform the crew of what to do to keep the ship flying helping to make EDI's workload not much smaller, but just a little bit.

In the end they were all prepared for what laid ahead of them, even Ty who had been full of fear hours prior. His fears were more or less quelled and compartmentalized into the back of his mind. Compartmentalizing was what he had to do to keep the fears plaguing him previously from holding any power over him now.

Thinking of the mission as just another battle he was going into instead of what it really was would keep him focused, and focus was important to keep. It was why he chose to work on the engines.

Working on the engines helped to keep him from thinking about the possibilities of death and more on staying alive. By working he was given focus, focus kept the superfluous thoughts of impending doom from marching through his mind like a massive army taking over a pacifist monastery.

Thinking they would die would make it a possibility when it wasn't one. Dying and failure were not options for them, not here today and not in the war ahead. Believing anything else would lead their cycle down the same path as all the other cycles before them.

Ty had to believe dying and failure were not among any possibilities to keep himself from failing again like he had many times before. If he remained focus and confident in their success then there would be no worries about depleting morale among the squad. He'd be able to keep them bolstered and never allow Shepard to believe she couldn't succeed.

Granted the woman was completely confident in all of them. She wasn't shying away from the fight or believing their chances were so small they would not succeed. Her confidence alone kept everyone motivated to kick the bug beings from the galaxy core all the way out into dark space. Shepard believed in them and they all believed in her. Even in his previous state of mind his belief didn't waver in her, only in himself.

_How many times have I failed? How many times have I lost people I cared for and been forced to walk away alone?_ Ty shifted his gaze downwards to the terminal as he shut his eyes and clenched his hands into fists.

The memories of The Setting Sun crashing into the ground as the screams of his dying friends echoed in his comm flashed through his mind. He and Darian had walked away together that day as broken men, but his best friend had wisely left the life they lived behind. Ty on the other hand had continued to walk a path of vengeance alone, broken and filled with despair.

Then he had met Ka'Reena. She had given him a reason to live again. His old lover had begun putting the pieces of his soul back together with gentle hands until she too was ripped from his grasps because of the same people who took his friends.

That day, it was a day he would never forget no matter how much time passed. It was a day his soul was shattered into unrecognizable dust and would remain that way for years.

_I can't think like this. I need to stay focused. _

The former mercenary took a deep breath and released it letting his hands unclench as he did. He couldn't think about those thoughts again. Yes he had failed and had walked his own solitary path of hell. His hell had been filled with his own inner demons and many other slithery vile demonic creatures trying to drag him further down into hell…but he wasn't alone, not then and not now.

_I had separated myself from the people I cared for to try to protect them from dying because I saw myself as the cause of all the losses I sustained. But my family was always there, the spirits of my fallen friends were there, and now I have this crew and Shepard._

It was something he had to continue to remind himself of. As long as there were people who he could depend on and who depended on him, he couldn't let fear get in the way of protecting them. This crew needed him, Shepard needed him.

She had eased his nerves, renewed his spirit...reminded him there was someone who believed he wasn't a fool who got nearly everyone close to him murdered. Shepard…she was someone who took the time to unthaw the frozen dust particles that remained of his heart, reshape it back into the muscle and filled him with love.

The N7 had saved him from his own darkness, reminded him there were people in this life who were very much alive and cared deeply for him. She opened his eyes and reminded him of how good life and love could be when he wasn't loathing in self-pity waiting to die.

Ty knew deep down he owed her a life debt, even if she didn't believe it and didn't want him to. Facts were, without her recruiting him on Omega what felt like a lifetime ago he would have likely died or lost Haley. Without her he would have been getting his ass kicked by the spirits of his fallen friends and former lover for putting himself through hell for years.

Shepard had been the breath of life he had been desperately trying to inhale after losing Ka'Reena and thus the last of his oxygen. For all she had given him, he would stand by her through whatever hell they faced without fear and give her all of his love and support.

A war was ahead of them and he needed to be her island of tranquility when she sought shelter from the storm just as she had been for him. Adding on stress in the commander's already stressful life was not something the purple eyed warrior ever wanted to do.

Having a place of unconditional support, love and peace from the hell that was the rest of the galaxy was something she would need. Ty knew the Alliance and Council would throw all of their problems onto her shoulders, it was what they did with Saren and the many missions the Alliance had sent her to do during that time.

_That's if they don't court martial her and try to bury her, _Ty thought. _For all we know they'll try to rid themselves of her constant claims of Reapers, and when the shit hits the fan they'll act all surprised pretending she hasn't been warning them since Sovereign. Consistent idiocy is one thing you can count on with politicians._

He understood the desire to keep the belief that the Reapers weren't real. Mass panic would undoubtedly spread if the population of the galaxy knew Sovereign was but one of a large army who had varying firepower to match or be greater than it. Not to mention that there was no reasoning with them, they could indoctrinate all organic life just by being in the area and were hell bent on destroying their cycle just as they had done to a long line of races before.

The average citizen didn't want to know that, they didn't want to live in fear wondering if today was _the day_ when the galaxy gets flipped upside down and thrown into a blackhole, figuratively speaking.

Even though they were all just a grain of sand in a desert usually, to know their lives could easily be extinguished in a matter of seconds, months or years along with the entirety of their civilization…it was nightmarish.

When thinking of the average citizen Ty understood why the Council and Alliance would want to keep the Reapers as fairytale instead of fact. _I just hope they are doing some sort of preparation behind the scenes or a victory against the Collectors will be short lived._

The Alpha Relay incident wasn't the finest example of the Alliance doing something about the Reapers, but it did show some people were trying to figure out how to stop the Reapers. Either way the purple eyed warrior knew what he was going to do.

After the Collectors were finished and he departed from the Normandy, he was going to Omega. The mercenaries weren't exactly the most kindest or reasonable people in the entirety of the galaxy, but they had a lot of people and a lot of fire power.

All they needed was someone to lead them and point their guns at the right targets. He wasn't the man for the job; he had too much bad blood with all three major power players of Omega. A power vacuum was also undoubtedly forming with how much damage the Normandy team had done to the Eclipse, Bloodpack and Blue Suns operations outside of Omega plus taking out the Omega leaders when recruiting Garrus.

On one hand that was bad. The mercenary groups needed to be at full strength when the Reapers came marching into the galaxy. But at the same time the power vacuum made them more malleable to his plan. They still needed to make a profit and the one person to guarantee that would be Aria.

_With all the mercenary groups under her thumb she'd have a military sized ground force and vessels to make drops or attack Reaper targets. Another bonus is they fight dirty. As long as they're killing their targets and getting paid, they won't care who they're fighting._

_I just have to get Aria to start bringing them under her banner and then ensure she helps the war. _Convincing Aria to help the rest of the galaxy defeat the Reapers wasn't going to be extremely difficult. The leader of Omega knew the Reapers were a galactic level extinction event and Omega wouldn't be left out.

_Aria isn't an idiot. A dominant woman who enjoys the power she has yes, but never an idiot. She knows if the Reapers win it won't matter where she is sitting. The Reapers will kill us all and she'll see that. Weird that criminals seem to have more self-preservation than the rest of the galaxy._ Ty shrugged to himself, _guess it comes down to the fact they won't be able to make profit if they're dead._

Once the mercenaries were all settled under Aria's banner he'd have to figure out his next step. Ensuring some politician didn't have Shepard executed would be on the top of his priorities, _but I'll have to talk to Liara see if we can figure out some ways to prepare for the Reapers._

With the resources of the Shadow Broker at their fingertips they could possibly find a way to defeat them or convince high up government officials to start preparing through normal means or coercion via blackmail, bribes or threats.

_Since reasoning with them obviously doesn't do anything, we'll have to use means they will respond to. Blackmail and bribes are common among the government; it's like a little game for them. Only this time Liara will have the best cards._

"Approaching the Omega 4 Relay. Everyone standby." Joker's voice came over the comm.

_It's finally time._ Ty pushed away all his thoughts on future plans to focus in on the present. "You ready, Tali?" Ty asked into his own comm leading back to the chief engineer.

"Yes." She answered confidently.

"All in favor of kicking some Collector ass, sound off." Shepard received a series of affirmatives to her statement from the entire crew. "Alright. Let's make it happen."

Ty's hands began moving across his controls at a steady pace as the Normandy became bound to the Relay jump. "Reaper IFF activated. Signal acknowledged." As EDI spoke the drive core came alive. Blue waves of energy began irradiating off of it at a fast pace.

_Damn Relay is making the drive core become unstable._ Watching everything start to move towards the red zone gave the former mercenary a clear idea of what happened to idiots who tried to go through the Omega 4 Relay without their upgrades or EDI. _The electrical charges would have annihilated their drive cores and blown their ships to smithereens._

"Commander? The drive just lit up like a Christmas tree." Jacob, who was monitoring the drive core from the Armory, announced. _That's putting it lightly Jacob._

"Drive core electrical charge is at critical levels." EDI told the crew.

In matter of seconds Ty's hands went from a steady pace to rapidly moving across his terminal and he had no doubt Tali and Joker were doing the same all in an effort to keep the core stable. _Come on, come on!_ If they weren't able to stop the electrical charges from overloading then their mission was going to come to a fatal end right here and now.

All three began rerouting the power through the Normandy attempting to keep the core from destabilizing and killing them all. The work was stressful, requiring absolute focus and precision to not reroute the power to something critical or allow it to overload.

Sweat began to bead on his forehead as if he had just run miles in a matter of seconds. His eyes and hands darted around coordinating between his own actions and ensuring he did not undo the actions of the others.

The Normandy then lurched forward into a Relay jump. "Almost there. Come on." His gauges were between a point of reactor meltdown and stabilized safety. All they needed was to come out of the jump and they'd be able to get the core fully stabilized.

The gauge continued to creep up higher towards the "death to all crew members" marker, or at least that's what he was going to call it right now. _There isn't much more I can reroute. How long is this jump going to last?!_

"Brace for deceleration." EDI ordered.

Not heeding the order at all, Ty continued to dash his hands across his terminal doing everything in his power to keep the core from reaching the red zone. As the Normandy came out of the jump his body lurched forward and then immediately was thrown backwards onto the ground. _Ow. Could have been worse I suppose._

Before he could recover the Normandy began to ascend higher up into wherever the hell they were leading him to start sliding towards the entrance and exit of the drive core room.

_What the hell is going on now?! _He reached for a railing but missed it completely. His body continued to slide across the ground with him scrambling to grab anything nearby, failing miserably at the grabbing part and excelling at making the engineering floor a slip 'n slide.

He slid to a halt in the middle of the Engineering Room when the ship leveled out receiving both a curious yet amused look and body language from Tali. He stared into her glowing eyes with a flat stare, "I don't want to hear it."

"EDI did say to brace." She teased.

"I know." Ty groaned as he sat up and got back on his feet. _Must have had to dodge one hell of a problem for the ship to angle like that, _he jogged forward back to his post finding the core stable once more, _good thing I got them to upgrade this rigs maneuverability. Now we just have to get through the rest of this._

The ship continued to fly forward smoothly. They had found the calm before the shitstorm if the former mercenary had to guess. Passing through the Omega 4 Relay alive was only one of many steps ahead of them to take out the Collectors.

Where they were going now was right into the beating heart of the storm, a place full of hurricanes, tornados, and lightning galore all in one bundled package. They had a bit of momentum now, they just had keep their snowball rolling down the hill without falling into any ravines or crashing into any trees.

_Starting in the eye of the hurricane and heading into the eye wall. How fun._

All of the calm ended when the ship again started to maneuver, but this time Ty was braced. One hand was holding onto his terminal tightly as the other kept working. His urgency to keep the drive core stable was no longer as high without the electrical charges reaching critical levels, but he had to keep working.

If whatever was causing them to maneuver had weapons or was the Collector ship, then one good shot could result in needing to stabilize the engines.

The entire ship rocked when whatever was causing them to perform evasive maneuvers landed a blow.

_Not going to be that easy, assholes. Our upgraded plating should keep us safe._ Another shake rocked the ship sending Ty stumbling into the nearby railing. _Damn, they really don't like us being here. Come on guys, take them out already. Don't let them hit anything critical_. He pushed himself back to the terminal, _still in the green. Good._

Their engines weren't taking the hits, just the plate armor. By his readings nothing was getting through which meant the crew was still safe for the time being. Maybe tossed around and trying to hold onto something, but okay nonetheless.

"Alert. Hull breach on the engineering deck." EDI announced.

_Shit._ Pulling up the ship alert showed him the source was down in the Cargo Hold. _Damn it, if you fuckers destroy my bike I am __**not**__ going to be happy._ "Ty, Grunt. Meet me at the elevator. We're going down to take out the enemy." Shepard ordered.

"On it." Ty connected his comm to their resident Geth, "Legion, take over my post while I'm gone."

"Acknowledged."

With his post going into the hands of Legion and his weapons and armor already on, Ty dashed down the hall to the elevator meeting Grunt there. The tank-bred Krogan was ready for a fight and looking especially happy to be able to kill something.

Down out the window of the Engineering Floor he could see a giant silver orb shaped machine floating within the Cargo Hold. _What the hell is that thing?_ He shook his head and turned back to the elevator, _well at least a barrier is plugging that hull breach. Wouldn't want to go down there all triumphantly to kill it and get sucked out into space._

The doors to the elevator opened shortly after allowing both human and Krogan to join their leader within it. "Be ready to move when the doors open." Shepard pulled her Claymore out. "Stick to cover, watch each other's backs, and try not to get hit. Our enemy is Thresher Maw dangerous."

"Good. I was hoping to kill something big." Grunt grinned as he grabbed his Claymore.

Ty pulled out his pistols and readied himself to move immediately. "I'll try not to take all the glory this time. Wouldn't want people thinking you two can't handle yourselves." He snarked.

"That was a team effort." Shepard retorted.

"Details."

"Ready?" The two males nodded as the elevator slowed its descent. _Let's do this. _The doors opened and all three sprinted out of the elevator into cover within the Cargo Hold. Ty found his cover behind his weapons bench and let loose a flurry of rounds at the giant Oculus.

His rounds hit its armor but didn't do much damage; whatever plating surrounded it was a lot stronger than he had at first anticipated. _Stronger than the mechs and other shit we've faced, that's for sure._ Shooting it also had the unfortunate side effect of getting the machines attention. Its giant eye, for the lack of a better word, beamed to life becoming red like the death beam Sovereign had used during the attack on the Citadel.

That little note was warning enough for him to take cover as low as possible. Ty ducked down behind his cover, lying on his side but with his legs and arms at the ready to move out of the cover at a moment's notice.

A giant red death beam shot out of the machines eye and hit his workbench, melting the metal immediately. "Stop shooting my workbench! I use this for important work, asshole!" He shouted at the machine.

It didn't seem to care. The heat from the beam continued to melt the table forcing a frustrated growl out of Ty as he dashed from his current cover to another. Once he was safe he took a gander at the bench. There was a giant hole in it almost all the way through to where he had been lying on the ground.

There was no salvaging it.

He had used that bench for customizing all of their weapons and as a place to get out of his room and into the world of the living. It was a place where he had created magnificent pieces of art and had his pieces of art backfire on him, electrocute him and give him a giant black eye.

"I had some good and bad memories with that table. Now I'm a little mad. I never even got to make love to Shepard on it."

And that was an incredibly sad note, if he was serious about it at least. Grunt barked out a laugh as the woman blushed and shook her head. "You wanted to make love on the workbench?"

He smirked, "I know, very romantic right? I was going to have candles and rose petals around it, almost like a ritual circle."

"Less terrible romantic ideas and more shooting would be nice."

"Yeah, yeah. I was just kidding." He unloaded more rounds into the Oculus along with the others. His rounds didn't do a lot of damage but their combined assault did hurt it a little. Ty moved back into cover and ejected his thermal clips at the same time Shepard did, "But admit it. You wouldn't have minded me lying you down on it to worship your body." He winked at her.

"Ty!"

He could only laugh in response to her rosy cheeks as well as the grin and light punch to the shoulder their resident Krogan gave her. "I think that means yes." He jested.

"Focus guys." She ordered.

"Fine." Both males responded.

The Claymore wielders each continued to unload their shotguns into the Oculus getting the same results as Ty, only they actually did a bit more damage than his pistols were capable of. They were picking away at its armor, but they needed to get rid of the machine quicker.

With the giant beam it wielded there was a chance it could puncture more holes in the ship from within which wasn't going to help their chances at all. _And Joker would never forgive us for getting the ship destroyed from the inside._

Ty holstered his pistols and equipped his sniper firing off three rounds before hitting his cloak and sprinting to better cover. The Oculus lost his position once he cloaked so it switched its aim to Shepard and Grunt firing off its beam again.

"We need bigger guns!" The purple eyed warrior shouted as he popped back out of his new cover and rapidly fired off three more rounds. His rifle was doing a bit more damage than his pistols and damage was definitely being done, but not enough. "If you've got that Collector Beam or another big gun, I'd use it now. We've got a few cases of power cells around here to reload it with if need be."

"Good point."

The Oculus spun to face Ty, its red light looking very angry. Had he not known better he would have assumed it was glaring at him. Again he hit his cloak and began moving positions. The Oculus was peeved at him though and began firing off short bursts at the ground trying to find him.

A few had nearly hit him but with quick feet Ty managed to narrowly dodge them and get into new cover just as his cloak came off. _Relentless fucker, I'll give it that._ The sound of the Collector Beam rifle firing filled the Cargo Hold as it started to cut away at the armor of the machine as if it was made of butter.

Both Grunt and Ty unloaded their weapons on the Oculus picking apart its armor, but before they could kill it the machine exited out of the hole it entered in.

The former mercenary pumped his rifle in the air, "Yeah that's right! You better run, you bastard!"

"Stay sharp you two. Never know if there will be more or if it will come back."

"We're sitting ducks out here. I have to try to lose them in the debris field!" Joker came over their comms.

All three of the fighters traded glances with one another and began seeking something to grab onto. Immediately the ship began to rumble forcing them to stumble towards their destinations where they could brace. _Damn it, this is just like Valera flying the shuttle without inertial dampeners on all the time!_

Shepard and Grunt reached solid surfaces and grabbed onto them just as Ty's finger tips brushed against a solid surface. The ship then shifted. He was thrown backwards and sent sliding across the ground again. "Not again!" As he slid on his back he saw a giant crate becoming his destination. Not wishing to get a concussion he fought to sit up, managing to sit up and land back first into the crate at the last second with a hard thud.

"I hope our kinetic barrier holds otherwise I'm going to strangle Joker in the afterlife!" Ty shouted.

"It'll hold." Shepard said confidently. "If there is any pilot who can get through the debris field I saw, it's Joker."

The ship continued to feel like a giant earthquake was shaking it up for a worrisome few minutes until it finally settled. Ty got back up on his feet and opened his mouth to make a comment when the distinct sound of a beam ripping through the ship opposite of the original hole reached his ears. "Sounds like our friend is coming back."

"Good. I was hoping to finish it off." Grunt prepared his Claymore for battle.

"Ty, I've got a plan."

"I thought about climbing on it, didn't seem like a good idea." The hull of the Cargo Hold melted open allowing the same Oculus to enter the ship again. "But, I'm all ears for whatever plan you have."

Ty ejected his rifles thermal clip and got back into cover, popping out immediately to fire off a flurry of rounds. The Oculus beam again found its sights on him forcing him to get back into cover. Shepard unleashed her beam alongside Grunt's Claymore rounds hammering the Oculus and puncturing through its armor.

"Use your cloak and get to your bike. The guns on it should take this bastard down once and for all."

"Got it." Ty activated his cloak disappearing from sight. He began sneak sprinting through the hold to his bike avoiding drawing the attention of the Oculus all the way there. Once at his bike he hopped onto it and started it up.

It was as the bike came to life that the Oculus was drawn back to him. The red eye locked onto him and he was almost certain it was glaring this time. Shepard and Grunt had done a lot of damage to it; there were carved burn marks through its armor and large holes undoubtedly from a Claymore.

Neither let up, blasting the machine repeatedly in hopes of taking it down or keeping it from firing on him. Although the Oculus was on its last legs, the machine was not ready to die yet. The red eye glowed brightly as Ty grabbed his handlebars tightly. _Let's dance asshole._ The beam fired down on him but he lifted off and dodged to the side.

His weapons activated and his targeting system came online. The Oculus wasn't done yet though; its large red beam followed him up and to the side carving a huge line in the Normandy's cargo bay doors. _I have to make sure I don't miss, not unless I want to damage the Normandy._

He dodged under the beam and watched as his targeting system tried to lock on. When the words _target locked_ appeared he did not hesitate to fire. "Eat this!" Ty's guns fired off in a slow two round volley hitting the Oculus dead on.

"Not done yet?" Ty questioned to himself as the Oculus eye beamed to life again and aimed at him. _Resilient bastard._ He dodged down slipping in between sets of crates to avoid the fire. "Fine. Let's try this again."

The former mercenary ascended out from behind the crates and locked onto his target again. Once locked on he fired again landing a series of rounds against the Oculus. A bright yellow light began to glow from within the wounds they had dealt to it signaling an impending explosion.

Shepard and Grunt hid behind cover as Ty tried to land his bike, but the explosion and resulting shockwave came to fast. His bike lost all power systems, his mass effect fields were down, his shields were gone and he was quickly plummeting out of the air.

_Shit! _Thinking quickly, Ty jumped off his bike and landed feet first only to fall and roll across the ground ending up on his chest. His bike crashed down nearby and it too rolled across the ground.

"Heh. Dead for sure this time. You okay Pyjak?!"

"You okay, Ty?" Shepard followed.

"I'm fine." He pushed himself back onto his feet and looked to his bike. The crash hadn't done anything good for his bike. The vehicle was lying on its side with large dents and scratches. His frame was going to need a lot of repairs and if he had to guess based on his sudden loss of mass effect fields and power systems, he wasn't going to be going anywhere soon without in depth repairs.

"My bike is going to need some work though." He walked over to his bike and hefted it back up so it was standing straight up. _Definitely my worst crash in a very long time, but at least I'm not dead._ "Could be worse I suppose."

"Better get back up here Commander." Said Joker over the comm.

"We're about to clear the debris field." Miranda told them.

Another obstacle was passed, but they still weren't out of the woods. In fact they were moving even closer to the den of wolves. Until they reached the base and destroyed the Collectors there would be no resting. They had to keep moving forward one step at a time, it was the best way to ensure they didn't lose their footing and fall to their deaths.

The trio boarded the elevator again with the two males getting off back on the engineering deck to resume their previous positions. Tali nodded to him as he walked back to the drive core room where he found Legion working. "Hey Legion."

"Tyler-Criminal." Legion turned around to face him, "Would you like to retake your post?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the help Legion."

"We are pleased to assist. We will resume our previous duties."

Ty nodded to him and moved back to the terminal._ Don't think I'll ever get used to him calling me Tyler-Criminal. I could try to get him to just call me Ty, but it probably wouldn't work._

"It would be wise for you to brace Ty. We are about to engage with the Collector vessel." EDI told him.

"Thanks for the heads up EDI."

_Time we finish those bastards off for all the shit they've done._ He smirked to himself, _we'll see how they like our new Thanix Cannons. They're sure to enjoy being blasted into oblivion. It's the beginning of the end for you assholes._ Bracing on the terminal as he had before was not difficult, maintaining it when the dog fight commenced would be the true test.

Soon after the warning from EDI was given, the Normandy began to shift and rumble. Whatever maneuvers Joker was pulling off weren't as crazy as before, but they were shaking up the inside of the ship again. Not to a crazy degree though. Ty would have been able to maintain his balance without bracing had EDI not warned him prior to.

_For now at least._ Ty continued to work the drive core with one hand as his other kept him braced and his legs were firm on the ground, _if we have to dodge that ships cannon I'd end up on the floor or over the railing._

Neither scenario would be ideal.

While he was monitoring the drive core he noticed a huge power draw that benefitted the Thanix Cannons. _Looks like we're about to unload our first shot at the bug bastards._ The cannons firepower was sure to leave a mark but he had little time to admire it.

The inside of the ship began to shake, rattle and likely would have rolled had the inertial dampeners not been on. All he could do was hold on tightly and keep the drive core stable to the best of his abilities.

Another power draw signaled the second firing of the cannons. _That should be the final blow. It was a big durable ship, but two well-aimed shots should do the trick. _He hoped it was true but there was no time to start patting anyone on the back or ask EDI how it went.

A shockwave surged through the Normandy and the ship began to plummet from the sky. _What the fuck is going on?! _Everything was shaking as Ty strained to hold on and squinted his eyes in an attempt to read the terminal. Red lights were flashing on it with a fully capitalized bold word blinking nearby.

**WARNING!**

_Mass effect fields are down._ He tried to remedy it but nothing was responding. _Come on, work you piece of shit!_

"Generators unresponsive. All hands brace for impact."

_Well…shit._

Ty wasn't sure what they hit whether it was some wreckage or part of the Collector Base, but they hit it hard. He was sent flying away from the terminal and back to the ground; cracking his head on the hard surface as he landed.

His world went black.


	111. Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Deep in the Bowels of Hell

Bright white searing light pierced into Ty's vision as he cracked his eyes open. He would have assumed he was dead and about to meet whatever higher power awaited him in the spirit world, but the Krogan marching band rocking out in his skull told him to assume otherwise.

They were playing their cadence with fervor and only grew louder as their audience tried to figure out where he was and what had happened. Ty moved to sit up but stopped short as a piercing pain shot through the back of his skull, up through the middle to his forehead.

"Ugh…my head." He brought his hand up to his throbbing head and tried blinking rapidly to refocus his eyes and be rid of the pain inducing light in his vision. His result was the Krogan marching band starting to stomp their feet and roar as their tribal drums grew louder with their intensity.

The former mercenary moved his hand to the back of his head, moving his hood back as he did, and found a medium sized throbbing bump that shot pain through his head once more as he touched it. "Ah!" He retracted his hand, moving it to his forehead where pain from the bump on the back of his head was echoing. "Ugh. How hard did I crack my head?"

Honestly, he didn't want to know. The fact he had been unconscious and had a bump on the back of his head was enough to tell him he hit the floor hard.

Slowly but surely the white light faded to allow him to stare up at the ceiling of the Normandy's drive core room.

_Definitely not dead…unless the afterlife is some sort of engine room where you have to work for the rest of your life, or afterlife I suppose._ The purple eyed warrior sat up slowly with his hand still on his head to take in the familiar surroundings. The drive core was deactivated and most of the lights around the room were shut off save for those powered by emergency systems.

Panels were disheveled, some completely missing having fallen to the floor around him or down by the drive core. One was lying over his leg, but there was no sign of broken limbs or bruises that he could feel or see. _Must have hit the ground and flipped onto me or something._ He pushed it off with his free hand then continued examining the room.

The drive core room, and undoubtedly the rest of the inside of the ship, had seen better days. Most of the damage he could make out was superficial or likely having to do with their core power systems, but that wasn't so bad. Those things could be repaired or restarted later or now depending on the urgency of the latter.

The room also lacked his former lover Ka'Reena and Tara, two people who would have loved to work on the Normandy drive core. _Another point for not being dead._ Ty let his hand fall and looked up to the ceiling, "EDI, how long have I been out cold for?"

"Not long. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bad headache. What's the state of the ship and the crew?"

He had made it through the crash with a goose egg and a headache, surely that meant the rest of the squad had made it through with fewer injuries to none. "The crew is alive and unwounded, but there are multiple core systems that were overloaded during the crash. It is unlikely we will be able to restore operation in a short time."

_At least there is some good news in there. It will take time to get the ship back up and running, but it's not going to get done with me sitting on my ass._ Ty began to force himself onto his feet with a small grunt of pain due to his rocking headache. "Alright. Did we land somewhere safe?"

"I cannot detect any internal detection systems within the Collector Base. I do not think they ever believed anyone would get as far as we have. It is also possible they believe we did not survive the crash."

"Good." Ty nodded to himself, wincing slightly as it resulted in a small shooting pain. The fact the Collectors didn't know where they were currently, possibly even believing they were dead, bought them a lot of time, possibly longer than they needed to get the ship up and running. It also gave them time to plan their infiltration and assault on the base as well as giving them the element of surprise, something they usually sorely lacked in every mission.

He doubted it would last long as soon as they did start their assault, but having it to start with was nice. The former mercenary began moving back towards Tali's post to check on her, "What does Shepard want us to do? Fix up the Normandy first or plan the assault?"

"She has requested for the squad to regroup in the Comm room. Jeff and I will be able to restore operations as all of you rescue the crew and defeat the Collectors."

"Sounds like a plan." Having EDI and Joker restore the systems while they continued to move would hopefully keep their chances of saving the servicemen and women that were kidnapped from whatever the Collectors planned to do to them.

From here on out, every second counted. They had a mission to save the crew and stop the Collectors, a mission they all planned to survive to tell the tale about.

When it came to high stakes, the Normandy team always went all-in. The mission they were on was an all or nothing mission from the start that the squad had already pushed all of their chips in knowing they had a straight flush. All that was left for them to find out was if they actually had a royal flush or if the Collectors had it themselves.

So far it seemed they had the best cards, even taking the crash landing into account with that. There was no mention of the Collector vessel or any other flying threats which meant the Collector ship was dead and gone.

The ship that had destroyed the original Normandy, captured colonies with ease and withstood the damage done by the cannons on Horizon was gone while they were downed but alive and able to get back in the air.

_One small victory for team Normandy, now it's time to deliver a giant kick to the ass to the Reapers by destroying this base._

Ty found Tali sitting on the floor resting her arms on her legs a few steps away from her terminal. She didn't look to have injuries, but with her enviro-suit there could be non-visible injuries a person might not suspect. "You okay, Tali?"

Her glowing eyes met his and she gave him a nod, "Yes. The crash was bad, but it could have easily been a lot worse." He reached his hand out for her to take; she grabbed it and allowed him to help her onto her feet. "I think I managed to get through unscathed though." She casted her eyes around the room taking in the panels that were loose or missing and the emergency lights on, "The ship is going to need a few repairs though."

"I prefer it to be superficial parts of the ship and nothing like the drive core going critical."

Tali laughed softly, "True. Although you probably wouldn't have felt it had it happened."

"Yeah, but you have no idea how much shit I would have gotten in the afterlife by my friends and Ka'Reena had I went out like that. Incineration via the drive core exploding thanks to someone else's flying isn't something I would be able to brag about to the others. The least I could do is go out in a blaze of glory, not incinerated into a pile of ash in a sudden flash of light. That'd just be embarrassing after all the shit I've survived."

Again his friend gave a soft laugh and shook her head, "Bosh'tet." She waved him to follow her, "Come on, let's not keep Shepard waiting."

With a nod of agreement the duo made their way to the elevator to regroup with the rest of the squad.

_Time to figure out our next step._

* * *

Shepard had figured something wasn't going to go exactly to plan somewhere along the line during their mission. She had thought of some terrible outcomes that were possible, but the ship crashing down with a lot of their core systems going out because of the crash wasn't one of them.

And she was actually happy about that.

While the ship crashing down and in need of restarting those core systems was bad, it could have been so much worse. From the overloading of their drive core when using the Omega 4, to nearly crashing into huge debris as they exited and then getting boarded by the Oculus, they could have easily all died by now if just one of those went worse than they did.

But they hadn't. Those events had gone more or less fairly well. They had survived the Omega 4 Relay without a scratch thanks to Joker's great piloting as they exited in a debris field and the work of all those who kept the drive core from overloading.

No one got extremely hurt by the Oculus's attacking the Normandy or the one that had entered it. Against the Collector ship they managed to escape the giant gun that had destroyed the original Normandy and destroy the ship. The resulting explosion had been what took out their core systems causing the crash.

A little crash wouldn't stop them though. It was but a small dip in the road ahead of them and one they would easily climb out of. EDI and Joker would get the ship back up and running so they could evac out of the galactic core with their entire crew back in the safety of the ship when that time came, but they weren't there yet.

Now was the time to plan their assault and find their crew, not evac and destroy the base. That would come in time so long as they remained focused on what steps they took towards their goal and how to avoid the obstacles blocking their path.

_One step at a time._

The N7 entered the comm room full of her squad who were all prepped and ready for orders. There was definitely a building of nerves within them; the sudden crash had jerked them all around knocking off what balance they had mentally.

Her task was to not only plan their attack, but also to banish those nerves far into dark space. As the leader of her team it was her duty to stoke the fires of courage and belief of success in all of her comrades. Whether they were planning to pirate the Normandy out of the docking bay, searching colonies of Pyjaks to find an important data module or trapped in an underground cave with a nuclear device, that duty did not change.

Shepard moved around the corner of the far end of the table past Tali and Mordin before settling at the center of it. On her right side were Miranda, Jacob, Samara, Thane, Legion and Kasumi. On the left were Mordin, Tali, Jack, Ty, Garrus, Grunt and Zaeed. Each of them were between ready and anxious to figure out what the new plan was.

"This isn't how we planned this to go, but this is what we've got." She spoke steadily as she leaned her hands onto the table. "We can't let worry about the Normandy's condition eat away at us. EDI has already confirmed she and Joker can get our systems back online, but we all still have a job to do."

She took a step back from the table and met the eyes of all thirteen members of her squad with determination set on her brow, "We came to stop the Collectors, lacking a black hole launching weapon that means coming up with a plan to blow this station to kingdom come."

Each gave silent nods of agreement to her statement of fact. Confidence was reformed; knowing the ship wasn't out of commission leaving them stranded in the galactic core was a giant weight off of their shoulders. Now it was a matter of keeping it that way and planning their next move. The commander leaned forward onto the table again and raised her head up to the ceiling, "EDI, bring up your scans."

An orange hologram of the giant Collector base appeared in the center of the table. It dwarfed the Collector ship by a large margin which made the Normandy look even smaller than it did compared to the Collector vessel even though the SR-2 was much larger than the original Normandy.

Still, the construct of the base had many similarities to the ship they used to go to and from the galactic core to colonies. _A lot of room to cover, unless we can take control of one of those platforms we used in the Collector ship._

"You should be able to overload their critical systems if you can get to the main control center, here." A blue line appeared pointing to the main control center on the top left of the station from her perspective.

Jacob opened up his omni-tool and began pressing a few buttons, "That means going through the heart of the station. Right past this massive energy signature." A blue outline of the inner part of the base appeared within the orange hologram.

"That's the central chamber." Shepard examined. _Hmm. Definitely not the easiest option. But that central chamber is probably like the center of the Collector ship where they had millions of pods lining the inside of it._ "If our crew or any of the colonists are still alive, the Collectors are probably holding them in there."

The Cerberus Operative hit another button on his omni-tool, "Looks like there are two main routes." Two new blue lines appeared pointing to the two routes through the center of the base before moving along the paths they would take, "Might be a good idea to split up to keep the Collectors off balance, then regroup in the central chamber." At the end of his statement the two lines became one.

"No good. Both routes are blocked." Miranda pointed to the hologram, "See these doors? The only way past is to get someone to open them from the other side."

"Of course the doors are locked from the other side." Ty said tiredly as he leaned forward on the table and stared hard at the hologram. His eyes moved actively in search of an opening of some kind to take advantage of. "Here I was starting to hope we could just walk right in, kick a door or two down, say a few one liners, set a big explosive right in the center of their base and leave with our middle fingers up. Ah, mercenary bases, how I miss you so."

He received a few smirks, eye rolls, shakes of the head and snorts of amusement for his comment from the squad. Shepard found it amusing but was too focused on figuring out a plan of attack to react to it. There had to be another way in, a way that they could exploit. The Collectors and Reapers would have never expected anyone to get this far.

There had to be a weakness they could capitalize on.

Shepard leaned onto her forearms as her eyes took in every detail of the high quality hologram. "It's not a fortress, there's got to be something." The Reapers were rightfully arrogant with how many cycles they had extinguished with apparent ease, but that arrogance to think no one would get this far meant there would be an overlooked flaw.

After a few scans through, the N7 found it. "Here. Maybe we can send someone through this ventilation shaft."

It wasn't her favorite option to go through with and there would definitely be a risk for the person inside of it as well as those waiting for the person sent in to open the doors. But there weren't any other options to get them into the central chamber from their location. "Practically a suicide mission." Jacob crossed his arms with a smile, "I volunteer."

"I appreciate the thought Jacob, but you couldn't shut down the security systems in time." Miranda said. The raven haired woman turned to back to Shepard, "We need to send a tech expert."

"It's your call, Commander. Who do we send into the shaft?" Jacob asked.

The sapphire eyed commander lowered her eyes to the table to think over her options. _Jacob is willing, but Miranda is right. The person who goes into the shaft needs to be able to hack through the Collector security systems and open the doors as quick as possible, and then be able to lock them just as quick. Although he has the heart for it, Jacob isn't the one who could do it._

Her best tech experts were Tali, Kasumi, Legion and Ty. All of them could feasibly do it in their sleep, especially Legion although she was sure he'd tell her Geth do not sleep. She trusted that all four of them could fulfill the mission and survive, but she could only pick one of them to send into the shaft.

There was one person in this room who had hacked almost every door they had encountered with a small wave of his hand, one person who had an unshackled A.I. on his omni-tool and was able to hack through the Shadow Brokers front door in five minutes.

Shepard lifted her head and met Ty's purple eyes, "There hasn't been a door you haven't been able to hack through, and you also have EDI to help if you need it. Ty, I know you can get these doors open easily."

He gave a sharp nod and a smirk, "You send me to the nicest places." The man shrugged, "Though ventilation shafts are like a home away from home for me, so no big deal overall. I'll get those doors open faster than you can say 'Assuming direct control.'"

Shepard managed a smile before refocusing on the others, "The rest of us will break into two teams and fight down each passage." She met her lovers eyes again, "That should draw the Collectors' attention from what you're doing."

Ty nodded in acknowledgement to the plan. "I'll lead the second fire team, Shepard." Miranda said as she stepped to her side. "We'll meet up with you on the other side of the doors."

"Not so fast, Cheerleader." Jack spoke up. "Nobody wants to take orders from you."

"Oh boy, here we go." Ty mumbled and shook his head along with Garrus and most of the rest of her squad.

The Cerberus Operative cut her hand through the air, "This isn't a popularity contest. Lives are at stake." Her eyes met Shepard's, "Shepard – you need someone who can command loyalty through experience."

The N7 nodded slightly and entered her thoughts once more. _Miranda definitely would be a good pick to lead the second fire team,_ she glanced to Jack, _but if I don't take her on my team then there is bound to be a problem._

_Command loyalty through experience…_Her eyes flicked across her entire squad, _Ty would have been able to do it easily, though I'm sure he would doubt it and mention the last team he led. _

Unfortunately he wasn't an option anymore, he was going in the ventilation shaft and that left him unavailable. _Zaeed used to be the leader of the Blue Suns, _she shook her head mentally, _but he's been on his own for a long time now. The same goes for the likes of Mordin, Samara, and Thane._

Each were skilled and could definitely handle themselves, but she couldn't risk their lack of leading a squad in the last decades, or centuries in the case of Samara, on this mission. _Tali has led a team of Quarian's…but, as much as I hate to say it, those missions didn't exactly go well for her. Jacob's history from the Alliance to Cerberus shows he is definitely a capable solider who could lead this team. At the same time Garrus had his squad back on Omega and messed with the mercenaries so badly they had to team up to kill him, he also led part of this squad during the Ortega district fight._

_So, Miranda, Garrus or Jacob?_ Shepard decided to go with her gut on her choice, "Garrus – you're in charge of the second team." He had done a great job leading both his squad and part of this squad on Omega, regardless of the formers outcome and Kasumi's mostly minor injury.

He had the respect of the squad and they all knew she trusted him implicitly. He had also led a large group before which he would be doing here compared to the Ortega district fight. Shepard would keep up with her traveling in threes mentality, Garrus would have the rest of the team under his command.

With him in charge there would be no drama or worries about someone not listening like it would be between Jack and Miranda. When they were under her command they worked really well together, although they would definitely deny it completely if ever told that.

They wouldn't be under her command in that situation and she couldn't risk it even if Jack trusted and respected the N7 to make the right calls.

Garrus gave her a silent nod of determination to bring the squad through alive. _I know you won't let me down Garrus._

"Well, at least he knows what he's doing." Miranda shrugged and moved back over to Jacob's side.

"Miranda, Kasumi, you two are with me." Shepard casted her eyes across the others, "The rest of you will be with Garrus." She began to pace slightly, "I don't know what we're going to find in there, but I won't lie to you. It's not going to be easy."

They were going into the heart of a tornado or leaving the eye of the hurricane into the eye wall. Easy was not a difficulty they would find in the fight ahead of them.

She stopped at the middle of the desk and stood up straight with her hands behind her back, "We don't know how many the Collectors have stolen from their homes – thousands, hundreds of thousands." The N7 shook her head, "It's not important. What matters is this: Not one more."

Confidence and determination began to build in a surplus amount within the eyes of every single member of her team. They knew the stakes and the score between the Collectors and the rest of the galaxy. This was their chance at a tie-breaker. This was their chance to end their streak of capturing innocent people once and for all.

"That's what we can do, here, today. It ends with us." She continued then stepped forward and pointed at the door, "They want to know what we're made of?" The commander used her thumb to point at herself, "Then I say we show them, on our terms. Let's go bring our people home and shove our fists down the Collectors throats."

In response to her speech she received a mixture of silent affirmatives via head nods, a salute from Jacob and a few voiced agreements. Together as a team they marched their way out of the comm room to the airlock where they began to make their way down out of the Normandy towards their entry points.

_Let's end this._

* * *

Ty had been in more ventilation shafts and air ducts than he cared to admit. His joke about them being a home away from home wasn't as much of a joke as he wished it was when he really thought about it.

Whether it was during missions or to hide for a day so he could catch some uninterrupted shut eye without having the Blue Suns or one of the other merc groups ruining it for him, the cramped space of a ventilation shaft was a place he knew well.

For that reason as he stepped into his newest shaft, he felt his heart start to beat a bit faster. This one…it was different than all the others. Not only did it have enough space for him to stand, walk and run at his full height, but it had an ominous feeling to it.

Perhaps it was just his abilities that made it feel that way allowing him to feel the energy signatures within the base or it could have been because of the simple fact he knew it was the Collector base ventilation shaft that caused the feeling.

He couldn't say what the cause was. All he knew was after he stepped in, the vent closed behind him, locking him within. _Well…that's not ominous at all._ He turned to face forward and look down the tube at the orange tinted like glass surrounding it, _no way but forward now._

It was also hotter than hell within it. For a "ventilation shaft" there was pretty much no air movement at all besides for the thick hot air brushing across his face. Seconds into stepping into the shaft he could feel his body temperature beginning to rise and sweat beginning to form on his body.

His path through the shaft as well as the paths the rest of the squad had to take was leading them down further than the circles of hell. They weren't traveling across the River Styx to the underworld. No that was an easy ferry ride they had already paid the toll for and got off by surviving the Omega 4 Relay.

What they were doing now was going deeper than those depths to the Tartarus Pits; an eternal prison where torment beyond even the worst amounts of torment the underworld and hell could give awaited those who entered.

_And we're breaking into this prison, _Ty couldn't help but smirk slightly, _talk about the jail breaks of all jail breaks._ Moving forward the purple eyed warrior opened up his comm to Shepard, "I'm inside the bowels of hell, and moving deeper with every step. Other than feeling like I've entered Satan's sauna, I don't see any problems ahead of me"

"Roger that. Second team – are you in position?" Shepard's voice entered his comm.

"In position." Garrus responded. "Meet you on the other side of those doors."

With everyone in position Ty began to pick up the pace. He began jogging through the tunnel listening to the sounds of gun fire in his comm coming from both teams. The element of surprise was out the window already with the Collectors undoubtedly figuring out their plan of attack.

They had the home field advantage here and their tech could either hide the fact it was detecting him inside the tube so EDI did not know or had detected the others. _I hope they'll be okay, but I've got to focus on getting to those doors before the Collectors get here in force._

The tube curved right and moved into another straightaway. Sweat was building on every inch of his body, the heat was almost suffocating, but he pressed on regardless. His feet carried him forward and his eyes remained vigilant on the horizon in front of him.

He needed to be aware of incoming threats in the tube or hazards like a false floor sending him down into a Kakliosaur pit or remote turrets with greater fire power than he had.

Ty slowed his jog to a walk and then to a stop as his eyes met his first problem, _damn it. _He brought his finger to his ear. "Shepard, I've got a vent of some kind blocking my path and I don't see any way for me to get through by brute force or something I can hack. Can you see anything from where you are?"

The vent blocked his path completely and there was nothing he could do about it except stand in the heat and hope he could stay in the kitchen. "Shep, there's something over there by the ventilation shaft. Should clear his path if we're lucky."

The former mercenary looked out the clear tube down to the members of Shepard's team and Shepard herself approaching the side of the tube. The N7 moved to a terminal of some kind and activated it with her omni-tool; the vent suddenly opened clearing his path once more.

Ty gave them a thumbs up, "Vent is gone. I'll get back to moving up." The group nodded and began moving forward themselves as he continued his jog through his sauna. It came to a quick end when he hit another vent blocking his path. "My path is blocked again, cheeky bastards." He looked out the glass to find Shepard and her team in the middle of a gun battle with four Collectors, "When you're done with them, you'll have to find another valve."

Waiting wasn't going to be easy though. The heat within the shaft was becoming ungodly with each passing second. There was nothing he could do about it though. Instead of focusing on the sweat starting to drip off of his face, he focused in on the battle below him.

Shepard caught two within her pull field signaling Miranda to detonate them with a heavy warp, killing the two Collectors with a large resounding boom Ty could feel even within the shaft. Kasumi nailed a head shot with her Locust before cloaking. Suddenly she appeared behind the final Collector and killed it with a deadly punch.

Quickly the team moved forward with Shepard activating the valve to open the vent blocking his path. The trio didn't stop moving, they continued their run down their path towards the reinforcements arriving – one of which glowed yellow as it was taken control of by Harbinger.

_Great, the trash talker is back._

The Collectors flew in and landed with the trio shooting at the new enemies, killing a few before they landed all the while Ty ran towards the next blockade he could see a bit further down the path. _They must know I'm in here and are trying to delay us as much as possible._

He stopped his groan of frustration as he slowed his jog so he did not reach the vent too soon without the ability to open it. By walking it kept his body active and his mind off of his current predicament of being a lab rat in a maze trying to find his way to the cheese at the end of the path.

"Garrus here. We're making good progress. Meet you at the rendezvous."

"Good work Garrus. See you then." Shepard said before biotic charging into the Harbinger controlled Collector after Miranda hit it with a warp. The result was the death of the Collector and the opening of the vent as the N7 seamlessly moved from exiting her charge to a run, hitting the valve as she moved.

"Vent is opened, thanks Shepard. Hopefully I can get a bit further this time."

Ty picked up his pace once again seeing as Shepard and her team were moving from a jog to a run. Sweat was pouring out of every pore, soaking everything from his hood covered hair to his boot covered feet. _I __**really**__ didn't need to clean my pores out this much. Sheesh. If I wanted to sweat this much, I'd willingly go to a sauna._

Both he and Shepard reached the vent and valve at the same time allowing the pair to continue on their paths without a hitch. "We're in position. Just waiting for the doors to open." Garrus announced.

"Did you try knocking or ringing the doorbell claiming you're the sushi delivery man? They might open it up." Ty said sarcastically as he continued to run.

"I doubt it. They haven't been exactly friendly to our offers of fresh rounds on the house."

"Heh heh. I'd keep on serving then, maybe they'll lighten up eventually." The former mercenary chuckled as he slowed his run to a stop. _Shit, another vent._ With a glance outside he could see that his lover and friends were bogged down by large amounts of Collectors. _Just give them time; she knows she has to open the valve._

He watched the trio fight as his breathing became a bit heavier. It was not because of an overexertion of energy, it was because of how suffocating the tube was becoming. The air was thick and felt like it lacked the normal amounts of oxygen he was used to. The lack of air movement made him wonder if his oxygen supply was being cut off by the vents.

Ty shut his eyes and took in a slow but large inhale in an attempt to slow his breathing and relax his body. _If I am running out of oxygen, then I need to be sparing with what little I have._ He did his best to enter a meditative state as he held his breath.

Staying calm was important in this situation. If he started to panic, he would start to inhale the limited oxygen he had leading to a distinct lack of it and bring his death about so much faster.

After a few inhales and held breaths, he felt the urgency for replenishing oxygen and air movement grow. "Shepard I know you are busy, I really don't mean to rush you. But the path is blocked, what oxygen in here is depleting quickly and it's getting really hot in here." He said calmly.

His cells felt like they were being set on fire, sweat slid down his arms, his legs, neck and off of his face and fingertips. The liquid was soaking into his white armor tank top and shorts, his body felt like it was overheating and was trying to get him into the state of fight or flight so he could run and find cool air.

_I don't really care about being genetically modified, but damn do I hope it makes my body, my cells and organs more durable than regular people in this situation._

"I'll be there shortly, Ty. Miranda, Kasumi, get ready to move up on my signal. We're going to push the enemy back."

"Ready when you are Shep."

"As am I."

Shepard launched a pull field at the Collectors taking cover near the valve. It lifted the two off the ground and as they floated just above the barriers they were hiding behind the commander turned into a blur of blue slamming into one of them and blasting both with her Claymore.

"You biotic's are so cheaters."

She winked at him before opening the valve creating warm air flow that almost felt cool against his skin and replenishing his oxygen. Swiftly, the N7 took cover behind the barrier the Collectors had been using and started return firing at the remaining living enemies in the area. "Jealousy is a terrible thing, Ty."

"It's such bullshit that I have four nervous systems, all of which have the potential for biotic's, yet I have zero biotic potential." As she returned to cover and looked at him, he gave a short two finger salute, "Kick some ass, Shepard. I'll see you at the next vent."

She nodded to him and moved back into battle. He had no doubt there would be more vents blocking his path. Whoever was in charge of the ventilation shaft was shutting as many vents as they could to ensure he did not get far.

Once he was stopped the Collectors as a collective were trying to keep the team from opening the valves so he would die of heat exhaustion, suffocation, getting set on fire or melting away. _Or this is all some terrible coincidence they aren't in control of and I just want to blame them, but my luck isn't that bad. It sucks, but my terrible luck can't be the cause of all of these vents blocking my path._

Slowly the purple eyed warrior moved forward hoping not to trigger a sensor or whatever it was that told the Collectors how close he was to the next vent too early. Granted the hot air hitting him didn't feel incredibly great, but it was a hell of a lot better than having no air movement alongside depleting oxygen and cell burning heat.

Sure enough he came upon another vent but Shepard and her team came hauling in from the last room practically at the same time he arrived. "Having fun, Ty?" Kasumi jested.

"Oh yeah, I'm enjoying this sauna so much. I really needed to clean my pores out and the Collectors have done a fantastic job at helping." He replied sarcastically. "Next time there is a ventilation shaft Shepard needs to send someone in I think you should take it up. Might be fun."

"I think I'll pass on any Collector or Reaper ventilation shaft in the future. It seems more like your thing."

Ty rolled his eyes and with the opening of the vent the group dispersed once more towards their destination. _Getting closer. There can't be that much more left. _Casting his gaze to the outside of the tube as he ran he could see the doors for Shepard up ahead along with two more green holograms, one close to where her team entered the room and the other closer to the doors.

Between the two there weren't many Collectors, but there were a few in the distance using their beam guns to attack the team as others were flying in. "Shepard, you get those two vents open quickly and I'll be able to get the doors opened and closed before the Collectors can dig in."

"Roger that. You heard the man, sprint to the doors!"

Shepard hit the first vent allowing the former mercenary to continue in his quickening stride. He needed to get out of this tube; it felt as if he was burning alive from the inside out now. The sooner he was out, the sooner he could feel the rush of cool air and get the two teams through the doors.

The commander hit the final vent as she and her team turned their backs to the doors and opened fire on the Collectors. Ty accelerated into a sprint with his path completely clear and exited out of the ventilation shaft without slowing down.

As he exited it, cool air hit his skin sending waves of relief through his body like the first breath of oxygen after staying underwater for too long and only narrowly getting your head above water right as your about to inhale water instead of air.

His eyes darted wildly to the door Garrus's team had been waiting at this whole time in search for the lock. _There!_ Ty slid on his knees to a stop at the hologram and opened it along with the door in an instant. "Look out! Seeker swarms!" Garrus announced as he and the bulk of the Normandy squad funneled in through the door and turned around to start opening fire on the seeker swarms and Collectors beyond the door.

_Now to lock it,_ Ty thought as the last of the squad entered. His fingers moved across his omni-tool with extreme haste setting up his highest security lock. "Look like you had a night of hot sex, Ty." Jack snarked as she continued shooting.

"If only that was the reason for why I'm so sweaty. At least that would be rewarding." He fired back without breaking his attention from the lock. _Just a few more seconds now._

"Come in! We're in position. We need this door open, now!" Shepard entered his comm.

"Assuming direct control." Kasumi said hastily. "Damn it Ty, you lied to us!" She teased with stress laced in her voice.

_And…locked!_ "Doors will lock momentarily." He announced as he got his feet under him.

Garrus pat him on his shoulder, "Go, we'll cover you." He ordered.

Again the former mercenary slid onto his knees and opened the new hologram. _Alright, just have to…son of a bitch!_ "Hold on you three, the door is damaged. I'll have to bypass it!" His fingers started moving quicker across the hologram as he moved to bypass the lock.

_Come on…_his heart was pounding in his chest and pulsating into his ears, adrenaline was coursing through his veins making his senses feel as if they were elevating to a new level.

_…_

_ …_

_ There!_ "Got it!" The doors slid open allowing Kasumi, Miranda and Shepard to hastily enter with gunfire following them in. A set of rounds impacted on the ground next to Ty's foot making him fall sideways behind the door. _Shit! _He got back onto his feet and back in control of the hologram._ That was too close. _"I need time to get my program to lock this door for a long time. Cover me!"

Shepard, Miranda and Kasumi took position at the door and started to return fire, "Here they come!" The N7 shouted.

In seconds most of the squad was in varying positions of crouched and standing with their guns aimed at the Collectors trying to breach the door. "Suppressing fire! Don't let anyone through this door!" Garrus ordered his team.

Gunfire echoed in Ty's ear, but he remained focused on his task not bothering to see how close the Collectors were truly getting. Judging only on the sound of rounds impacting against bodies, he could easily guess they were practically right outside the door.

_Got it!_ The doors slammed shut and he couldn't help but fall back onto his butt with a sigh of relief. His body was caked in sweat, but his heart rate was steadily dropping with the lack of gunfire and urgency. "Man that was a drag."

A few of the squad, including Shepard who was next to him, rested slightly on their knees as others started to scan the room they were in. A hand rested on Ty's shoulder bringing his attention to the sapphire eyes of his lover, "You did good, Ty. I knew I could count on you."

"As if there was ever any doubt." He smirked.

She smiled back at him and went to speak, but stopped short when Miranda did first, "Shepard. You need to see this!"

The commander turned around to find out what was going on with Ty close behind after the latter took one last breath of what he hoped was fresh air as he sat on the ground. The entire squad who had not already moved to where Miranda was followed the N7 towards whatever it was the catsuit wearing woman wanted them to see.

As the group gathered around they each saw the pods layering the high walls in different areas with large tubes leading from the walls towards the main control center. _It's like the Collector ship, just larger…_Ty swiveled his head around taking in all of his surroundings, _a lot larger._

Everyone was moving their heads around as well, awing at the size of the room and the amount of pods layering the walls. _I hope the crew isn't high up, I have no idea how we'll get to them if they are. _

Shepard reached Miranda and the pod she was standing in front of with a human woman inside of it. "Looks like one of the missing colonists." Miranda stated.

The purple eyed warrior continued walking down the line of pods, humans were in them as well but these one weren't colonists. They each wore the Cerberus symbol on their outfits and were faces he recognized, "Check it out, the crew is all here. Hadley, Kelly, Donnelly, Gabby, Gardner, Chakwas." The pods continued on with the faces of the Normandy crew within them, "They're all here, alive. I think."

They're eyes were shut and they weren't moving at all, but that didn't mean they were dead. Ty stopped at Kelly's pod and rested his hand over the glass like part of the pod. _Spirits. What kind of hell have they been through since they were captured?_

"My god, they're still alive." Shepard's voice made him turn back to see a grotesque scene. The colonist within the pod was starting to dissolve. Her skin was melting away revealing the tissues below as she screamed and tried to claw her way out.

_Spirits!_

Ty pulled his tomahawks out as the N7 tried her hardest to pull the coffin open, but nothing his lover did got it to budge as the colonist melted down further into the coffin, screaming memory scarring screams until there was nothing left of her.

Shepard backed away in shock then turned to her team with urgency on her face, "Get them out of there, now!" She rushed down the line as the team all started bashing the glass areas of the coffins with their weapons or trying to pull them open.

Ty lodged his tomahawks into the coffin and activated his demon switch in hopes to help himself open the pod quicker. _Come on, come on! _He pulled as hard as he could and ripped the coffin open.

Kelly fell out into his arms, limp, but alive as Shepard dashed past him to Chakwas's pod which had Miranda trying to pull the door open as the rest of the squad were spread across the other pods.

"I've got you Kelly. You're okay." Ty tried to soothe as he set her down and then moved down the line. Donnelly had Grunt cracking his open leaving the purple eyed mercenary to continue past him to Gabby's who had Kasumi trying her hardest to break it open. "Kasumi, use this!" He tossed one of his tomahawks to her as he wedged his into the other side of the pod she was working on.

She caught it with ease and impaled it into the pod. The duo then began to pull as hard as they could until the pod opened. Gabby fell out but was caught by the two who helped to sit her down on the ground. "This is so screwed up." Kasumi muttered.

The thief was absolutely right. The entire scene of the woman melting away continued to play through his mind, even when he closed his eyes he could see it on the back of his eyelids. _So…this is what the Collectors were doing with all the people they captured._

He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. "Yeah…try not to think about it." Ty said softly receiving a small nod from the thief as he stood up and scanned the area. He wouldn't be so lucky with his abilities and knew somewhere down the line he would have to relive watching that poor woman melt away after he finally banished it from his mind this time.

Ty let his demon switch fade away as he took note of the others helping all the crew onto their feet to regroup closer to one another. _Too close…if we had taken time to go to the Citadel or had to help any of the crew with their personal problems before coming here…_Ty shook his head at the thought of what the outcome would have been.

No one was deserving of the fate he had just witnessed.

Slowly he walked over to Shepard and Chakwas to see how the doctor was doing with the hope they didn't encounter anything like this ever again.

_Calling this place the Pit of Tartarus was a lot more accurate than I ever wanted it to be._

He hoped it wouldn't get any worse.


	112. Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Worst…Walk…Ever

"Doctor Chakwas? Are you okay?" Shepard asked as she sat the limp form of the Normandy's doctor down onto the ground. The doctor wasn't all there yet, her eyes were unfocused and there seemed to be no strength in her body. _Hang in there Karin. _

The commander quickly glanced up to the rest of her squad to see if they had gotten all of the crew members out of the pods. _Did we save everyone?_ Relief flushed through her body as her eyes found the members of her ground team already in the process of aiding the crew members either in standing or walking to regroup with one another.

She made quick work of counting every single member of the abductees until her eyes landed back on Chakwas. _All safe and accounted for._ A quiet sigh of relief escaped her. It had been a close call, but they had managed to save every single member of the Normandy who had been abducted before they were melted away like the colonist.

A shiver ran down Shepard's spine at the memory of the woman she had witnessed melting away in the pod as she could do nothing except listen to her screams and watch her try to claw her way out.

"Shepard? You…you came for us." Doctor Chakwas said her voice layered in amazement.

The mother of the Normandy team was straining to focus on Shepard as she tried to regain her bearings and the strength in her body to stand. _Did those pods just disorient them or did they do something more to them?_

There was no answer, not right now anyways and not one she really wanted if she was being honest. The process of melting people until nothing remained wasn't exactly a process she wanted to hear about in depth, or at all for that matter. _I saw enough, _Shepard grimaced.

One was more than she ever wanted.

Shepard offered her hand to the doctor, which the woman took, and hefted her onto her feet, "No one gets left behind."

It was a sentiment she was happy to accomplish for her crew. Saving all the people the Collectors kidnapped had been a hopeful goal yet one she had never been sure they would be able to pull off. They had never known what the Collectors were really doing with the people they kidnapped.

On the Collector ship they had found a large pile of dead bodies and then millions, possibly even billions, of pods lining the ship. The pods there had no life signs according to EDI's scans which they had all assumed meant the people were either dead or the pods were empty.

_The Collectors must have melted all of those humans already, but for what? _What did they get out of melting humans other than some sick kind of population control?

Ty approached the two women first with his features shadowed by his hood. It didn't matter. His eyes showed he too was deeply disturbed by the previous events. "Everyone is safe, by the skin of our teeth granted, but safe nonetheless." He spoke up as he came to a stop next to the N7. Shepard gave a nod of appreciation for the news and agreement to the '_by the skin of our teeth' _part of it. "You alright, Doc?"

"I…I'm okay." Chakwas answered timidly as she stared at the ground. She was still shaken up, but that wasn't going to pass in a few seconds. _Definitely if they had to witness what we did over and over again._

The squad and the rescued crew members regrouped around Shepard, Ty, and Chakwas with Miranda taking her place on Shepard's right side. "Thank god you got here in time. A few more seconds and…I don't even want to think about it." Kelly sounded equally exhausted as she was thrilled to be alive.

"The colonists were…processed. Those swarms of little robots, they - melted their bodies into gray liquid and pumped it through these tubes." Chakwas explained with uneasiness clear in her body language and voice.

"Turning humans into a genetic material smoothie, how lovely." Ty deadpanned.

"Why are they doing this? What are they doing with our genetic material?" Shepard asked to no one in particular. She couldn't wrap her head around it as her eyes scanned the giant tubes above her. Why were the Collectors turning humans into–in Ty's hopefully inaccurate words–a genetic smoothie?

"I don't know. I'm just glad you got here before it happened to us." Chakwas said with relief in her tired exhausted voice.

Up until this point they had only known the Reapers killed or repurposed humans into husks and likely all the other races they conquered based on the Collectors being repurposed Prothean's. Was this how they got rid of the evidence of wiping out entire races or was there some other sick twisted reason unseen to their eyes?

Could the Reaper nightmare factory truly get any larger than it already was? _I know things can always get worse, but what more can they do? They can indoctrinate organics to turn friends against each other. They can repurpose organics into their own little minions like the Collectors and Husks, and now they're apparently turning us all into gray liquid for an unknown reason._

Every time she turned around it seemed the Reapers would dig up something new and disturbing to do to the organics they were annihilating.

Shepard shook her head pushing the thoughts from her mind as she did. What they were doing with the genetic material did not matter because they were going to stop the Collectors for good. This entire place was an abomination and they were here to wipe it off the map.

"As are we. No one deserves that fate." Ty said.

"I think we can all agree on that." Miranda agreed. "So far we've done well. We should try to keep the momentum in our favor."

Shepard gave a nod of agreement as she brought her finger up to her ear. The momentum was clearly in their favor. If they could keep up the pressure there would be no chance for the Collectors to get a foothold and dig in. "Joker? Can you get a fix on our position?"

"Roger that, Commander. It looks like all those tubes lead up into the main control room right above you. The route is blocked by a security door, but there's another chamber that runs parallel to the one you're in."

_Easy enough._ "I cannot recommend that." EDI entered the comm. _Or not._ "Thermal emissions suggest that the chamber is overrun with seeker swarms. Mordin's countermeasure cannot protect you against such a large amount."

_Great, _the commander furrowed her brow as she dropped her finger. Thus far they had managed to avoid problems with the seeker swarms that had paralyzed entire colonies thanks to the countermeasure created by Mordin. This was their first roadblock but Shepard wasn't going to give up that easily.

There was always a way forward, it was only a matter of figuring out which steps you had to take.

_Hmm. Regular shields and barriers won't do a thing to protect us if we went in there. They aren't strong enough to repel a normal amount let alone an entire path full of them._ The memory of Haley's repulses back in the Ortega district flashed through her mind followed by Jack creating a biotic bubble around her when she was unconscious.

_Maybe…_Shepard turned to Samara, Jack and Miranda, who were all standing on her right, "What about biotic's? Could we create a biotic field to keep them from getting near us?"

Samara gave a nod, "Yes. I think it may be possible. I wouldn't be able to protect everyone, but we might be able to get a small team through if they stay close."

Miranda nodded along in agreement to the Justicar's statement, "I could do it too. In theory any biotic could handle it." Her XO turned to her, "Shepard, who do you want to maintain the field?"

_I doubt I'd be able to. For as much power as I can use in a biotic charge, shockwave and with pull fields; to create a huge bubble large enough to protect all of us or even a small group would be incredibly straining on a long path._

She shifted her eyes to her group of powerful biotic's. _Although I am confident in Miranda's skill; I think she is underestimating the amount of strain it would cause. Like Jacob she is volunteering for a mission to be helpful, but I can't risk her life or the life of the team I bring. _

That left Jack and Samara as she doubted Thane or Jacob could maintain the barrier. _Both are definitely capable of maintaining it with the practically unlimited reserves and raw strength Jack has with the new amp I used our resources to get and the years of training, power and control Samara has. But we're only taking a small team. Whoever I don't bring in my team will be going down the other path and they need to be ready for the possibility of a big fight._

While the tattooed biotic could definitely handle herself and maintain her own barriers, she had a distinct lack of armor. Samara had armor and barriers along with very precise aim. _She's better equipped for the other team this time around._

"Jack and I will take a small team through the seeker swarms." The bald biotic gave her a nod before she turned her attention to the rest of her team. "The rest of you provide a diversion by going through the main passage. We'll open the security doors from the other side and meet you there."

"Who should lead the diversion team?" Miranda asked.

The diversion team would likely meet heavy resistance along the way and needed someone who could not only provide a good distraction, but also keep a level head to ensure the safety of the entire team.

Again that left only a handful of people suited for the job.

"I'll lead the diversion team and keep the Collectors busy so your team can get the back door open." Ty volunteered.

Shepard admittedly was shocked by his volunteering to lead the diversion team. The seldom few times he had led part of the Normandy team had always been out of complete reluctance to do it. It had taken some urging to get him to actually take on the leader role by those around him when he led Team Bloodrage recently at the Eclipse base and even as far back as taking the lead to get information while she was recovering from the mind wipe left behind by Wilson.

She understood the reasons behind his reluctance but she knew he was a capable leader; the former mercenary just needed a little more faith in himself. Perhaps he had gotten it on the last mission before the Collectors abducted the crew or perhaps it was just instinct and his thoughts weren't plagued by what he considered his past failures.

_I would ask him if he is sure but I don't want him to think I doubt him or make him feel any doubt in his own abilities. _The N7 gave him a nod of approval. _I know he'll do great at watching over the crew just like Garrus did._

"What about us Shepard?" Chakwas questioned. "None of us are in any shape to fight."

Before the commander could begin to fret over how they were going to get the rescued crew to safety, Joker came back over the comm. "Commander? We have enough systems back online to do a pick up, but we'll have to land a ways back from your position."

"We can't leave them but we can't all go back, Shepard." Miranda stated firmly.

"Yeah, I know." Shepard muttered.

The situation wasn't one she was enjoying whatsoever. They couldn't leave behind the crew yet if they all went back with them they would be giving the Collectors back the ground they gained and time for them to create a better foothold. "They'll never make it unless one of us escorts them back while the diversion team is drawing the attention of the Collectors."

She eyed her team carefully discerning who she would send with the rescued crew. Speed and intelligence would be best to both avoid unneeded confrontations and to reach the Normandy as fast as possible.

There was also the matter of whoever she sent would not be coming back to help.

_I need to consider carefully who I send. We have no idea what we're going to be facing once we get past the seeker swarms or what the diversion team will face. Keeping my heavy hitters like Grunt, Garrus and Zaeed will make sure we have enough firepower to fight whatever it is we face. They'll be able to provide better cover fire for the likes of Tali so she can keep her shields up to avoid a bad suit rupture or Jack when this biotic bubble takes away a lot of her strength._

The sapphire eyed woman switched her gaze to the rescued crew members. _And they are going to need someone who can check them over. Chakwas could do it, but she isn't at full capacity right now. I guess that leaves really only one person here qualified to protect them and then take care of them once they are back safely at the Normandy._

"Mordin."

The Salarian scientist gave a solid nod before activating his omni-tool, "Joker, send coordinates. Will meet you at rally point."

"We've all got our assignments. Let's move out!" Shepard ordered.

* * *

Ty and his squad of nine, including himself, were quick to move towards their position behind cover to hide as they waited for Shepard's orders to move forward with their diversion. The commander had taken Thane and Jacob along with her and Jack through the Seeker swarm path leaving him with everyone else, save for Mordin.

The former mercenary wasn't entirely sure what possessed the rational part of his mind to take control and say he would lead the diversion team. He had debated the point quickly with himself prior to stepping forward for it which ended in his rationality winning the arguments.

He knew the schematics of the base from the meeting in the comm room and the exact path they would have to take like the back of his hand thanks to his abilities. His own history with leading a large squad also weighed heavily in favor of doing this along with the fact he had pulled countless diversion missions with his own team and on his own.

It was simple really; just paint a huge target on yourself by shooting a bunch of goons or blowing up a lot of the targets personal effects. That always grabbed the attention of his targets.

Becoming a large distraction would keep the bulk of the forces eyes on them while the second team slipped around the back to deal with minimal enemies and get whatever was needed. This time it was a door to open to get his team in.

_I'm sure Garrus would have handled it perfectly had I not volunteered first._ Yet he had. It wasn't that Ty was doubting himself now of all times when they were about to plunge into a mission, it just felt strange as he thought back on his decision to volunteer.

Was his rational mind using the facts of his own experiences with the type of mission and the size of squad to get him to volunteer because he was uniquely qualified or was this something else? Was this some deep part of his mind attempting to move him towards a chance at redemption?

If he did succeed in his mission with no casualties, would it be redemption?

The purple eyed mercenary shook the thoughts from his mind. _Don't get distracted by superfluous thoughts. I need to stay focused on the task at hand._ He brought his hand to his ear and opened the comm to Shepard, "This is Ty. We're in position and waiting for the go ahead to start grabbing the Collectors attention."

Static filled his ear with garbled nonsense within it. _Seeker swarm must be screwing our comms up. _Ty let out a sigh and dropped his hand, "I hate this place." He turned his eyes to the team, "Seekers are ruining our comm connection to Shepard's team which means they are on the path. That means it's time for us to be glorious bait. Everyone ready?"

He received nods and a pumped shotgun from Grunt as agreement to start moving. "Alright. Watch each other's backs, call out targets, and try not to accidently shoot each other. Friendly fire would just be embarrassing to us all."

To that he received chuckles, head shakes and eye rolls with smirks individually from all eight team members before he began leading them forward.

The path ahead wasn't a straight path; it winded and made a few sharp turns to reach the doors where they would meet up with Shepard at. On the left side there was only a small barrier stopping anyone from accidently walking off to fall into the depths of the Collector base.

There were other winding paths far in the distance they couldn't reach but would only lead them further into the bowels of the beast and likely into a death trap if they could. Above them were large wires and tubes aligning the ceiling, the latter of which they were following to reach the access point of the main control room.

An orange hue coated the entirety of the base originating from the bright light of the galaxy core piercing through any window like openings. The illumination was appreciated, if not a bit ominous.

Tripping over themselves in the darkness wouldn't do them any good, especially if the Collectors could somehow see them in the dark. _Good news is if Harbinger did show up he'd stand out like a camp fire deep in a dark cave if we had to deal with total darkness. Wouldn't help us with all the others, but at least we could easily pick out his position._

That was thankfully not the situation they were dealing with. They could see where they were going and the Collectors that were not only ahead of them but also any of those who would join the fight. "Time to get to work." Ty pulled out Viper, "Let's kick some ass!"

He was joined in his long range take downs by Garrus and Legion while Zaeed and Samara provided mid-range cover fire to aid Kasumi, Grunt, Tali and Miranda to move up to the few low walls on both sides of the path.

Kasumi and Miranda remained a bit further back than the shotgun users to utilize their weapons, and biotic's in the case of catsuit wearing woman, to better effect. Grunt was unleashing his Claymore on any enemy foolish enough to get in his range or firing concussive rounds to lower the barriers of distanced enemies.

Tali had Chiktika moving forward attacking enemies behind their erected yellow hex shields with a powerful bolt of electricity as she used her pistol to lower barriers for the rifle or sniper wielders or kill the Collectors on her own.

The environment was not the best place to have a fight for the attacking team. There were places for cover and Ty had the schematics memorized, but the schematics did not give enemy forces estimates or how exactly well the Collectors would be able to dig in.

They had definitely drawn the attention of the Collectors from Shepard though, or there were more hiding in this base than the purple eyed warrior estimated. They were outnumbered ten to one, yet that didn't stop them from pushing forward through the ranks of Collector forces.

Numbers did help, but skill could easily beat out numbers any day of the week. It was how the special ops of the Alliance or any other military could send in a small team against overwhelming forces yet have no casualties or wounded on their side yet a decimated force on the other.

His tactic of a mix of long, mid and close range fighting had worked fairly well to push the Collectors ahead of them back or leave their dead bodies piling up the floors. Things were going smoothly up until a platform with a Scion, two Collector Guardians, a Collector Assassin, three Husks and two Abominations came floating down to their level.

_Ah shit. It was only a matter of time before they tried to flank us using those platforms._ "Garrus use your tungsten and fire at the Scion when it gets in sight, Legion let loose on it with your Widow!" Ty ordered over the roar of the fight.

"Roger that."

"Acknowledged. Switching targets."

"Watch your left flank up there! We've got enemies inbound." The former mercenary warned the group ahead of them. The trio of snipers all turned their rifles to face the oncoming platform as they crouched down behind cover. Garrus and Legion both set their bipods down on the waist high platform next to them as Ty aimed down his sights for the Assassin and Guardians.

The platform was still too high for them to see their targets in their scope without standing up and risking getting shot by the Collectors downfield. _Patience._ Ty steadied his breathing to calm his battle adrenaline filled body.

"Targets almost in sight. Preparing to fire." The Geth spoke.

Rounds impacted against the low wall and pelted the ground kicking up debris from the dirt like road they were on. Neither sniper budged or flinched from their positions. The other part of their team would handle the enemies who had tried targeting them; right now they had incoming targets they had to focus on.

The platform continued its angled decline until finally the enemies were in sight. _Here we go._ Ty took one last breath before targeting the first Guardian to come into sight. He fired off three rounds and met the barrier of the enemy.

_Stronger barriers. _The Guardian ducked behind a low wall on the platform forcing the former mercenary to realign his sights, _they've gotten upgrades just like the husks we ran into back on the derelict Reaper._

The boom of the Widow and crack of Garrus's Viper filled his ears as he moved across the second Guardian hiding behind a hex shield to the Assassin aiming at the rest of the team with his beam rifle. _The Collectors must have upgraded themselves somehow to try to become strong enough to take us on._

A memory of the dead Collector they found on the Collector ship that was experimented flashed through his mind. _They had been experimenting on their own kind…I suppose they finally figured out how to make themselves stronger than they were._

Four rounds echoed out of his rifle only managing to lower the barriers of the Assassin before it ducked down behind cover. "Careful, these guys are tougher than the usual batch we've been facing. Must be sending in the stronger soldiers."

In a flash of movement Ty switched back to the original Guardian he had shot at and released the last five rounds in his thermal clip. The first four weakened its barriers for the final round to hit the Collector right between its four eyes.

_One down, eight to go._

The purple eyed warrior ejected his thermal clip and moved his scope over to the husks and flaming abominations which were becoming the bigger threat thanks to the platform coming to a stop next to the path. "This bastard is tough." Garrus commented as he ejected his own thermal clip before re-sighting the Scion.

"He'll die eventually. Just have to put enough rounds in him."

_I should hit the abominations first. Killing them leads to an explosion and I don't want anyone losing their shields at an inopportune time or getting set on fire, which would pretty much suck._ Readying his rifle he picked the first abomination out, _should take three rounds if they have extra armor._

Ty fired three rounds in quick succession punching through the armor on the abomination and killing it. Swiftly he changed his target to the next and followed suit with it as well as the three husks managing to kill all four before they managed to close in on his allies.

_Only the Scion, Guardian and Assassin lef-_

A shockwave suddenly cascaded into the trio lowering their shields and forcing their bodies to flinch from the force. "I _really_ don't like that thing." Ty growled as he retook aim.

"That makes two of us." Garrus agreed.

"We agree." Legion joined the two organics in taking aim once more. "We will terminate the target immediately."

"I think that's a challenge to you Garrus."

The Turian snorted, "A challenge? Don't forget who you're talking to Ty."

"Ah yes, the Turian who can apparently make guns dance." The former mercenary chuckled to himself, "I bet your dancing is as bad as Shepard's."

"Oh, now that's cold! You're on Ty!" Garrus retorted.

The trio resumed their gunfire with Ty taking down the Guardian and Assassin right before Garrus and Legion took down the Scion. "The target has been terminated. Permanently." Legion stated.

"Alright. Let's start moving up to those doors. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be trapped between two forces of Collectors."

It was a scenario that was becoming more possible as the seconds ticked on. They needed to get to those doors, and they needed to get to them as soon as possible.

On one hand that would trap them between a wall and who knows how many Collectors once they realized they were cornered. On the other if they took too much time to get to those doors the Collectors were bound to send a larger force than the one they sent via platform to trap them between two fights. It would completely hinder all progress forward or leave them all dead, two scenarios Ty was not going to allow happen.

_If that platform was anything to go by then I'd say the Collectors are taking off the kid gloves and putting their big boy pants on finally. We're proving ourselves to be a problem larger than they anticipated and their underestimation is coming to an abrupt end. I don't know about the others, but I'd rather force the Collectors to come right at us than being the monkey in a game of monkey in the middle._

Ty continued to dish out orders and kill as many Collectors as he could while pushing forward at a faster pace. There was no guarantee the doors would be the best place to hold out at, in fact it was quite possible it would end up being a death trap with no cover for his team.

Still, the purple eyed warrior held onto the hope that Shepard would be nearing the door around the same time they got there to allow them to get to safety. So long as Jack could hold their barrier up, there was no way the N7 wouldn't be able to meet them at the doors.

_She'll be able to hold it. If there is anything Jack has in aces, it is massive biotic power mixed with large reserves of energy and added sprinkles of control._

When the diversion team finally made it to the doors they were in good shape in both the physical sense and the ammunition kind. Even with the upgraded forces they started to face they were able to push forward without any real issues.

Then again they were nine trained killers who were armed to the teeth and on a mission with no intention of dying or failing. Their enemies didn't stand a chance regardless of how much the Collectors got upgraded.

At least that was Ty's thought on the matter until he realized just how cornered they were at the doors. There was a small barricade at the very edges of the path with an opening in the center to walk in and out of. That wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact they had come downhill to get here before the floor leveled out for a few metres leading up to their current position, meaning the Collectors now had the higher ground.

Topping off all of this was the fact the door literally had nothing he could access to open it from his end and Collector forces were starting to come down the hill. "Take up positions at the barricades and don't let any of those bastards get close. We're holding here until Shepard gets those doors open." Ty said as he took cover at the barricades with his fellow squad members.

"Let us hope that is soon. This field of battle is no longer in our favor." Samara stated wisely.

"I'm with her Ty. This isn't exactly a good position to defend from." Tali agreed.

"Just keep calm and keep shooting. We'll make it out of this in one piece. I promise." _But it'd be nice to know where Shepard is at the moment._ Ty activated his comm to the woman and received static in his ear. _Must be in the swarms still, but maybe she can hear me._ "Don't know if you can hear this Shepard, but we've made it to the doors and are fighting enemy forces. Not to be pushy but it would be nice if you got here sometime soon."

Static was his only response causing the man to sigh as he focused back on the targets attempting to kill them.

For five long minutes the battle between the diversion team and the Collectors raged on with no one on the Normandy team taking injuries, but that was becoming harder and harder to keep up. The forces of the Collectors went from ten to one to twenty to one, and it was starting to take its toll on the warriors.

They were running out of time and Ty knew it. With each new push from the Collectors they gained more ground and were getting close to being right on top of them. This wasn't Thermopylae; they didn't have a tactical advantage or any deus ex machina weapon to plow down the forces in a matter of seconds.

"We can't do this forever Ty! Have you got any word from Shepard?" Zaeed shouted over the roar of gunfire.

"I can do this all day!" Grunt roared as he continued to blast Collectors with inferno rounds from his Avenger.

"Show off!" Kasumi teased lightly as she rested behind cover in an attempt to recharge her shields and take a break. The tank-bred Krogan let out a laugh as he let loose another barrage of rounds into the face of a Collector Guardian.

Despite his enthusiasm, the former mercenary knew Grunt was starting to feel the fatigue the rest of the squad was feeling. "Haven't heard squat but I'll try again!" Ty took cover as his shields went down, "Shepard, do you copy? Damn it, woman! You better not have been taken by those swarms!"

"I copy. What's your position?" Shepard's voice entered his comm.

The saving grace had finally arrived.

"We're at the door taking on a damn army! We need these fucking doors open now!"

He didn't really mean to yell at her, but the purple eyed warrior and the rest of his team were in a battle where seconds would determine whether they lived or died. Urgency was pushing him to rush the commander to get the doors open for the sake of the squad under his command.

"We're coming, just hold on."

_I need to get these guys ready to evac immediately. _"Alright, everyone who isn't shooting, reload your weapons. When those doors open I want you in the same group of twos you split up into last time. Grunt, Tali, you two are going first, then Miranda and Kasumi, Samara and Zaeed, and finally Legion and Garrus. Understood?"

He received affirmatives from everyone. With everyone on the same page all that was left to do was wait for the doors to open.

The sound of the solid metal doors sliding open sounded off cuing Grunt and Tali to take off first with the rest of the squad covering their escape. Once they were safely behind the doors he ordered the next group to go with a simple shout of, "Next!"

It continued on like that with the gunfire from the Collectors growing larger with each crew member safely behind the doors. The only good news was Shepard's team was also providing covering fire to aid them, but the numbers were becoming insurmountable.

As soon as Samara and Zaeed were behind the door the trio of snipers made their rush with only Ty keeping his back to the doors as he did his best to provide cover fire for their escape with his Viper. It was as he reached the door his shields were dropped and something solid impacted into his right side causing him to cringe to that side and hip fire his rifle.

Ty forced himself to stumble behind the doors as his body continued to swim in adrenaline leaving him unable to detect what exactly the damage he received was. He knew he had likely been shot through the gut but if there was any screaming pain, he couldn't feel it.

"Seal the door!" Shepard ordered to Jack who was at the terminal.

The door slammed shut with all members of the crew safe and accounted for as the entirety of the diversion team attempted to catch their breaths after what felt like an hour long fight. The former mercenary allowed his left shoulder to lean against the door as he too caught his breath and moved his hand to his side.

Shepard was quick to brace his body with her hands as soon as she was sure everyone else did not have any bodily harm. Her eyes scanned over his body and the area he was holding. "Ty, are you wounded?" She asked worriedly.

He removed his hand from his side and looked down at it to find, surprisingly, no blood. His armor had a golf ball sized divot in it, yet it seemed to have stopped the round from piercing all the way through to meet his flesh. "Worst…walk…ever."

She smiled her beautiful smile at him before patting his bicep guard. "You'll be okay."

"Remind me to thank Braum for the new armor. Saved me from watching my guts get spilled out."

"Noted, Specialist." Ty could only muster a light chuckle at the comment lacking the energy to make a retort about the title. "Come on, we're almost done."

The former mercenary nodded and followed the commander back towards the rest of the squad.

_Just one final push and we'll be there._

It was time to finish things.


	113. Chapter 112

Chapter 112

One Giant Nightmare

"Joker? Are you at the rendezvous point?" Shepard asked into her comm as her team regrouped. Her team had made it through the seeker swarms without too much struggle, save for the final stretch where maintaining the bubble had started to strain Jack.

Thankfully the tattooed biotic had pushed through it all and maintained the bubble all the way to the end, she even had enough strength left to send a huge wave of biotic energy down the path they had come down to take out the swarms and Collectors still trying kill them.

_Reminded me of Haley's blast back in the Ortega district, but with even more strength behind it._ It was a very impressive sight to see, but this wasn't the time for patting themselves on the back. They still had one more stretch to go.

Before they embarked on it she needed to find out if Mordin's team had made it safe and sound to the Normandy.

"I'm here, Commander. Chakwas and the rest of the crew just showed up." Her pilot responded. His voice was in his usual tone which made Shepard relax only a little bit. She doubted there was much to worry about if Joker wasn't showing any signs of sadness, but she remained a little on guard just in case.

"Mordin's group just arrived, Shepard. No casualties." EDI followed.

The N7 let out an audible relieved filled sigh at the news. Everyone who had been kidnapped plus the Salarian Scientist were all okay. It was a heavy weighted worry that had been following her ever since sending the group away.

Would the Collectors send a large force just to wipe them out was a question she had asked herself more than once, but now that worry was easily eradicated by the news of their arrival.

_I knew I could count on you Mordin._

"Excellent. Now let's make it count." Miranda said with a satisfied smile on her face as she brought her hand to her ear. "EDI, what's our next step?"

"Please be blowing this place up." Ty pleaded.

He received silent nods of agreement to his plea. They were all sick of the house of horrors they were in and wanted to end the Collectors once and for all. Shepard was in the same boat; this place was a monstrosity and needed to be destroyed.

Each fight took a toll on their stamina and ammunition. If they continued to push and push without reaching their destination they were bound to run out of one or the other with the latter being the most probable to run out first.

"You are correct in what the next step is, Ty." EDI answered. The former mercenary silently pumped his fist and mouthed '_yes_' as he did in turn making Shepard along with some of the others smirk and shake their heads at his antics. "There should be some nearby platforms that will take you to the main control console. From there you can overload the system and destroy the base."

They were reaching the end of this mission; it was practically within their grasps now. Although it had been hard to see at first, they had made tremendous progress thus far. All of the preparations, all of battles both before the base and throughout it, it all led them here to this moment.

The end was in sight, but they couldn't just run straight at it without watching where they were stepping.

No, that would lead to a deadly mistake. Now was the time where they had to prevent simple mistakes that would cost them everything. This was not a time to get reckless or feel as if they were completely unstoppable, not while they were still deep in a minefield.

This was the time to buckle down and remain as focused as possible on the steps ahead of them.

It wasn't going to be a simple walk across the platforms to destroy the base. Nothing with the Reapers would ever be that easy. There was some kind of force ahead of them prepared to stop them from finishing this mission.

As much as Shepard hated to think it, she knew there was one final nightmare awaiting them. There was no chance it would be as easy as waltzing up to the console and overloading the system to destroy the base. Like with Saren, there would be some kind of nuclear landmine waiting for them out there that was too well hidden under the dirt to see.

Whether it would be some sort of enemy or a self-destruct beacon that wouldn't give them time to escape or something else entirely was unknown to the N7. All she did know was that she would do everything in her power to ensure they didn't step on whatever nuclear landmine awaited them.

_Fighting the Reaper controlled Saren wasn't a fun time, especially once Sovereign was destroyed. Barely dodging giant parts of a destroyed Reaper wasn't as easy as it looked._ She didn't want any kind of situation like that. If they were able to walk out with only a few short battles with Collectors then that would be fine by her.

"Commander? You got a problem. Hostiles massing just outside the door. Won't be long until they bust through." Joker informed.

Shepard cast an eye back at the door Ty's team had entered from. _They didn't waste any time getting to work on that door._

"Am I the only one who thinks it is utter bullshit that when _we _need the door open there is nothing for us to unlock it with, but when _they_ need the door open they get the tools they need." Ty stated with irritation laced in his voice.

The commander shot him a smirk, "I think you're just upset there was a door you couldn't open."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow as a teasing smile pulled onto his face, "You're going to go there Commander I-have-to-use-omni-gel-to-open-locks-because-I-forgot-to-bring-a-tech-expert?"

The N7s cheeks began to tint a slight pink as she cleared her throat. _How did he find vids of that stuff?_ When she found the cameras that had captured her having difficulty with locks and taking equipment left behind at facilities allowing the purple eyed warrior to have banter cannon ammunition, she was going to destroy them beyond all recognition.

"Ahem…anyways." Shepard strode forward to the platform that would lead her and a team to their final destination.

She climbed up on top of it and looked back down at her team, "Moving past my lack of abilities with technology, we need to move fast before the Collectors can overwhelm us." The sapphire eyed woman met the eyes of both her XO and her lover, "Miranda, Ty, we're going to destroy the base." She moved her eyes back to her squad, "The rest of you I want to cover our backs. At the same time make sure you watch each other's backs and stick to cover. We've made it this far without injuries, let's keep it up."

Getting out of this physically unscathed was something she wanted for her team more than anything else. Mentally unscathed got more or less ruined by the Collectors melting the colonist woman when they found their crew, but physically unscathed was still a possibility.

Ty stepped up onto the platform first taking his place on her right side as Miranda did the same on her left, "I'm ready to shove a grenade down their throat."

"Eloquently put as always, but I'm of the same mind." Miranda agreed.

"So, any big speech planned? That's what good guys do before a big fight, right?"

Shepard rolled her eyes at the man but decided he was partly right. Much like it was when she had taken command of the Normandy after becoming a Spectre, a speech here could rouse the spirits of her crew to dig down deep for the strength needed to take on the task ahead of them.

This final battle they all would have a part in would undoubtedly be their toughest yet. So far they had pushed through two separate paths as Ty went through the shaft to open the doors for them, both paths which had many enemies for them to face.

After that they had managed to rescue their crew and then once again move down two separate paths, one of which required Jack to maintain a large biotic bubble as they took on enemy forces and the other which had the rest of her team taking on a large ground force of Collectors.

This suicide mission had forced them to bring their very best so far and they had to continue to fight at that same level perhaps for the last time.

Whatever fatigue they felt, she had to help them banish it one last time.

"The Collectors, the Reapers – they aren't a threat to us. They're a threat to everything – everyone. Those are the lives we're fighting for. That's the scale." Shepard began to pace a small line in front of her team as she continued, "It's been one hell of a journey so far, and no one's coming out without scars. We've been through many battles since we came together as a team. We've faced an army of mercenaries both on Omega and outside of it, a Thresher Maw, a legion of heretical Geth between Aite and everywhere else. The list goes on when it comes to the enemies we've face, but don't let it make you forget the personal moments we've shared."

She could see it in their eyes that they were remembering every battle and moment. At the mention of the Thresher Maw Grunt had slammed his hands together and grinned. The N7 could remember every moment she shared with her squad from catching up with Garrus and Tali to becoming friends with Jack, Miranda and everyone else on the ship.

Then there were the moments she shared with Ty from their first meeting where he had crashed into her, literally, to their first kiss and all the interruptions before it all the way up to their time spent in the planetarium and before embarking on the Omega 4 Relay.

All of the moments with Ty and her crew were precious to her and fueled her spirit further.

"We've squared away our pasts together by settling scores with enemies or stopping those we care for from falling to darkness." The commander began to pace back to her previous spot, "We found friendship and comradery on the Normandy." _And love. _"It's those friends you stand side by side with right now. Find strength in that because it all comes down to this moment." She stopped back in front of Ty and Miranda, "We win or lose it all in the next few minutes. Make me proud. Make yourselves proud."

"Well said. Let's go finish this." The Cerberus Operative said.

Without any more words to say, the trio activated the platform and it began bringing them towards their destination. Shepard watched the bulk of her team for a few more moments as Garrus took command and got the group to start setting up to hold the line before turning around to face whatever it was that awaited them.

_Good luck to you all._

The platform they were on was much like the ones she, Ty and Tali had run into on the Collector ship. It had a waist high barrier in the center covering one of the sides but was otherwise not a suitable area to hold their ground.

What was also unfortunate for them was that their platform came to an abrupt stop a long ways away from their actual destination. "I don't want to be Captain Obvious, but I'm pretty sure we're about to get ambushed." Ty said as he pulled out his rifle.

As if on cue the sound of another platform sounded off. All three squad members turned their eyes in the direction they had intended to go where a platform was descended from with definitive attentions of coming at them. A few Collectors were on it already taking pot shots at the group forcing all three to take cover behind their barrier.

"You just had to say it." Miranda scolded.

"Hey! You two were thinking the same exact thing I was."

"Yeah, but you said it out loud." Shepard teased the man.

"Even if I hadn't they would have shown up. That was not a tempting fate moment. That was just being realistic."

_He has a point._ Shepard launched a pull field at the group of three Collectors on the platform, catching only two within it. Two sniper rounds followed nailing the two bug beings right between their eyes. "Nice one." Miranda congratulated their resident sniper before hitting the third Collector with a Slam, killing it.

The platform magnetically connected to theirs giving them more room to traverse and more cover which was going to come in handy since there was another platform in the distance approaching with more enemies on it.

The final battles had begun.

On the new platform were stronger Collectors than the first, all of which had barriers and put up a decent fight as soon as the platform connected to the first two. Their strength was not enough though for the combined force of the two biotic's and the purple eyed warrior.

They made it through that group and another group of reinforcements that had come, but they had no time to break and figure out how to get a platform moving. Yet another group of reinforcements arrived on two separate floating platforms. On both platforms arriving were strong forces of Collectors, but only one of the platforms had a Harbinger controlled Collector and two other dual blade wielding ones.

"Ty, stay close and pick off as many of these guys as you can." Shepard ordered.

"Got it." She knew he could take on the two blade wielders but if he advanced on them now he would run the risk of getting overwhelmed by all the others. At the same time it ensured the two would be forced to come after them and thus allow Ty to defend the two biotic's from their assault.

"Miranda, try to take out all the other Collectors with Ty before we take out Harbinger."

"Right."

_If we can take out the others first, then he won't have anyone else to control. We just have to watch out for his attacks in the meantime._ That was where she came into play in this plan. Ty and Miranda alone could handle the other Collectors as Harbinger specifically targeted her. _I just have to keep him distracted for the time being._

Shepard launched a shockwave across the field hitting the glowing Collector dead on. His barriers were hit hard by it, but they didn't go down. It wouldn't be that easy, it never was.

"Where do you think you're going!" Ty yelled as he tossed one of his special tomahawks at a Collector moving to flank Miranda. The tomahawk sailed across the field before imbedding itself in the head of the Collector, the force of which knocked it off the platform to wherever the bottom of the base was. "Have a nice trip, asshole."

Shepard smiled slightly before focusing her pistol fire on Harbinger. She got a few rounds off before he launched an orb of energy directly at her. "You escaped us before, Shepard, not again."

She wasn't sure if he was referring to the first Collector attack on the original Normandy, the Collector Ship, or the Bahak System, but the N7 didn't really care. Harbinger wasn't going to stop her here and neither would any of his minions. "Oh yeah? We'll see about that."

"You have merely delayed the inevitable." The orb impacted against her cover signaling her time to retaliate. She popped back out of cover and fired off another series of rounds impacting against her foes barrier until it dropped. He sent a larger orb in her direction, one she knew wouldn't be completely blocked by her cover.

The N7 moved quickly from cover to cover in an attempt to throw the following orb off of her trail. "I already told you, regardless of how pointless it is we'll fight you to the end. But I promise you this: the end that is coming will be your end, not ours!" The orb impacted against the last bit of cover she had hid behind. With the new breathing room she had, she checked the progress of her squad.

Her team had wounded and taken out the majority of the Collectors. Ty was already moving to engage the blade wielders with his blade armor active and his regular tomahawks in hand because they were practically on top of them. Hesitating any longer to engage the foes would be detrimental to all of them.

_If I move quickly, we can take out the remaining Collectors before Harbinger can take a new form if I end him now._

The sapphire eyed commander equipped her Claymore and summoned up her biotic energy as she targeted the glowing Collector. With incredible speed she charged forward, slamming into Harbinger with tremendous force knocking him completely off balance.

Her senses came swarming back in an instant allowing her to stick the barrel of her Claymore right into the gut of the Collector, "This is for the Bahak System." She hissed. The N7 fired her Claymore right into the gut of Harbinger tearing a hole straight through him.

"This is not the conclusion." Harbinger said as he began to disintegrate away.

"Maybe not. But today your puppets die." In a flash Shepard biotic charged another Collector unloading her Claymore once more to kill the bug being. "Miranda, hit that middle one with a Warp!" The commander ordered as she took cover and reloaded her shotgun.

"This will take you down for good!" The raven haired woman hit the target directly with a heavy warp. Three of the Collectors had taken cover close together and that was going to prove to be a fatal error on their behalf.

Once more the Vanguard biotic charged only this time she aimed at the warp affected Collector. Upon impact a large biotic detonation pulsed out taking the other two bug beings down along with her original target.

Shepard turned to see if she could help Ty finish off the last two of their opponents but found he was in the midst of finishing them both off. He impaled one tomahawk each into both Collectors, one in the shoulder and the other in the side, and currently was fending them off using the blades on his gauntlets formed by the use of his blade armor.

He parried two attacks from one of the Collectors then ducked under the strike of the other, pulling his tomahawk out of its side as he did. As the former mercenary came up he blocked the next blow with his tomahawk and gave the Collector he just took his tomahawk back from a kick to the gut sending it stumbling back a few feet.

It teetered on the edge of the platform but was able to recover and move back in. In the seconds it had been forced to fight for balance Ty had forced the blade of his blocked opponent to the side. He grabbed its other arm and closed the distance between them to deliver a hard head-butt.

The Collector was sent reeling back but Ty remained on him delivering a short jab followed by a diagonal strike cutting the blade wielder from its shoulder to its waist. He was quick to pull his other tomahawk out before giving his foe a hard kick to the chest sending it directly off the platform.

Swiftly the purple eyed warrior turned around, holstering one of his tomahawks and replacing it with a pistol as he did, and fired three rounds into the charging Collectors face. He holstered his other tomahawk and equipped his other pistol as he began to make his way over to the group.

Before the commander could make a witty remark, the Collector he had knocked off suddenly came flying back up onto the platform, dashing in to kill the man from behind. "Behind you!" She managed to shout.

"Yep." The former mercenary spun on his toes and batted away the blade aimed for him with his bladed gauntlet. "You should never use the same trick twice, asshole." Rounds pelted the Collector in its chest until it crashed to the ground dead.

A breath Shepard didn't realize she had been holding finally was released as she shook her head at the man approaching her. _He must have knocked it off before and it came back into the fight, probably taking him by surprise._ Shepard smiled mentally, _guess it's a good thing he doesn't forget anything._ "Did you have to be so dramatic?" She asked.

"Yeah. If I didn't I'd miss out on making you worried about my health." He smiled a charming smile, "Then what would I do for personal entertainment?"

The woman chuckled softly and shook her head once more at the man she loved. "Not to be rude, but we have more enemies incoming." Miranda announced.

A new platform with two Scions and a group Abominations was coming at them next. _They're really throwing everything they've got at us._ Not that the commander was surprised at all in the slightest. They were in the heart of the base and only a short platform flight away from reaching the main control console.

Once there they could overload the system and destroy the base for good. Obviously that was completely counterproductive for the Reapers. They didn't want their puppets destroyed when they still had some use left in helping them destroy the next cycle.

The Normandy team was forcing the Collectors to have their backs against a wall and no choice in the matter of sending as many of their forces possible to defeat the group trying to destroy them. If they didn't they lost their ingenious hiding place where no one could follow them to, or at least that had been a single ace of theirs until the Normandy destroyed their ship.

Of course the ship was probably easily replaceable, but they weren't going to get that chance. Their base was the next target to go up in flames so long as Shepard had any say in the matter.

After a short but somewhat difficult fight, the trio of humans defeated the last of the reinforcements and moved to the panel on the platform to program it to bring them to their original destination.

"This is it." Shepard said as the platform began to ascend, "All the tubes lead to this spot. EDI. What can you tell us? What are they doing?"

"The tubes are feeding into some kind of super structure." The Normandy A.I. entered their comms as the platform began moving forward faster. "It is emitting both organic and non-organic energy signatures."

They passed through a few large circular window like passes, but as the platform began to slow Shepard found her eyes focused on what was ahead of them. She couldn't make out exactly what she was staring at from the distance they were at, yet a cold chill began to make its way down her spine.

"It's…it's getting really cold." Ty muttered.

The overall temperature of the area was warm; the chill she received was out of instinctual fear. To find out that Ty was growing cold only meant whatever they were about to find was the source of all the pain within this base.

"Given the readings, it must be massive." EDI continued with caution layered in her synthetic voice.

She was not wrong for her caution or her assumption on size.

Shepard felt herself lower her weapon as the platform entered the room where the structure waited for them. _My god._

"Oh my god…" Miranda whispered from behind her.

"Spirits."

"Shepard, if my calculations are correct, the super structure…is a Reaper." EDI's caution became mixed with surprise.

"Not just any Reaper." The platform ascended up towards the structure the trio each stared at in awed fear. The being was…massive, looming over the group in a way that made them all feel smaller than they were. But it was not the Reaper form of a squid-like being that Shepard was used to, no. This one took on a far scarier and familiar form. "It's a Human-Reaper."

"Precisely." EDI agreed.

The nightmare factory found one last giant nightmare.

What they were staring at was the skeletal form of a human in giant form, no skin covered the structure and that made it so much worse. Giant metal clawed hands hung on both sides above them; its ribcage and spinal cord were also visible.

The trio's platform connected to the main control consoles platform which happened to be right in front of the structure. As the platforms connected, tubes that were connected to the shoulders and biceps of the Reaper opened up revealing orange fluid of some kind, _undoubtedly the genetic material of all the humans the process._

Although the situation had gotten much worse, there was good news. The Human-Reaper did not appear to be alive or aware of their presence. _Maybe we can still destroy it before it is finished, _Shepard thought as she stepped forward.

"We're going to need a bigger bomb." Ty said as he reluctantly moved forward with the N7.

"It appears the Collectors have processed tens of thousands of humans. Significantly more will be required to complete the Reaper." EDI explained.

Tens of thousands were a lot of people, yet they weren't even close to finished. "What do the Collectors gain by turning humans into this…Reaper shell?" Shepard asked to no one in particular.

Another weapon was an easy first guess, yet did the Reapers really need any more fire power? Sovereign alone had done a ton of damage, with a few Reapers of that size and firepower they could have easily wiped out the fleets around the Citadel and probably everyone else for that matter.

"They may be facilitating the Reaper equivalent of reproduction. Or it may serve another purpose. I do not have the data to speculate further. However, it is clear that the Collectors are merely pawns. The technology and ability needed to create this Reaper is not their own. It is likely that different species construct each Reaper. In this case, the Collectors provide the labor."

The N7 nodded slightly at EDI's explanation. _I knew they were puppets, but I didn't realize the Reapers used them as labor to create more of them. That is probably the fate of all the races they turn into tools. _"Yes, but the Collectors are just Prothean's. Why would they help the Reapers?" Miranda questioned.

"The Reapers subdued the Prothean's long ago. Probabilities suggest they attempted to create a Prothean Reaper. And failed. Over time, they adapted the Prothean's to suit their needs. Changed them. Turned them into workers. Tools for the Reapers.

_ Make ourselves useful, huh Saren? _Shepard stared hard at the skeletal being,_ they'd turn us all into mindless slaves with no culture, no personalities, no emotions, and no freedom. This isn't better than annihilation; it's the same damn thing._

"What I want to know is why they decided to build it to look like a human." Ty spoke up. "I mean Sovereign was freaky enough even if his form was pretty much a giant squid, but this? This is fucking frightening."

"It appears the Reapers shape is based upon the species used to create it." EDI answered.

"Yeah but the Reapers are machines – why do they need humans at all?" The commander asked.

"Incorrect. Reapers are sapient constructs. A hybrid of organic and inorganic material. The exact construction methods are unclear, but it seems probable that the Reapers absorb the essence of a species; utilizing it in their reproductive process."

_How nice. Not only do they wipe out races, but they also use them to create more of themselves. _Shepard felt her need to blow the base into smithereens growing with each passing second, but there was one last question she had to ask. It was one she really didn't want to know the answer to, yet it was a question that needed to be answered.

"How many more humans do you think they'd try to take?"

"Millions. Perhaps more. Impossible to know for certain." The A.I. said solemnly. "This Reaper appears to be in an early stage of development. An embryo in human terms."

Small hope filled Shepard's being at her final statement, "So it's not alive yet? We can still stop it from being…created?"

She hoped it to be true. If they could stop this being before it could even start wreaking havoc then that would be a huge win for them.

"The process can be stopped, but it is unclear exactly how much it has developed. I cannot, for example, tell you if it has awareness."

That was at least a positive amongst their sea of bad news. They could stop the process and keep the Reaper from being fully created. It would be one less tool they could use in the coming war along with the subtraction of their Collector puppets. All they had to do was figure out how to take down the massive structure and then blow up the base.

"This thing is an abomination. EDI, how do we destroy it?"

"The large tubes injecting the fluid are a structural link. Destroying them should cause the supports to collapse and the Reaper to fall."

At the same moment she spoke a group of Collectors on a platform started to come down from higher up within the base and with them the tubes were shut off. Layers of metal plating covered them making it impossible for the time being to actually attack the tubes. "Assuming direct control." Harbingers voice sounded off as he took control of one of the Collectors.

"Argh, him again? He just doesn't know when to quit." Ty grumbled.

"Hang on a minute, EDI. We've got some old friends to deal with." The platform came down onto their right side, connecting to the group they had. "Ty, I want you to keep your eyes on the tubes. As soon as they open, take them out."

"Roger that."

"What? No witty retort about being given orders?" The Cerberus Operative fired at the man.

"Yeah because my entire body is freezing. I can't even feel my ass right now and though it may not be as big as yours or as nice as Shepard's, I like my ass. It gives people something to kick instead of punching me in the face."

"Ah, there we go. That's more like the Ty I've come to know." Miranda chuckled.

Shepard smiled momentarily before focusing her eyes back on the Harbinger controlled Collector. Not wanting to waste any time or allow the Collectors to cost them a moment to destroy the tubes and take down the Human-Reaper, the N7 released the two rounds in her Claymore one after another at the glowing bug being.

"There is no pain." Harbinger said as he launched another orb of energy at her. The commander made a dash to nearby cover managing to get behind it right as the orb was nearly on her. _Tough bastard, I'll give him that much._ Shepard ejected her thermal clip then stood back up and fired again at Harbinger.

This time the rounds ripped straight through his armor and into his body. "Releasing control." His voice spoke as the Collector disintegrated.

Without hesitation Shepard threw a pull field at the group catching two of the three within. It was immediately detonated by Miranda the instant they were in her line of sight. The crack of Ty's Viper sounded the end of the third Collector.

Another platform began to move in on their other side forcing the trio to begin moving to cover that would protect them from the new enemies. At the same time the sound of the tubes plating being removed filled the area. "Ty!"

"On it!"

The man stopped in his running to sight the orange glowing tubes.

_Crack! Crack!_

Two rounds sounded off one after another in quick succession followed by the sound of shattering glass. The sapphire eyed woman made it into cover allowing her to look up at the tubes. Large shards of glass and metal plating for the support strut plummeted from the sky as orange gooey liquid rained down into the depths below the Human-Reaper.

Almost immediately the remaining tubes began to be shielded by their metal plating, _damn. It's going to close off before we can take down all the tubes. _

_Crack! Crack!_

The sound of shattered glass followed as the second support on the right side was destroyed leading to another glass, metal and liquid rainstorm on the depths of the Collector base.

"Should have figured it wouldn't be as easy as taking them all down at once, but two out of four isn't too bad." The purple eyed warrior said as he joined the two women in cover. He was right of course. They had taken down nearly half now thanks to his quick shooting, all they had to do now was take out the reinforcements and hope that the tubes opened up afterwards.

"Go for kill shots. The sooner we pick them off, the sooner we can rig this base and get the hell out of here." Shepard ordered.

She received responses through the use of weapons and biotic's from her squad members. Ty began picking off Collectors one by one using his rifle as Miranda followed suit only with her pistol and a mixture of Warps and Slams.

The commander switched to her pistol due to the distance between them and their targets but that didn't change her ability to kill them. Her eyes were filled with determination with their mission so close to being finished.

The end of the Collectors was in reach, the feeling of victory was almost palpable among the trio.

One by one the bug beings fell to the might of the Normandy squad. With each fallen enemy the path to victory was just that much closer.

As the last Collector fell the metal shielding covering the tubes retracted making Shepard's heart race a bit faster.

This was it. This was the end of the line for the Collectors. Two tubes were all that remained in their way.

"Ty, take the left one. Miranda, you and me on the right one. Let's end this." Shepard said.

All three aimed down their sights and picked a tube to fire at. Ty's rifle cracked twice as the two biotic's let loose a flurry of pistol rounds into their tube. Both tubes shattered and the effects were immediately gratifying.

The Human-Reapers head slumped forward with its body as the remaining supports tried to hold it up.

It was for naught.

Its weight could no longer be held and it soon lost all support, falling like dead weight down into the bowels of the base. "Good riddance." Ty stated as the trio looked over the edge to ensure the Reaper had fallen.

"On that we agree."

Shepard nodded in agreement with Miranda's statement then brought her finger to her ear. "Shepard to ground team. Status report."

Gunfire filled her comm but was soon followed by the voice of the tattooed biotic, "Jack here. I'm tagging them as they come, but feel free to call for an exit anytime!"

Her voice was filled with stress and it was easy to guess why based on the amount of gunfire and explosions in the background. Their line was holding, but they were holding against a very overwhelming force.

An evac was most desired by all of her team, that much was obvious even if she had only heard from Jack.

"Head to the Normandy." Shepard ordered as she turned around and moved towards the main control console. "Joker – prep the engines. I'm about to overload this place and blow it sky high."

"Roger that, Commander." Joker answered.

The end was so close. She could see the finish line ahead of them, only a few feet remained. The N7 knelt down and pulled the main reactor tube up out of the floor. Steam rushed out but otherwise there was no defense system for it.

Clearly no one thought anyone would get this far.

"Uh, Commander? I've got an incoming signal from the Illusive Man. EDI's patching it through."

_Why the hell is he calling now of all times?_ Shepard began examining the tube to find where exactly to overload the system from. The finish line was close, but they were not out of the woods yet. The Illusive Man either didn't understand that or didn't care. _Self-important asshole._

"Shepard." The Illusive Man's voice sounded off behind her. "You've done the impossible."

_It wasn't just me, _she thought. Everyone always made that mistake whether it was the media, the Council, the Illusive Man, or the Alliance. It was never just her who performed the impossible, it was her team. They were always by her side, helping her to get through each fight to get to these impossible moments.

Maybe she was a great soldier, but that meant nothing if she didn't have the friends who stood at her side through the battles she faced.

She glanced back at her team to see a hologram projection of the Illusive Man coming from Miranda's omni-tool. "I was part of a team. It's because of them that I could get here."

"I know. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten." _As long as I'm breathing they won't be sacrificing anything. We're all getting out of this._ "You did what I knew you could do, and now you've acquired the Collector base."

_Acquired?_

"Acquired?" Miranda sounded just as perplexed as Shepard felt.

"I'm looking at the schematics EDI uploaded. A timed radiation pulse would kill the remaining Collectors, but leave the machinery and technology intact." _You've got to be kidding me._

"Hey Illusive asshole, fuck you. We're blowing this base sky high." The former mercenary stated with a glare at the hologram.

"Shortsighted as usual, Tyler. I've come to expect that out of you." Ty growled. "This is our chance Shepard. They were building a Reaper; that knowledge – that framework – could save us."

"You're fucking insane."

Her lover was by all means correct in his statement, and Shepard herself found she could no longer tolerate the Illusive Man's insanity. Her tolerance had been wavering ever since Project Overlord, but she kept herself in check so they could finish the mission.

Their mission was practically finished.

With a snarl on her lips she stood up and turned around to face the hologram, "They liquefied people here. You didn't see the woman being melted away like we had to." She pointed back in the direction they had come, "They turned all the people they kidnapped into something horrible and you want to keep this place?" She shook her head and lowered her arm, "This place needs to be destroyed."

"I've tolerated your romantic involvement with Tyler, but don't let his shortsighted attitude have any hold on you."

"Tolerated my romantic invol-"

"Our best chance to defeat the Reapers is to turn their own resources against them." The Illusive Man was quick to interrupt the furious commander who was near on reaching through the hologram to snap his neck.

"I'm not so sure. Seeing it firsthand…using anything from this base seems like a betrayal." Miranda tried to keep the conversation civil. With Ty holding a burning hatred in his eyes and the look of death Shepard was aiming at the Illusive Man, it was good someone was trying to remain civil.

"If we ignore this opportunity, _that_ would be a betrayal." The Illusive Man argued. "They were working directly with the Collectors. Who knows what kind of information is buried there! This base is a gift, we can't just destroy it."

"Oh so if there is information just lying around here about how to turn other people into mindless slaves or liquefy them to create our own Reaper, you'll just use it because it'll help destroy the Reapers?" Ty questioned with edge in his voice. "You'd sacrifice the humanity of others to achieve your goals."

"We're facing an extinction event that we'll be lucky to survive. In order for humanity to survive, sacrifices have to be made. Even if it goes against your moral binding code, you know I'm right."

"Fuck off."

"You're completely ruthless." Shepard started. "The next thing I know you'll want to grow your own Reaper."

The Illusive Man did not back down in the slightest from his point or her glare; she would give him credit for that. "My goal is to save humanity from the Reapers. At any cost. I've never hidden that from you. Imagine how many lives could be saved if we keep this base intact and use its knowledge to thwart the Reapers. Imagine the lives that will be lost if we don't." He said pointedly at the commander.

With every word that poured from his mouth he continued to push her into a furious state. Not in a loud rage though. Oh no, her eyes sharpened to a point as her silent one was starting to take over. "Don't talk to me about the possibilities of lives saved and lost. I've seen more than enough of Cerberus's failed experiments to know lives are just expendable to you. Replaceable. Like Akuze, like Project Overlord and all the other projects I've had to clean up."

"When it comes down to it, regardless of what technology is in here, it isn't worth it. Not when it would be used in some tainted way by you."

"Shepard. You died fighting for what you believed in. I brought you back so you could keep fighting." Shepard felt her eye twitch at the mention of him funding her revival and the underlying 'you owe me' he was silently saying. "Some would say what we did to you was going too far, but look at what you've accomplished."

His piercing blue eyes remained locked on hers, "I didn't discard you because I knew your value. Don't be so quick to discard this facility. Think of the potential."

_"No! Leave him! He's too valuable!"_ Gavin Archer's voice played through her mind, and likely the minds of her squadmates due to the snarl and glare Ty and Miranda aimed at the Illusive Man.

"Didn't discard me because of my value?" Oh, he was really pushing her buttons now. Her silent rage had finally taken hold. "Just a useful tool, huh? One you believed you could use to further your ends, like David?"

Her glare pierced right through him, "I'm going to say this once and only once, so you better listen closely. I am not your puppet. I do not owe you anything. If we're keeping count, you owe me for cleaning up all of the messes of bodies you left in your wake. But more importantly, for what you did to my friends on Akuze, to Jack, to Ty's family, to David and all the other people's lives you screwed up for 'the betterment of humanity' or whatever reason you want to spew, I will never forgive you."

"I didn-"

"Shut your mouth, I wasn't done." Shepard interrupted him. "How much more are you willing to sacrifice? Don't answer that, it was rhetorical." The N7 stopped him before he could speak. "I've seen enough of your handy work to know you would turn every human in this galaxy into your slave if it helped you 'elevate' humanity. And that's your biggest problem. You don't see people, you see tools. And that is why you will never elevate humanity. Because by the time you elevate them, there will be no one left."

Her eyes were as hard as diamonds and her voice deadly and filled with anger. "As for 'tolerating my romantic involvement.' My personal affairs are none of your damned business, so stay the hell out of it."

"I never have trusted you before, but I know I can't trust you to use this base and any information within it for the good of anyone out there. Not even humanity."

She turned her back to him and crouched down to the console, "We'll fight and win without it. I won't let fear compromise who I am." _Not after the Thresher Maw on Tuchanka or after Morinth on Omega. _That was the last time she would let fear or anyone else compromise who she was as a person.

"Miranda! Do not let Shepard destroy the base!"

"Or what? You'll replace me next?" She asked with venom.

"I gave you an order, Miranda!" The Illusive Man seethed.

"I noticed. Consider this my resignation."

"Shepard. Think about what's at stake. About everything Cerberus has done for you. You-"

The Illusive Man's voice suddenly disappeared causing Shepard to look back and see Miranda disengaging her omni-tool. A grin was plastered on her lovers face. "Ha! That was awesome. Not only did I get to tell him to fuck off again, I got to see Shepard rip him a new ass, which was amazing, _and_ I also got to see Miranda tell him to go to hell." Ty put his fist out for Miranda to bump, "Come on, Princess. Don't leave me hanging here. Not after telling the Illusive Man to politely go fuck himself."

Reluctantly the now former Cerberus Operative tapped his fist with a roll of her eyes and small smirk on her face. Ty strode forward after and handed the N7 the charge meant to overload the base allowing Shepard to finish setting up the final touches to their plan.

She set the charge and configured the timer for ten minutes before pushing the reactor tube back down into place. "Let's move. We've got ten minutes before the reactor overloads and blows this whole station apart."

Ten minutes would be more than enough time even if a few Collectors tried to delay them.

A rumble shook the platform they were on. The platform started to shake roughly as the sound of screeching metal sounded off all around them. Ty lost his footing and began to stumble all the while Miranda and Shepard fought to keep theirs.

_What the hell is going on? _

It was then a giant metal hand slammed onto the far left platform. _You've got to be kidding!_ Another hand slammed down on the right far platform and it was followed by the Human-Reaper pulling itself up to tower over them.

It's once colorless eyes were blazing orange. It had two smaller orange lights in the left eye socket and one big orange one in the right. On the center of its chest was another burning orange light.

"Spirits! Didn't we just send that thing into the depths of hell?!"

"Get to cover!"

All three moved quickly to a large wall of cover on the center platform and pushed their bodies against it. "How the hell are we supposed to kill this thing?" Miranda asked with worry laced in her voce.

"How the fuck should I know?! I never killed a fucking Reaper!"

"Calm down, both of you!" Shepard ordered even as her heart raced a mile a second. This was not a small delay; this was one big delay that could kill them before the bomb did. The N7 shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. She couldn't lose focus, not when they had gotten this far.

There had to be a way to take this Human-Reaper out for good.

A blast of energy hit the wall they were hiding behind before the ear piercing mechanical sounds the creature was making suddenly dropped down below them. Peeking out from the wall showed Shepard that the Human-Reaper had disappeared for the time being, but she knew it would be back soon.

_So it can't maintain its grip long after shooting whatever it just shot at us. _She let out a breath, _at least it doesn't have Sovereigns beam. We'd be dead already if it did._

"Alright. Here's the plan. Its eyes and that thing on its chest are glowing orange like those tubes. I'd bet they're a weak point of some kind. I want you two to give it everything you've got. Warps would be preferable compared to Slams and overloads Miranda. Ty, your rifle is your best chance at causing any damage."

The Human-Reapers hands slammed back onto the platforms, "Okay. So just have to aim, fire and not shit my pants. That should be easy." Ty's voice wavered in his joke as he tried to sight the Human-Reaper.

"We're going to make it out of this. Now get ready." The commander pulled out her Collector beam rifle and got ready to fire. "On three. One. Two. Three!"

The trio all got out of cover and began picking their points to fire at. Ty picked the double eyes with Miranda while Shepard took the right. The chest plate was too hard of a target to hit with how the Reaper was situated. It was only made worse as it leaned forward with the beam of energy charging in its mouth.

They didn't let up in the fire though, but it was too soon to say they were making any real progress. "Take cover!"

Each of them ducked as close to the cover as they could as a huge blast of energy cascaded over the entire platform. _Taking that blast head-on would be a death sentence._ Shepard sighed mentally, _why do my enemies always have to be so much larger than me with crazy amounts of firepower? _

The creature's metal whined and groaned as it once again fell back off the platform. "Good work you two. If we can keep this up, we'll have it dead in no time."

"I hope you're right." Miranda sighed as they waited for the inevitable return.

_As do I._

The Reaper did return but this time it came up on their right side and didn't charge up a blast as they fired. Instead its spiked spinal cord suddenly shot straight up into the right platform destroying and sending it falling below.

"Son of a bitch." Ty continued to fire until it fell out of sight again, "I bet that thing is going to destroy all these platforms to send us falling to our deaths if it doesn't kill us before that."

Shepard feared he was right and when it appeared again it was on the left side doing the same thing it had done to the first. The loud sound of metal crushing metal made each of them flinch as they continued to fire.

It was then Ty's heat sink began venting. "Fuck me. I'm out!"

Miranda's weapon followed. "Shit."

"Here's my other pistol." Ty passed one of his pistols to the former Cerberus Operative. "Make those shots count."

The N7 looked down at her Collector beam rifle and sighed, _I don't have much more power cells in this. We've been hitting that thing with no mercy and it still isn't dead._

Was this going to be their end?

Would they be able to take the creature down before the base blew them all sky high, or was their struggle going to be in vain?

She couldn't say. There was too much uncertainty here, but she found solace in the single certainty she had. Ty and Miranda weren't giving up on the hope she gave them, that meant she couldn't give up either.

Shepard glanced down at Ty as he put his Viper back onto his lower back. It was then she had an idea. "Ty, is there any way you can get this thing to overcharge like your rifle?"

"Yeah. But I'm going to warn you, the way I'm going to do it is going to cause the weapon to be fried, permanently. I don't have the proper tools to make it work like mine."

"Alright. Do it." She tossed the weapon to him and pulled out her own pistol to start opening fire on the Reaper. He nodded and sat down behind the cover with his omni-tool active. _Just have to buy him enough time to get that working._

The duo of biotic's continued the fight without their male counterpart for what felt like hours but was actually a few minutes. It continued to withstand their assault firing its energy blast at them in an attempt to kill them once all the other platforms were out of its way.

There were signs of damage being dealt, it was only a matter of how much longer they had to shoot it before they ran out of thermal clips or it decided to send them to the far depths of the base.

"I'm out!" Miranda announced as Ty's pistol began to vent. She tossed it back down to him and pulled out her Locust. "Are you almost done with that weapon?"

"Almost. Just give me a few more seconds."

The Reaper began to loom over them with its beam starting to activate. "Ty, we don't have a few seconds!" Miranda shouted.

"And…done! Shepard, don't miss!" He tossed the weapon to the woman who promptly aimed down her sights. She had one shot with this as the beam rifle began to hum in her hands. _Come on, come on._ The Reaper was directly overhead and it would be a matter of seconds before its attack finished charging.

_Beep!_

"Fire now!" Ty yelled.

The N7 pulled the trigger and a giant gold beam of energy exploded out of the weapon piercing straight into the double eye of the Human-Reaper. The weapon shook in her arms making it harder to aim as the force and damage the beam dealt forced the Human-Reaper back. As the beam continued to fire the weapon began to heat up, enough so that her gloves were starting to grow warmer and warmer.

Parts of the gun started to melt as the beam died out and flames erupted around the head of the Human-Reaper. It began to whine and groan as explosions from within the being started to explode out.

_Yes! _That had done it.

The pieces of the Collector beam rifle began to melt in her hands forcing the woman to drop it before it could cause her any harm. Her eyes remained locked on the dying Reaper though. The exact line its massive frame would fall was not one she was able to predict but she and her squad remained at the ready to dodge if they had to, or could.

Its giant hand rose up and then began falling back downwards. Their eyes bulged in shock as they watched the hand with no ability to do anything about its trajectory.

It slammed down into their platform and as it continued to burn up from the inside, it continued to drag them to hell with it. Their platform began to tilt with the trio on it trying to scramble for something to hold onto as they were turned practically vertical.

Miranda managed to get a grip on the top, but Ty wasn't as lucky. He began to slide down towards the Reaper and death. The former mercenary pulled out one of his tomahawks and tried to pierce it into the platform, but it wouldn't cut deep enough to slow his descent.

_No!_

On instinct Shepard jumped chest first towards the man and began sliding down at him with her hand stretched out to reach him. His eyes were filled with equal determination to grab her hand as they were with fear at the possibility of death; then again she had no doubt hers were too.

She zoomed down the platform with the will not to let her lover die or to at the least die with him as she tried to save him. Their hands met and gripped onto one another, but an explosion from the Reaper rocked their platform forcing their lose grip to falter.

Ty looked down at his path and saw the edge of the platform starting to tilt back up again as she did.

He then slid off the edge.

"Fuck!" Shepard's hand darted over the edge and gripped his closest arm by his wrist. His hand clamped around her armor covered arm, "Pull me up! Pull me up! This is _not_ how I want to die! I still have to retire into seclusion on some remote ass planet with a beach and settle down with you!"

She managed to start to pull him up with a smile on her face despite the heavy weight pulling at her shoulder. "Kids too?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Do you think I'll drop you if you say no?"

"I was more worried about being dropped if I said yes!" He gripped his free hand onto the edge and helped her pull him up the rest of the way. Before she could really register his words or feel any warmth in her heart, another explosion rocked the platform titling it the opposite way and sending the pair rolling down it.

The two came to a sliding stop near the opposite edge where they found Miranda holding on with biotic's swirling around her and an iron grip on the piece of cover she had grabbed onto. Their platform leveled out only to then begin to fall as the trio struggled their way onto their feet. "This is really, really shitty!"

"Worthy of two reallys from you? I'm impressed it's not worthy of three!" Miranda jested.

"Oh, fuck you Princess!"

"Now there's the Ty I'm used to!" She shot again.

"Are you- incoming!"

His shout sounded off too late as another platform above them came barreling into theirs.

_Crash!_

Everything faded to black.

Many Minutes Later

Shepard awoke with a groan. She could feel pain in all of her body and was certain she had something incredibly heavy lying on her back forcing her to be face first into whatever hard surface she was on.

All of these senses were enough to tell she was not in fact dead. Groaning once more she blinked her eyes open and began pushing herself up against the weight on top of her. She got one knee under her and brought her hands to the object pressing her into the floor and shoved it off with a grunt of effort.

The heavy metal plating creaked before slamming into the ground hard. _Where the hell am I? _She looked around and saw the signs of the Collector base everywhere then her eyes caught the sight of both Miranda, who was teetering near the edge, and Ty under a slab of metal plating as well.

She sprang into action to check on her allies, first moving to Miranda to turn her away from the edge. "Miranda! You okay?"

Miranda eyes blink rapidly as she came to and met the eyes of the commander, "We're alive?"

The N7 nodded and grabbed her hand to help her onto her feet. "Yeah. The base still hasn't blown." That meant they hadn't been unconscious too long, or they were about to be incinerated. Shepard rushed over to her lover next and gripped the plating on top of him. _Come on, Ty. You better not be dead. _"Come on, Specialist. Surely a piece of metal isn't going to keep you down."

"Ha…ha." He groaned as he opened his eyes and began pushing the metal off of himself. "I hate my luck. Ugh." Ty pushed the piece off to the side where it slammed down and then stood up with the help of Shepard.

They shared a small smile with one another at the relief of being alive.

"Do you copy? Commander? Come on Shepard, don't leave me hanging. Do you copy?" Joker came into their comms.

"I'm here, Joker." Shepard answered as she began searching for a way out of the base. They had to move fast to get out of there now if Joker's distressed voice was anything to go by. "Did the ground team make it back?"

"Everyone is here, Shepard. We're just waiting on you three."

Shepard turned around only to see a horde of seeker swarms flying right at them. "Let's move!" She ordered as she pulled out her pistol.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Ty groaned as they all took off in a sprint down the single path away from the seekers.

"Humans, you've changed nothing." Harbingers voice began to echo through the base.

"Shut up already! Can't you see we've got enough problems without you talking trash?!" Ty yelled at the bodiless voice. The commander stopped and fired off two rounds at the seeker swarms only for a hand to grip her arm and start pulling her. "And I told you not to pull any heroic martyr act!" Her eyes were forced to meet the amethyst orbs of her lover, "Don't you dare stop sprinting!"

_"Don't you dare try to pull some heroic bullshit and get killed!"_ Lizzy's voice followed within her mind.

Without any coaxing the pair took off in the sprint for their lives.

"Your species has gained the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction." The trio continued running only to be forced to turn down another path when they ran into a group of Collectors all of which aimed their weapons at them.

Rounds began to whiz by their heads as explosions erupted behind them. _We're almost there! _Fatigue was flushed away by fight or flight instinct coursing adrenaline through their veins as they pushed up a hill where the Normandy would hopefully be able to pick them up.

The sound of the Normandy's engines roared into their ears followed by the ships sudden ascension into sight. The SR-2 was gleaming as their white knight to save them from deaths tendrils trying to close in on them. As the ship turned for the port side to be facing them, the airlock to the Normandy opened with Joker standing in the doorway wielding an Avenger.

He began spraying rounds at the Collectors as all hell was breaking loose around them. Pieces of the base began crashing down all around them taking out pieces of the ground with each landing.

Miranda and Ty reached the Normandy first as the platform pathway leading to the Normandy came apart. That didn't deter Shepard in the slightest. She continued running across the last of the walkway she had left gaining as much speed as she could to clear the giant gap between her and the Normandy airlock.

She was not going to die here. Not after all the things that could have killed them and definitely not when she had unanswered questions about the seriousness of Ty's statements on them having kids.

As she reached the edge of her path she put everything she had into her jump. Unfortunately she knew that the distance wasn't something she was going to clear with a single jump.

_I'm not done yet!_

Biotic energy swarmed around her and in a flash she charged forward, tackling her lover all the way back into the airlock. "Let's go, Joker!" Shepard yelled over her shoulder. She looked down at the slightly dazed man under her and smiled, "Nice catch."

"I feel bad for anyone you hit now." He coughed. "Shit. That hurts."

Shepard got herself onto her feet and helped him up quickly as Miranda and Joker filed into the airlock. The doors leading into the Normandy slid open allowing the brittle boned pilot to hobble his way as fast as he could to the pilot's seat.

In the hall to the right was all of the ground squad, save for Mordin, all waiting restlessly for them to get the hell out of the galaxy core. "Detonation in ten, nine, eight-"

"Yeah I get the gist of it EDI! Hold on!" Joker yelled as tossed the gun to the side and sat himself in the seat. His hands immediately started to dash across the controls. "I hope those FTL upgrades work like they did against the Collector ship."

Shepard gripped the head of his seat tightly as he piloted them out of the base and into the open space of the galaxy core. He dodged through almost too small of passes for them to fit and around all the falling debris from the base coming apart.

The explosion of the Collector base then went off. Overloading the main reactor sent a huge explosion in all directions, larger than the nuke back on Pragia. Worse, it started to follow them, the tendrils of flames attempting to grasp them and pull them into the fire with their enemies.

As all hope for escape seemed lost, the Normandy jumped to FTL speeds out of the galaxy core.

For a moment there was silence across the entire Normandy as they each waited for the certainty that they had actually survived. Had they truly just done the impossible…and survived? Was there no other threat, no Reaper to come out of nowhere and blast them from the sky?

When nothing happened their silence was broken by a single noise. It wasn't a sigh of relief or someone constructing a sentence or speech to tell everyone how great of a job they had done.

No, the sound was far simpler and spoke volumes.

It started off soft but grew louder and echoed the thoughts of every single member of the squad. The only other sound made that also spoke volumes for the crew was the thud of a body collapsing in exhaustion.

"Heh…Heh…heh heh heh heh. Hah hah hah hah." Ty's tired laugh turned into a solid one and continued to grow as the reality of what they did sunk in.

Laughter rang out in the Normandy.

His laugh began to spread to all those around him from Shepard and Miranda to Tali and Grunt to Garrus and Kasumi as they each one by one collapsed onto the floor. The only one left standing was Legion although after a moment even he took a seat, likely to facilitate unit cohesion.

For a long while the group sat together even after their laughter died down to drink in the moment of surviving a suicide mission together.

As they sat there Ty's hand found Shepard's as she stared at her team with a smile only serving to make her smile widen.

_We did it._


	114. Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Only the Beginning

Shepard stopped in the doorway of the Comm Room to find the room to be a complete mess. The door was stuck open, there were large wires hanging down from the ceiling across the room and panels scattered everywhere. The crash on the base had originally shaken up the Normandy badly on the inside and out, but their escape seemed to have completely disheveled the entire ship to a worse degree.

The N7 was still in her armor and her long black hair was still a bit damp from their final sprint to the Normandy plus all the fighting prior to it on the Collector Base. Barely ten minutes had passed since then and only five minutes ago did her ground team actually start to get up and going after taking a short but well-deserved break.

It was as they were figuring out where they were going to go to fix up the Normandy that EDI informed the Commander of the Illusive Man wishing to speak to her in the Comm Room. She decided to let him wait a little longer partially to get under his skin but mostly so they could finish planning their next move.

Ty informed her that Omega was not a good stop due to the state the ship and the crew were in. It was too risky because they had made enemies with all three mercenary groups by destroying their operations in and outside of Omega. Now they were in a weakened state and the sharks would be drawn to their blood.

Illium wasn't a terrible idea due to their close proximity, yet Shepard wasn't entirely sure about it. They needed repairs and she didn't want to risk hiring someone who was trying to steal the ship or would use some kind of contract to force them into slavery.

They considered the Citadel but Miranda reminded her that they would be lucky to reach there in the shape they were in. EDI and Joker had gotten enough power systems up to keep them afloat for a little while, but they were low on fuel and in need of immediate repairs. The space hub was just too far away and that left really only one option left: the Shadow Broker base.

Ty wanted to offer his home, but decided with the Illusive Man still keeping an eye on them that it wasn't a good idea. _He already knows where the Shadow Broker base is thanks to our mission to kill the original Shadow Broker, but he doesn't know where Ty's home is._ Shepard lifted a support strut out of the way of the doorway then ducked under a thick wire crackling with electricity, _it's best to keep it that way. I know EDI or anybody else here wouldn't give the information up, but just in case he has some way of monitoring our location we're better off not giving him that location. Especially now with how pissed he is going to be._

She still stood by her decision of destroying the base. There was no way she could trust anyone with any of the tech they had found in there, not the Illusive Man or any other power holding individuals in the galaxy.

With people like Joram Talid and Charles Saracino in the galaxy, there was no telling what anyone in power would have done with the tech. There was also the possibility of Reaper indoctrination and Shepard was not going to take any chances with that when the Reapers were on the horizon. Giving them a chance to indoctrinate the leaders of the races, whether they were the Council members or lower politicians who still had pull with citizens, was not a risk she was willing to take.

_A charismatic leader like Saren could make their followers believe the Reapers aren't our enemies and start infighting between all of us._ She furrowed her brow; _they'd be able to destroy us from within before we could even put up a fight._ The N7 brushed off her thoughts as the table collapsed down and allowed her to walk into the center of it.

When the connection was finally made she was able to see a very perturbed Illusive Man sitting in his chair as he flicked ashes off his cigarette into his chair's ashtray. "Shepard. You're making a habit of costing me more than time and money." He spoke with clear agitation.

Shepard couldn't help but snort in amusement, "Oops." She said sarcastically earning a further furrowed brow from the glowy eyed leader of Cerberus. She let her amusement fall to meet the stern stare of the Illusive Man with her own, "Too many lives were lost at that base. I'm not sorry it's gone, and I'm certainly not sorry you can't use it."

"The first of many lives." The Illusive Man countered. "The technology from that base could have secured human dominance in the galaxy. Against the Reapers and beyond."

The Commander couldn't help but chuckle softly as she shook her head, "And there it is. The xenophobic ideals of Cerberus I've been waiting to hear out of you. Here I thought you were going to continue spewing bullshit about how we share the same goals." Her eyes met his with a cold glare, "It was never just about the Reapers to you, you wanted to strengthen Cerberus over all of the races using the technology from that base."

She had figured he planned to use the tech in some tainted way to 'elevate' humanity over the other races. Hearing it from his mouth only helped to assure her of making the right decision. The Illusive Man uncrossed his leg, stood up from his chair and began walking towards her. "Strength for Cerberus is strength for every human. Cerberus is humanity." He stopped his walk and pointed at her, "I should have known you would choke on the hard decisions. Too idealistic from the start." The leader of Cerberus waved his hand through the air in a dismissing manor like he should have guessed her idealism would have gotten in the way.

Most of his words had no effect on the Commander. She had always known Cerberus was going to be her enemy again, up to this point her intention was only to use them because she had no other support. It was his ignorant statement about choking on hard decisions that made her eyes become pointed, "Choke on hard decisions? Where were you when I had to choose between the lives of two of my friends on Virmire or when I had to choose either to save the Destiny Ascension or let it be destroyed? Or how about the Bahak system or any of the other decisions I've had to make where lives are on the line?" She pointed at him, "You were sitting in that chair handing out orders for disgusting experiments that fail and have left undoubtedly thousands of bodies in their wake. I may not have saved everyone, but unlike you I try my damned hardest to save as many as I can, regardless of their race or '_value._'" Shepard spat the last word.

"Every life has value, every life matters regardless of race." The Illusive man went to speak up but she was quicker, "And I am certainly not looking for you approval on the matter. Harbinger is coming, and he won't be alone. Humanity needs a leader who's looking out for them, not slaughtering them for some twisted vision." She smirked at the man who was growing furious, "From now on I'm doing things my way, whether you agree or not."

The Illusive Man took an aggressive step forward, "Don't turn your back on me, Shepard. I made you. I brought you back from the dead."

Shepard considered going back on the attack and reminding him of the conversation back on the Collector Base when she told him she didn't owe him anything, but she was tired. Tired physically, tired of listening to the Illusive Man and tired of pointlessly arguing with him. He wouldn't change; he was too idealistic in his own ideal to ever have his mind changed.

The N7 looked up at the ceiling and spoke, "Joker. Lose this channel." After the words left her mouth she spared the Illusive Man one last glance before turning around and walking out with a smirk on her face.

She had been waiting to do that for a long time, and it felt good.

* * *

Z sat patiently on his bike on the Citadel as he awaited his business on the space hub to begin. It was likely to start soon, or at least he was hoping it would. He had been staking out the location he was at for a while now waiting for his target to finally appear.

His appearance here had gone unnoticed compared to his last time on the Citadel where he appeared out of nowhere in the form of a tornado of anger dropping from the sky. This meant his target was taking their time doing whatever it was they were doing instead of his mission getting blown by his own anger.

Unfortunately that meant there was nothing he could do except sit on his bike and wait around twiddling his thumbs. Normally his patience level would have been enough to hold him over for the time he had to wait. The elder brother had been on missions where he had to wait his targets out for long periods of time, once he had to blend in for a few days in a colony for a target.

There was never an issue in any of those circumstances, yet with his brother taking the fight straight to the Collectors he couldn't help but feel jittery. He was filled with nerves and found himself constantly checking his omni-tool for the time and to see if his brother sent a message without him noticing it come in somehow.

These nerves made it hard to sit in one place on a serious mission. His thoughts were too consumed in the unanswerable questions of his brother's current state of health. Of course if he was dead he would have felt something by now due to their abilities, but the lack of feeling anything didn't ease his worries at all.

All it did was tell him that his brother was alive and likely still fighting for his life to get through hell and back. It wasn't that he didn't trust in his brothers skills or that of the Normandy crew, he just hated that he wasn't there fighting side by side with his brother. _At least then I would know just how much longer we had until the mission was completed._

But he wasn't there and that left him in the unsavory predicament of having to wait an undetermined amount of time until his brother would contact them. Honestly, it was terrible. It felt like he was waiting in a hospital after a terrible circumstance to find out if his brother was going to live or not. The power to do anything was out of his hands, he wasn't able to aid Ty or the others. The only thing he could do was wait for the news to break.

Carrying this feeling around left him on edge ever since he had finished speaking to his brother and Miranda. Not that he was lashing out at anyone or anything. Z knew his father felt the same worry filled edge to the same degree if not more than he did.

After years of hoping the youngest of the family would come out of his anger, he had finally come back and now he was in the midst of a suicide mission. There were no warm fuzzy feelings around at the moment, only the fear they would lose him once more but permanently this time.

A few hours had passed since he had spoken to Ty and Miranda, that time alone only helped feed the fuel to his fire of worry. He knew the fight would take more than five minutes, but damn did he wish it was as easy as sending a nuke through the Omega 4 Relay right into the Collector Base. His concern would be non-existent then and the problem would have been easily solved.

But nothing was that easy when it came to the large threat of the Reapers, unfortunately. There was no easy deus ex machina to get them out of this, or at least he hadn't found one yet. He was still looking to stumble upon some giant bombs that they could set up on the fringes of the galaxy for the Reapers to set off like mines and all die.

Was that hoping for too much? Absolutely. The green eyed warrior knew not to place his hope in the possibility of some bomb hidden in the crust of a planet labeled '_Definitive Reaper _killer' on its side. As nice and fun as that would be, they weren't going to get off that easily. They hadn't got off easy once yet with the Reapers and he wasn't about to start thinking things were about to change.

But if he did find a shoulder mounted mini-nuke launching weapon that one-shot killed Reapers you could bet a ridiculous amount of credits that he was going to grab it and try to use it.

Z let out a sigh and leaned forward on his bike. _Man, all of this waiting is becoming such a pain._ If he didn't know any better he would have assumed his target was doing some ridiculous level of stalling. Z had half a mind to fire up his main guns and blast the person from range the moment he saw them. He sighed again, _but Aunty Aethyta did ask me to do this and I said I would handle it exactly how she wanted it to be handled, which means completely stealthy with no galactic level terrorist incidents. I just wish it wasn't so boring._

As the green eyed warrior was considering the possibilities of easing his boredom, all of which would end up deterring his mission, his omni-tool flared to life. Without hesitation he opened it to find a message from his brother with the subject heading of: _In case you are wondering, we're alive._

The elder brother let out a chuckle at the words and opened the message. _I'll get him for that later, sarcastic little bastard. He doesn't understand how much we were worrying about him._ Within it was a short yet detailed message of the current state of the Collectors – blown to smithereens in his brothers words – as well as what the state of the crew and ship was, where they were heading and an ask for help in fixing up the ship.

From what Z could tell from the lack of addressing him by name, it was a group message sent to everyone who needed the information, family in other words.

Either way the worries that had previously been plaguing Z were eased by the message. No longer did he have to wonder if his brother was alive or worry about how long they had been fighting the Collectors for. He could wait to hear stories about the mission or give his brother a hard time when he met up with the Normandy as soon as he was done with his business here on the Citadel.

As much as he wanted to ditch the mission to go see his brother and hug him just to know that he was real and alive, he had to push that feeling to the side for now. He was on a serious mission for Aethyta and he did not want to risk earning her ire more than once in the span of a few months.

_I'm still walking funny after the last two lectures she gave me. I'm not looking to make it three._ Getting impaled on Omega and then not only getting shot by a Widow but then jumping onto a skycar on Illium had gotten him in a lot of trouble with the Matriarch and his father, but mostly the Matriarch when it came to verbal take downs.

_Ditching this mission, even if it was to go see Ty, would really get me in some serious trouble with her._ He loved his brother, but he knew he was okay and even he would tell him it would benefit his long term health not to earn further ire from their aunt.

_Spirits know she inherited more Krogan than Asari, not that I'm ever going to say that to her face._

Z sent a quick message back to his brother and leaned forward onto his handlebars once more. His eyes remained vigilant on the area in front of him until finally his target padded along into sight. With his worries gone he was finally able to focus his mind on his mission with deadly accuracy. His target didn't know it, but that wouldn't mean anything good for them.

"Time to get to work."

* * *

The elevator doors to the Cargo Hold opened allowing Shepard's eyes to fall onto the bustling area full of the Normandy servicemen and a few members of her ground squad. They were near the planet of Hagalaz but not near enough that they would be hit by the storm or were experiencing any sort of chop from the winds.

Liara had managed to procure the equipment needed to repair the damage done to the Normandy with ease, which was what the entire crew of her ship was in the process of working on. It had been a day since they had survived the Suicide Mission so the scars on the captured crew were still fairly fresh, but most had insisted on working.

_It probably helps to distract them from what they went through, _Shepard thought. Being captured by the Collectors and stuffed in the pods where they would have undoubtedly witnessed what their possible fate was did not happen without scarring anyone. Every single one of them would be dealing with the psychological damage done for years to come, possibly forever if what she witnessed by talking to Kelly on the Normandy was anything to go by.

The Yeoman had relived the event in front of her in a similar manor she had witnessed Thane go through his own memories. Shepard hoped she would get better, but she knew from her own terror experiences that it would take a lot more than time to heal the wound.

Shepard would have loved to give them all down time and had offered to do so, almost ordered it, but those who were able to work had insisted on taking up maintenance jobs around the ship whether it was helping clean up parts of the ship up or putting non-critical parts back together.

There were those who could not work yet due to the severity of their physical injury or psychological stress. They were up in the Crew Quarters either trying to get some sleep without nightmares or in the med-bay getting checked on by Miranda, Mordin and Doctor Chakwas.

Everyone else though was spread out from the CIC to the Cargo Hold pitching in to clean up or fix the ship back to her original state. They had a few extra hands, thankfully, in the form of Ty's brother and father as well as Darian, Haley, and Jessica. Each were a big help and a surprise since Ty had neglected to mention they were coming.

In the end though the extra hands and biotic's between Darian and Haley eased the burden a bit, even if everyone, save for Z, suddenly walking into the Mess Hall had caught her off guard. The green eyed brother had shown up last of the group. Apparently he was on a mission of some kind for their Aunt Aethyta, although he did not mention much more other than the fact it was a success.

The N7 was happy they had come to help. Even with a night of rest everyone was still feeling the aches and pains from their mission, her included. Her body had a plentiful amount of bruises from the fall she, Miranda and Ty had taken plus the heavy sheet of metal that had landed on top of her.

Lying directly on her back had been near on impossible and she knew the other two were in similar boats, although she was far more acquainted with Ty's than she was with Miranda's for obvious reasons. Medi-gel had only served to soothe the pain from unbearable to almost bearable. Having to wake up every few hours because of a sudden stitch of pain shooting through her back was only made easier by having someone to ride it out with who was going through the same pain.

One of the only times it was briefly funny was when she had sat up to meet her already sitting up lover and leaned into kiss him. She soon found out it was not just his back that was hurting, but his chest as well. As soon as she touched his torso he cringed visibly in pain causing the sapphire eyed woman to at first be concerned but then laugh. Her laughter was mostly at herself for forgetting he had a giant sheet of metal land on his chest, but Ty had only fueled it further by asking '_Really?_'with a look on his face that matched the word.

The reason why it was only briefly funny was because her own mirth caused her pain.

At the end of the day though none the pain was nothing she and her crew couldn't push through, but it would definitely be another day or two before they were near one hundred percent again. Even Ty and Miranda, who usually showed a better recovery rate than the others, were both still nursing their injuries.

The only two people in her crew who were already at full capacity were Grunt and Legion. _Having Krogan regeneration abilities or being a Geth must be nice after a battle._ Shepard stretched out her back and winced slightly, _it'd definitely be nice to have right about now._

Alas she wasn't a Krogan and that was fine. When it came to the pain scale, pretty much everything compared to being spaced wasn't that bad. It didn't mean injuries never hurt, but remembering pain like that made it hard to complain about her current pain.

There was also the fact they had survived the giant Human-Reaper, a fall that could have easily killed them and the Collector Base blowing up all around them as they were getting shot at. A back pain was but a small price to pay compared to all of the things that could have gone badly.

Shepard walked forward out of the elevator into the Cargo Hold only forcing herself to stop as Thane, who was in the midst of helping the crew, sped walked past her only slowing to give her a relaxed salute and smile.

She smiled in return and gave him a nod before continuing forward. She had spoken to all of her friends about the decision she had made to destroy the base. There was practically a unanimous decision that blowing up the base was the best course of action. Only Zaeed had said keeping it wouldn't have been a bad idea because regardless of how dirty it was, using the enemies own weapons against them was a wise battle move.

He did not however think allowing the Illusive Man to have the base was a good idea and nevertheless applauded her way of telling the Illusive Man to go to hell via explosion.

The Commander made it a bit further into the Cargo Hold and looked to her left to see Jack and Legion organizing two separate crates of weapons as Grunt and Garrus were setting down a large crate on top of another. All four gave her silent short nods, to which she nodded back, before getting back to work.

She focused her eyes forward and saw Ty in the distance hard at work with his brother stacking large crates back where they were meant to be. Their father and Darian were on her right doing the same while Haley used her biotic's to move another set. Jessica was on top of the large stack Haley had put back together giving her sister directions to get the newest crate to her so she could set it where it needed to be.

A smile formed on the Commanders face at seeing everyone working together in both her crew and Ty's family and friends. The comradery between them all was something she could never grow tired of.

She finally focused in on Joker who had actually been the source of why she had come down to the Cargo Hold after she had been working to help Jacob, Zaeed and a few other servicemen with the Comm Room, the Armory, and the rest of the CIC.

Liara had sent some information about the Reapers with some of the equipment she had sent to help them fix up the Normandy. According to her pilot it was definitely something she would want to take a look at. Joker looked up from his crouched position where he was organizing what he could without hurting himself. He got up and closed what remaining short distance there was between them with a data-pad in his hand and handed it over to her as soon as they reached one another.

The screen was a reddish-orange with schematics of what appeared to be a Sovereign class of Reaper. There were several images at different angles showing the behemoth being from all angles. There was also a zoomed in image of the eye of the Reaper where they shot their red beam of death from with words typed in the margin reading: _Possible weak point?_

"Hopefully she's onto something." Joker said.

Shepard gave a silent nod of agreement to his statement. _I hope so._ Any sort of advantage would be most welcome for the coming fight. Her pilot didn't wait around much longer leaving her to contemplate the new information in silence as she stared out the kinetic barrier covered hole left behind by the Oculus.

Their victory against the Collectors was a great victory for them, but the N7 knew that this was only the beginning. They won the battle against the Reapers, yet there was still a war awaiting them on the horizon.

_With the Collectors gone, it won't be long until I'm called back by the Alliance, _she thought. The clock was ticking and with each second that passed they were all brought closer to the war ahead of them._ I just have to hope I can get them to start preparing for the Reapers while I'm there._ There was no way to know exactly when the Reapers would be arriving, only that they would arrive sooner rather than later.

_Until then I'll have to use the remaining time I have out here to keep searching for some way to defeat the Reapers. _With Liara's help they could possibly find at least a starting point to stop the Reapers before they reached the galaxy. She wasn't sure where to look or what it was they could look for, but there had to be something…or she had to hope there was something.

Accepting that there was no way to stop the Reapers was not something she was willing to do. So long as there were still people she cared for and who cared for her she couldn't give up. Even if it was futile, that had yet to stop her so far and it wasn't going to start now.

She would fight to whatever end awaited her.

A pair of tattooed arms wrapped themselves lovingly around her stomach as lips pressed against her cheek. Shepard smiled and rested her hands over Ty's as she leaned gently back into him to not agitate her back. She turned her head and met his purple eyes paired with a smile keeping her smile firm on her face.

"I love you." She said tenderly.

He nudged her nose with his own, "And I love you."

The pair moved in for a kiss only to be interrupted by a hand gripping her lovers shoulder roughly forcing the pair to miss a breath and move away at the sudden jolting shock, "Hey! We still have work to do. Save the lovey dovey stuff for later." Z killed the mood at a super-effective level like they had killed the Human-Reaper.

"Z…" Ty grumbled in both pain and agitation at his brother interrupting them.

A hand suddenly gripped the older brother by his shoulder causing him to release his brother's shoulder and start to tighten up and grimace visibly. "Let's go, buddy. If you're so excited for work there's plenty you can do while your brother shares a moment with Shepard." Mr. Rhoddy began dragging his son away with his shoulder pressure point in a vice grip.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow." Z muttered under his breath in discomfort.

The pair shared a smirk with one another before successfully engaging one another in a slow tender kiss. Shepard savored every moment of it knowing that Ty would eventually have to part ways with her for an unknown amount of time. It wasn't something she was particularly looking forward to, but it was inevitable due to their ties in the galaxy.

That wasn't today though and she saw no sense in dwelling on it. Right now she was on her ship with her entire crew and squad alive as she relaxed in the arms of her lover after surviving a suicide mission. Peace was going to be hard to find in the future, but until then she would soak up as much of it as she could in the place she felt most at home.


	115. Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Parting River, Guiding Stars

Ty silently stared out the window of his Crew Quarters bedroom at the grand abyss of space in an attempt to ease his melancholy, but it wasn't very effective. Truth be told, he had been dreading this moment ever since they had defeated the Collectors. _Damn Reapers. If they didn't exist I wouldn't have to leave,_ he let out a sigh. _Then again, if they didn't exist I wouldn't have ever been here on the Normandy in the first place. I just wish…I wish I didn't have to leave._

Almost an entire month had passed since they had destroyed the Collector base and since then they had repaired the Normandy, his bike, and started their search for a way to defeat the Reapers. The former two went well with little to no hiccups along the way. The latter one unfortunately was rather unsuccessful thus far.

They hadn't found any hidden bombs or paths that would lead them towards their end goal, only dead ends and more unanswered questions. Of course they were far from giving up, but the whole process of searching for a way to save all life in the galaxy was a challenging one.

_Had the answers been easy, I doubt our cycle would be the ones trying to figure it out. Someone would have killed them off by now if it was a simple task._ Alas they were the next in line to try and solve what some days felt like an unsolvable problem. They had run simulations of where the Reapers could enter the galaxy from and how long it could take them to spread to every area, honestly the simulations scared the hell out of him.

Regardless of their point of entry, they were looking at a possibility of galaxy wide Reapers within either a couple weeks or a couple months. Even taking into account the possibility of certain areas being able to hold off against the Reaper forces didn't lower the astronomical amount of casualties they would inflict.

Looking at the numbers and simulations made it hard for him to believe they actually stood a chance at stopping the Reapers, but it also strengthened his resolve to find that answer. The former mercenary knew he couldn't just lie down and die, it wasn't his style anyways. Going down in a hail of rounds or via Reaper beam were far closer to how he pictured his death playing out, not that he planned on dying during the war.

As they continued their search for answers, the need to start bringing together the mercenary factions under Aria's banner as soon as possible became increasingly prevalent in his mind. There was no telling when the death bringers would arrive and if the Alliance and Council weren't going to have their shit together, then the mercenaries did.

The mercenary groups wouldn't be able to fend off the entirety of the Reaper forces alone, but they could definitely buy the military's time to actually acknowledge the threat right in front of them.

A week ago to the day he had informed Shepard and the rest of the squad of his plan to leave to start bringing the mercenaries under Aria's banner. He didn't want to leave if that counted for anything, but he knew the best way he could help right now was unifying the mercenaries for the coming war.

The purple eyed warrior still planned to stop by the Shadow Broker base and chase down leads Liara had when he had the time, but preparing the lawless of the galaxy for war was a top priority. Every part of the galaxy was at risk from Council Space to the Terminus System. When the war finally reached them everyone was going to have to drop their hate for the other side and join together to defeat the threat if they hoped to survive.

Obviously that was a lot easier to say then it was to pull off, but he had to try. Aria trusted him and would understand it didn't matter whether she was on Omega, Illium or at the ass end of the galaxy, the Reapers would eventually kill her if she did nothing.

Self-preservation would win out. Ty knew it would bode true for Aria and the rest of the mercenaries. Some would cower away and try to find some place to hide using all the credits they had, and they would either live long enough for the rest of the galaxy to kill the Reapers or they would die. Those with a shred of intelligence and self-preservation would acknowledge the threat, ask for a lot of credits to fight it, and then go out and fight to the end.

Say whatever truthful curses you wish about mercenaries, even if it is calling them dirty, underhanded, disgusting, slave selling, moral compass lacking bastards. Although all of those statements have truth to them, at the end of the day mercenaries were loyal. Yes their loyalty was to a paycheck or bloodlust or both at the same time, but they were loyal nonetheless.

These thoughts had followed him around up to today always reassuring him that leaving now to organize them was what was best, but now as he stood in his room with all of his gear on and all of his things already packed up and out of the room…he knew it still was what was best, but damn did it suck.

This ship…it had been his home for a few days over a full year. This whole adventure they had started, it had started in January of 2185…and now here they were at the beginning of February in 2186. _I didn't even realize how much time had passed during all of this…so much has happened._

Even without his abilities he could still remember the day he had come on board the Normandy for the first time after shoving a pistol in Shepard's face. He had waited in the CIC for Miranda and Shepard to return and managed to hold a conversation with Kelly, who had been somewhat frightened of him at first. Then he got turned into a wall ornament and was only saved thanks to Shepard ordering Miranda to fix him up.

The man who had come on board the Normandy then was technically still the man he was staring at the reflection of in the window, but deep down Ty knew he was not the same twenty-three year old. The man–or kid as he saw his past self–who had walked onto this ship full of hatred, sorrow and pain was not who he was now.

This mission he had embarked on…it had been a journey of discovery, or perhaps rediscovery, of who he was as a person. If you told the past him that he would have gone through the things he had during this mission to get to the point of peace he was currently at, his past self would try harder to get himself killed by the missile.

_As ridiculous as that sounds, I know it to be true_. Ty stared at the reflection of his purple eyes staring right back at him. _The place I was at mentally…I wouldn't have wanted any part of this. I just wanted to die saving Haley and be done with my existence. All I saw was anger, suffering and past failures with no hope to be pulled out of it. Hell, I didn't want to be pulled out of it. My death was something that should have happened earlier in my eyes back then. I should have died with my guys. I should have died with Ka'Reena. But I didn't._

Ty's reflection stared back at him with sad eyes. _I didn't die. I 'lived' on, if you can call my existence of revenge and hatred actually 'living.' I disallowed myself to feel love for life again…I just couldn't, not after standing there powerless as Ka'Reena was executed. I didn't deserve happiness, I remember telling myself, not when I cost so many others their lives._

_Ironically enough, as death was finally taking me back on Omega…I felt alive again. _He could still feel the pain of his death in the shuttle as he pleaded for Shepard to end his miserable life, yet he also could remember being content with death.

It simply felt as if everything made sense again, granted that could have just been blood loss taking its toll on his mind. In what he thought was his last moments in the galaxy he had felt like himself again, he remembered good experiences and bad experiences and they left him content. In the end, the sum of life was a mixture of both good and bad experiences, what you did with them was what was in your control. While the good were definitely better, the bad were equally important. Sometimes they didn't have lessons to be learned but those experiences helped a person to become who they were.

His family had always been there trying to help him to understand that fact, but none of it had sunk in with him up until that point. It was too little too late, or at least that was what it would have been had Shepard not intervened and pulled him from death back to life.

Admittedly, he was not entirely happy about that at the time. He had finally been able to die and was going to be reunited with the people he lost; couldn't the stubborn woman just let him go? Obviously the answer ended up being no. It was because of that he once again forgot his death epiphany reverting him back to a somewhat calmer version of how he was prior to it. The epiphany must have subconsciously stuck otherwise he doubted he would have tolerated Shepard's stubbornness to get to know him.

On this journey Ty had experienced a lot. He had been able to end his mission for revenge by finally killing all those who were behind the deaths of his friends and past lover. After that he was able to put to rest many of his inner demons and take control of his life again. He was able to gain a family of friends in the form of the Normandy squad and was able to finally mourn the first family he had lost.

Who he was now was someone he could actually stare eye to eye with in the mirror and not look away. He was happy about that, but he was feeling rather wistful about all of this. This was an end of a journey, a journey that had helped bring him back onto the right path again.

Of course this was not the complete end of a journey. The war was still on the horizon and he knew it wouldn't be a true end until it was over. Nevertheless it was still an end of a chapter and he wasn't sure what was in store for him next, not that anyone was ever sure of what the future held.

He smiled to himself as his next thought came into mind. _Hasn't stopped me from literally jumping head or body first into whatever trouble awaits me. I feel bad for whoever is tries to write my fate, at every turn I pretty much screw up their plans by pulling off some stupid stunt. Although, I suppose they can't be too mad. They haven't struck me down where I stand out of frustration yet._ Ty took in the view one last time, hoping it would not be the last time he was able to stand here. _I'm going to miss this ship and the people on it._

The former mercenary had already said his goodbyes to the squad and crew who he was friendly with. He wasn't looking for a giant party or goodbye, definitely since he sucked at the latter. At the same time he knew his departure only served as a reminder that Shepard's return to the Alliance would come eventually and soon they would each take their own departures when the time came.

There were hugs, shoulder slaps and head-butts alongside wise words, jests and well-wishes. Ty was thankful for them all and wished the others safety and peace in the coming days. Unfortunately there was still one goodbye left, and it was the one the purple eyed warrior was dreading with all of his being.

At the sound of his doors opening behind him, he knew it was finally time for him to face it. There was no sense prolonging it and making it harder for the both of them. Besides, this was the first time his goodbye wasn't forced upon him by death. It would be a simple '_see you later_' instead of a permanent farewell.

_Simple…right._ Ty knew it was bullshit. This wouldn't happen without emotion, this wasn't a simple '_Gotta run, but I'll see you tomorrow_' kind of experience.

It was why he was dreading it after all.

Ty turned around and found Shepard standing in his doorway wearing her usual casual blue tank top and black jeans. Her eyes and face showed her deep sorrow filled resentment of the situation at hand, although none of it was pointed directly at him or any of the crew.

In an effort to ease the tension in both of their beings, Ty quirked his lips up into a smirk and tried to make light of the situation. "Come to escort me off the ship, Commander? Or are you going to shackle me to a wall and never let me see the light of day again?"

He received a small twitch of her lips as her dampened spirits fought against the need to smile at his jest. "Would you prefer furry handcuffs or old school chains?" She retorted a bit half-heartedly.

"I think pink furry handcuffs would suit my eyes the best, but you can't go wrong with old school chains either."

She managed to breathe out a chuckle before shaking her head, "Only if it were that simple."

"So you _do_ want to chain me up and have your way with me." Ty continued to try to keep the mood light as he strode forward at a casual pace. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What would the neighbors think if they saw us like that I wonder?"

Shepard finally smiled at him as she rolled her eyes, "I'm sure it would be a huge scandal, Specialist."

She reached forward and gently grabbed his hands as he reached her, holding them tenderly as she stared down at them. For a moment the pair stood in silence with Ty watching as the N7 rubbed her thumbs across the backs of his hands, wishing he could say something witty or comforting to make this easier.

He tried to find the words to say and make them come out, but no sound left him. His smirk fell off his face completely and was replaced by a forlorn frown. The purple eyed warrior hated he was leaving. He hated that it was hurting Shepard. Hated that the rational part of his brain was right in telling him he had to go.

_If I stay up until the last moment before she turns herself in, not only will I lose time to get the mercenaries together, but it'll be just as hard to leave as it is now–if not more._

Shepard let out a sigh of what Ty believed to be defeat. Perhaps it was because she too was searching for a set of words to make this easier and ended up coming with nothing as well. It was also possible she had been trying to find some way to make him stay but couldn't. Either way she ended up intertwining on of their hands and nodding her head towards the elevator, "Come on. We can say goodbye in the Cargo Hold."

Ty gave a silent nod and walked with her into the elevator. There was nothing she could say to get him to stay, she knew it and he knew it. It had nothing to do with stubbornness or a dire wish for space, they both simply knew that the decision he was making was the right one. Neither wanted this to happen so what sense was there in forcing an argument or getting angry?

None was the answer they had found. Having their last moment together be an emotion filled argument also was not something either wanted. _We'd regret that with our entire beings, but it wouldn't take away any of the pain we gave one another through words if we did argue._ This was painful enough as it was; there was no need to add any more to it.

When the elevator reached the Cargo Hold and the doors opened, the pair strode out towards his bike. Each step brought them closer to the inevitable until the duo literally slowed to a stop next to it.

They embraced one another in a warm hug with Ty shutting his eyes and savoring what would be their last hug for an undetermined amount of time with the simple wish it wouldn't end. He knew he could bring them into his mind and spend hours upon hours with her before returning to the real world where minutes had only passed…but it wouldn't help. It would only make him want to stay longer in the end.

"Promise me you won't get yourself killed out there." Shepard asked of him.

"Only if you promise not to let the Alliance do whatever they want with you." He returned.

"I promise." She promised him.

"Then I promise not to get myself killed." Ty didn't want to let go and leave the bliss of holding and being held by the sapphire eyed woman. For a little over a year the Normandy had been his home, and during that time Shepard had been a constant presence around him. She was always there, first as a friend and then later on as something far more. Yet now they were parting ways.

He knew he should be happy about how this was turning out. This was the first time where there was a chance to reunite with the person he loved eventually without having to die to do so. Tara and Ka'Reena had both been ripped from him, the former of the pair before he could actually tell her how he truly felt. With them he could do nothing except stand and watch them die with tears running down his face.

Haley had been the first he had let go in an attempt to give her a chance to be happy without his enemies coming after her. Granted it hadn't really worked out, but he had let their love set sail to a place where he could never return to.

With Shepard he wasn't losing her or letting their love go, there was an opportunity to reunite somewhere down the line and rekindle what they had right now. But even though the former mercenary knew he should be happy about the circumstances of this parting of paths, he wasn't.

This hurt. It felt like a huge bruise on his heart constantly being slammed against something pointed. He wanted to stay, wanted to somehow convince her to tell the Alliance to go to hell and continue to search for a way to stop the Reapers with Liara's help. He wanted there to be something she could say to get him to forget the mercenaries and stay…but he couldn't do the things he wanted and knew she didn't have the words to get him to stay.

Shepard was an Alliance Marine, it was who she was and he had accepted that. Trying to force her to give it up would be like trying to force him to give up on his family. Not only would it be wrong, but it wouldn't happen.

While it was true Shepard had promised to disappear with him if the Alliance still wanted her dead after the war, that promise did nothing for the situation now. Just like him leaving to get the mercenaries in check, her eventual return to the Alliance was what had to be done to save the most lives possible. _If there is anyone who can convince them to prepare, it's Shepard…if they don't court martial her and throw her in some dark cell._

The thought alone was one the purple eyed warrior was most worried about. Anderson and Hackett probably wouldn't allow it, but he worried that someone with power would have her killed or locked up in a place the galaxy didn't know about where she would be forgotten. _If they found out about us…I don't know what they would do to her or if there is anything they could do._ "I need you to promise me one more thing." Ty said.

"What?"

The purple eyed warrior retracted himself and stared into her sapphire eyes, "Promise me this isn't the last time we see each other." He averted his eyes to the side, "Every woman I've loved has ended up dead or almost dead, usually because of me. I don-…" Ty stopped himself then sighed in defeat knowing he had to continue, "I don't want to lose you too." He met her eyes again with serious yet pleading features on his face, "Please. I need you to promise me that we'll see each other again in this life."

His lover reached up and cupped his cheek with a tender smile on her face. "I promise." She leaned in bringing her lips close to his only to stop inches away. "Only if you promise me the same." She whispered.

"I promise."

Shepard smiled and nudged his nose with her own earning a small smile from Ty before he closed the remaining distance to meet her soft lips. They sealed their promises with a slow passion filled kiss that they both had trouble stopping.

Eventually they came to a slow stop and rested their foreheads against one another as they soaked up the emotions they had just shared with one another and the feeling of being this close to each other one last time.

"Keep me in your thoughts." Shepard said softly.

"It'll be hard not to." Ty replied seriously with a chuckle.

The N7 smiled her beautiful smile as a small blush tinted her cheeks. She quickly banished it and the blue aura of biotic's that began to form around her for a serious look. "I've meant to ask you this but never found the time, but back on the Collector Base when you almost slid off the platform…did you mean what you said about worrying if you said yes you wanted kids that I would drop you."

"I know you never would drop me." He tried to reassure. His statement hadn't been meant to make her feel as if he thought she would drop him for wanting kids or any of the other things he said as he dangled over the edge.

"That's not what I meant…" Ty quirked an eyebrow up in confusion but felt relived she didn't think he believed she would ever have let him fall to his death. She stared him in the eyes with an earnest stare, "Would you really want kids?"

"…Eventually, maybe." He answered honestly. "I haven't put much thought to it really, Vanessa. Having kids is a huge responsibility, and with people still wanting me dead and the war…" Ty sighed, "I wouldn't want to bring a kid into this galaxy only to die because of the Reapers. It would be irresponsible of me, of us."

She nodded in agreement. "I get that."

"It's also not my decision to make, it's ours." Ty continued with seriousness. "After this war, after there are no deadly threats to a child brought into this galaxy like there are now, after we're retired on some beach building sand castles and making sand angels." Shepard laughed at his final statement, "Then we'd need to talk about it. I don't want you to feel obligated or disappointed for a future decision we haven't yet reached that could easily change over the course of the next months."

His lover gave him a smile. "Thank you."

"For what?" Ty questioned.

"For being honest about how you felt and considerate to how I could feel."

Ty couldn't help but smirk slightly, "Teamwork and communication is what relationships are about, right?"

She gave him a peck on the lips before letting him go. Before he left though, Ty unhooked the nine sided star necklace around his neck and placed it in Shepard's hand. She gave him a questioning stare in return for his actions, "Something to come back for?"

He smiled warmly in response, "No. I have you for that." The Commander smiled affectionately back at him for his statement of fact. "It was Ka'Reena's guiding star. With luck not only will it guide her to watch over you, but it will serve as a star to guide me back to you when the time comes for us to reunite." _And it'll keep me close to your heart._ Ty chose to leave the last part out not wanting to cause tears to fall for either of them.

Still, his main hope was that it would guide the spirits of his fallen lover and friends to her so they could protect her in his absence. The sapphire eyed woman put the necklace on then pulled him into a kiss one final time.

"Stay safe." She said when they finally parted.

"I will. I'll try to keep up with the news as best as I can."

"You'll be in my thoughts."

Ty gave her a quick kiss, "You'll be in my heart." And just like that he had successfully screwed up his plan to avoid shed tears.

Shepard gave a flattered smile as a single tear escaped her along with a choked laugh, "You get that line from one of Kasumi's books?" She tried to tease as she reached up to wipe the tear away.

Before she could get it, Ty wiped it away and gave an apologetic smile, "No. That corny line unfortunately came from yours truly."

"It's not unfortunate. You sure know how to warm a girl's heart, Ty."

"Good to know. Here I thought I was losing my touch." He replied with an easy going smile.

His lover gave another chuckled in response, "I love you."

"I love you more."

After one last kiss, he mounted his bike and powered it up. His mask activated as Shepard took a few steps back and gave him a small wave. He returned it with a mock salute earning him a smirk and head shake.

The former mercenary stared at the woman he loved one last time, imprinting her sapphire eyes and beautiful smile onto his mind before finally taking off and exiting the Normandy. With the Normandy at his back he finally let his tear fall as the sadness of leaving fell over him.

For a long minute Shepard would stare at the doors as she thought about all of the time she had shared with the man from the day he pulled a gun on her to now. At the same time Ty would hesitate to enter the nearby relay, casting long glances back in the direction of the Normandy with Shepard ever prevalent in his mind.

The pair did not know it, but they both were wondering if the other was staring back or not, or if they made the right decision in leaving or letting him leave. Ultimately they would submit to the fact that this was the right choice. Shepard would return to her duties and Ty would go through the Relay, but not without wishing the other good luck with words of love within their thoughts.

They were like a single river being parted into two smaller streams. Their paths would take them far away from one another for many long miles, possibly down rough rapids or over waterfalls…but in their hearts they knew their destined paths were not ones of solitude. It would take time, but eventually their streams would merge into one river again.

And that was a day they looked forward to.


	116. Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Back Where We Started

"So what? We just sit on our asses while Cerberus maintains control of _our _station?"

"What the fuck do you want us to do?! With that fucking General forcing Aria to abandon us and those spirit damned creatures killing off the majority of our allies, we don't have the ability to counterattack!" Gavorn shouted back at the low level soldier.

"Well maybe if our strategist wasn't a drug addict-"

"Leave Murphy out of this! His current condition is the fucking reason he uses that drug!" Grizz fired off.

Ty let out a sigh as he entered the secret D-Deck bunker to the sounds of the familiar circle argument that had been going on for a week now. That wasn't an exaggeration either, the argument between Aria's remaining loyal guard had literally been happening for a week now.

On one side there were those who had been Aria's closest guards, Grizz, Gavorn, Murphy and Ty, and those who trusted in their leadership in her stead. On the other side were those who were a few steps down the employment chain who had gained a small group of men and women who thought they knew what they were doing.

Another way to put it was the common sense of well-trained soldiers versus green as grass recruits who thought Cerberus was a glass window they had to take a hammer to. What they continued to forget was they lacked the hammer completely.

_Seven months of trying to unite the mercenaries and this is what I ended up with? Pointless arguments while Omega is run by Cerberus?_ He was looking at one hell of a performance review at the end of this quarter.

To be fair, it hadn't gone completely tits-up at first. After his departure from the Normandy he had made his way straight to Omega and Aria, but to his surprise she wasn't there. Murphy had been the one to break the news to him about where she was and what had happened in his absence.

What exactly was the cause for her temporary departure from Omega?

Liselle, Aria's daughter, had been murdered on the station. Ty didn't know all the details leading up to it or how she died, he didn't really want to know the latter, but the news had struck him like a spear plunging into his heart.

She had always been a good friend. Yes she had tried to get them to be more than friends against her mother's wishes despite knowing damn well that she had threatened him, but Ty believed she had only made propositions for fun after his first denial. A strange bit of fun from his perspective, but fun for her nonetheless.

He was going to miss her constantly asking him to take her out somewhere romantic. _I never did take the time to catch up with her after Ortega._ The former mercenary felt a slight ache in his heart begin to build at the thought but quickly banished it as he moved towards the med-bay where Murphy was being kept. He didn't want to think about the possibilities of being able to save her had he left earlier from the Normandy or any other sort of should've, could've, would've thoughts.

When Aria returned from burying her daughter on Thessia she was angrier, not that he expected anything less. She had only half-listened to his pleas of bringing together the mercenaries. Her real sights however were on vengeance, but they had never been able to kill the man behind it.

For a while she had chased the wrong lead, a man named Paul Grayson who Liselle had been romantically involved with at the time. He hadn't been the man though. The one who had actually done it was a Cerberus agent by the name of Kai Leng.

He was still out there somewhere. Despite wanting to gut the bastard, Ty had focused his energies away from a wild goose chase. Hunting him to the ends of the galaxy wouldn't get the mercenaries prepared for the inbound Reapers.

Aria had made small moves to get the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Bloodpack under her banner, too small of movements in Ty's eyes. Unfortunately he could not approach them on her behalf due to the bad blood between himself and the three groups. That meant continuing to urge the leader of Omega to get prepared at every moment he could.

Over the course of the months the purple eyed warrior had done what he could to help Liara out as he was waiting for the Pirate Queen to finally catch the hint that the Reapers were coming. Some days it had felt useless and he considered giving up on the people he had thought would have actually listened.

Every time he considered it though, he was always stopped by the thought of Shepard. _"She hasn't given up on the Alliance yet, I guess that means I can't give up on the mercenaries."_ He would tell himself before stubbornly pushing himself to continue trying to get them all to prepare.

Ty missed her every day.

Shepard was constantly in his thoughts and not just as motivation. Every night he laid down to sleep he would think about her and the time they shared. Memories of different battles or conversations they had all served as a place he could escape to and be with her again.

_I wonder if she thinks about me as much as I think about her._ He wasn't sure, not with her being in Alliance custody dealing with the political ramifications due to the Alpha Relay incident and fighting to get them prepared. Her thoughts were probably clouded by everything else only allowing sparse moments to spare a thought for him.

That was fine, honestly it was. He'd rather have her deadly focused on keeping the politicians at bay then day dreaming about him. Not everyone had his abilities to slip into memories for hours on end and only have a few minutes pass. Besides, he knew he was in her heart even if he wasn't on her mind. They had promised one another that and Shepard was a woman of her word if nothing else.

They had been apart for seven months now, six of those she had spent in Alliance hands. The purple eyed warrior had kept tabs on her and the crew since he left but had lost track of them at one point or another over the course of the months.

Some of it was due to them returning to their homeworlds, or Fleet in Tali's case. Hunting for ways to stop the Reapers had also gotten in the way of keeping track of them, and another reason was due to him forgetting to check in.

The latter was caused by being busy or forgetful to some degree, but he did keep the crew in his thoughts. Much like Shepard, he missed them. He missed the comradery, missed going to visit them in their rooms and eating with them in the Mess Hall. Bantering with Garrus, Jack, Miranda and the others, head-butting with Grunt, meditating with Samara and Thane, even Mordin cheekily testing experiments on him were all daily situations he deeply missed.

Losing track wasn't restricted to the Normandy team either though. Ty had even lost track of what Darian, Haley, Jessica, Z and his father were up to, but that had only happened in recent weeks due to Cerberus taking Omega.

Ty let those thoughts fade for a moment as he approached the cot Murphy was curled up on. The strategist no longer had his Sentry Interface on, but his long brown hair was disheveled more than it usually was. His body was quaking as he kept his eyes firmly shut either because he was sleeping or attempting to focus on something other than the pain he felt.

_If I am to say anything positive about General Petrovsky, it's he's a damned good tactician._ General Oleg Petrovsky was a cunning leader of Cerberus forces and undoubtedly one of the Illusive Man's top agents. He had taken Omega beautifully, almost managed to do it without a fight.

Ty hated the General, but he could not deny the simple fact that Oleg was a genius tactician. He was a worthy foe and worthy of his title as a general. For someone in Cerberus he was also a man of honor, surprisingly enough.

After forcing Aria to leave them all behind with the threat of destroying the station with a fleet of ships, which were all lined up and ready to fire, he had been in full control of the station. The man could have easily just murdered all aliens and humans who disagreed with him, but instead he granted them all amnesty. If anyone wished to take it they would be free to leave the station without being harmed or blown up as they left.

Each person who had taken the pardon had all been allowed to leave and had all been left untouched. The General was a man of his word, something the former mercenary respected in him.

"Hey Shakes." Ty knelt down to the cot. _I've never seen Murph this bad and it continues to get worse every day._ A layer of sweat covered his body, his clothes and the blankets on the cot were soaked.

"Fu- fu- fu- fuck yo- you." Murphy retorted shakily.

Ty chuckled slightly, "Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood with a bad joke." The purple eyed warrior hated seeing his longtime friend in such a terrible state. This was all part of the Generals plan. He knew Murphy was a genius, knew he could easily match him move for move or out maneuver him in their grand game of real life chess.

Using his knowledge on Murphy's Achilles heel, he made it next to impossible to find the pills the Omega tactician used. Now the man was going through withdrawals and could barely sit up on his own let alone think. It was cruel, but ingenious. _Murph would probably applaud him if he had the strength to do it._

There was good news however. It had taken some leg work and a lot of sneaking around, but Ty had met up with Braum and the remaining loyal nurses and doctors he had left. They had retreated out of Ortega because of the General and now were hiding with the Talon mercenary group in another district. Luckily the Batarian doctor had a few bottles of pills to give away along with an emergency needle to get it into his system immediately.

The Talon mercenaries weren't mercenaries the purple eyed warrior knew very well. He knew they used to be small time. After the Archangel incident–among all the other problems the Normandy team caused the original trio–the Blue Suns, Bloodpack and Eclipse were weakened on Omega and either died thanks to Cerberus or scattered to the winds to rejoin their other sectors.

Now the Talons were pretty much all that was left on Omega. They had the most soldiers and most power out of all the mercenary groups and gangs that remained on the station. Prior to recent times they had defaced property, collected and sold red sand and never cared about the populace of Omega.

They had pretty much fit in perfectly. Yet now there was something different about them. Ty couldn't say what caused it or why, but they were acting differently. They were more organized, almost like a real military fighting force. People were saying they used guerilla tactics to take out Cerberus guards and rescue civilians. According to Braum they had treated his workers with respect and didn't act like the usual gangs on Omega, completely opposite of the rumors Ty had heard about them.

It was something for him to think about later.

For now he had to focus on getting his friend back to one hundred percent and that meant giving him the emergency needle. _At least I'm not the one in need of the shot this time, _Ty thought as he pulled out the shot. _Only problem is now I have to find the correct vein and use a shot on someone who is shaking like a leaf, plus the after effects._

It wouldn't be an easy task, but he honestly didn't trust anyone else to do it. _Grizz and Gavorn are Turian's with little medical expertise when it comes to humans. Last thing I want is for them to put it in the wrong place and waste it. Everyone else I don't know and don't trust to actually care for Murph._

The only good news was Braum showed him exactly where to stick the needle and thanks to his abilities he would easily be able pinpoint it, probably. "Murph, I need this arm." Ty forced the trembling arm closer and turned it so his palm was facing up with the bottom of his arm. Even in his firm grasp the arm was still shaking, not that he blamed his friend for the trouble.

This wasn't his fault, not completely anyway. None of them had anticipated the General drying him out and making the drug hard to find, then again none of them had anticipated losing Omega either. They had grown arrogant out here in the Terminus system believing no one had the strength or intelligence to take the station and outwit the Pirate Queen.

_We're all paying the price for that arrogance and ignorance._ Ty steadied his hand and put a level of focus into sticking his friend that he usually put into killing enemies. In a way this was a lot like sighting down an enemy with his rifle. He had to calm and steady his breathing and body. He had to account for any and all sudden movements and adjust his sights accordingly. Acting too early or too late would lead to him missing his target and screwing up the entire situation.

He lined up the shot and took a steadying breath as his friends arm trembled in his grasp. Slowly he brought the needle closer. Just as he was about to insert it, a convulsion rocked the tactician. Ty quickly pulled back at the last second and released a breath. _Too close. I don't want to stick him full of holes, he'd never forgive me._

Again the former mercenary inched the needle closer darting his eyes between his target and the man who the arm belonged to looking for signs of another convulsion. He pressed the needle against the point of entry, "You might feel this." Ty warned.

"Jus- just do i-" Murphy's eyes bulged open and would have popped out of his eye sockets if possible as Ty plunged the needle in quickly to the exact point Braum had told him to. "FU- FUCK!"

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush." He tried to jest as he grit his teeth in struggle to hold the man's arm and body still.

"FU- FUCK YOU! ARGHH!"

"Did I neglect to tell you the needle was really thick? Or that the stuff I'm administering is going to burn?" Murphy cursed him and continued to struggle against him making it hard to keep the needle in and inject the rest of the fluid. _I thought I was going to be able to hold him down and do this, but he's struggling too much!_ "Grizz!" Ty shouted to the Turian.

Grizz rushed into the room to his side and, without Ty having to say anything, he held their friend down. "You've got to stop squirming so much." The Turian told their pain filled friend.

"GO TO HELL!"

"Hey, he didn't stutter." Ty quipped as he injected the remaining fluid into Murphy's arm. Once done he pulled the needle out and grabbed a second one. "This one is going to sedate you and ease the pain."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU START WITH THAT ONE, GHOST?!" Murphy screamed.

"Because I was told not to by a doctor. Or did he say to start with it?" The purple eyed warrior thought back to the conversation and paled behind the shadow of his hood as he remembered Braum's words.

_"Use the sedative first, it will ease his pain."_

Murphy seemed to notice the look on his face and began to growl in anger. "Uh…whoops."

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

"Sorry!" Ty tried to apologize. "I was in a rush to get this back to you so you wouldn't be in so much pain and forgot which he said to use first."

The Omega tactician began struggling against Grizz in an attempt to attack the purple eyed warrior. He was red with rage at this point, forcing the Turian to use most of his strength to hold him down. "YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO REMEMBER EVERYTHING! HOW DID YOU FORGET?!" He seethed.

Not wanting to prolong this argument any further, Ty lined up the sedative filled needle and plunged it in. The effects were nearly immediate, Murphy's struggles began to be less forceful and his screams of pain died out. Soon after his muscles relaxed and he fell into unconsciousness.

"Shit. Never thought Murphy could put up such a struggle." Grizz breathed out as he stood back up to his full height.

"I guess that was my bad." Grizz gave him a '_really_' look, "Okay, that was completely my fault." Ty amended. _Not that I meant him to go through so much pain. Doesn't make it any better, but I really didn't mean to mess that up._

He felt bad for whatever that was worth. _At least he'll be fine once he wakes up._ That was the main goal and in the end they had gotten there. Granted it was down a path of pain that could have been avoided had Ty remembered Braum's words correctly, but there was no sense worrying about that now. He'd apologize to his friend and take the punishment of never living it down for as long as they lived.

_I'm sure we'll all laugh about it someday…probably._ Ty stood up all the way and motioned for Grizz to follow him. With Murphy's issue solved, it was time to move onto the next issue: the circle argument that was starting to give him a headache.

"If we didn't have a shortage of men, I'd have killed you by now." Gavorn growled at the human.

"Oh yeah? Let's see you try!" The human retorted.

"ENOUGH!" Ty raised his voice above all others. Everyone looked over to the former mercenary as he stormed forward. Members of both sides of the argument, those who believed in Gavorn, Grizz, Ty and Murphy and those who were arguing against them, began backing down at the sight of the furious mercenary. For all the time he had spent away, his reputation had not faded in the slightest. The respect and fear he had earned in equal measure was still very much alive on Omega.

This ridiculous childish arguing was bringing them nowhere and was only helping the General. For seven months he had tried to get Aria to unite the mercenaries and had gotten absolutely nowhere. To say he was frustrated was beyond an understatement.

He had kept his frustration in check, prevented himself from releasing it in any of the arguments prior to now. That was coming to an abrupt end. These people, he had thought they would have had enough sense to actually see the threat of the Reaper and prepare for it. He had placed faith in them and was left disappointed. If Aria or these people were not going to get their shit together on their own, then he would make them.

The former mercenary came to a stop between Gavorn and the vocal human who lacked the common sense to back down. "Gavorn, stand down. Arguing against him is only giving him more attention than he deserves from you." The Turian reluctantly backed down and unclenched the fist he had created unbeknownst to the human.

"I'm going to say this once, so you all better listen up!" Ty casted his eyes across every single person in the room, "In case you haven't fucking realized it yet, we've lost Omega."

"Only because you cowar-"

The human shut his mouth as the barrel of Ty's pistol pointed right at his forehead. "Finish that sentence, I dare you." He dared the human with a murderous voice. His purple eyes seared through the shadow his hood created right into the soul of the man he was pointing his gun at.

A bead of sweat ran down the human's face as he gulped down his words. Self-preservation won out. "Silence was the correct answer. Interrupt me again with an ignorant comment and I will kill you." He moved his eyes back to the group of people but left his gun leveled with the humans head, "As I was saying, we've lost Omega. The General outplayed us and forced our leader into exile. Right now, he's in control."

"Because of leadership like yo- Ahhh!"

The crack of a round echoed in the bunker only to be followed by the sound of a body crumpling to the floor. Dead silence filled the room except the sound of the human next to him gulping in fear and the hisses of pain from the victim of the round. The pistol previously aimed at the human's forehead was aimed mere inches away from the left side of his face.

Behind him several metres through a crowd, a Salarian laid on the floor, gutshotted. He was done playing nice with these people. Bludgeoning a point across was the only way they would listen, and they were about to be reminded of how hard he could bludgeon.

"Anyone else have something they want to say while I'm talking?" He asked the group. Silence was his answer. "Now that I have everyone's undivided attention, someone patch him up. He's no good to us dead, and if you think about interrupting me again or pulling a gun on me, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Someone moved over to the Salarian and began applying medi-gel to his wound. "The General is in control for the time being, hence why we're hiding out in a bunker he has no idea exists. This hidden command center is all we have left. So let this warning be a warning to all of you: if any of you ruin it with reckless behavior or decide to try to earn the General's favor by ratting us out, you will die. I will tie you up, drag you to the Adjutant infested mine, and dump you there so you can end up like Anto. And then I'll watch as they transform you into one of them before shooting you in the head to prevent them from gaining more."

"What are we going to do then?" Someone asked.

"For now, we're going to sit and wait for Murphy to get back up and going. He should be back to his usual self in an hour or so."

"What do you mean sit and wait?" The foolish human next to him questioned with irritation.

Ty's eyes landed on him with a stare that pierced through him, "I mean you are going to shut your mouth, sit down, and wait for Murphy to be better. Better yet, if you haven't noticed this bunker needs some work." The former mercenary lowered his pistol and stalked closer to him forcing the human to take steps back. With each step back he took, his angry adversary took one forward, "Instead of pissing and moaning about not fighting a battle that will end in all of our deaths, how about you make yourself fucking useful and start helping us lay down the ground work so we can take back this station!"

"I- I-" The man stumbled and fell down leaving Ty to loom over him.

"I- I-" He imitated the human before continuing, "What's wrong? You were so defiant a few moments ago? I thought you wanted to take this station back?" He turned his eyes to all the people in the room, "You all want your homes back?" Silence was his answer, this time it was the wrong one. "I asked you all a damn question! Do. You. Want. Your. Home. Back!"

Loud approving cheers echoed in the bunker. "Damn fucking straight you do! We're the goddamned lawless of the galaxy! We're not to be ruled over by some racist prick who thinks he can turn our home into a prison! But does that mean we're just going to assault his base with no plan?!"

"No!" The crowd cheered.

"Damn right we aren't! This enemy of ours is intelligent. He managed to force us into this little hidey hole and kick our Queen off her throne. He's not someone to be underestimated which is exactly how we ended up here! If we want to get our home back, we have to be patient, methodical and ruthless the moment we launch our attack!"

More cheers echoed in the bunker. "Most importantly, we have to stand together. Disunity will lead to our destruction and he's been counting on us lashing out at one another instead of joining together to stop him! If we're going to take Omega back from the hands of Cerberus, we're going to do it together, as one!"

Everyone let out triumphant cheers and began bustling around to get the bunker running. Ty reached his hand out to the human on the ground before him, "Now, do you have any other complaints I need to resolve?"

"No sir!" The human gave a salute and went to join the others.

Grizz and Gavorn joined him at his sides, slugging his arm and clapping him on the shoulder respectively, "Way to get them inspired. That'll keep them quiet until Aria gets back." Grizz said. _Let's hope you're right._

"You two think you'll be able to handle all of this with Murph while I'm gone?" He asked as he began walking forward.

"Yeah, but the sooner you get Aria's fleets together, the better. You know the General is going to be hunting us down and making it damn near impossible to survive." Gavorn stated.

"Not to mention the Adjutant's." Grizz added grimly.

The Turian's were right of course. Both the General and the Adjutant's were going to be a serious problem for those who remained on Omega. Adjutants were without a doubt some sort of Reaper created minion that Cerberus had been trying to control. They were a lot like Scion's except they managed to be far creepier and deadlier, which wasn't a compliment.

They were taller than husks and had a large mass of tentacles coming out of where their mouths should be. The worst part about them was that they could turn any organic into one of them. Ty had seen it happen and once someone was infected, there was no saving them. It was how Anto was killed. The former mercenary had never liked him, but he did feel remorse for the Batarian. The death Anto received was one no person in the galaxy deserved.

Adjutants had managed to find a way to answer the question of '_how much worse can it get_' with their presence. Watching helplessly as people got transformed and then mercy killing them were moments that followed all who had to deal with it.

Ty wasn't entirely sure how they came to be or how Cerberus managed to control them, but they were definitely no longer able to do so. The creatures had run rampant on Omega and had nearly started to kill off the entire population of Omega, including Cerberus, before the terrorist organization did something right for once. They sealed most away in the mining facility and other pockets Adjutants in other areas with their shielding tech that incinerated all those who touched it.

For the time being it kept them contained, but it wasn't a permanent solution, not that Cerberus cared about that part. _Out of sight out of mind as the saying goes._ Going in to kill them wasn't much of an option either. The purple eyed warrior had seen a single Adjutant take down an entire squad of Cerberus troopers on its own without issue.

It was only because of those troopers weakening it that he had not died that day. Thankfully the initial transformation done to organics was nowhere near as powerful as a true Adjutant leaving time for him to eliminate the troopers it managed to infect. Given time they would have become true Adjutants and a bigger problem, thankfully that was not the case.

If Adjutants weren't going to be a big enough issue for Aria's remaining forces, than Oleg Petrovsky and his merry band of Cerberus soldiers would be the icing on the cake. He had a sense of honor in letting those who took the amnesty leave, yet he was still a Cerberus general and Omega was a mostly alien hub.

Aliens were already being treated worse than Omega treated those who could not fend for themselves. Troopers were everywhere in every district plus the General had control of the camera feeds and used it to watch everyone's movements. Top it off with a curfew and a mandate to hunt down anyone who opposed him and those currently in the bunker pretty much were living in hell.

No one here was going to leave, not from Ty's lack of trying to help as many as he could escape. He had tried his hardest to get Braum and the occupants of the Ortega district to take the amnesty and leave only to be unsuccessful. Granted they were in hiding, but only a few had actually taken his advice.

Ty couldn't blame them for not leaving. Omega was their home, asking them to leave was asking them to abandon their work, their homes, their belongings and people they cared for. There was no changing their minds, they would use their skills to help as many as they could…even if it ended in death.

It was admirable, yet it was a fight the former mercenary wasn't staying for. He needed to help Aria organize her fleets and inform her of the improvements to the station the General had added. Before he did that however he had far more important business to handle.

Liara, who had started working with Hackett on the Prothean data from Mars, had got a message to him about incoming Reapers. He hadn't been sure how long they had left until the Batarian's home system went dark one week and a day ago. It was followed by the Turian Hierarchy declaring war yesterday after Taetrus went dark due to the same forces taking Khar'Shan.

The Reapers were in the Milky Way and their next target was easy to guess: Earth.

Whether or not the Alliance knew this was unknown to him, but he had to get word to Shepard. She was on house arrest in an Alliance HQ in Vancouver and was being kept out of the loop about the affairs outside of her room. _If I have to break her out to get her the hell off Earth, I'll damn well do it._

The trio came to a stop at the exit leading to one of the secret tunnels that ran through Omega. "So, what's your plan of escape? You know the General will just blow you out of the sky if you try to fly out of here." Grizz said as he crossed his arms.

Ever since Khar'Shan went dark he had been plotting his departure from Omega to Earth. Handing the reigns of control over to the three people he trusted was easy enough. What kept him here was Murphy's state and wanting to ensure his safety before leaving.

With that settled it was only the matter of leaving and breaking into an Alliance facility that proved to be most difficult parts of his plan. Or leaving had been an issue until he decided to take the easy route where he pushed his pride to the side to do what needed to be done.

"I'm going to find a camera, get his attention then ask for amnesty." Ty put it simply.

"Do you really think he'll actually grant you of all people amnesty?" Gavorn asked in disbelief.

He gave a confident nod. This plan of his had been well-thought out and he knew the General would be all for him taking the amnesty. "Yeah, I do. I'm a figurehead. I have the respect and fear of all of Omega. I could lead these people to the front gates of Afterlife given enough time and support, and that's a risk he won't want to take."

"So you act like you're abandoning ship…" Gavorn started to see the logic.

"And he'll take the opportunity to rid himself of someone who could cause him one hell of a fight." Grizz finished nodding along with the plan.

"Little does he know I'll be helping organize a bigger one while you guys start taking baby steps to take Omega back. Gain enough ground, supplies or allies while I'm gone and the final fight could very well take a few hours instead of a few weeks." The former mercenary explained.

"Patient, methodical and ruthless." Grizz grinned a toothy grin, "Sounds like a plan to me."

Ty opened the door and stepped through it before turning back to his two friends, "Be smart and stay alive." He gave them both a two fingered salute then turned around and began making his way through the underground tunnels.

There was no surveillance in them and they traveled all the way throughout the station, unbeknownst to the General. It was a great way to get from point A to point B without a fight or past the barriers Cerberus had set up. He made his way closer to where he had his bike stashed before exiting the tunnel and making his way across the open terrain of Omega where Petrovsky had eyes.

When he was close enough to his bike he picked out a camera and pointed at it, "General! I need a word with you!" The former mercenary then walked over to a wall and leaned against it as he waited for whatever the response would be.

As he expected it didn't take long for the General to make an appearance, not in person of course. A small black floating orb approached him until a blue hologram of Petrovsky appeared. He was wearing a suit similar to what Admirals in the Alliance wore only in Cerberus colors with the insignia over his heart.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Ghost of Omega."

Ty rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Let's skip the bullshit and get down to why I'm here."

"As you wish. To what do I owe the pleasure of you revealing yourself so bluntly?"

"Amnesty. I want it to get the hell off this station."

The General smiled victoriously, "I see. I must say I'm quite surprised. I expected you would lead the revolution after all of your history here."

"'_The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting._' Here I thought you'd be all for that." Ty pressed. He knew the General was a scholar of human history, he would know what it meant.

Oleg hummed thoughtfully. "Sun Tzu. You have studied him?" He received a nod, "Then you should know this one, '_Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win_.'"

"Sun Tzu again." Ty said. Both lines summed up the current state of affairs on Omega fairly well. Oleg had managed to subdue Aria without a fight, at least not a big one, and had 'forced' the purple eyed warrior to give up on Omega without a fight. How he had done that was by planning his take down of Omega and Aria to the smallest of details. Once his plan was set and he managed to dupe Aria, he had won the war.

Now he could fight the war of his choosing while the rest of Omega tried to win back what they already lost. "We lost Omega the moment you convinced Aria to help you. I know that." The moment the General had convinced her he needed her aid in stopping an outbreak of Adjutants beyond the Omega 4 Relay, Omega was his.

"I may not like you or Cerberus, but you're not the average racist grunt who just wants to kill aliens. You're intelligent; you know how to plan ahead. A worthy foe." Ty admitted without reluctance. He was not too prideful to admit it, unlike Aria who would never say it. "But I'm not here to fight you, not yet anyway. We both know there's an enemy far greater than you or I out there."

"Had I not already won this battle, you might have been a worthy foe as well. It is a shame the Illusive Man does not see you the same way. That underestimation would end him if I believed you were capable of reaching him." Oleg paced slightly as Ty snarled at the compliment turned insult. _Careful, General. Overconfidence is the destruction of all tyrants, no matter how intelligent and powerful they may be._ "But I digress. I've heard the news about Khar'Shan and Taetrus. It would appear the Reapers are finally here."

"And the entire galaxy is unprepared. Cerberus isn't ready for them either. You don't have the power to take them on all by yourselves." Ty stated confidently.

"Not yet." Petrovsky challenged. _He sounds confident in that… it makes me feel uneasy._ "I will assume you plan to somehow bring Commander Shepard back into the fight. A worthy goal, but do you really believe she can stop the Reapers all on her own?"

"There's not a doubt in my mind." The purple eyed warrior returned with his entire being.

The General paced to a stop in front of him as he brought his hand to his chin. "Interesting. For all our differences, we seem to have the same goal in mind: Preventing the Reapers from destroying this cycle." He smiled, "'_The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy_.'"

"Friedrich Nietzsche."

"Correct." The General said as he let his hand fall. "Then I grant you amnesty. You may leave immediately."

Ty pushed himself off the wall, "Good. But first call off your assassin."

Oleg raised his eyebrows in confusion, "My what?" The former mercenary lifted his chin in the direction of the General's back making him turn around. Behind him stood a human with shoulder length black hair, some of which was pulled into a ponytail at the back of his head. He had some sort of silver cybernetic implants on his face covering his eyes and lining his jaw to his chin and to the middle of his forehead.

His outfit was sleek body fitting black armor with a small Cerberus insignia at the top of his chest between his collar bones. Part of it was a coat similar to that of a Drell coat, but around his arms and legs Ty could see clear signs of more cybernetic implants. On his back was a short blade, a ninjatō if he had to guess based on the size.

A ninjatō' is a single-edge sword and shorter than a katana, average length being nineteen inches compared to the twenty-three to twenty-eight inch length of a katana. The saying 'size doesn't matter' actually was truthful when it came to this weapon. Despite its shorter size, it was still just as deadly as a katana in the hands of a master.

Seeing as the only people he knew that still used real swords, knives and tomahawks were all masters, there was no doubt in his mind this guy knew how to use it effectively. _With his cybernetic implants he's bound to have fast offense and defense._

_But who the hell is this guy?_

"I wasn't aware of your arrival, Kai Leng." Oleg said cautiously.

The name filled Ty with fury making his body react on instinct, pulling out his pistol and firing rounds at the man who killed Liselle. The Cerberus assassin calmly raised his hand and created a spherical blue barrier around himself, smirking at the growl of anger from his shooter who lowered his gun.

"Stand down, Leng. I've granted him amnesty." The General ordered.

"I don't take orders from you, Petrovsky." He returned, his voice calm yet filled with arrogance.

_Seems the Illusive Man finally sent someone after me._ "Get out of here, General. Our conversation is over. When I'm done with him, I'll be leaving." The General looked between the pair before his hologram disappeared leaving the two warriors to stare one another down. "So you're the Illusive Man's puppet."

"And you're the little guard dog Aria keeps on a short leash, or is Shepard the one holding your chain now?"

"Cute. You got bark." Ty pulled out both of his tomahawks, "Let's see if you can back it up with some bite."

Kai Leng gave a sadistic smile as he pulled out his sword, "This is going to be fun."

They sidestepped in a circle, both looking for an opening on the other. Kai Leng made the first move, dashing forward and putting Ty on the defense. He parried a series of strikes with his tomahawks then caught the blade with both. The former mercenary went for a series of kicks only for them to be blocked by kicks from Leng.

He pushed the blade away when his plan failed but it came back quickly. Ty stepped to the side to dodge then trapped the arm under his, gripping the arm tightly so his opponent could not easily pull the blade back and cut him.

The purple eyed warrior went to cut his arm clean off with his free tomahawk, but Kai Leng stopped his arm in its track by grabbing him at the forearm. The pair was stuck in a deadlock. Ty considered stamping on his foot but doubted it would be very effective with the type of armor he wore.

"You're slower than I imagined." Leng taunted.

"I'm not even done warming up, punk."

_His moves…_The warrior grunted as they both struggled to free their arms. _He's agile and intelligent. Each move is planned. Each attack is an attempt for a kill. He's good, better than the mercenary Kelham sent after us in the Ortega district._

Leng moved to break or hyper extend his knee but was blocked by a kick. He then slammed his foot right on top of Ty's right one sending waves of pain pulsating through him. The purple eyed warrior grunted earning a smirk from his asshole of an opponent. _I think he just broke my fucking foot. _

"Did that hurt?" He taunted. In response Ty slammed his head forward, cracking the cybernetic enhanced mercenary right in his unprotected nose. "Ah!"

They released one another and dashed, or hobbled in Ty's case, away from one another. Blood began dripping from the Cerberus assassin's nose. _Only a small fracture, but it gave me breathing room._ He put pressure on his right foot and winced, _definitely broke a bone…or three._ "What's wrong pretty boy? Did that hurt?" The warrior returned.

Kai brought his free hand to his nose and then looked at the blood adorning his gloved fingers. He growled in anger and aimed his palm at his opponent. Ty wasn't about to take chances due to the fact the man could use a shield from his palm. He rolled across the ground to dodge and continued to scramble as projectiles were fired at him.

_He's shooting shit from his hand now?! Seriously?! What the fuck! _He scrambled out of the way but as he got onto his feet again, Leng was there. He went for a strike but Ty was able to block at the last second. Unfortunately he still had the purple eyed warrior on defense and managed to land a hard sweep kick him, taking his feet out from under him and forcing him onto his back.

Ty reacted quickly, blocking the blade from plunging into his gut by using both of his tomahawks again. However, from his position he did not have good leverage. He was steadily losing the power struggle and if he didn't act quickly, he was going to be the sole piece of meat on a ninjatō shish kabob. _I've got to get off the defense and get this fight back in my favor._

He swiftly kicked his opponent in the knee earning a cry of pain and a break in strength. The moment of opportunity he needed was there and he did not waste it. Ty forced the blade to the side then forced his enemy to stab it into the ground, granting him the chance to roll away as Kai Leng fell to a knee.

_My kick got him good, but it could have been a lot harder, _Ty thought as he rolled onto his hands and knees, _I get the feeling his cybernetics are relatively knew or his knees were severely injured and he hasn't fully recovered yet. Or the surgery happened recently._

An advantage was always something to look for in a fight, and weak knees would be a perfect advantage to exploit._ I'll check his other knee out to see if it is a weak point I could exploit it. If it is then I'll use it to help kill him._

The purple eyed warrior was on his feet first and on the offensive. Kai Leng managed to get onto his feet in the nick of time but was forced into defense, which was effective but the knee Ty had hit was definitely giving him trouble.

During a series of strikes and parries, Ty feinted an attack and landed a kick to Leng's other knee earning a snarl and grunt of pain. _His knees are definitely a lot weaker than normal._ "What's wrong? Knees giving you trouble?"

"Shut up!"

Kai Leng wasn't done yet. His defense and eventual offense forced the former mercenary to activate his demon switch in hopes to finish the fight once and for all. Their battle felt like it lasted hours as they continued to exchange blows and started to gain small victories in forms of cut armor or slashed open skin.

As they prepared their next attacks Ty took in the panting he and his opponent were starting to do. His stamina was definitely a bit better, although that was probably due to his creation, but the cybernetic implants were helping his opponent to do more than keep up.

This guy, the bastard who had killed Liselle, he was challenging and forcing Ty to bring his very best into this fight. It appeared to be the same for Leng and he was less than pleased about it judging on the angry features on the parts of his face the warrior could see.

After Ortega Ty had come to grips with the truth that there were other fighters out there that were as good as and possibly better than him. This Cerberus agent was on par with him and definitely could have handled his brother and himself better than the mercenary in the Ortega district.

Yes the mercenary in the Ortega district had defeated them where Leng had yet to do so, but his current opponent also didn't have biotic's and probably didn't have his heart on the right side of his chest. _I hope that's true, that would be a damn dirty trick if it wasn't for the fact people don't just put their hearts there._

The two once again charged in at one another and met in a clash of steel. The sound of metal on metal echoed in his ears and across the street with every strike and parry they made. With each set of blows Ty could feel himself gaining ground against the Cerberus assassin. "Getting tired?" He taunted as he blocked a series of strikes and managed to cut the man's arm. "Nothing clever to say anymore?"

He had taunted him much during this fight, even had the audacity to make a comment about killing Liselle. With his energy dwindling he stopped throwing barbs. As they found themselves in another deadlock, Ty threw another insult to further get him off his game, "Perhaps if your skills with a sword were as good as your taunts, you wouldn't be losing this fight."

"Enough of this." Kai Leng smirked victoriously, "Right shoulder."

A shredding pain ripped through Ty's right shoulder forcing a cry of pain out of him. The round pierced right between the weak point of his tank top armor and bicep guard weakening his guard completely. Only through sheer will power did he not collapse or let go of his tomahawk, but it was for nothing.

Kai Leng easily made it through his defenses and impaled him through his left side. The pain alone made Ty's eyes bulge in agony filled surprise, but anger was quick to follow it. This was not how he was going to die, not by some cheater who had to use someone else to shoot him to get the final blow.

As his opponent moved to rip the blade out, Ty dropped his tomahawk and gripped his arm, forcing the blade all the way through to the hand guard, thus forcing Leng closer. Kai showed momentary shock before struggling to break free of his iron grip and seething stare, but he would not get away unscathed.

Ty forced his head forward nailing another head-butt and lowering the guard of his opponent. While his opponent was recovering he flipped his tomahawk in his right hand so the spike was forward and, with great strain, he impaled it into the side of Kai Leng, piercing straight through his armor.

Blood was drawn immediately, but the warrior wasn't done yet. He pulled it back out and swung again impaling the spike into his thigh only to remove it once more and swiftly plunge it into his knee next.

The first two strikes earned a grunt of pain while the third earned a full-fledged scream of agony. Ty pulled it out and re-impaled it again earning another cry. Before he could swing again, Leng twisted the blade in his gut causing an explosion of pain to erupt across Ty's body. His grip faltered allowing his enemy to pull the blade out of his stomach.

Not even a second later the purple eyed warrior collapsed to his knees, dropping his other tomahawk as he braced himself on his hands. "Die!"

There was undoubtedly a blade plunging down for the final blow, but the former mercenary never felt the cold steel plunge into his heart or throat or wherever the ninjatō was aimed for. The sound of rounds impacting across the ground echoed in his ears as he felt the familiar feeling of his life draining away from him.

_It's going to take forever to get the bloodstains out of my white tank top. _Despite the seriousness of his wound and the situation at hand, Ty found himself chuckling at his thought. It ended abruptly when the pain of his wound intensified thanks to his laughter.

_Fuck. Why do I keep doing this to myself?_ He glanced up and saw Kai Leng disappear using his cloaking device as he was limping away, partially defeated. _Damn it. I almost had him. I could have avenged Liselle if it wasn't for that damn sniper._

But he hadn't been able to defeat the assassin, although without the aid of the sniper he would have been able to outlast and overpower Kai Leng. _Must have knew he couldn't beat me fairly, so he had a backup plan…I'll give him credit, it was smart. I should have known better than to think someone from Cerberus would play fair._

The price for his belief was his current state of defeat.

"Create a perimeter and watch for Cerberus. We move in five." A female voice ordered. There was a chorus of 'yes ma'am's' before Ty felt someone start applying medi-gel to his wounded shoulder. "How is it that you always manage to find this kind of trouble, Ty?"

The former mercenary lifted his head up and met the green eyes of Nyreen Kandros. She wore features of all business, yet he could see in her eyes she was worried for his health. "Why is it that you always manage to find me when I'm in this trouble?" He returned with a weak smile.

She gave him a small smile in return, "If I didn't save you, then who would?" She shrugged, "Someone has to keep you alive." The woman quipped.

Ty gave a weary laugh at the smart ass comment before coughing. Blood splattered onto the floor below him alarming the man back to his current situation, "Fuck me. Why is it always on Omega that I end up coughing up my own blood?"

"Hang in there, Ty. I'll get you patched up."

His shoulder was already feeling better and he couldn't feel the pain in his foot, although he was certain that was because of the extreme pain in his gut and not because of the medi-gel. It could have been the blood he had already loss so far, but this wound felt different than a normal stab wound. The entire area felt like it was being burned with acid on top of the already terrible agony of a sword impaling through his abdomen.

_Not like anything vital is there, _he thought sarcastically. Nyreen began applying medi-gel to his gut and there was a sense of relief that followed, yet the pain did not fade away. "Spirits." The Turian whispered.

"What?"

"That assassin had some sort of poison on his blade. It's preventing the medi-gel from healing your wound." _Meaning I'll bleed out if I don't get proper help soon. Fuck me._ "We need to get you back to the doctor right away."

Nyreen moved to help him up, but was stopped by the warrior grabbing her arm. "No."

"Don't be stubborn. If we don't get that wound patched up, you will die." She argued.

"I know. But." Ty winced in pain as he grabbed his tomahawks and began forcing himself to stand up. "I can't stay here. I'm needed elsewhere." _I made a promise. I'm not…I'm not dying until I see her again._ This wasn't going to be his end. He had promised to see her again in this life, not the next. If these really were his last moments, he was going to die ensuring he didn't fail another promise.

"What are you talking about?" Nyreen questioned.

"The Reapers…the war is about to start. I need…" _I need to see her again. _He took a staggered step in the direction of his bike, "I have to warn her. I already got Petrovsky's amnesty."

"Commander Shepard?" He nodded as Nyreen remained at his side, bracing him as she reluctantly helped him towards his bike. "Isn't she in Alliance hands?" Ty nodded again. _Though breaking in is going to be a lot harder now._ "Isn't that a bit dangerous in your state?"

It probably was, but he was betting on the Alliance stopping his death to get information out of him about his family. If he played his cards really close to his chest and dropped small hints about the Reapers then he was certain he'd be kept alive, for a little while anyways. "When have I done something perfectly safe with no chance of failure?"

"I guess you're right about that." She mused. The Turian eased him down onto his bike and began applying more medi-gel to his wound. "This should buy you some time to get there without bleeding out in the middle of space." She glanced up at him, "Will you be back?"

"I can't answer that honestly, not in my current state." _Or with the cameras around._ Nyreen could easily decipher the thought in his eyes, giving a small nod of understanding. "Don't get into too much trouble without me."

Nyreen chuckled, "No promises." She stood up and took a few steps away, "Try not to die."

This time it was Ty's turn to chuckle as he powered up his bike and activated his mask, "You know me, Nyreen. The Ghost of Omega has died many times, but he always finds his way back into the world of the living. Now get moving. Unlike me, you don't have amnesty."

She gave him a nod and returned to whoever she had with her. _Thank you for saving my life, Nyreen. If I survive through all of this, I'll be back to help retake this station. Hopefully I can return the favor._

Ty made his way out of Omega, beginning his race to Earth. As he piloted his bike he sent a message to his family to warn them about the Cerberus assassin, his abilities and tech. At the end of his message he warned them of his current state and where he was heading, pleading them not to try to break him out or cause an international incident.

He entered the Sol System at a fast pace yet also completely under the radar, managing to enter the atmosphere as his blood was beginning to thoroughly soak his armored tank top. It was as he was nearing the Alliance HQ in Vancouver that a familiar blue hologram appeared on his bike.

"EDI? You're a damn good sight for blood loss filled vision." Ty greeted happily. He had missed the Normandy A.I. both being on his bike and being around her in general.

"I am pleased you have not been killed, Ty. By your words and sudden appearance on Earth I assume you are not well."

The wounded warrior breathed out a chuckle, "Heh. Yeah. Long story and not a lot of time to explain it. Could you do me a favor?"

"I will try."

"When I land my bike, could you pilot it to the Normandy or somewhere else where no one will find it?

"After a joy ride, yes." The A.I. responded cheekily.

Ty gave a short laugh and a grunt of pain, "Oh. Don't make me laugh, it hurts to laugh." _But damn am I glad to see her again. I'm happy she still has managed to maintain a sense of humor and hasn't been shut down by anyone._

"I have read that laughter is a great medicine. Is it not appropriate for this situation?"

"If laughter could heal a wound from a poison covered blade, I would laugh the poison right out of me. The thought is appreciated though, EDI." He began landing his bike nearby the HQ. "Do you know where Shepard is being held?"

"I will forward her coordinates to your omni-tool. Please be safe, Ty. You will be completely outnumbered, outgunned, and alone."

He was aware of that fact and knew the warning was warranted. This wasn't a merc base filled with twenty to fifty people and some cameras, sensors and the like. This was an Alliance base. There would be at least a hundred people within, if not more along with a plethora of security equipment to track someone like him.

It would have been fun if he wasn't wounded. Another problem was he wasn't breaking in at night or some other opportune time to sneak around. The sun was high up in the sky and security around Shepard would be tighter than an Afterlife stripper's skintight outfit.

This infiltration wasn't going to be easy, and he would have no help from anyone. EDI couldn't shut down camera's or help divert security, it would risk her being caught as an A.I. instead of the V.I. he and Joker had told her to pose as before he left the Normandy.

_Guess it's just like old times. I'm outnumbered, outgunned, on my own and mortally wounded. If anything this is too much like old times for my liking. No sense complaining, I don't have the time for it._

Ty backed up his omni-tool to a spare one back home leaving only his cloak and a stun program on it. After he was done he stripped off his gauntlets, bicep guards, pistols, rifle, and tomahawks, placing them all in his storage compartment before stepping away from his bike. "I'll do my best to stay alive. Thank you, EDI."

"Good luck, Ty."

_I hope you don't mind me barging in on you like this, Shepard. But we really need to talk. Let's just hope I don't bleed out before I get there._

* * *

James Vega stood guard outside of Commander Shepard's room in a grey Alliance T-shirt and black pants. The guard detail had been rather uneventful. Shepard never tried to escape and spent her time either trying to get the higher-ups to '_stop sitting on your damn hands and start preparing for the _Reapers' in her words, or reading a digital book in her room.

It was a necessary post, he supposed. If it was anyone else he would have figured this was some sort of punishment for what happened on Fehl Prime, his failure in his mind.

_Save the data on the Collectors or save the colonists?_ It was a question and decision that still haunted him. He had saved the data in hopes to help stop the Collectors…and it ended up being for nothing. They hadn't needed it thanks to Shepard saving everyone's asses again.

If this guard duty had been for anyone else he would have believed it to be the equivalent of being stuffed on a desk job to never be in charge of a squad again, not that he wanted to be anyways. Yet, this was Commander Shepard he was guarding. She was a high value target to the Batarian's now thanks to the Alpha Relay incident.

The guard duty was only made that much more serious with the worry of one of her previous associates trying to break her out. Sure there had been no moves made yet, but he had to be on his toes everyday just in case. He never knew when the shit was going to hit the fan, but with Shepard there was usually a guarantee of defecation hitting oscillation.

Regardless, Vega was ready for anything be it a Batarian terrorist, some Cerberus operative or the tomahawk wielding mercenary. The latter one was someone he had to give a bit of respect to. Not many people could actually make others fear tomahawks in the day in age of guns.

_Man, what I'd give to have a pair of tomahawks. With those you just have to close the distance in a gun fight and then BAM! Whip those babies out and you win, no questions asked. Still, against me that guy wouldn't stand a chance. He could close the distance and try to take me on in a dance, but I'd overpower him and take his tomahawks as trophies._

James smiled confidently at the fantasy as he crossed his large arms over his tree trunk sized muscular chest. He knew no one could ever sneak this far into an Alliance base without getting caught somewhere along the line so there was no worry about a fight, but thinking about it eased his boredom.

"Si- sir." A cough sounded off breaking Vega from his thoughts to the approaching wounded solider. By the tags around his neck the muscular soldier could tell he was a Private, and by his walk he barely had the strength to stand.

_What the hell?_ James rushed forward and caught the man as he collapsed forward. "Hey, easy there. What happened?" The soldier checked his tags, _Private Rodriguez, eh?_

"We…we have to sound the alarm. Tyler…Tyler." The man went into a coughing fit.

_Ah shit._ So the criminal had actually infiltrated the base and wounded this Private. _He looks in pretty bad shape._ There was a round pierced through his gut from the look of it and he had been walking with a limp. _I've got to warn Anderson and get him some help._

James opened his omni-tool and applied some medi-gel to his wound then clapped him on the shoulder, "You hang in there, Private. I'll get you some help."

"Th- thank you, sir." He coughed. "I'm going to gut that bastard for breaking my foot."

Vega smiled reassuringly to him and stood up as he connected a comm to Anderson, "Admiral, sir. We have a problem. Private Rodriguez is-"

"How long did you know about Private Rodriguez, Lieutenant?" Anderson's voice was heated making Vega flinch at the scolding tone. _I guess he already knows._ "We just found Private Rodriguez unconscious in a storage closet. He was stripped of his armor and tags, and you now just decided to let me know you knew?"

"Hold on. Sir, did you say _you _found Private Rodriguez? I have the Private here…unless."

"Lieutenant, watch your back!" Anderson warned. Before he could turn an electrical charge burst through his body. He let out a scream before his jaw clenched shut and his entire body tensed up forcing him to crumple to the floor, conscious, but paralyzed. "Damn it! We're on our way, Lieutenant! Don't worry!"

A helmet clunked to the floor along with several pieces of armor revealing a hooded man with purple eyes, tattoos covering his arms and a huge pool of blood dripping from his white tank top. A bit of blood trailed down his lips and down onto the top of his tank top.

He gave what appeared to be an apologetic yet humorous smirk, "Sorry, sir, but-" He coughed, "The old 'I'm your ally' trick never fails. Better than a cardboard box any day of the week." The mercenary started taking hobbled steps toward the door, "Don't worry. You'll be able to move your body in five minutes. Just enough time for me to do what I need."

_Damn you!_ James tried to force his body to move as the criminal staggered his way towards the door. His body didn't respond and he could only watch helplessly as the man braced himself against the door.

* * *

Ty breathed heavily as he fought his darkening vision. It had taken a lot of time and struggle with a broken foot and blood loss, but he had made it. She was just beyond this door he had to support himself on, he could feel it.

For seven months they had been apart, yet now he could stare into the sapphire eyes of the woman who had saved him from his darkness. He'd be able to hear her voice, see her smile, and soak up the soothing presence she had as if he had never left.

The former mercenary had failed many times. He had failed friends, lovers, family and himself, the darkness that gave him had consumed him._ But then, _Ty thought as he struggled to lift his arm up, _I met her. She was a guiding light of hope, the one to pull me from the darkness back to the light._

Her light had guided him back here and now it was time to fulfill his promise. His body's strength was fading though; he could feel himself nearing the end. To knock on the door, a mundane task normally, was a monumental struggle.

The strength in his body depleted and his arm began to fall along with his body.

_Damn it..._

Before he could fall he felt hands begin resting on his back, bracing him from falling. He looked to both of his sides to find the ghostly mirages of all of his fallen friends. They clasped his right hand in their ghostly ones dragging it up for him to see the N7 badge staring back at him.

_"This is not your end, Pyjak!" _Kar shouted at him.

_"It'd be pretty lame if it was, Boss."_ Brad followed.

_"Ignore that idiot. Come on, you've come this far. Don't give up."_ Whitney said.

_"We always have to pull his ass out of the fire."_ Gallick commented roughly.

_"But we wouldn't have it any other way and you know it, Gallick."_ Valera said who received a grunt of agreement from the Batarian.

_"She's right_._ Don't give up, Captain."_ Carson told him.

_"Stand strong, my friend." _Grissom ordered.

_"We'll do this together, Ty. Just like always." _Tara said.

_ "Don't give up yet, my love. She waits for you." _Ka'Reena finished.

With the spirits of his fallen friends and lover giving him their strength he was able to slam the bottom of his hand against the door.

_Thanks guys, for everything._

Behind the door he heard her call back to him, "Who is it?" She called.

"Santa Claus." He mustered up enough strength for a sarcastic quip.

_Probably too late to make myself presentable, _Ty chuckled mentally as he took his weight off the door. The doors hissed opened allowing his eyes to finally meet the sapphire eyes he had yearned to see again.

There in all her beauty was Commander Vanessa Shepard dressed in blue jeans and a black sweater with a N7 badge over her breast and a familiar red and white stripe down the right sleeve. The sweater was zipped down to her sternum revealing her blue tank top underneath, the nine-sided star necklace. Her long black hair draped over her shoulders, her beautiful features were pulled into one of longing surprise.

"Ty." She whispered almost too quietly for him to hear.

He smirked, "Permission to come aboard, Commander?"

She smiled her beautiful smile in response making his heart beat a bit stronger.

_I made it._


	117. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Clear!"

Shepard cringed as her lover let out an agony filled scream into the open air of the interrogation room. She fought against the need to yell at the person electrocuting him only for the sole reason it was necessary. His heart had stopped and if they hadn't jolted him he would have died on the spot.

As his scream came to an end he began letting out haggard breaths. "Ty? Ty?" He did not lift his head. From her kneeling position she could see that his eyes were unfocused and he was struggling to stay awake. "Can you hear me?" She asked.

"She- Shepard." He breathed out.

Her heart fluttered at the sound of her name coming off his tongue. She had missed him dearly for the last seven months. Her thoughts often strayed to him leaving her to wonder about how he was doing, if he was doing anything crazy or how often he thought about her.

She missed his sarcasm, his softer caring side, his comforting presence and the love she felt every time he met her eyes. When he left she was reminded just how big and empty her room had been, and that problem hadn't been solved when she was brought into custody.

The small apartment like room she was being jailed in was empty save for the furniture and herself. _At least my cabin on the Normandy had fish, Vic and EDI when she decided to pop in or if I had to ask a question. I wonder what they did with my fish and Vic or if EDI is okay. I hope they're okay._

The N7 missed the ship, her friends, and Ty every day. Each day in custody had proven fruitless in getting anything done, or at least that was how it felt. She wasn't sure if Anderson–who had retired as a Councilor and now served as an Admiral in the Alliance–or Hackett were doing anything. Under her house arrest she was completely left out of the loop on everything involving the Reapers.

These last six months had been frustrating to say the least, but she never stopped trying.

She often wondered if Ty had any better luck with the mercenaries, although she doubted it judging on his sudden appearance and mention of Omega and Cerberus.

To hear his voice outside her door and then find him actually standing before her…she was too many emotions at once. She wanted to embrace him, to feel his body against her own just so she knew she wasn't dreaming. She wanted to yell at him for risking his life to sneak into the Alliance base.

The Commander wanted to kiss him, to share time with him and relax as if there was nothing life threatening going on in the galaxy. What stopped all of her desires from pelting her at light speed was finally taking in his bloodied state.

They had barely managed enough time to speak to one another privately, and even then it wasn't much. She had helped him down onto the floor as he made a quip, _"You should see the other guy."_ He had said. After that he had told her about the poison stopping medi-gel from preventing his death, told her he had missed her and apologized for being in his current state before slowly starting to pass out. As she tried to keep him awake he muttered something unintelligible, she barely caught the word Reapers which was enough to send her further into worry.

Anderson, along with a small squad of soldiers, found them there right as he passed out. It was probably because of her mentioning he had information on the Reapers that they had actually healed his wound.

She had worried about him the entire time. The fact there wasn't a rut in the floor of her room from all the pacing she did slightly impressed her. Her mentor, friend and father figure kept her updated on his status knowing she was worried because Ty had been a comrade. He apparently had been shot in the shoulder, his foot was broken and it was clear he had been stabbed by a sword of some kind.

He had also informed her they were going to interrogate him once he was awake. That had taken two days and for the last three days they had interrogated him. Ty didn't crack, not that she was surprised. He continued to ask for her and for one reason or another he thought the interrogator was Anderson.

The Admiral tried to get them to let him see her so he would actually talk, but the committee had stonewalled him up until today. It took a lot of willpower not to rip the interrogator in half with her biotic's as he stonewalled them further, forcing them to watch as he was electrocuted repeatedly.

Thankfully that was over and now he wasn't being harmed any further. Shepard wanted to get him help immediately, but she knew everyone else who actually had rank to pull wanted information. _And I'm the only one he'll apparently give it to._ She sighed internally, _the quicker I get this done, the quicker he gets help._

"What do you know about the Reapers and Cerberus?" She asked him.

"Reapers…took Khar'Shan…and Taetrus." He panted heavily. "Cerberus…took Omega."

_Shit._ The Reapers were already in the Milky Way and had captured the Batarian homeworld. _And now Cerberus has Omega and all of its resources. Looks like he didn't have any more luck than I did._ "What do you mean they took Omega?" Anderson sounded perplexed. Clearly it was news to him that Omega had been taken over by the terrorist organization.

"I mean…they fucking took…it." Ty responded exasperatedly. "Aria was booted. Oleg…Petrovsky…is in charge now." Ty inhaled multiple breaths then shook his head, "A bastard…named Kai Leng…was the one who…got me…"

"Kai Leng?" The Admiral hissed.

Shepard looked up to her mentor in confusion, "You know him?"

He gave a short nod then turned his attention back to her lover, "Did you finish him off?"

Ty shook his head, "No. Bastard…cheated. Had a sniper…watching our fight. I only…wounded him."

Anderson hummed disappointedly and shifted his eyes away for a moment. Kai Leng had officially made it onto her shit list for what he had done, but there was a more immediate concern: the Reapers. Well actually that was a lie. Shepard's immediate concern was Ty's state of health. He needed medical attention and rest. Three days he had sustained torture with little to no rest as far as she knew.

It broke her heart. She hated he had suffered, hated it was the Alliance who had done it needlessly. What she hated most of all was she couldn't do anything about it. Shepard didn't want to be here forcing him to talk when he clearly needed rest. _But I need as much information as I can get, _she stared solemnly at the man whose breathing was beginning to slow, _and he's the only one who has it. _

_ Damn it._

The N7 didn't want to keep asking him questions. She wanted to help him, wanted to talk to him about anything but the Reapers…but she needed to know if he knew how long they had until the Reapers arrived. "Ty…can you give us an estimate on how long we have until the Reapers get here?"

"How…how long…have I been…?"

"Two days out cold, three days in here." She answered, growling the final words as she flicked her eyes in the direction of the Alliance soldiers. Any who enjoyed what they had done or hadn't questioned the lead interrogator about bringing her in to end it needed a reality check. _You're all lucky I can't do anything about what you did. I don't know what I would do, but none of you would like it._

"…do you want…optimistic or…realistic?" The purple eyed warrior asked snapping her out of her thoughts.

She appreciated the thought of an optimistic time frame, but it wasn't what they needed. "Realistic."

"Tonight…tomorrow…the next day." Ty shook his head. "We're out of time." Shepard lowered her head as silence filled the room. She knew his words to be true, wished them to be false but knew better than to believe anything less. More than half a year had passed since they finished off the Collectors and stopped the immediate arrival of the Reapers in the Bahak system. They were truly out of time to prepare. "I'm sorry." Her lover apologized for something not in his power.

Shepard rested her hand on his and gave it an affectionate squeeze, "Don't be. It's not your fault." She met Anderson's eyes who simply nodded in agreement that this conversation was over. A group of doctors and nurses with a gurney made their way into the room signaling the Commander she needed to get out of the way. However she wasn't going to leave without letting Ty know where she was going, "I have to go. But we're going to get you medical attention. Can I count on you hanging in there a little longer, Ty?"

He chuckled tiredly and lifted his head to meet her eyes with his own, "I'll…do my…best." He smiled wearily, but genuinely at her.

She smiled fondly back and gave him a hug. "Stay alive, Specialist. That's an order."

"Roger that…Commander."

Shepard stood up and moved off to the side with Anderson as they watched Ty be taken out of the chair and put onto the gurney where his omni-cuffs were once again placed. When he was gone the pair left with Vega tailing behind them. "Admiral, do you think he was telling the truth about the Reapers?" The Lieutenant asked.

"It's possible." Anderson answered.

"Yes." Shepard responded far more confidently. Ty had no reason to put their odds so low if he thought they had more time. He could massively understate something sure, but he was not one for dramatizing a bad situation.

Her mentor eyed her studiously but said nothing about her confidence in his words. "He had no reason to lie. Not with Shepard there. God help us all if he is right."

_He is._ _We're out of time. The war is at our doorstep and none of us are ready for it._

She remained silent the rest of the walk back to her room. Again the N7 entered the room alone and took in the small room that was devoid of life. _Too bad they won't jail us together. It would make things so much nicer._ Shepard moved to the window that looked out to the city of Vancouver and brought her hand to the nine-sided star around her neck.

_The odds are no longer just suicidal. This war is going to mean life or death for the entire galaxy. _She looked down at the star; _I need you at my side for it, Ty. Please, stay strong for me._

War was on their doorstep. It was only a matter of time before the entire galaxy would have to face the fact everyone was trying to deny: the Reapers were real and they were here to wipe them all out. Knowing they were so close, it was enough to shake her confidence a little.

_"No matter what we face, I'm with you to the end."_ Ty's words before they entered the Omega 4 Relay played through her mind.

_To the end…_she kept the pendent in her hand and looked back out the window with determination burning in her eyes.

_We'll make it their end. That's a promise._

To Be Continued…

**A/N:** Thank you to all who have read this story whether you joined in when I first started, jumped in somewhere halfway or came upon this later! It has been a long journey and one I have enjoyed thoroughly. I honestly never expected it to be this long or actually do as well as it has for the first story I ever posted, so thank you for reading! I've had many ups and downs along with the story and as the story grew I'd like to think my writing skills did a little as well, but alas the story of Suicidal Odds has come to an end. The tale is not over yet though as there still remains a war to be fought. I cannot say when that journey will begin, I have yet to start writing it as of now but I will without a doubt write it and give this story its true end. I hope to see you then or in any other works I might write between now and then, for the time being I'll be editing previous chapters to get it more up to date with my writing. Anyways, thank you all once again and hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Until next time!


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